HF152 - The Book of Heaven
To: Hebraic-Foundations@yahoogroups.com
From: "Pastor Buddy Martin" <Bro.Buddy@ChristianChallenge.org>
Date: Tue Oct 18, 2005
Subject: Bible Study HF152 - The Book of Heaven
Hebraics,
The Bible we love so dearly is deeply imbued with the Spirit of Jesus. The reason it is so deeply imbued is because the Bible is the book of heaven, and Jesus is the Man from heaven. And the reason an unbeliever finds no life in the Bible is because unbelief always cuts a person off from the life of God. Does this sound a bit odd? Let's look into it.
This is Bible Study HF152 - The Book of Heaven.
The Bible teaches that Jesus Christ is the exact expression of all that God is. Thus it can be said that as we study the gospels we are studying the character of God. Much more is to be said about Jesus being the Father's full and exact expression. Jesus is also the Word of God wrapped in the form of humanity. He is the Word made flesh. Jesus Himself is the secret life of the Bible.
It is easy to think of Jesus as being imbued with the very life of God. He is God manifest. But how about the Scriptures, can it be said that they are imbued with the life of Jesus? Most certainly and in far more ways than we understand. There is a sense given by which the Bible can be compared to the very garment that Jesus wears, and that His presence flows throughout His garment.
Let's take a closer look at this. In quoting from Psalm 40:7,8, Hebrews 10:7 says, "Behold, I have come. In the scroll of the book it is written of Me." The term for scroll (kephalis) originally spoke of the knob at the head of the stick around which the parchments were wrapped. The ancients saw Psalm 40:7,8 as referring to Messiah. In addition they saw the Torah as containing the very life of God and His Messiah. So it can be said that the Bible wraps itself around Jesus.
The idea of God's life being in the book isn't new to the Christian faith. To the Jews the Torah was a living thing. We see this in how Jesus spoke to certain of the Jews; "You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me; and you are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have life." (Jn5:39,40)
On a personal side I came to realize even more so the power of the Bible when Betty, and my two young sons and I were in Los Alamos, New Mexico, in 1971, to raise up a mission work for our denomination. During that time I began to question the message that our group was preaching. It seemed not to accord with the Scriptures.
The short side of this is that as I questioned our teachings, I began to encounter God Himself in the book. I found Him speaking to me more and more from the book of heaven. I also found Him explaining the true meaning of the gospel message. Out of this experience I made a determination that from that point on, what I wanted to believe would no longer be an issue. I wanted the Lord to mold my life with a true understanding of the Scriptures. From that moment in time the Bible started changing from a religious book to a book filled with the very life of Jesus.
Here is an incident that speaks to the life of God in the Scriptures. There was a lady who suffered greatly from a female disorder. Hearing about Jesus, she said to herself, "If I only touch His garment, I will get well." (Mt9:21) We don't often catch what she was really saying. The part of His garment she wanted to touch was the fringe (tassel) of His cloak.
The Jews had a tradition concerning the fringe that had to do with God's Messiah. The background for this was God's commandment to Moses, saying, "Speak to the sons of Israel, and tell them that they shall make for themselves tassels on the corners of their garments throughout their generations, and that they shall put on the tassel of each corner a cord of blue." (Num15:38)
The cord of blue was said to represent the throne of glory, or the heavenly life. Over time these tassels took on the term 'wings.' Keep this in mind and you'll have a bit more insight into certain Scriptures that speak of God's wings and as to why the lady wanted to touch the garment (tassels) of Jesus. Here are examples:
"He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty ... He will cover you with His pinions, and under His wings you may seek refuge." (Ps91:1,4)
And, "But for you who fear My name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings; and you will go forth and skip about like calves from the stall." (Mal4:2)
Then we hear Jesus say, "Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling." (Mt23:37)
The point at hand is that the Jewish people made a strong association between the fringes of the garment and the Messiah. Wanting to touch the garment of Jesus was another way of the recognizing Him as the Messiah of God. Follow this with another Scripture:
"Wherever He entered villages, or cities, or countryside, they were laying the sick in the market places, and imploring Him that they might just touch the fringe of His cloak; and as many as touched it were cured." (Mar6:56)
See how strong this belief was concerning the garment of Messiah. But a question remains -- What does this have to do with the Scriptures themselves, and, how can it be said that the Scriptures can be imbued with the very life of Jesus? It all comes back to the Bible being the book of heaven.
It isn't the Bible that causes miracles and gives us the answers that we need. It is the voice that speaks from the Scriptures. Make this distinction and you have the true essence of why we love the book of heaven so deeply, and why we can say that the Bible is imbued with the life of Jesus.
Let's back this up with further Scriptural import. Recall when Jesus opened the scroll of Isaiah and began to read, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim release to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free those who are oppressed, to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord." (Cf. Luke 4:16-22)
What happens next? The people are astonished at what they are hearing. It says they were wondering at the gracious words that were flowing from His lips. What made the difference in this case? It was Jesus speaking from the Scriptures. The people were hearing a living voice speaking from the book of heaven. It is the voice of heaven that makes the Bible the book of heaven.
The Bible explains this aspect of hearing God from the book. For example, Isaiah 29:18,19, says, "On that day the deaf will hear words of a book, and out of their gloom and darkness the eyes of the blind will see. The afflicted also will increase their gladness in the Lord, and the needy of mankind will rejoice in the Holy One of Israel."
Now back to the lady with the issue of blood. She had been taught that the blue thread in the fringe (tassel) represented the throne of glory and the heavenly life. She saw Jesus as that life. But we've also seen where the Bible itself can be likened to the very garments of God's Messiah. Can it now be said that the blue thread that speaks of the throne of glory, can be found running throughout the Scriptures? Is the Bible heaven's book? Does God's Christ speak to us from the sacred writings? Jesus is the living Torah, the book come alive.
But a point must be made. It should not be thought that the Bible is God's only speaking place. What the Bible does is teach us how to hear from the Lord. Whereas the Bible can be said to be His voice, we must also understand that God speaks to us in many ways, none of which will run contrary to what is said in the Scriptures themselves. This balance must always be maintained.
It takes awhile for the child of God to understand the principle of how God speaks to us. This is why it is so important for the believer to be in the congregation of God's holy people. As the man of God speaks from the Scriptures, we began to hear the Lord speaking to our own hearts. It isn't the man of God who is speaking to us. It is the Lord speaking from the book of heaven. This is what Jesus is speaking of when He said, "For where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst." (Mt18:20 - He is present in His Word.)
Is the Bible a living book to you? Has Jesus ever spoken to you out from the book of heaven?
Everything rests upon how you view the Scriptures. A lady said to me, "Brother Martin, I hear other believers talk about how alive the Bible is to them. It is not that way for me." The Lord gave me what to say. "Sister, the problem is that you are trying to read the Bible like a newspaper. If you would approach it as though you were looking into the eyes of God, everything would change." (I also gave her a Scripture for this approach.)
The next day I got a call from this dear sister. She was excited; "Brother Martin, the Bible has come alive."
Let me conclude this part of the study by noting my own personal experience. The first time Jesus spoke directly to my heart was in 1964. It happened during a time of intense search. My heart was aching to know the Lord. For some reason I could not find him. Night after night, revival after revival found me in the altars.
No, I didn't find Him in an altar at the church. One Sunday afternoon I am reading the Scriptures. Strangely enough I found myself being pulled into the setting where I was reading. Then I heard the Shepherd speak to my heart. He said, "Have I been so long time with you, Buddy, and you don't know Me?"
You see, no one can come to know the Lord unless the Father gives that person the knowing experience. Out of this moment of time I came to know the Shepherd. I know His voice.
Here are the hard questions --- Do you really know the Lord, or do you simply know some religion? What think ye? Is the Bible the book of heaven?
Feel free to share your experience, ask questions, or offer your thoughts.
Blessings,
Buddy
Lawrence E. (Buddy) Martin, HF Host
email: Bro.Buddy@ChristianChallenge.org
Web:
http://www.christianchallenge.org/
"See to it that no one comes short of the grace of God; that no root of bitterness springing up causes trouble, and by it many be defiled." (Heb12:15)