Jesus—The Amen

I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.

Revelation 1:8

Amen!  It is the Bible’s last word.  Jesus, Himself, will ultimately get the last word.  With astounding insight Jesus declared that He was the Last Word.  Once the KING of Kings and JUDGE of Judges speaks there will not be anything left for anyone to say.  There will be no appeal.  There will be no rebuttal.  There will be no second chance.  His verdict is final.

This truth was proclaimed to a church that was in a lot of trouble.  It was the infamous church of the Laodiceans found addressed in Revelation 3:14-22.  The first portion of this compound Greek word is laos. Laos simply means people.  The second portion, dike, is Greek for justice.  Put together, the name means the “people’s justice”.  The letter reveals that the one who shed His blood to purchase their salvation had been left out of this human organization bearing His holy name.  The people, not God, were in control.  The devices, strategies, thoughts, ideas, doctrines, and methods of this professional church were men's inventions and not of the Holy Spirit's direction.  Therefore, Jesus immediately introduces Himself as "the Amen."

Jesus’ point was that He alone will get the final say.  While they might think they are in control and they know what is best even to the point of redefining God’s word, will, and way, The Lord wants them to understand the there will come a day when He speaks and all opinions, ideas, philosophies, and godless stratagem will be silenced before His majesty.  Christ went on to acknowledge that He also was the faithful and TRUE witness.  His point is well taken.  God has clearly spoken about righteousness, truth, and His ways.  All attempts to alter or change the truths of God are utterly vain and will be met with Divine justice in time unless one repents at the foot of the old rugged cross.

Truth!  Pilate asked the question, “What is truth (John 13:8)”?  Earlier in John's gospel, Jesus had already revealed what truth is, and like “amen”, He personalized it as well.  “Jesus saith unto him, "I am…the truth (John 14:6).”  Jesus Christ is the truth to the exclusion of all other “truth”.  The word truth has an interesting spelling in Hebrew and it speaks a similar message as the word amen.  It is the word “emet” spelled with the letters aleph, mem, and tav in that order.  The aleph is the first letter in the Hebrew alphabet while tav is the last.  Sandwiched between these two is the letter mem—the central letter in the Hebrew alphabet.  Truth is spelled with the first, middle, and last Hebrew characters. An old Jewish proverb says that truth is the beginning and the end and everything else in between.  Jesus was informing us that truth begins in Himself, ends with Himself and to Him all knowledge will be compared. 

His statement above in Revelation 1:8 is actually a statement of His ultimate power and Godhood.  He is the Alpha and Omega.  Being a Hebrew speaker as Paul mentioned in Acts 26:14, Jesus would have said "I am the Aleph Tav" giving us the framework for the expression of truth being that truth is usually expressed by language.  He is revealing that He is the Omniscient One--the source of all knowledge, wisdom,and understanding.  When He judges it will be with perfect knowledge for there is nothing hidden from His sight.  He then mentions that He is the beginning and the end who was and is and is to come, a time reference.  In other words, He is the Omnipresent One and there will be no place to run and hide from His presence.  Finally, He reveals that He is the Almighty—the Omnipotent One.  He has power to enact His retribution. 

May the entire world hear His voice! America—you need to hear His voice! You may think can redefine marriage and then persecute His people, people like Kim Davis, the brave clerk from Kentucky.  May it be clear to you!  Jesus Christ is the Amen and His Truth will prevail.  Before Him, every knee will bow and every tongue will confess the He is Lord to the glory of God the Father.  Call on Him as Lord and Savior now or bow in utter shame at the foot of His Great White Throne and proclaim it later—but you will bow to HIM that is Soon2Come!

May the LORD bless you Kim Davis.  Your judges will bow too!

24—The King is Coming

The earth is the LORD'S, and the fullness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein…Lift up your heads, O ye gates; and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in. Who is this King of glory? The LORD strong and mighty, the LORD mighty in battle. Lift up your heads, O ye gates; even lift them up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come.  Who is this King of glory? The LORD of hosts, he is the King of glory. Selah.

Psalm 24:1, 7-10

If you have been following this series, the relevance of numbers and their biblical symbolism has been considered.  Specifically, we have been looking at 22, 23, and 24. The number 22 pointed to the suffering of Christ for our sins and shadowed His ministry as God’s Great Prophet.  The shadow of death is related to 23, and this number actually points to the service of Jesus as our Great High Priest.  It is certain that the ministry of Jesus has three distinct phases—prophet, priest, and king.  If 22 pointed to the prophet and 23 pointed to the priest, then it follows that 24 will point to Christ the KING of Kings.  This is exactly what is found in scripture. 

The value 24 follows the similar pattern of 22.  Remember that 22 was the product of 2 and 11.  The number 11 points to confusion caused by the sin of humanity and 2 relates the suffering and/or fellowship of Christ with our sin.  In Genesis 22 Isaac was offered as a type of Christ while Psalm 22 was a graphic picture of the crucifixion around 1000 years before that fateful day when Jesus hung between Heaven and earth for our sin.  Correspondingly, 24 is the product of 2 and 12.  Twelve is a well known number signifying the perfection of God’s government.  In short, 24 is the number portending the reign of the 2^nd Adam, Jesus Christ.  It is a prophetic picture of the soon coming King who will reign for 1000 years from His throne in Jerusalem fulfilling His role as the Son of David while at the same time having an eternal reign as the Son of God. 

At first glance, Genesis 24 may seem to deviate from the pattern.  It is the wonderful retelling of Abraham sending out an unnamed servant (probably Eliezer of Damascus) to a distant land to find a bride for Isaac.  Isn’t this the same Abraham who was given the promise of a special heir through whom all the world would be blessed?  Genesis 24 is a beautiful shadow of the bride of Christ being drawn by the Holy Spirit to their Savior.  Every King needs a kingdom, does He not?  He also needs a queen at His side (hence a rapture shadow for the next post). More on this passage another day, but let’s suffice it to say that there is much more in this beautiful love story than meets the eye.  “And they blessed Rebekah, and said unto her, Thou art our sister, be thou the mother of thousands of millions, and let thy seed possess the gate of those which hate them (Genesis 24:60).”

This brings us to one of the most obvious passages of Christ the King in scripture, Psalm 24.  Dovetailing perfectly in the trilogy of Psalms sharing the ministry of Christ, this Psalm foretells the second coming in stunning detail including the triumphal entry of Christ through the currently closed Eastern Gate.  Jesus isn’t returning as the Lamb that was slain nor is He returning for a group hug. No!  He is returning as the Lion of Judah, the Supreme Ruler of all humanity.  He will reign with a rod of iron and all will be done in holiness and righteousness.  Jerusalem will be His capital and to Him all will bow.  Only those with clean hands and a pure heart will enter that glorious reign.  Jesus is coming to straighten out this sinful world once and for all. The other Psalm of the King, Psalm 2, gives even more detail as does Psalm 12 (2x12=24). He arrives at a time when the godly men cease upon the earth even as Psalm 12 mentions.  It is at a time when the ungodliest of all men, the antichrist is usurping the throne of Christ. Jesus' promise of justice comes with Him!  “For the oppression of the poor, for the sighing of the needy, now will I arise, saith the LORD; I will set him in safety from him that puffeth at him (Psalm 12:5).”

What a beautiful trilogy of Psalms.  Psalm 22 is the Psalm of Christ the Prophet.  Psalm 23 is the Psalm of Christ our Heavenly High Priest.  Psalm 24 is the promise of our Soon2Come
King! 

In 22 He is despised and rejected of the people and forsaken due to our sin. In 23 He is seated at the right hand of the Father making intercession for the saints leading them through the valley of the shadow of death.  In Psalm 24 He is the glorious King returning with the armies of Heaven in tow. 

In Psalm 22 He died for you!
In Psalm 23 He lives to pray for you!
In Psalm 24 He is coming for you!

We see the cross with its shame in Psalm 22.
We see the crook and staff with their watchful care in Psalm 23.
We see the crown and its resplendent glory in Psalm 24.

His cry is in 22!
His comfort is in 23!
His claim is in 24!

By His death He was left strength less for us in Psalm 22.
By His intercession He is found strengthening us daily in Psalm 23.
By His return He is found to be the strongest of the strong in Psalm 24.

Bless the LORD Jesus Christ--Prophet, Priest, and King!  He is certainly Soon2Come and fulfill His ministry as King of Kings and Lord of Lords!  Bless the Lamb of GOD!  Bless the Lion of Judah, mighty to save!