Thoughts and Notes
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Firstborn
Jesus is the greater Jacob who receives the inheritance and blessing of the firstborn son when the “elder” brother Adam rejects it, exchanging it for a handful of food.
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Body of flesh
And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death Colossians 1:21-22 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. 2 Corinthians 5:17 Christ took on the flesh…
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Show us the Father
Moses fills the offices of priest, judge, and prophet. As priest, he receives the law and teaches the people to obey. He sits as supreme judge over the people. And as prophet, he stands in the counsel of God, calls the people to repentance and warns them of the future consequences of sin. In Exodus…
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Clothed with nakedness
Psalm 132 contrasts the faithful priests of God who are clothed with righteousness with the enemies of the king who are clothed with shame. My five year old observed a link between the ones clothed with shame here and the shame of nakedness in the garden. I think it fits. After the fall, Adam and…
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Who is this
Who is this who looks down like the dawn, beautiful as the moon, bright as the sun, awesome as an army with banners?” Song of Songs 6:10 In Revelation 19, Christ avenges the blood of his servants against apostate Jerusalem, the great harlot city, the false bride. He institutes the celebration feast, the marriage supper…
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Christ, king of the Gentiles
In Isaiah 44 and 45, Cyrus, the king of the Persians, is called the anointed (christ) shepherd king. He is a new David, who prepares everything for the rebuilding of the temple. But as king of the Gentiles and the Jews, he is a type of the greater David. All that God says he will have…
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No other rock
Is there a God besides me? There is no Rock; I know not any. Isaiah 44 highlights the folly of idol-making. The idolater looks ridiculous, as blind and undiscerning as the block of wood that he worships. He cuts the wood and uses half for fuel and the other half he carves into a god and…
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Giant killers
God does what He says He’s going to do. In Numbers 13, Yahweh tells Moses to send spies into the land that He is giving to the people of Israel. This is the land that had been promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and now God is bringing His people in to give it to…
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Into the fire
Leviticus 1 deals with the `olah or ascension offering, which is usually translated “burnt offering”. Different animals could be offered depending on who was bringing the offering. A ruler of the people, such as the king or high priest, would need to bring a bull, a male from the herd. Regular citizens would bring a…
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Ark of the new covenant
Peter Leithart, in his The Four, posed the question, “What is Jeremiah’s point about the ark in Jeremiah 3:16? How does that fit with what we have learned about the ‘last days’?” And when you have multiplied and been fruitful in the land, in those days, declares the Lord, they shall no more say, “The…