Jesus in the books of History

JESUS IN THE BOOK OF JOSHUA – OUR CONQUEROR 

Now when Joshua was near Jericho, he looked up and saw a man standing in front of him with a drawn sword in his hand. Joshua went up to him and asked, “Are you for us or for our enemies?”
“Neither,” he replied, “but as commander of the army of the Lord I have now come.” Then Joshua fell face-down to the ground in reverence, and asked him, “What message does my Lord have for his servant?”
The commander of the Lord’s army replied, “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy.” And Joshua did so. – Joshua 5 13-15

Jesus, Yeshua, Joshua!

The Greek form of the name “Joshua” (“Yahweh saves” or “Yahweh is salvation”) is “Jesus.” As Joshua led Israel to victory over her enemies and into possession of the Promised Land, and as he interceded for the nation after it had sinned and been defeated, so does Jesus.

But did the Joshua of old actually meet Yeshua Jesus? Who was this “Captain of the army of Yahweh?” “The captain of the Lord’s host said to Joshua, ‘Remove your sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is Holy.’ And Joshua did so.” Was there another such appearance of Jesus to Moses… in the Burning Bush? What did He say?

The appearance of Jesus in the Torah or Old Testament is called a Theophany or Christophany. Yeshua Jesus later said, “If you love Me you will keep My commandments.” Joshua did not have any problem with obedience. He obeyed. If we love Him, we will obey Him. It is a question of LOVE and Joshua obeyed! 

JESUS IN THE BOOK OF JUDGES – OUR WARRIOR-SAVIOR 

And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson and Jephthah, about David and Samuel and the prophets, who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies. Women received back their dead, raised to life again. There were others who were tortured, refusing to be released so that they might gain an even better resurrection. – Hebrews 11:32-35

Perhaps the best translation of the word “Judges” from the Old Testament is Warrior-Savior. In this unlikely book we can glimpse our own great Warrior-Savior, Yeshua Jesus, in the imperfect forms of heroic men and women who, at great personal risk and sacrifice, saved the nation of Israel from destruction. They are part of the epic cosmic warfare of the ages that began in a garden many centuries ago. Jesus our Warrior-Savior is first found in Genesis 3:15 when Yahweh promised a seed who would be born of woman, engage in mortal combat with the serpent, and ultimately crush his head. Throughout redemptive history there is a recurring echo of this glorious promise as seeds born of women such as Jael and David become warrior-saviors who crush the skulls of the likes of Sisera and Goliath. These are imperfect types of our own Warrior-Savior, Yeshua Jesus, who will ultimately crush the skull of the serpent.

In the book of Judges we can also wince as we glimpse into our own desperately wicked hearts. As much as we cringe at the sin and rebellion found in this book, we see ourselves in a mirror. And the only answer is a Warrior-Savior-King with a bloody robe who says, “It is finished” (John 19:30).

Friend, have you given your heart to the Warrior-Savior Yeshua Jesus? At great personal risk and sacrifice, He paid the ultimate price to save you from destruction. Believe and receive today.

Jesus in the books of Samuel – OUR MERCY & GRACE 

The LORD brings death and makes alive; he brings down to the grave and raises up. – 1 Samuel 2:6

The story of MEPHIBOSHETH

My past has been forgiven and forgotten. And I will serve this King for the remainder of my days.

There is perhaps no better picture of God’s undeserved Mercy and overwhelming Grace towards us than the story of Mephibosheth in 2nd Samuel 9. Mephibosheth was a grandson of King Saul, the first king of Israel who started out well but then turned away from the God. He then plotted to destroy David, God’s chosen one. Thus, there was alienation and enmity between King David and the dynasty of Saul. Mephibosheth was crippled since childhood from a fall. He had lived a miserable life and deserved a sentence of death from King David.

But David not only showed mercy to Mephibosheth, but instead treated him as a son. Not because of anything Mephibosheth had done, but because of David’s love for Jonathan his father, who died to save the kingdom.

Friend, we are hopelessly crippled by sin. We deserve death but are instead offered God’s undeserved Mercy and overwhelming Grace because of Jesus’ substitutionary death on our behalf.

My Friend, are you crippled by your sin? Do you deserve only death? Jesus died to save you. He loves you with an everlasting love! Believe in Him and receive eternal life today.

JESUS IN THE BOOKS OF KINGS – OUR GIFT-GIVER 

At Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream by night, and God said, “Ask what I shall give you.” And Solomon said, “You have shown great and steadfast love… Give your servant therefore an understanding mind” – 1 Kings 3:5-14

And to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God – Ephesians 3:19

Solomon had already received the greatest treasure in life—the steadfast love of the Lord. So he humbly asked for wisdom. That same steadfast love of the Lord that Solomon experienced some three thousand years ago has been offered to us through the work of Yeshua Jesus. And His wisdom is here in His Word.

Friend, He loves you so much, enough to die in your place. Not because you deserve it, but even though you don’t. Indeed, His steadfast, unfailing love tugs at your failing heart this very moment. Come to Him now… and be healed.

Thanks be to God for His Indescribable Gift – 2 Corinthians 9:15

JESUS IN THE BOOKS OF CHRONICLES – OUR ETERNAL KING 

I will be His Father, and He will be My Son. – 1 Chronicles 17:13 

The Bible is a colorful, layered tapestry that, when carefully studied, reveals the deeper truths. As we move from the Books of 1st and 2nd Kings to the books of 1st and 2nd Chronicles, we begin to see King Solomon as, in fact, a TYPE of Yeshua Jesus. A TYPE, or túpos (Greek τῠ́πος) is a New Testament term used in passages like Romans 5:14 –

“Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who had not sinned according to the likeness of the transgression of Adam, who is a TYPE of Him who was to come.”

Like the word SHADOW (Greek σκιά), a TYPE is something from the Old Testament that we can now understand through our New Testament lens. As Saint Augustine once said,

“The Old (Testament) is in the New (Testament) revealed, the New is in the Old concealed.”

“Therefore, no one is to act as your judge in regard to food and drink, or in respect to a festival or a new moon, or a Sabbath day— things which are only a SHADOW of what is to come; but the substance belongs to Christ.” – Colossians 2:16-17

Now let’s look at  the Book of Chronicles through our New Testament lens: 

In 1st Chronicles 17, Nathan the prophet gives a message from Yahweh God to King David:

…. “I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, one of your own sons, and I will establish his kingdom. He is the one who will build a house for me, and I will establish his throne forever. I will be his father, and he will be my son. I will never take my love away from him, as I took it away from your predecessor. I will set him over my house and my kingdom forever; his throne will be established forever.”

Of course, David’s son Solomon did succeed him. And God did establish his kingdom. But three times God uses the word “FOREVER”. That does not apply to Solomon’s kingdom at all! Less than four hundred years later Judah and Jerusalem were totally sacked by the Babylonians, and thereafter never again did any descendant of Solomon rule as a king from Jerusalem. EVER. If we read the 1st chapters of the Gospels of Matthew and Luke in the New Testament, we see that Jesus is a descendant of King David. If we look further into the New Testament, we find this in the book of Hebrews, speaking of Yahweh’s (God the Father’s) relationship to Yeshua Jesus:

“…I Will be to Him a Father, and He shall be to Me a Son.” – Hebrews 1:5

This was the writer of Hebrews, speaking of Yeshua Jesus and quoting from 1 Chronicles 17:13!

If we begin to read the Bible as a tapestry that reveals Yeshua Jesus on every page, we realize that the ancient writings of the Old Testament are worth far more that gold or silver. Consider this story, long before Christ, from the book of 2nd Chronicles (Chapter 34) in the days of King Josiah:

At that time, the temple that King Solomon had built was in ruin and the people of Judah, Josiah’s Kingdom, worshiped idols. So, Josiah ordered the Temple of Yahweh to be rebuild. As work progressed, the workers began uncovering the ruins of the old Temple and something was discovered and brought quickly to the King. Was it silver or gold? No, in fact. It was a PRICELESS BOOK. It was the long-lost book of God’s law, that we now know as DEURTERONOMY. And not with gold or silver, but with that book, King Josiah began to rebuild not only God’s Temple but the Kingdom itself.

You see, friend, there is something infinitely more precious than all the riches on earth for you to discover between the pages of the Bible. Yeshua Jesus is woven deep into the tapestry of the Bible from the ancient books of the law to the final book of the New Testament. He is, indeed, the AUTHOR OF LIFE and the PAINTER OF BOTH YOU AND ME. My friend, to DISCOVER HISTORIC JESUS is discover the meaning of life itself. Your life. He is reaching out from these ancient pages of 1st and 2nd Chronicles today, offering a nail-pierced hand to His bride.

JESUS IN THE BOOK OF ESTHER – OUR DELIVERER 

For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this? – Esther 4:14

Esther is the beautiful story of an improbable yet extraordinary young woman who dared to pursue her destiny despite all personal cost. Indeed, she had everything. She was queen of a great nation. But her destiny was not yet fulfilled.

Was Esther a TYPE of Jesus? Look again at her story:

• God raises up a savior.
• She gives her life selflessly, on behalf of her people.
• Through her willingness to die for others, God’s enemies are defeated and God’s people are given life and honor.
• She is vindicated and honored.

So too with Yeshua Jesus. God chose to accomplish the greatest triumph of human history through the lowliest of means: a pregnant virgin, a humble carpenter, an improbable savior who was rejected and crucified.

Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, He made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled himself by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross! – Philippians 2:6-8

Friend, Yeshua Jesus prayed for any other way, yet in obedience fulfilled His destiny and went to the cross for you and me.

My friend, I have another question that ONLY YOU CAN ANSWER:

Have YOU fulfilled your destiny in Christ? God is sovereign and He will accomplish His will with or without you. It is your choice.

For who knows, but that YOU have come to your position in life FOR SUCH A TIME AS THIS.