Christ is born!

No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known. (John 1:18)

The Interludes we’ve seen in our devotional series have included Sanctuary of God’s Presence. (As sinners, we couldn’t be with God until God was with us!)  We had no Royal Line remaining (until the One born King of the Jews!)  There was no Priesthood to mediate between us and God (until Christ came to intercede on our behalf!)  There was no longer a Sacrificial System (until the perfect Lamb of God ended that and made us pure once and for all by His blood).  There was a Temple destroyed, (but He rebuilt it in 3 days as His body, and His Holy Spirit now dwells in Christians by faith, and we become a temple built by God)! Better yet, at His second Advent (when He returns), He will be our Temple.

Each Interlude left an awful silence.  But then, Christ was born and angels sing!

Christmas was far more than just a baby in a manger
and a handful of worshipers. 
His birth was an eternal superlative,
an event never to be repeated,
and the world would never be the same!

Questions for further thought:

If Jesus is just a Savior and not your Lord, Christmas is just a party.  He came as Lord and to be Lord in your life. To give you life in Him.  Do you obey Him as Lord?

If Interludes provide transition, pause, reflection, time, recalibration, refocus, seeing the bigger picture without distractions of rapid action; if they create momentum, give us time for connecting thematic dots to advance the story; if they deepen our understanding as preparation for the final stretch to the climax, then we can marvel in their being a periscope to the spiritual realm, anchored in the past, fulfilled in the present.  They are a telescope to the future and a microscope for detail. God’s eternal view proceeds in its unpredictable manner and no man’s logic can search it out.

What have these Interludes meant to you?

This concludes our Interlude devotional series.  Thank you for being with me and I wish you a truly Merry Christmas!

Shepherds weren’t just nobodies.  They weren’t just lowly.  They were dregs.  And yet, the Interlude of waiting for Messiah put them in front row seats to the biggest event of all human history after Creation.

Luke 2:8 And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. 9 An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. 11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. 12 This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” 13 Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, 14 “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.” 15 When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.” 16 So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. 17 When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, 18 and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. 19 But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. 20 The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.

Questions for further thought:

A Messiah was someone foretold and expected.  How could shepherds have been expected to process that they were witnessing not just God’s Messiah, but God incarnate? 

Mary carried Jesus in her womb for nine months and yet she too treasured these things and pondered them in her heart.  Do you think she fully grasped what had happened or do you think she was in simple awe of the miracle?

How did the Interlude prepare the world for a Messiah who would be approachable as a baby and not a powerful revolutionary leader who might have been a threatening or frightening presence?  How did it prepare the world for a Messiah who came to save everyone (e.g. rich or poor, elite or lowly, Jew or Gentile)?

===

Advent 2021 began Sunday, November 28th and continues to Friday, December 24th as we explore the multi-faceted Interlude between the promise of a Deliverer and the birth of our Messiah and King. By signing up on the sidebar of my Home Page you can receive these daily “Interlude” devotionals. Or they will be reposted on SeminaryGal’s Facebook page as well.

===

• Last year’s Advent Devotional Series Divine Intervention began on November 29, 2020 and explored God’s activity on behalf of a hurting world and nations in tumult– Intervention for you and for me when our status as sinners required nothing short of a miracle.
• God’s Christmas list explored what might be on God’s Christmas list, learning what He wants from us. It began December 1, 2019.
• Storyteller began December 2, 2018 and entered into the Christmas story through its telling.
• The 2017 series Still Christmas, began December 3, 2017 and was the Advent complement to the Lenten series, Be Still and Know that I AM God.
• The 2016 season devotionals were called “Timeless: The Message of Christmas for All Ages” and explored how the message of Christmas is timeless truth, for all ages of people, and for all ages at all times.  Timeless hope, encouragement, grace, peace, and love as we looked into the Word, saw the face of our Lord Jesus, and experienced restoration in His presence.  His goodness and His Gospel are truly Timeless. The 2016 devotionals began November 27, 2016.
• The 2015 season devotionals were titled Incarnation and involved digging deep–and yes, I mean deep– in this important mystery of Christian theology.  They began November 29, 2015.
• Carol Me, Christmas! remains one of my most popular offerings and tells the Christmas story through our most beloved Christmas hymns and carols.  You can access all of the numbered devotionals from 2014 via the archives.  They began November 30, 2014.
• The 2013 series was Emmanuel: When LOVE Showed Up in Person and examined the Prologue to the Gospel of John.  It began December 1, 2013.
• The 2012 series focused on Expecting the Unexpected…the unexpected, unlikely, and uniquely divine qualities of God’s perfect plan outlined in Luke’s account of the Christmas story.  It began December 1, 2012.

God has been steadily removing the things that were placeholders and pattern-makers until the Advents of Christ, the Messiah.  I say Advents (plural) because His birth (first Advent), life, death, resurrection, and ascension ended all placeholding functions.  I say Advents because when Christ returns and the Last Day to beat all last days occurs, there will be no turning back and whatever allegiances we had in life become ours forever.  Until that point, there is the Interlude of the Veil.

What does the Veil signify?  A glorious giving of the Law–that placeholder of protection that God gave to preserve our ability to approach a holy God while we were living in a pre-redemption world, a world before Christ. 

But Messiah came at Christmas more than 2000 years ago.  And our deliverance occurred on the Cross.  Much as we might prefer babies to crucifixion, we cannot decouple the manger from the Cross.  It’s why He came: to open for us a new and living way (Hebrews 10:20).

The Law was given to outline sin and point to death.
Jesus was born to forgive sin and give us life.

2 Corinthians 3: 6 He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant– not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.

7 Now if the ministry that brought death, which was engraved in letters on stone, came with glory, so that the Israelites could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of its glory, transitory though it was, 8 will not the ministry of the Spirit be even more glorious?

9 If the ministry that brought condemnation was glorious, how much more glorious is the ministry that brings righteousness!

10 For what was glorious has no glory now in comparison with the surpassing glory. 11 And if what was transitory came with glory, how much greater is the glory of that which lasts!

12 Therefore, since we have such a hope, we are very bold. 13 We are not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face to prevent the Israelites from seeing the end of what was passing away. 14 But their minds were made dull, for to this day the same veil remains when the old covenant is read. It has not been removed, because only in Christ is it taken away. 15 Even to this day when Moses is read, a veil covers their hearts. 16 But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.

17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 18 And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

Questions for further thought:

Reread the passage above.  How is the veil removed?

Do Christians already know eternal life in Christ, having been forgiven? 

To be clear, the Chosen People have not been replaced by the Church.  There will be an awakening among faithful Jews who presently have the veil covering their hearts (Romans 9-11).  “We are not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face to prevent the Israelites from seeing the end of what was passing away” (2 Corinthians 3:13).  The Sanctuary.  Gone.  The Royal Line.  Gone.  The Temple.  Gone.  The Priesthood.  Gone.  The Sacrificial System.  Gone.

Someday soon, it is my prayer that the Interlude of the Veil will end, and they will see clear as day…that the old glory may be gone but only because it has been surpassed by the new covenant with God and the blood of Christ fulfills everything that has been taken away.  He is our Sanctuary, our King, our Temple, our Great High Priest, and our perfect Lamb of God, our Perfect Sacrifice!  Are you Jewish?  Please feel free to reach out to me if you’d like to hear more.  Do you know someone Jewish?  Help them see the Interlude of the Veil and how it can be taken away in Christ and lead to eternal life!

===

Advent 2021 began Sunday, November 28th and continues to Friday, December 24th as we explore the multi-faceted Interlude between the promise of a Deliverer and the birth of our Messiah and King. By signing up on the sidebar of my Home Page you can receive these daily “Interlude” devotionals. Or they will be reposted on SeminaryGal’s Facebook page as well.

===

• Last year’s Advent Devotional Series Divine Intervention began on November 29, 2020 and explored God’s activity on behalf of a hurting world and nations in tumult– Intervention for you and for me when our status as sinners required nothing short of a miracle.
• God’s Christmas list explored what might be on God’s Christmas list, learning what He wants from us. It began December 1, 2019.
• Storyteller began December 2, 2018 and entered into the Christmas story through its telling.
• The 2017 series Still Christmas, began December 3, 2017 and was the Advent complement to the Lenten series, Be Still and Know that I AM God.
• The 2016 season devotionals were called “Timeless: The Message of Christmas for All Ages” and explored how the message of Christmas is timeless truth, for all ages of people, and for all ages at all times.  Timeless hope, encouragement, grace, peace, and love as we looked into the Word, saw the face of our Lord Jesus, and experienced restoration in His presence.  His goodness and His Gospel are truly Timeless. The 2016 devotionals began November 27, 2016.
• The 2015 season devotionals were titled Incarnation and involved digging deep–and yes, I mean deep– in this important mystery of Christian theology.  They began November 29, 2015.
• Carol Me, Christmas! remains one of my most popular offerings and tells the Christmas story through our most beloved Christmas hymns and carols.  You can access all of the numbered devotionals from 2014 via the archives.  They began November 30, 2014.
• The 2013 series was Emmanuel: When LOVE Showed Up in Person and examined the Prologue to the Gospel of John.  It began December 1, 2013.
• The 2012 series focused on Expecting the Unexpected…the unexpected, unlikely, and uniquely divine qualities of God’s perfect plan outlined in Luke’s account of the Christmas story.  It began December 1, 2012.

Scripture says that “Out of his fullness we have all received grace in place of grace already given.  For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” (John 1:16-17)

Think about it: Jesus could have come right after Adam and Eve fell into sin.  Jesus could have come after Babel.  He could have come instead of a flood.  He could have come and done part 2 “The Return of Christ” immediately after His ascension.  But He didn’t.  Why not? How does it meet the definition of grace upon grace?

The Interlude has been filled with placeholders, awaiting the end. 
The Interlude has allowed time for learning and awareness. 
The Interlude—importantly–has been a time of growth,
of ministry and ever-increasing glory, as the Scripture says.

Apply the concept of grace upon grace to these verses:

2 Corinthians 3:6 He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant– not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. 7 Now if the ministry that brought death, which was engraved in letters on stone, came with glory, so that the Israelites could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of its glory, transitory though it was, 8 will not the ministry of the Spirit be even more glorious?

 9 If the ministry that brought condemnation was glorious, how much more glorious is the ministry that brings righteousness! 10 For what was glorious has no glory now in comparison with the surpassing glory. 11 And if what was transitory came with glory, how much greater is the glory of that which lasts!

Questions for further thought:

Plenty of people did not accept the Messiah at His birth, or death and resurrection.  What is the purpose of this Interlude before He returns when everyone will accept His status even if some still reject His forgiveness?

Why might God have not been content with rescuing just Adam and Eve? 

In what way is His glory magnified by the more people who are rescued? 

If one of God’s commands back in the Garden was also a blessing, “Be fruitful and multiply” as God’s image is multiplied over the face of the earth, why do you think Jesus might have tarried?

What will be the triggering event?  Read Revelation 6:9-11

Now think about grace upon grace and multiplication of God’s glory in these verses:

Hebrews 11:32And 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, 33 who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, 34 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.

 35 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. 36 Some faced jeers and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. 37 They were put to death by stoning; they were sawed in two; they were killed by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated– 38 the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, living in caves and in holes in the ground. 39 These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised, 40 since God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.

===

Advent 2021 began Sunday, November 28th and continues to Friday, December 24th as we explore the multi-faceted Interlude between the promise of a Deliverer and the birth of our Messiah and King. By signing up on the sidebar of my Home Page you can receive these daily “Interlude” devotionals. Or they will be reposted on SeminaryGal’s Facebook page as well.

===

• Last year’s Advent Devotional Series Divine Intervention began on November 29, 2020 and explored God’s activity on behalf of a hurting world and nations in tumult– Intervention for you and for me when our status as sinners required nothing short of a miracle.
• God’s Christmas list explored what might be on God’s Christmas list, learning what He wants from us. It began December 1, 2019.
• Storyteller began December 2, 2018 and entered into the Christmas story through its telling.
• The 2017 series Still Christmas, began December 3, 2017 and was the Advent complement to the Lenten series, Be Still and Know that I AM God.
• The 2016 season devotionals were called “Timeless: The Message of Christmas for All Ages” and explored how the message of Christmas is timeless truth, for all ages of people, and for all ages at all times.  Timeless hope, encouragement, grace, peace, and love as we looked into the Word, saw the face of our Lord Jesus, and experienced restoration in His presence.  His goodness and His Gospel are truly Timeless. The 2016 devotionals began November 27, 2016.
• The 2015 season devotionals were titled Incarnation and involved digging deep–and yes, I mean deep– in this important mystery of Christian theology.  They began November 29, 2015.
• Carol Me, Christmas! remains one of my most popular offerings and tells the Christmas story through our most beloved Christmas hymns and carols.  You can access all of the numbered devotionals from 2014 via the archives.  They began November 30, 2014.
• The 2013 series was Emmanuel: When LOVE Showed Up in Person and examined the Prologue to the Gospel of John.  It began December 1, 2013.
• The 2012 series focused on Expecting the Unexpected…the unexpected, unlikely, and uniquely divine qualities of God’s perfect plan outlined in Luke’s account of the Christmas story.  It began December 1, 2012.

Lots of people, especially politicians and bureaucrats, like to refer to themselves as “civil servants.”  Too often that’s how those seeking power talk but not how they act once they are installed in a position of power.  Pastors, too, view themselves as servant leaders and many try to do it right.  But power has a way of corrupting people, even those of the faith.

Jesus knew how the game is played but He didn’t play the game.  He was the true servant King and in His birth, life, and ministry, even in His death, He showed us how a Servant King uses authority.

“Jesus called them together and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave– just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Matthew 20:25-28)

Questions for further study:

Would you say that modern intellectuals secretly despise a servant leader, viewing him as a patsy or a doormat, someone to be played?  Is a servant leader a sign of weakness or strength to them?  What about to you? 

In the Interlude between God’s loving provision and care for Adam and Eve in the Garden and the Return of the Messiah, God gave us a picture of the Servant King in Jesus Christ.  Read the following passage and identify the things a Servant King does.

Philippians 2:5 In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: 6 Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; 7 rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death– even death on a cross! 9 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

The world chooses the opposite of this kind of service.  Read back through the passage and identify how world leaders operate.

Would world leaders still prefer a tyrant king if they weren’t the kings, but among the subjugated instead?

===

Advent 2021 began Sunday, November 28th and continues to Friday, December 24th as we explore the multi-faceted Interlude between the promise of a Deliverer and the birth of our Messiah and King. By signing up on the sidebar of my Home Page you can receive these daily “Interlude” devotionals. Or they will be reposted on SeminaryGal’s Facebook page as well.

===

• Last year’s Advent Devotional Series Divine Intervention began on November 29, 2020 and explored God’s activity on behalf of a hurting world and nations in tumult– Intervention for you and for me when our status as sinners required nothing short of a miracle.
• God’s Christmas list explored what might be on God’s Christmas list, learning what He wants from us. It began December 1, 2019.
• Storyteller began December 2, 2018 and entered into the Christmas story through its telling.
• The 2017 series Still Christmas, began December 3, 2017 and was the Advent complement to the Lenten series, Be Still and Know that I AM God.
• The 2016 season devotionals were called “Timeless: The Message of Christmas for All Ages” and explored how the message of Christmas is timeless truth, for all ages of people, and for all ages at all times.  Timeless hope, encouragement, grace, peace, and love as we looked into the Word, saw the face of our Lord Jesus, and experienced restoration in His presence.  His goodness and His Gospel are truly Timeless. The 2016 devotionals began November 27, 2016.
• The 2015 season devotionals were titled Incarnation and involved digging deep–and yes, I mean deep– in this important mystery of Christian theology.  They began November 29, 2015.
• Carol Me, Christmas! remains one of my most popular offerings and tells the Christmas story through our most beloved Christmas hymns and carols.  You can access all of the numbered devotionals from 2014 via the archives.  They began November 30, 2014.
• The 2013 series was Emmanuel: When LOVE Showed Up in Person and examined the Prologue to the Gospel of John.  It began December 1, 2013.
• The 2012 series focused on Expecting the Unexpected…the unexpected, unlikely, and uniquely divine qualities of God’s perfect plan outlined in Luke’s account of the Christmas story.  It began December 1, 2012.

Making the nations prove the righteousness of God (which will in turn reveal and display the wonders of His love to those believed in His Name) … well, it is a task that has been long in coming and proving as hard as the hearts which will be forced to kneel before Him. 

Some will never repent.  They’ll do down on bended knee only begrudgingly and forced under the sheer tremendous power of God removing every last vestige of trust in anything else.  And we wonder why the world seems to be falling apart.  We’re witnessing the power of God crushing evil and a defeated enemy—the devil—lashing out and thrashing in his death throes, looking to take as many victims to hell as it can.

The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the One and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. John 1:14

Consider what a revolutionary statement that is.  In the birth of Christ, this is what we have: Revelation of God’s glory.  God dwelling among us.  Jesus, Son of Man, Son of God, the fullness of Deity in bodily form, Who took on flesh and clothed Himself with humanity, taking the form of a servant. He is the foremost and last…the Alpha and Omega of revolutionaries because He does it with grace and truth … which, along with love and wisdom, are God’s power commodities.

Not the kind of grace many in today’s world would welcome. In their arrogance of humanity, they don’t understand it.   Not the kind of truth they want to hear.  In their arrogance, they are gods of their own little lives and try to play god in the lives of others.  For them, it’s all about ruling other people and never about serving them.

Jesus bringing Grace and Truth is their death knell.   No wonder there’s a war on Christmas which celebrates His birth.

Questions for further study:

What tells me that we’re seeing the death throes of evil in this world?  It’s a simultaneous global uprising against the tyranny of man.  How else do you explain it, all around the world, all at once?  Lockdowns timed for Christmas and Easter.

Do you see it? It’s everywhere from Berlin, Brisbane, and Brussels to Paris, Poland, and Peru.  It’s A-to-Z as Argentina to Zagreb and everywhere in between. Is the news you’re watching even covering it?  If the news you’re watching isn’t showing you the global uprising against man’s tyranny, but covering it up, what side does that tell you that your news source is on?

Do modern intellectuals embrace the Virgin birth or reject it?  Why? I can’t emphasize this enough. There’s a reason why the Virgin birth is more than ridiculed. It’s despised. It’s because of Who was born.

What about so-called intellectuals believing that Jesus dwelled among us? Do they believe He was “God with us”?  What about Jesus being simultaneously the Son of Man and the Son of God?  Or His being God in bodily form?  Or do they dismiss Him as just another man? What does “Science” have to say about that? I’m all for science, but science is no god. Pray about your role in this war on Christmas and whose word you will follow, the Word before all time or something else?

===

Advent 2021 began Sunday, November 28th and continues to Friday, December 24th as we explore the multi-faceted Interlude between the promise of a Deliverer and the birth of our Messiah and King. By signing up on the sidebar of my Home Page you can receive these daily “Interlude” devotionals. Or they will be reposted on SeminaryGal’s Facebook page as well.

===

• Last year’s Advent Devotional Series Divine Intervention began on November 29, 2020 and explored God’s activity on behalf of a hurting world and nations in tumult– Intervention for you and for me when our status as sinners required nothing short of a miracle.
• God’s Christmas list explored what might be on God’s Christmas list, learning what He wants from us. It began December 1, 2019.
• Storyteller began December 2, 2018 and entered into the Christmas story through its telling.
• The 2017 series Still Christmas, began December 3, 2017 and was the Advent complement to the Lenten series, Be Still and Know that I AM God.
• The 2016 season devotionals were called “Timeless: The Message of Christmas for All Ages” and explored how the message of Christmas is timeless truth, for all ages of people, and for all ages at all times.  Timeless hope, encouragement, grace, peace, and love as we looked into the Word, saw the face of our Lord Jesus, and experienced restoration in His presence.  His goodness and His Gospel are truly Timeless. The 2016 devotionals began November 27, 2016.
• The 2015 season devotionals were titled Incarnation and involved digging deep–and yes, I mean deep– in this important mystery of Christian theology.  They began November 29, 2015.
• Carol Me, Christmas! remains one of my most popular offerings and tells the Christmas story through our most beloved Christmas hymns and carols.  You can access all of the numbered devotionals from 2014 via the archives.  They began November 30, 2014.
• The 2013 series was Emmanuel: When LOVE Showed Up in Person and examined the Prologue to the Gospel of John.  It began December 1, 2013.
• The 2012 series focused on Expecting the Unexpected…the unexpected, unlikely, and uniquely divine qualities of God’s perfect plan outlined in Luke’s account of the Christmas story.  It began December 1, 2012.

He rules the world with truth and grace
and makes the nations prove
the glories of His righteousness
and wonders of His love

I’ve always thought this verse of “Joy to the World” was particularly powerful.  The Lord “makes the nations prove”…kind of a hymn equivalent of “Turn to me and be saved, all you ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is no other.  By myself I have sworn, my mouth has uttered in all integrity a word that will not be revoked: Before me every knee will bow; by me every tongue will swear.  They will say of me, ‘In the LORD alone are deliverance and strength. ‘” All who have raged against him will come to him and be put to shame.  But all the descendants of Israel will find deliverance in the LORD and will make their boast in him.”  (Isaiah 45:22-25)

Only the Interlude makes clear that the birth of a baby is nothing to fear, but He was a revolutionary, nonetheless.  His appearing changed the entire course of human history by what He would do in 33 short years of His life and ministry.

Returning to the theme of the destruction of the Temple for a moment, Jesus foretold it and it happened.  What people did afterwards is the beginning of proving to the nations that idols are useless. ‘In the LORD alone are deliverance and strength.’  Until the moment of His return, there’s still time.  But soon the nations will rage in vain.

Haaretz recounts what the Jewish people did after the Messiah’s Advent and God destroyed the Temple (using Romans). 

“This [sacrificial system] ritual abruptly came to an end in 70 C.E., when the Romans put down the Jews’ Great Revolt and destroyed the Temple. At this point, what remained of the Jewish population in Judea had to decide how Passover would be celebrated.

(Time out.  Read that last sentence again in view of the sacrifice of the perfect Lamb of God.)

Continuing…

“The task of adapting Judaism to its new Temple-less reality fell to Rabban Gamaliel II, head of the Jewish Assembly – the Sanhedrin. With regard to the Passover sacrifice, Gamaliel decreed that the sacrifice should continue in family homes, with each family sacrificing its own goat or sheep.

(DIY)

However, other rabbis believed that the Passover sacrifice, like all the other sacrifices, could only be conducted by the priests in the Temple and that, like the other sacrifices, should not be conducted until the Messiah comes and the Temple is rebuilt.”

Questions for further thought:

Aren’t these the ways we deal with things?  Try to find a substitute to keep traditions going?  OR throw in the towel?  Give up?  Take a one-way-ticket to Quitter’s Field?

Haaretz continues by saying “ Within about two generations, the practice ceased when the anti-sacrifice camp assumed control and threatened to excommunicate those who practiced it. So, sometime in the second century C.E., Jews stopped the practice of sacrificing baby goats and sheep on Passover. Until recently, that is.”

The Jewish government has been actively stopping any attempt to resurrect the sacrificial system because of fears it will trigger a “Holy War.”  The article goes on to blame American Evangelicals for funding fringe Jewish groups trying to resume the sacrifices to usher in the Apocalypse.  Good grief. (Is it that easy to get Jesus to come back?)

What right-minded evangelical thinks that a return to animal sacrifice is needed after Jesus’ crucifixion? 

God will make the nations prove by first removing anything depended on as traditions and rituals…in place of Him. In the Interlude, God wants us to turn to Him and be saved. What is God removing in our culture to make the nations prove, the glories of His righteousness and wonders of His love?

===

Advent 2021 began Sunday, November 28th and continues to Friday, December 24th as we explore the multi-faceted Interlude between the promise of a Deliverer and the birth of our Messiah and King. By signing up on the sidebar of my Home Page you can receive these daily “Interlude” devotionals. Or they will be reposted on SeminaryGal’s Facebook page as well.

===

• Last year’s Advent Devotional Series Divine Intervention began on November 29, 2020 and explored God’s activity on behalf of a hurting world and nations in tumult– Intervention for you and for me when our status as sinners required nothing short of a miracle.
• God’s Christmas list explored what might be on God’s Christmas list, learning what He wants from us. It began December 1, 2019.
• Storyteller began December 2, 2018 and entered into the Christmas story through its telling.
• The 2017 series Still Christmas, began December 3, 2017 and was the Advent complement to the Lenten series, Be Still and Know that I AM God.
• The 2016 season devotionals were called “Timeless: The Message of Christmas for All Ages” and explored how the message of Christmas is timeless truth, for all ages of people, and for all ages at all times.  Timeless hope, encouragement, grace, peace, and love as we looked into the Word, saw the face of our Lord Jesus, and experienced restoration in His presence.  His goodness and His Gospel are truly Timeless. The 2016 devotionals began November 27, 2016.
• The 2015 season devotionals were titled Incarnation and involved digging deep–and yes, I mean deep– in this important mystery of Christian theology.  They began November 29, 2015.
• Carol Me, Christmas! remains one of my most popular offerings and tells the Christmas story through our most beloved Christmas hymns and carols.  You can access all of the numbered devotionals from 2014 via the archives.  They began November 30, 2014.
• The 2013 series was Emmanuel: When LOVE Showed Up in Person and examined the Prologue to the Gospel of John.  It began December 1, 2013.
• The 2012 series focused on Expecting the Unexpected…the unexpected, unlikely, and uniquely divine qualities of God’s perfect plan outlined in Luke’s account of the Christmas story.  It began December 1, 2012.

Have you ever wondered why the Jewish people no longer have a sacrificial system undergirding their religious practice?

I can’t say it any better than Brandon Marlon, a blogger from the Times of Israel,

“Commencing with Aaron and concluding with Pinhas ben Samuel, the high priesthood suffered a ludicrous descent from the exalted to the farcical. This bathetic decline abruptly ended during the Great Revolt with the fall of Jerusalem and Titus’ destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE.” 

The sacrificial system ended, too.  Again in Marlon’s words,

“In the absence of the Temple, the high priesthood as an institution went into abeyance and the regular priesthood became a nominal office whose members nonetheless retain certain privileges and responsibilities in modern Jewish tradition. Priests are the first to be called up for an aliyah to the Torah when it is read in synagogues; they officiate in the redemption of the firstborn (pidyon ha-ben) ceremony; they pronounce the priestly blessing upon the congregation during synagogue services; and they uphold the purity laws by avoiding contact with the deceased and refraining from marrying divorcees or prostitutes.”

Is that really all it takes? Being first to go up to the Torah? Officiating a firstborn ritual, or pronouncing a blessing? Avoiding contact with dead people and refraining (refraining, refraining!) from marrying divorcees or prostitutes? Where is God in all that? Think about Mary and Joseph doing all the Law required within the sacrificial system as they did everything “by the Book.“

Questions for further study:

Read Hebrews 10:1 “The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming– not the realities themselves. For this reason, it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship.2 Otherwise, would they not have stopped being offered? For the worshipers would have been cleansed once for all, and would no longer have felt guilty for their sins.

In what way did this annual display reveal both the high priesthood and sacrificial system as ineffective in practical terms and nothing more significant than a placeholder for drawing near to God between the Edenic sanctuary presence of God and His Messianic reign?

Scripture (Hebrews 10) continues

3 But those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins. 4 It is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.

5 Therefore, when Christ came into the world, He said: “Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, but a body You prepared for Me; 6 with burnt offerings and sin offerings you were not pleased. 7 Then I said, ‘Here I am– it is written about me in the scroll– I have come to do your will, my God.'”

8 First He said, “Sacrifices and offerings, burnt offerings and sin offerings You did not desire, nor were You pleased with them”– though they were offered in accordance with the law. 9 Then he said, “Here I am, I have come to do Your will.” He sets aside the first to establish the second.

What does it mean He “set aside” the first to establish the second? In what ways was Jesus’ sacrifice both perfect and complete?

10 And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. 11 Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. 12 But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, 13 and since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool. 14 For by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy. 15 The Holy Spirit also testifies to us about this. First he says: 16 “This is the covenant I will make with them after that time, says the Lord. I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds.” 17 Then he adds: “Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more.” 18 And where these have been forgiven, sacrifice for sin is no longer necessary. 19 Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, 20 by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water.” (Hebrews 10:1-22)

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Advent 2021 began Sunday, November 28th and continues to Friday, December 24th as we explore the multi-faceted Interlude between the promise of a Deliverer and the birth of our Messiah and King. By signing up on the sidebar of my Home Page you can receive these daily “Interlude” devotionals. Or they will be reposted on SeminaryGal’s Facebook page as well.

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• Last year’s Advent Devotional Series Divine Intervention began on November 29, 2020 and explored God’s activity on behalf of a hurting world and nations in tumult– Intervention for you and for me when our status as sinners required nothing short of a miracle.
• God’s Christmas list explored what might be on God’s Christmas list, learning what He wants from us. It began December 1, 2019.
• Storyteller began December 2, 2018 and entered into the Christmas story through its telling.
• The 2017 series Still Christmas, began December 3, 2017 and was the Advent complement to the Lenten series, Be Still and Know that I AM God.
• The 2016 season devotionals were called “Timeless: The Message of Christmas for All Ages” and explored how the message of Christmas is timeless truth, for all ages of people, and for all ages at all times.  Timeless hope, encouragement, grace, peace, and love as we looked into the Word, saw the face of our Lord Jesus, and experienced restoration in His presence.  His goodness and His Gospel are truly Timeless. The 2016 devotionals began November 27, 2016.
• The 2015 season devotionals were titled Incarnation and involved digging deep–and yes, I mean deep– in this important mystery of Christian theology.  They began November 29, 2015.
• Carol Me, Christmas! remains one of my most popular offerings and tells the Christmas story through our most beloved Christmas hymns and carols.  You can access all of the numbered devotionals from 2014 via the archives.  They began November 30, 2014.
• The 2013 series was Emmanuel: When LOVE Showed Up in Person and examined the Prologue to the Gospel of John.  It began December 1, 2013.
• The 2012 series focused on Expecting the Unexpected…the unexpected, unlikely, and uniquely divine qualities of God’s perfect plan outlined in Luke’s account of the Christmas story.  It began December 1, 2012.

There were many placeholders in the Interlude as God’s presence never left us completely alone.  The sacrificial system was a placeholder and the priesthood, too…until the birth of Christ who would eventually be the Lamb of God sacrificed for sin and our final High Priest with the perfect sacrifice of Himself.  A good chunk of the Book of Hebrews points that out.

If there were Interludes for God as King, our Savior from sin, the ground as cursed, and the Sanctuary to meet with God as physical and earthly, there was also an Interlude for the ways we could contemplate approaching a holy God.  The priesthood and the sacrificial system were God’s temporary answer to point us to the need of Christ’s forgiveness bought on the Cross as only blood can cleanse sin and result in forgiveness (Hebrews 9:22).

Our reliance too easily slips from truth of God onto the thing He gave us… onto what we can do instead.  What God gave us were placeholders to point us to the one thing we cannot do: save ourselves.  But what do we do? We rely on Bible study or church.  We rely on works of charity or almsgiving.  We rely on ritualistic prayer, etc.  Having the form of worship but empty, fruitless.

Imagine the horror the disciples felt when Jesus cursed the fig tree and proclaimed that the Temple would be utterly destroyed (Mark 13:1-2).  No wonder the priests were upset that cursing the fig tree and overturning the tables pointed to the end of the priesthood and the sacrificial system. It was the end of an era for things which were never intended to replace God.

Questions for further thought:

Read Mark 11:12 The next day as they were leaving Bethany, Jesus was hungry. 13 Seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to find out if it had any fruit. When he reached it, he found nothing but leaves, because it was not the season for figs. 14 Then he said to the tree, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.” And his disciples heard him say it.

15 On reaching Jerusalem, Jesus entered the temple courts and began driving out those who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves, 16 and would not allow anyone to carry merchandise through the temple courts. 17 And as he taught them, he said, “Is it not written: ‘My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations’? But you have made it ‘a den of robbers.’ “

 18 The chief priests and the teachers of the law heard this and began looking for a way to kill him, for they feared him, because the whole crowd was amazed at his teaching. 19 When evening came, Jesus and his disciples went out of the city. 20 In the morning, as they went along, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots.

 21 Peter remembered and said to Jesus, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree you cursed has withered!” 22 “Have faith in God,” Jesus answered. 23 “Truly I tell you, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in their heart but believes that what they say will happen, it will be done for them. 24 Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. 25 And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.”

 27 They arrived again in Jerusalem, and while Jesus was walking in the temple courts, the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders came to him. 28 “By what authority are you doing these things?” they asked. “And who gave you authority to do this?”

If leaves were showy enough to be seen at a distance, even immature figs would have been present on a fully leafed out tree.  It is an acted parable to show judgment against barren practices.  All show and no fruit isn’t Jesus’ way.  Beginning at verse 15, identify what fruitless practices Jesus might have been thinking of (i.e. ones dire enough to culminate in the destruction of the Temple and the sacrificial system).

Withering from the roots is a way of saying the root system was dead.  Ask God to show you areas of fruitless practice and any reliance on earning salvation instead of on the Life-giver.

===

Advent 2021 began Sunday, November 28th and continues to Friday, December 24th as we explore the multi-faceted Interlude between the promise of a Deliverer and the birth of our Messiah and King. By signing up on the sidebar of my Home Page you can receive these daily “Interlude” devotionals. Or they will be reposted on SeminaryGal’s Facebook page as well.

===

• Last year’s Advent Devotional Series Divine Intervention began on November 29, 2020 and explored God’s activity on behalf of a hurting world and nations in tumult– Intervention for you and for me when our status as sinners required nothing short of a miracle.
• God’s Christmas list explored what might be on God’s Christmas list, learning what He wants from us. It began December 1, 2019.
• Storyteller began December 2, 2018 and entered into the Christmas story through its telling.
• The 2017 series Still Christmas, began December 3, 2017 and was the Advent complement to the Lenten series, Be Still and Know that I AM God.
• The 2016 season devotionals were called “Timeless: The Message of Christmas for All Ages” and explored how the message of Christmas is timeless truth, for all ages of people, and for all ages at all times.  Timeless hope, encouragement, grace, peace, and love as we looked into the Word, saw the face of our Lord Jesus, and experienced restoration in His presence.  His goodness and His Gospel are truly Timeless. The 2016 devotionals began November 27, 2016.
• The 2015 season devotionals were titled Incarnation and involved digging deep–and yes, I mean deep– in this important mystery of Christian theology.  They began November 29, 2015.
• Carol Me, Christmas! remains one of my most popular offerings and tells the Christmas story through our most beloved Christmas hymns and carols.  You can access all of the numbered devotionals from 2014 via the archives.  They began November 30, 2014.
• The 2013 series was Emmanuel: When LOVE Showed Up in Person and examined the Prologue to the Gospel of John.  It began December 1, 2013.
• The 2012 series focused on Expecting the Unexpected…the unexpected, unlikely, and uniquely divine qualities of God’s perfect plan outlined in Luke’s account of the Christmas story.  It began December 1, 2012.