Thursday, July 21, 2016

Seal and Mark.

Tonight we're going to read a whole other perspective on things.  Again, this is written by a Biblical scholar, someone who has a lot more knowledge than I ever will. Someone who has the ability to remember things I would never be able to remember.  With this knowledge we have to pray that God opens our hearts and minds to His truth. Pray that we gain all the understanding we need. We can't be afraid to delve into things that are difficult to read, things we might have to read over and over to understand.

Please, Lord, please help us.

*

XXXV - 2 (2002) “Watchman, what of the night?” William Grotheer

"The hour has come, the hour is striking and striking at you, the hour and the end!" Eze. 7:6 (Moffatt)
“Mark A Tau”                                                             
“Joshua Was Clothed with Filthy Garments”
"The Seal of God or the Mark of the Beast"
*
Editor's Preface
Whenever Ezekiel 9, which can be related to the ritual of the typical Day of Atonement, is studied, the question follows as to what is the "seal of God," as well as to what is its prophetic antithesis, the "mark of the beast." In this issue we follow the same sequence of study. The "man clothed in linen" places a mark on the foreheads of certain inhabitants of Jerusalem. What is that "mark"? There is no way to arrive at the conclusion that the "mark" in Ezekiel 9 is the same as the "seal" in Revelation 7 if we use the format which mark some seals as used in today's legal transactions.

Eze 9:4  And the LORD said unto him, Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof.
Eze 9:5  And to the others he said in mine hearing, Go ye after him through the city, and smite: let not your eye spare, neither have ye pity:
Eze 9:6  Slay utterly old and young, both maids, and little children, and women: but come not near any man upon whom is the mark; and begin at my sanctuary. Then they began at the ancient men which were before the house.

The conflict between God and the "beast" is about worship.

We worship either "Him who made," or we worship the beast and his image and receive a mark.

However, associated with the message to worship the Creator, is the "everlasting gospel." Is there a "gospel" involved with the "beast"? All of these factors must be considered to arrive at a correct answer as to the "mark."

Back in 1998, the current Pope issued an Apostolic Letter discussing the Dies Domini. He suggested that "Christians will naturally strive to ensure that civil legislation respects their duty to keep Sunday holy" (#67). This caused widespread comment. However, three years earlier this same call was made in the Catechism of the Catholic Church (#2188) and little was said. The real emphasis in both the Catechism, as well as the Apostolic Letter, was the altering of the Catholic explanation and claim for the change in the day of worship from Saturday to Sunday. Further, the emphasis on Sunday worship is centered in the celebration of the Eucharist - the Mass. This sacrament of the Eucharist is considered "the source and summit of the Christian life." (#1324. 1st ed.)
"We have many lessons to learn, and many, many to unlearn. God and heaven alone are infallible."

"Mark a Tau"

The Tau is the last letter of the Hebrew alphabet. This was the mark which the "man clothed in linen, with a writer's inkhorn by his side" was instructed to place on the foreheads of those "that sigh and cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst" of Jerusalem. (Ezekiel 9:2, 4). The margin in the KJV gives the literal rendering to verse 4, "mark a mark." Besides being the name of the last letter of the Hebrew alphabet, it had a word meaning as well. It meant a mark or a sign "especially in the form of a cross." "It is related of the synod of Chalcedon, and other oriental synods, that the bishops who could not write their names affixed the mark of the cross instead of them; and this is common at the present day in the case of persons who cannot write" (Gesenius, Hebrew & English Lexicon of the Old Testament, art., "tau," p. 1121).

All of this data could open up speculative interpretations which should be avoided. The context within this vision given to Ezekiel suggests that the concept of the Tau as the last letter of the Hebrew alphabet has merit. It is placed upon the foreheads of a "last" people of God. Throughout this vision, the "man" who places the tau is described as "clothed in linen" (vs. 2, 3, 11). This was the type of cloth of which the attire of the High Priest on the Day of Atonement was made. (Lev. 16:4). The "man clothed in linen" with the other six having slaughtering weapons in their hands, come and stand at the brazen altar where the last act of reconciliation was performed ceremonially on that day. (Lev. 16:18-20). He who was enthroned above the cherubim moved to the threshold of the sanctuary, and gave commandment to the man clothed in linen at the Altar.

In the book of Revelation, this last group, those which are "redeemed from among men," have "the Father's name written in their foreheads" (Rev. 14:4, 1). We would not, nor could we conceive suggesting that God signs His name with an "x." However, the Father has been closely identified with the Cross. He "was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself" (II Cor. 5:19). In Revelation, the vision of God upon the throne includes the "Lamb as it had been slain" standing in the midst.

In the typical service of the Day of Atonement, the objective concerned a select group of people - only those who had confessed their sins, and received the results of the first atonement, forgiveness. Likewise the placing of the special mark is confined to a select group, those who sigh and cry for the abomination done in the midst of a special city, a city where God had placed His name. In this vision of Ezekiel, the same One who would provide forgiveness placed the mark on the recipients of that forgiveness. When "the man clothed in linen" completed his work, he reported back to the One seated on the cherubim (v.11).

The Chapter also contains a revelation of a description of the work of the men with slaughtering weapons. These execute the wrath of God against those who have filled Jerusalem with "a wresting of judgment" (v.9, margin); a stretching or bending of what is right, while making it more acceptable, mitigates its witness. On the typical Day of Atonement, there was to be soul affliction, and the one not so doing, would be cut off. (Lev. 23:29). "Soul affliction" is incompatible with "a wresting of judgment." While the "man clothed in linen" is doing his work of "marking" those sighing and crying in their "soul affliction;" others also under the direct command of God do their work against those who are perverting the way of God. They slay "utterly" beginning at God's sanctuary with "the ancient men which are before the house" (9:6). There is much to learn from this prophecy, so as not to make a wrong interpretation or application.

The "man clothed in linen" does not pass from view, for in the next phase of this extended vision shown to Ezekiel, He again appears, but minus "the writer's inkhorn" (10:2, 6, 7). The marking had been done. (9:11). Now another command awaits him. This command and the symbolism connected with it demand our careful study.

From the throne (10:1) the "man clothed in linen" was instructed –

Go in between the wheels, even under the cherub, and fill thine hand with coals of fire from between the cherubim, and scatter them over the city." (10:2)

These cannot be considered "coals" of destruction, because the men with slaughtering weapons had already slain "utterly" all who had not been marked (9:6). Those remaining in the city were only the marked ones, and on these were scattered "the coals of fire from between the cherubim." Here again we see the mingled blood (Lev. 16:18) of the final atonement - the Man clothed in linen, who marked His people with a "mark of redemption;" and the One on the throne who provided "coals of fire" for their cleansing. (See Isaiah. 6:6-7) Then "the court was full of the brightness of the Lord's glory" (Eze. 10:4). Is this again alluded to in Revelation 18:1 - "and the earth [the court] was lightened with his glory"?

"Joshua was Clothed with Filthy Garments"

The revelation given to Zechariah in the vision of the third chapter demands careful study. Joshua, the high priest stands in judicial review before, "the angel of the Lord" with "Satan standing at his (Joshua's) right hand to resist him" (v.1). As the vision unfolds, this Angel is designated simply as "the Lord" (v. 2) and His redemptive powers as the Messiah are revealed (v. 4). Further, this Divine Messenger proclaims the promise and the objective of the Lord of hosts to be realized by His messianic servant, "the BRANCH" (vs. 7-8). There is a close relationship between these verses and the revelation in Chapter 6:12-13, which reveals "The BRANCH" as the One who will accomplish the design of "the counsel of peace which was between the Two of Them" (Heb).

Here in Zechariah 3 are all the elements symbolized in the services of the typical Day of Atonement: the mingled blood of the bullock and the Lord's goat to accomplish the final cleansing (the action of the Messianic Lord and the decree of the Lord of hosts); the scapegoat for Azazel (Satan standing at the right hand of Joshua); the High Priest carrying in himself the sins of the children of Israel, and placing them on the head of the scapegoat (Joshua clothed in filthy garments); and the ultimate atonement, the removal of the uncleanness of the children of Israel (the change of raiment and the removal of all iniquity). (See Leviticus 16).

In this vision given to Zechariah, the High Priest is standing for the people as the mediator between them and Jehovah. When the office was instituted, not only was the high priest to carry Israel in symbol in the two onyx stones set in gold placed on his shoulders (Ex. 28:11-12) and in the breastplate (28:29); but there was a special significance to the plate of pure gold which he was to wear on his forehead on which were engraved the words, "HOLINESS TO THE LORD" (28:36) The instruction states:

And it (the plate) shall be upon Aaron's forehead, that Aaron may bear the iniquity of the holy things which the children of Israel shall hallow in their holy gifts, and it shall be always upon his forehead, that they may be accepted before the Lord" (Ez. 28:38)

Keil & Delitzsch make a very enlightening comment on this verse. It reads:

The high priest was exalted into an atoning mediator of the whole nation, and an atoning sin-exterminating intercession was associated with his office. The qualification for this he received from the diadem upon his forehead with the inscription "holiness to the Lord." Through this inscription, which was fastened upon his head-dress of brilliant white, the earthly reflection of holiness, he was crowned as sanctified to the Lord, and endowed with the power to exterminate the sin which clung to the holy offerings of the people on account of the unholiness of their nature, so that the gifts of the nation became well-pleasing to the Lord, and the good pleasure of God was manifest to the nation. (Commentary of the Old Testament, Vol.1, pp.203-204)

When we understand that the Aaronic priesthood was but typical of the reality, Jesus Christ, High Priest forever after the Order of Melchizedec, then the "sin exterminating intercession" which was basic in the final atonement, takes on renewed significance in the light of the vision to Zechariah. First, Joshua, standing for the people, could not remove his filthy garments. They had to be taken from him. The command was given by the Divine Messenger, "Take away the filthy garments from him" (3:4). Joshua could refuse, knowing the result - he would at some point be naked before the Lord. He had a choice. Either respond as did Adam, and make himself a garment of "fig leaves," or accept the provision of the Divine Mediator: "I have caused thine iniquity to pass from thee, and I will give thee a change of raiment."

It is either faith or works, my works to achieve perfection, or faith to believe what the great High Priest says He will and can do. The message of the type declared plainly that the High Priest alone accomplished the cleansing on the typical Day of Atonement. The vision given to Zechariah states likewise that the Divine Messenger, The BRANCH, will do for man that which he cannot do for himself, take away his "filthy garments" and give him a change of raiment.

The concept that the high priest stood for Israel before God is echoed in the New Testament motif of being "in Christ." "Ye are complete in Him" (Col. 2:10); "Your life is hid with Christ in God" (3:3); "If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature" (II Cor. 5:17). Even the hope of the resurrection is based in this relationship: "the dead in Christ shall arise first" (I Thess. 4:16). "For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive" (I Cor. 15:22). It was Paul's desire to "be found in Him, not having [his] own righteousness, which is of the law but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith" (Phil. 3:9).

There are two other revelations in this vision given to Zechariah which need further and careful study: 1) The results of the mediation of the Divine Messenger produce "men wondered at" (v.8). The margin, indicating the Hebrew, states that these cleansed ones will be "men of wonder." What does this mean? And 2) The "Lord of hosts" declares that He "will remove the iniquity of the land in one day" (v.9). The question is, does this apply to the final cleansing of the earth by fire at the end of the age, or is this speaking of the final "manifestation of the sons of God" (Rom. 8:19) just prior to the close of probation?

*****
The religious services, the prayers, the praise, the penitent confession of sin ascend from true believers as incense to the heavenly sanctuary, but passing through the corrupt channels of humanity, they are so defiled that unless purified by blood, they can never be of value with God. They ascend not in spotless purity, and unless the Intercessor, who is at God’s right hand, presents and purifies all by His righteousness, it is not acceptable to God. All incense from earthly tabernacles must be moist with the cleansing drops of the blood of Christ. He holds before the Father the censer of His own merits, in which there is no taint of earthly corruption. He gathers into this censer the prayers, the praise, and the confessions of His people, and with these He puts His own spotless righteousness. Then, perfumed with merits of Christ’s propitiation, the incense comes up before God wholly and entirely acceptable.  Then gracious answers are returned.

Oh, that all may see that everything in obedience, in penitence, in praise and thanksgiving, must be placed upon the glowing fire of the righteousness of Christ. The fragrance of this righteousness ascends like a cloud around the mercy seat. (Manuscript 50, 1900)
*****

More tomorrow, it's time to digest what we've just read. Read it…re-read it and re-read it again.  Our hope is in CHRIST and CHRIST alone, not in ourselves, not in others.

All by the grace of our Lord- Jesus Christ our Savior now and forever!!

Amen.

No comments: