Calvary Temple

The representation of Jesus in the Old Testament is very evident, for those who will see it. Scholars predominately agree that all the references to “The Angel of the Lord” is speaking of Jesus in each instance.

In addition to The Angel of the Lord being the pre-incarnate Jesus, many also agree that Jesus can be seen in so many other manifestations in the OId Testament, and the words of Jesus himself, in the New Testament certainly support this.

Join us for this interesting study in Exodus 40:36-38 to learn how Jesus was represented or manifested in the Passover, the Red Sea crossing, the Pillars of Cloud and Fire, the manna, quail and water out of the Rock, and how the Apostle Paul wraps it up nicely in I Corinthians 10:1-3.

In the book of Exodus, when the Children of Israel left Egypt’s bondage bound for the Promised Land, God provided an angel in the form of a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night to go in front of them to lead them on the way.

But, just at the time when they were seemingly trapped between the Red Sea and the Pharoah's encroaching army, facing certain death either way they turned, God strategically moved…i.e., repositioned, the all-important angel of the Pillar of Cloud from in front of them, to the rear of them.

Now, they could no longer see it! But, what they didn’t know was, just how strategic and important this repositioning was to them, for: Exodus 14:19 says (New Century Version)

"Also, the pillar of cloud moved from in front of the people and stood behind them. So, the cloud came between the Egyptians and the Israelites. This made it DARK for the Egyptians, but gave light to the Israelites. So, the cloud kept the two armies apart all night."

So, if you ever think your angel has moved, you might just need to turn and look behind you; because, just maybe, the Lord has simply repositioned him for your protection!

In II Chronicles 20:12-24 King Jehoshaphat’s great horde of enemies were coming after him, so he went to prayer. Jehoshaphat said, we are powerless against this great horde and we don’t know what to do, but our eyes are upon you, Lord.

God answered Jehoshaphat’s prayer through the prophet Jahaziel using the same language Jehoshaphat used saying, Do not fear nor be dismayed by the great horde, for the battle is not yours, but God’s.

Sometimes, like the king Jehoshaphat did, we have to be battle ready. But, God said to believe Him, and believe the prophet, and they will succeed. And succeed, they did! For in the morning, after the worshippers were sent out before the warriors, the enemy had completely destroyed each other.

Do not fear nor be dismayed by the great horde you might see in your life. Believe in God and the prophet, and succeed.

Jesus said, unless a grain of wheat falls to the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.

A seed pod, so full of life and potential in itself, must fully surrender itself and die, become useless and dead, because the plant, which bears the fruit, grows from the life inside the seed, splitting apart and causing it to die. But without the seed, the plant has no chance of life.   

Similarly, the Apostle Paul explained the resurrection to the doubtful Corinthians, in I Corinthians 15:35 that the dead are raised in the resurrection because the seed—Jesus Christ—surrendered himself and died for our sins and was buried  in the ground, but like Him, the seed, was not what will be raised in the resurrection.

For then, we will be raised glorified, with the glory of a heavenly body, just like Christ was. Verse 49 promises us that, just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, so shall we also bear the image of the Man of Heaven, Jesus Christ.  Praise the Lord!! 

In Jeremiah 5:20-24 God instructs the prophet, Jeremiah, to tell the foolish and senseless people, in the house of Jacob and in Judah, that they need to fear the Lord. He said, I’m the One who drew the boundary of the sea in the sand and though the waves toss, they cannot prevail against that boundary. He also said, I am the One who sends the rain in its season, the autumn rains and the spring rains, and I am the One who keeps for you the weeks appointed for the harvest.

Sounds pretty sure that the harvest will surely come! Again in Deuteronomy 11:13-17, God talked about sending the rain in its season for the land, the early and the latter rains, that the grain, wine and oil harvests may be gathered at the appointed time.

But, He goes on to say that, turning aside from God, committing sinful worship of idols, can stop the rains from coming. If ever, America needs to repent of her sins, it’s now, so that the spiritual latter rains can come upon the church and the harvest of souls can be gathered in.

In John 19:28-30 when Jesus uttered the words “It Is Finished,” He meant a lot more than just the fact that his life on this earth was nearly over. Hebrews 2:10 tells us that Jesus’ obedience to the Father was perfected in his suffering on the cross, and through that suffering, Jew and Gentile were united in one spirit; the reign of eternal death was conquered and salvation was made available to all. Isaiah 53:5 tells us that the full payment for our sinful transgressions, our wicked iniquities, our peace, and our healings, were all finished on the cross. Thank You, Jesus for finishing it all on the cross.

When the Israelites were miraculously delivered by God from Egyptian bondage and slavery, they left Egypt with a vast amount of goods which was a fulfillment of scripture.

Those goods were contributed by those people whose hearts were moved upon by the Holy Spirit to be used to build the tabernacle, where God himself would dwell and meet with the people.

God endued two leaders, Bezelel and Oholiab, with very specific ability, intelligence and all knowledge and all craftsmanship to build the tabernacle, and he gave every able man the knowledge to perform the work under the guidance of these two leaders.

In Exodus 36:6, Moses gave the command to the people to stop giving, because they’d given so much that it was much more than was needed to complete the job.

The contribution, the hand-picked team, and the all-sufficiency of God are quite a winning combination.

The Nazirite laws laid out in Numbers 6 governed how a person who wanted to make a vow to God must separate themselves and be dedicated only to God. These laws were strict and, if entered into, must be kept until they were completely accomplished. Then, after sacrificial offerings were made to God, the blessing would be given to them.

Abraham also received great blessings from God, but it cost him faith through his obedience to leave his homeland of Ur, his family, wealth, and follow God to the strange new land of Canaan. But the blessing was fulfilled just as God said it would be.

Do we have what it takes to be fully consecrated and live by faith, in order to receive our blessing?

In Matthew 12:22-32 Jesus upset the religious leadership.  He performed a miracle, healing a man who was blind and mute and the man both saw and spoke.  But the Pharisees accused him of using Satan’s power to perform this miracle.

The one thing God will not tolerate is attributing his divine power to Satan.  It’s called blasphemy of the Holy Spirit, and it is the one and only unforgivable sin.

This sin can only be committed by an unrepentant unbeliever.  It is the saddest sin for an unbeliever to commit because this sin permanently separates the rejector of God from ever having fellowship with God, both in this life and the life to come.

In II Kings 3:9-20 the three kings of Israel, Judah and Edom joined forces to fight against the far mightier king of Moab, King Mesha who was poised to conquer all of them.

They consulted the prophet Elisha and the Lord gave Elisha a message of deliverance for the three kings united against Moab. Elisha said, “this is a light thing in the sight of the Lord.” God worked a true miracle in providing needed water for the armies and horses, and gave the Moabites into their hands.

If you, too, are facing a Moab, remember that “this is a light thing in the sight of the Lord.”

Beautiful closing music by Emmanuel_S Music: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6RWDNJiiG-yiOiz5QM_9rg