Hi all,
I love studying Jewish culture of the Bible because it provides context and understanding of things otherwise lost on us. And some things don’t have anything to do with culture: Sometimes a preacher will lift a verse out of context and twist the meaning for a sermon, book, or web grab, so what we think is God really isn’t. So I hope this will be fun and at least part of it new information.
Some of what we’ll cover in this series is: Can the devil hear your prayer language? What is the 100 fold return? What is ‘outer darkness’? What is the significance of the ‘clean linen’ at the Marriage Super of the Lamb? Why did Steven say he saw Jesus standing at the right hand of God? And more!
We can’t know His higher ways
Many a preacher has based a sermon about the mysteries of God on Isaiah 55: 7-11:
“Let the wicked forsake their ways and the unrighteous their thoughts. Let them turn to the Lord, and he will have mercy on them, and to our God, for he will freely pardon. “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.”
The focus is always on we cannot know God’s higher ways. His ways are higher, His thoughts are higher, and we mere humans cannot know these higher things. But look at what it actually says: “Let the wicked forsake (leave, turn his back on and leave) their ways and their (unrighteous) thoughts and the Lord….will pardon. For my thoughts are not your thoughts neither are your ways my ways.”
The passage actually commands that we leave our ways and thoughts and come up to His higher ways and thoughts. It isn’t a statement that He is too high and we too low, rather an invitation to forsake our ways and thoughts and come up to His ways and thoughts.
This is consistent with New Testament realities, including Romans 12: 1-2 which says to present our bodies a living sacrifice, undergo a metamorphosis by renewing our minds to His ways and thoughts, and thus we will be able to walk out the good, acceptable and complete will of God. He invites us in Isaiah 55: 7-11 to come up to His ways and thoughts.
When I was a teenager I saw this, and set my heart on Psalm 103: 7: “He made known His ways to Moses; His acts to the children of Israel.” The ‘acts’ were the miracles the people of Israel saw as they wandered in the wilderness. Even as a teen I had seen Christians living miracle to miracle, with low valleys in between in a roller coaster faith. But Moses knew the ways of God. If we know the ways then the miracles will happen. We can live in His ways and thoughts because we have thoroughly forsaken our own.
Why did Steven see Jesus standing at the right hand of the Father?
The whole of Acts 7 is taken by Steven being arrested and giving his defense before the Sanhedrin. His martyrdom happened like this in v55-59:
“But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. “Look,” he said, “I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” At this they covered their ears and, yelling at the top of their voices, they all rushed at him, dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. Meanwhile, the witnesses laid their coats at the feet of a young man named Saul. While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” Then he fell on his knees and cried out, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” When he had said this, he fell asleep.”
Why did Steven see Jesus standing – not sitting – at the right hand of God? Why did it cause them to be enraged enough to drag him out of the city and execute him? It is from Isaiah 3: 13: “The Lord stands to plead (accuse), and stands to judge the people.” There are several other scriptures that talk of Him standing or arising to judge.
In Judaism God’s judgment is seen in two actions: Standing up or arising, and sitting down. The standing up/arising is the accusation against the accused, it is the charging of the crime, for which the Lord states His case. This is seen in Isaiah 2: 19-21 and 33:10. Vs 19: “And they will run to holes in the rocks and caves of the earth for fear of the Lord and the glory of His Majesty, when He arises to terribly shake the earth.” This is when God comes forward to accuse, to lay the charges against the guilty. He stands to do so.
His accusation is irrefutable because He is Truth. Therefore the accusation contains the sentence. Accused by God, the person knows instantly the accusation is true and accurate in every way. God then sits down to render His judgment.
When Steven saw Jesus standing at the right hand of the Father, the whole of the Sanhedrin understood the Lord was bringing accusation against THEM, not him. Instead, he never sees Jesus sit down. Their destiny lay in their response to Jesus standing. And yet, Steven showed grace. Why? Because as he is dying he says: “Lord lay not this sin to their charge.” In other words, ‘Lord, dismiss the charges against them, do not hold them accountable.’ Once Steven released them from the sin of his murder, the accusation/judgement was dropped. Case dismissed. Whatever other sins the members of the Sanhedrin may stand account for on that day, murdering Steven won’t be one of them.
Here is what it means for you and I
This why the New Testament says Jesus is seated at the right hand of the Father. (Colossians 3: 1, Hebrews 10:12, 12: 2, I Peter 3: 22) Jesus brings no accusation against His own. He carried the ‘handwriting of ordinances that was against us, taking it out the way, nailing it to His cross.’ The cross caused the dismissal of all charges against us, nailing it to His cross. Jesus is therefore seated with the Father. Now He oversees the body of believers who have accepted His payment of the accusations and justification for those who believe. (Acts 13: 39, I Corinthians 6:11) We are justified by faith in Christ.
All accusations, all charges have been dropped, so He isn’t standing to accuse. In fact it is better than that, for I Corinthians 6: 11 says: “…now are we justified in the name of the Lord Jesus by the Spirit of God.” Justification means not just pardoned, not just the charges dismissed that were leveled against you, but you stand before the court as if there never were any charges. The Judge justifies us because we’ve been washed in His blood. All things are new and all things new are of God.
Jesus stands to accuse, and sits to render judgment. II Corinthians 5:10 says: “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for the things he did while in his body, good or bad.” So we don’t come before a standing Jesus who might stand to accuse, but rather with no accusation, He sits to judge what we’ve done while in our body. This isn’t a threat of hell, for we are already part of His Kingdom. A father may catch his child doing wrong, but there is no threat of disowning the child, only within the family a reckoning. That is the judgment seat of Christ. Not based on accusation, but based on what we’ve done since being in Him.
So if you’ve believed the judgment seat of Christ is about you may not be allowed into heaven, now you see the truth. You’re already a child of the king, He isn’t going to kick you out. He is seated at the right of the Father. The Father was in Christ reconciling us to Himself. Old things are gone, all is new, and what is new is of God.
Amazing grace!
More next week, until then, blessings,
John Fenn
