Under the Lamb

Over the year’s archeologist, anthropologist, theologians, missionaries and many others have found countless examples where certain elements of a certain people group's customs or traditions point directly to the God of the Bible and Christ’s finished work. Missionaries in turn have been able to use these elements, which appear to have been strategically placed, to win souls for Christ. An example of this was presented in the previous post regarding the custom of the Sawi tribe's offering of a "Peace Child". What follows is yet another example.

The Chinese system of writing is based on 214 signs, or “roots”. These 214 roots are combined to produce between 30,000 and 50,000 characters. Many missionaries who have had to learn the Chinese language have understandably met with great difficulty. However, one day certain missionary was studying the Chinese character for the word "righteous". The missionary noticed that the character is made up of three symbols which form two distinct parts, an upper and lower portion.



The upper portion consists of the Chinese symbol for a lamb.



The bottom portion is actually made up of two symbols.

The symbol for hand



and the symbol for spear or knife



When these two symbols are used together they form the first person pronoun I.



So in total the word "righteous" consisted of the symbol for the first person pronoun I underneath the symbl of a lamb.



The missionary had made an extraordinary discovery; here, hidden within the complex Chinese writing system was the heart of the Gospel:

I under the Lamb am righteous!

The Chinese were baffled when their attention was drawn to this hidden message. They had never noticed it before, but now they saw it very clearly. From that point forward missionaries would point out this message hidden within the Chinese’s very own writing system and ask them, "Under which lamb do we have to stand in order to be righteous and just?" When the Chinese could not provide an answer the missionaries would joyfully tell them about the "the Lamb which was slain" Rev. 5:12, the same "Lamb of God which takes away the sins of the world" John 1:29, none other than The Lord Jesus Christ. Remember, God does not leave Himself without a witness! Acts 14:17

Note: It is very interesting that the symbols used to form the pronoun I are a hand and a spear/knife. Perhaps this points to the sacrifice which was required of this Lamb in order for us to be made righteous. In addition to that, this could also point to the fact that this Lamb would be pierced. Psalms 22:16, Zec 12:10, John 19:34, Rev. 1:7. There is no limit to the lengths our Father has gone to, to gather us back into His arms. We truly serve an Amazing God!

Taken from Don Richardson's book: Eternity In Thier Hearts

Master of Disguise

27:11 And Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, Behold, Esau my brother is a hairy man, and I am a smooth man:

27:12 My father peradventure will feel me, and I shall seem to him as a deceiver; and I shall bring a curse upon me, and not a blessing.

27:15 And Rebekah took goodly raiment of her eldest son Esau, which were with her in the house, and put them upon Jacob her younger son:

27:16 And she put the skins of the kids of the goats upon his hands, and upon the smooth of his neck:

27:18 And he came unto his father, and said, My father: and he said, Here am I; who art thou, my son?

27:19 And Jacob said unto his father, I am Esau thy firstborn; I have done according as thou badest me: arise, I pray thee, sit and eat of my venison, that thy soul may bless me.

27:21 And Isaac said unto Jacob, Come near, I pray thee, that I may feel thee, my son, whether thou be my very son Esau or not.

27:22 And Jacob went near unto Isaac his father; and he felt him, and said, The voice is Jacob's voice, but the hands [are] the hands of Esau.

27:23 And he discerned him not, because his hands were hairy, as his brother Esau's hands: so he blessed him.

We all know this story from Genesis 27 in which Jacob pretends to be his brother Esau so that his father Isaac will bless him as the firstborn instead of Esau. So what exactly is going on here, and what does it have to do with us. Well let’s look at what Jacob desires and how he goes about obtaining it. Jacob desires his father’s blessing, and even more specifically the blessing of the first born son. Jacob obtains this blessing by pretending to be Isaac’s first born son Esau, using both his name and his raiment. So Jacob comes before his father and assumes the identity of the first born son, in order to receive blessings from his father. This is exactly what we do. We use the name and assume the identity of Christ the Son, in order to receive blessings from our Father. This same concept can be found in 1st Samuel 18:4 where Jonathan places his garments on David. The New Testament is in the Old Testament concealed, and the Old Testament is in the New Testament revealed. It is ONE book and it’s all about HIM!!!

Christ's First Miracle

(Note: Like so many other studies I put together, this didn't come out anywhere near as clearly or concisely as I had hoped. There is just so much depth to this stuff that it is hard to know what to include and what to leave out since in my eyes it is all equally important. I can only hope that you will see it through the lens of the Holy Spirit and will able to glean some useful things from it. That being said, if you have any questions about any of my post feel free to e-mail me. I will try my best to clear things up.)

I have recently studied Christ’s first miracle and how it relates to our lives both before and after we come to know Christ.

It is my view, that we have in our possession a collection of 66 books, penned by 40 different authors, over thousands of years and yet it is an integrated message system, given to us by supernatural means through the power of the Holy Spirit from beyond our time domain. It is in its total one book, devoted to one topic, that topic being of course Jesus Christ. One book, it’s all about Him.

“All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for
reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness” 2nd Timothy 3:16

What this verse is saying is that there are no wasted words. The Holy Spirit is both efficient and
effective. If a word or detail is there, it is there by His design and points to something deeper.

So let’s focus on Christ’s first miracle the turning of the water into wine at the wedding in Cana in John
chapter 2.

1] And the third day there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee; and the mother of Jesus was there:
2] And both Jesus was called, and his disciples, to the marriage.
3] And when they wanted wine, the mother of Jesus saith unto him, They have no wine.
4] Jesus saith unto her, Woman, what have I to do with thee? mine hour is not yet come.
5] His mother saith unto the servants, Whatsoever he saith unto you, do [it].
6] And there were set there six waterpots of stone, after the manner of the purifying of the Jews, containing two or three firkins apiece.
7] Jesus saith unto them, Fill the waterpots with water. And they filled them up to the brim

“Firkin”: A firkin is a goatskin measurement of 6-8 gallons; 2-3 firkins would equalbetween 12-24 gallons each. The Greek word translated as “containing” is chōreō which actually means “to have space or room for receiving or holding.” So the end of this verse could be more accurately translated “which could hold two or three firkins apiece”. The point is, the the pots were empty. That is why Christ tells the servants to fill them with water.

8] And he saith unto them, Draw out now, and bear unto the governor of the feast. And they bare [it].
9] When the ruler of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and knew not whence it was: (but the servants which drew the water knew;) the governor of the feast called the bridegroom,
10] And saith unto him, Every man at the beginning doth set forth good wine; and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse: [but] thou hast kept the good wine until now.
11] This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested forth his glory; and his disciples believed on him.

John tells us that this act is Christ’s first miracle. That being said it seems like a very strange way for Him to begin His ministry. No blind or deaf or lame are healed, no demons are cast out, no one is of great benefit from this miracle save a few drunken wedding guests. In fact John states in verse 9 that the wedding guest didn’t even know that Christ had done this work. Only the servants knew.

So Why would the Hoy Spirit mention this and why would Christ choose this to be the first miracle He would ever perform in His earthly body? Remember that every detail is there by design and is there for our learning. 2nd Timothy 3:16

Here is a list of details / occurrences regarding these waterpots that emerge from these verses.

1) There are 6 pots
2) They are made of stone
3) They are empty
4) The pots are the type used by the Jews for religious cleansing
5) By the word of Christ they were filled to the brim
6) The water turned to wine
7) People believed in Christ as a result of the miracle

What do these details tell us?

The first detail is that there were 6 pots. As you study scripture, you come to realize that certain numbers hold certain meanings. Throughout scripture the number 6typically points towards man and also suggests incompleteness. The number 7 on the other hand represents spiritual perfection or completeness.

“And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested
on the seventh day from all his work which he had made.”

Man on the other hand was created on the 6th day Genesis 1:26, he is resigned to his labor 6 days per
week Ex 24:31. 7-1=6, man falls short of God’s perfection Romans 3:23.

So the fact that there are 6 vessels suggest these waterpots are representing man or mankind

The other characteristics of these water pots are that they are

2) Made of stone
3) Empty
4) They represent empty religion (religion being man’s vain attempt to reconcile himself to God.)

Now, what happened to these water pots?

5) At the command of Christ they were filled with water to the brim
6) The water was turned to wine / fruit was produced.
7) Many believed in Christ as a result.

I believe one of the main reason’s Christ’s choose this to be His first miracle, is because it is in direct
correlation to the first miracle that He performed in our lives as believers.

Before we believed:

1) We are all of mankind therefore we were sinful and fallen. Romans 3:10, 3:23, 5:12

2) We had a heart of stone Ezekiel 36:26, Hebrews 3:15

3) We were empty. Void of love, compassion etc. There are no verses that allude to us being empty, but there are countless verses that speak of us being filled and in particular filled by the Holy Spirit. In order for something to be filled, it must first be empty. Matt 5:6, Acts 2:4, 4:8, 4:31, 9:17, 13:52

(Water is used many places in scripture to represent the Holy Spirit - John 4:1,John 7:37 - 39)

4) Our only hope of salvation was a vain attempt to cleanse ourselves through our own works or
traditions / empty religion (Hebrews 10:4, 10:11)

5) At the word of Christ we were filled to the brim with living water / Water = The Holy Spirit. (John 6:63)

6) That water is then turned to wine/manifest itself as fruit. Once we have been filled with the “living water” we too should begin to produce fruit. (John 15:4-5 ,15:8, 15:16, Rom 7:4)

(Wine at times is used to speak of joy (Psalms 4:7, Psalms 104:15) So once we are filled with this “living water” it is turned into joy)

7) Ideally, once we have been filled with water (The Holy Spirit) and it is turned to wine (produces fruit) others are led to believe in Christ as a result of the miracle Christ performed in our lives. (Matt 13:8, Acts 9:40-42)

(Disclaimer: I included Acts 9:40-42 in the last section as a means to back up the premise that once these men had been filled with the ”water” (Holy Spirit), they began to produce fruit and others believed in Christ as a result. It should be noted that being fruitful does not necessarily have to include healing the sick or raising the dead. It can include any number of things can be considered fruit so long as Christ is glorified. Anything you do that glorifies Chirst, helps others further their knowledge of Him or furthers His kingdom in any way can be considered fruit.)