A Survey of the Old Testament Law--Numbers 28-30 (Part 1)

Numbers 28-29 detail offerings that were to be given at different times during the year. Numbers 28 is a recapitulation of the offerings commanded in Exodus 23:14-17; Exodus 29:38-42; Exodus 31:12-17; and Leviticus 23:1-44. 

Numbers 29:1-6—1 “And in the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall have a holy convocation. You shall do no customary work. For you it is a day of blowing the trumpets. 2 You shall offer a burnt offering as a sweet aroma to the LORD: one young bull, one ram, and seven lambs in their first year, without blemish. 3 Their grain offering shall be fine flour mixed with oil: three-tenths of an ephah for the bull, two-tenths for the ram, 4 and one-tenth for each of the seven lambs; 5 also one kid of the goats as a sin offering, to make atonement for you; 6 besides the burnt offering with its grain offering for the New Moon, the regular burnt offering with its grain offering, and their drink offerings, according to their ordinance, as a sweet aroma, an offering made by fire to the LORD.” 

Numbers 29 outlines the sacrifices which were to be given in the seventh Month of the religious calendar, but the first month of the secular calendar. This is known as the month Tishri. There are many “new years” in Judaism, and they are explained on the website Judaism 101:

 

Judaism has several different "new years," a concept which may seem strange at first, but think of it this way: the American "new year" starts in January, but the new "school year" starts in September, and many businesses have "fiscal years" that start at various times of the year. In Judaism, Nisan 1 is the new year for the purpose of counting the reign of kings and months on the calendar, Elul 1 (in August) is the new year for the tithing of animals, Shevat 15 (in February) is the new year for trees (determining when first fruits can be eaten, etc.), and Tishri 1 (Rosh Hashanah) is the new year for years (when we increase the year number. Sabbatical and Jubilee years begin at this time).

(https://www.jewfaq.org/rosh_hashanah) 

The 1^st  of Tishri was called יוֹם תְּרוּעָה (Yom Teruah, “a day of sounding the shofar”) or what we now know as רֹאשׁ הַשָּׁנָה‎ (Rosh Hashanah, “head of the year”) and is still celebrated by Jews around the world. The month Tishri falls around the Gregorian months of September and October, and the command here to celebrate is an echo of the command given in Leviticus 23:24-25—24 "Speak to the children of Israel, saying: 'In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, you shall have a sabbath-rest, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, a holy convocation. 25 You shall do no customary work on it; and you shall offer an offering made by fire to the LORD.'" So how is Rosh Hashanah celebrated? 

It is still observed by abstaining from work, and is still treated as sacred and holy by Jews. Another custom is dipping apples (or bread) in honey, as a symbol of the hopes that the new year will be sweet. If bread is used, it is not like the bread we would but in a loaf from a store. This bread is called “challah”, and is a round loaf, as opposed to the oval loaf it is normally made as. The round shape is to symbolize the cycle of life from one year to the next. Prayers are spoken from a prayer book called the Mahzor:

 

The prayer book for the High Holidays is called the Mahzor. Three unique sets of prayers are added to the morning service during Rosh Hashanah. These are known as Malkhuyot, which address the sovereignty of God, Zikhronot, which present God as the one who remembers past deeds, and Shofarot, in which we stand in nervous anticipation of the future.

(https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/rosh-hashanah-101/)

 

 

So are we as Christians, as some claim, to keep this Feast of Trumpets, this Jewish New Year? Are we to keep the feasts outlined in the Old Covenant? No we are not, for they are part of the Law, and Christ has fulfilled them all. Matthew 5:17—“Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill.” There are some who claim that we are still bound by the Old Testament Law, that we are to follow every jot and tittle of it or we are damned. And they completely miss the work that Jesus did. He has set us free from that Law by fulfilling every requirement of that Law. So they work and labor and sweat for no reason, they deny themselves of different foods, they set their calendars for days and months, they bind themselves up in needless regulations instead of believing what Jesus said, that He fulfilled the Law for us. How many times do we read the words of Paul, that Hebrew of Hebrews, that we are not bound to the Law any longer. Romans 8:1-2—1 There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. The law could make no man righteous before God, since the Law only pointed to how sinful we are (Galatians 3:11)—it was our guide until it was fulfilled by the only one who could fulfill it (Galatians 3:24-25). Colossians 2:16-17—16  So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths,17 which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ. Romans 14:4-8—4 Who are you to judge another's servant? To his own master he stands or falls. Indeed, he will be made to stand, for God is able to make him stand. 5 One person esteems one day above another; another esteems every day alike. Let each be fully convinced in his own mind. 6 He who observes the day, observes it to the Lord; and he who does not observe the day, to the Lord he does not observe it. He who eats, eats to the Lord, for he gives God thanks; and he who does not eat, to the Lord he does not eat, and gives God thanks. 7 For none of us lives to himself, and no one dies to himself. 8 For if we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. Therefore, whether we live or die, we are the Lord's. What was Paul’s rebuke of Peter, recorded in Galatians 2? That while Peter was preaching freedom in Christ to the Gentiles, he was leaving them and sitting with the Jews and observing their rules when they came along (Galatians 2:11-21). There are many Peters today—those who claim to love Christ with all their heart, soul, mind and strength, yet deny the freedom He bought for us. They worship Him with their lips, but their heart is far from Him, not believing that He delivered us from a rigid obedience to new moons and Sabbaths. 

“But didn’t Paul says that to the Jews and to those under the Law he became as a Jew and as one under the Law?” But what does the apostle mean by those words? Simply this: that he showed the Jews and those under the Law how the Law pointed to Christ. “But what about when he had Timothy circumcised (Acts 16:3)?” Good question. And John Gill answers it:

 

Wherefore having a mind to take Timothy with him to be assisting to him in the preaching of the Gospel, in point of prudence he thought it proper to circumcise him, that he might be received by them, and be the more acceptable to them; who would otherwise have taken such an offence at him, as not to have heard him: thus the apostle to the Jews became a Jew, that he might gain and save some, for they knew all that his father was a Greek; and that therefore he was not circumcised; for a woman might not circumcise, because she was not a fit subject of circumcision herself; though in case of necessity circumcision by women was allowed of 

Yes, he had Timothy circumcised, but it was not because he felt obligate to under the Law, as the Jerusalem Council had just decided in Acts 15 that it was not necessary to have him circumcised. It was he might by all means save some (1st Corinthians 9:22), that by doing so he might have an audience with them and save some. He did not, as Peter, shrink away from them and live under the Law in front of the Jews, but rather showed them that Timothy was not saved by being circumcised, but that he was saved whether circumcised or not. “So if someone wants to observe Rosh Hashanah, simply because they choose to, are they not saved?” On the contrary.  He who observes the day, observes it to the Lord. If one wants to observe it to celebrate the goodness of God and if it helps them in their repentance from sin, then they are free to do so. But let no one lead you to believe that you have to observe it in order to be saved, as he who does not observe the day, to the Lord he does not observe it. Let us now move on to Numbers 30. 

Numbers 30:1-16—1 Then Moses spoke to the heads of the tribes concerning the children of Israel, saying, "This is the thing which the LORD has commanded: 2 If a man makes a vow to the LORD, or swears an oath to bind himself by some agreement, he shall not break his word; he shall do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth. 3 Or if a woman makes a vow to the LORD, and binds herself by some agreement while in her father's house in her youth, 4 and her father hears her vow and the agreement by which she has bound herself, and her father holds his peace, then all her vows shall stand, and every agreement with which she has bound herself shall stand. 5 But if her father overrules her on the day that he hears, then none of her vows nor her agreements by which she has bound herself shall stand; and the LORD will release her, because her father overruled her. 6 If indeed she takes a husband, while bound by her vows or by a rash utterance from her lips by which she bound herself, 7 and her husband hears it, and makes no response to her on the day that he hears, then her vows shall stand, and her agreements by which she bound herself shall stand. 8 But if her husband overrules her on the day that he hears it, he shall make void her vow which she took and what she uttered with her lips, by which she bound herself, and the LORD will release her. 9 Also any vow of a widow or a divorced woman, by which she has bound herself, shall stand against her. 10 If she vowed in her husband's house, or bound herself by an agreement with an oath, 11 and her husband heard it, and made no response to her and did not overrule her, then all her vows shall stand, and every agreement by which she bound herself shall stand. 12 But if her husband truly made them void on the day he heard them, then whatever proceeded from her lips concerning her vows or concerning the agreement binding her, it shall not stand; her husband has made them void, and the LORD will release her. 13 Every vow and every binding oath to afflict her soul, her husband may confirm it, or her husband may make it void. 14 Now if her husband makes no response whatever to her from day to day, then he confirms all her vows or all the agreements that bind her; he confirms them, because he made no response to her on the day that he heard them. 15 But if he does make them void after he has heard them, then he shall bear her guilt." 16 These are the statutes which the LORD commanded Moses, between a man and his wife, and between a father and his daughter in her youth in her father's house. 

“If a man makes a vow to the LORD, or swears an oath to bind himself by some agreement, he shall not break his word; he shall do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth.” When a person took a vow to the LORD, it was a very serious matter. In the tragic case of Jephthah (Judges 11:30-40), he makes a vow to YHVH that he will sacrifice the first thing that comes to meet him when he returns home. Of course his daughter meets him first, and because of the vow he made to God, he has no choice but to sacrifice her. When the Gibeonites ask Joshua and the people to make a vow to save them from harm (albeit under false pretenses) and they made said vow, they could not go back on it, since they vowed to God (Joshua 9:15-27). Even in the New Testament, we read of Jews who wanted to kill the apostle Paul, that they made a vow to God that they would neither drink nor eat until Paul was dead (Acts 23:12-24). We read there that Paul was secretly taken away safely, but we read no more about the men who bound themselves by their oath. We can only speculate that either (a) they died of thirst and starvation, or (b) they went back on their vow to God. And even today, if we take the witness stand in court, and we swear that we will “tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God”. When Presidents are sworn in to office, they take what we call the “Oath of Office”, in which they swear "that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter: So help me God." Now, in each of these last two cases, these oaths have been broken by some who make these oaths, and they will have to answer to none but God for breaking these oaths. 

3 “Or if a woman makes a vow to the LORD, and binds herself by some agreement while in her father's house in her youth, 4 and her father hears her vow and the agreement by which she has bound herself, and her father holds his peace, then all her vows shall stand, and every agreement with which she has bound herself shall stand. 5 But if her father overrules her on the day that he hears, then none of her vows nor her agreements by which she has bound herself shall stand; and the LORD will release her, because her father overruled her.” This passage is speaking of a girl (or woman) who makes a vow while still living under her father’s roof. Her father has the right to uphold or to nullify the vow that she has made. This does not take away the girl’s freedom to make a vow, it simply adds a layer of protection to her, for young women may make a vow rashly and later regret it. But her father can overrule her, if she vowed rashly, and nullify that vow. If, on the other hand, her father deems her vow to be legitimate, he can hold his tongue and allow her vow to stand. “So why isn’t this safeguard there for boys or men living under their father’s roof?” Because under the Law, boys were to be taught the importance of vows under the Law. Deuteronomy 6:6-7—6 “And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up.” Boys, being taught the Law, were expected to have a firm knowledge of the Law, and everything contained therein, and thus if they made a vow, it was binding upon them and they could not be released from it. 

Girls, on the other hand, were still under the care and protection of their father, and their oath could be abrogated if their fathers decided so. Only he has to decide on the day he hears it. Why? This prevented her from seeing that the vow was too great, and she could not keep it, and the father simply saying, “Well, she can’t keep her vow, so I release her from it.” The same was true in the case of married women and their husbands. 6 “If indeed she takes a husband, while bound by her vows or by a rash utterance from her lips by which she bound herself, 7 and her husband hears it, and makes no response to her on the day that he hears, then her vows shall stand, and her agreements by which she bound herself shall stand. 8 But if her husband overrules her on the day that he hears it, he shall make void her vow which she took and what she uttered with her lips, by which she bound herself, and the LORD will release her…13 Every vow and every binding oath to afflict her soul, her husband may confirm it, or her husband may make it void. 14 Now if her husband makes no response whatever to her from day to day, then he confirms all her vows or all the agreements that bind her; he confirms them, because he made no response to her on the day that he heard them. 15 But if he does make them void after he has heard them, then he shall bear her guilt.” What are the vows we exchange when we get married? “Do you take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband…to love, honor, cherish and obey…’til death do you part?” In the eyes of God, when we exchange vows we are making a covenant with God that we will become one flesh with the person and we will stay in that covenant until separated by death (Which is why in a wedding the bride’s family sits on one side and the groom’s on the other, and the couple, once they are married, walks between them, thus ratifying the covenant, as a covenant in olden times was ratified by the slaying and dividing of an animal and the two parties walking between the two halves [see Genesis 15:9-21]). So in the Old Testament, the wife was to be under the care and protection of her husband. Now the husband, being cognizant of the regulations contained in the Law, was on his own when he swore a vow. “If a man makes a vow to the LORD…he shall do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth.”

Part 2 next week 

 

Jesus Christ is Lord.

Amen. 

A Survey of the Old Testament Law----- Making oaths in God's name (Joshua 9)

Last time we looked at the question, “How do we end our prayers?” Most of us end our prayers with the little phrase, “In the name of Jesus. Amen.” Now, I ask you this: how does the Lord’s Prayer begin? “Our Father, which art in Heaven”—what? “Hallowed be Thy Name.” We have seen the danger of taking the name of the LORD our God in vain. We saw that not only does the third of the ten commandments forbid a person from falsely taking an oath in the name of YHVH, but it also prohibits the flippant use of the name of God—as well as the name of Jesus Christ. Today, however, we will see how to use God’s name properly, and that if we do make an oath in the name of God, and it turns out that the person we are making that promise to has not been quite honest with us—their dishonesty is irrelevant, we are still bound by that oath to Almighty God. What we’re going to see today is that even godly people can be fooled.


How many times have we had people come up in here, clapping and smiling in church, and then they walk out the door and they're swimming in all kinds of sin, not feeling bad about it. And then next Sunday they're back in here, smiling and “praising God.” It happens. We call that person our “brother” or “sister” in Christ, when they have no intention of obeying Christ’s commands. Well, we shouldn’t feel too bad, because one of the most godly men who ever walked the face of the earth was deceived in much the same way.


Joshua 9:1-6-- 1 And it came to pass when all the kings who were on this side of the Jordan, in the hills and in the lowland and in all the coasts of the Great Sea toward Lebanon—the Hittite, the Amorite, the Canaanite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite—heard about it, 2 that they gathered together to fight with Joshua and Israel with one accord. 3 But when the inhabitants of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and Ai, 4 they worked craftily, and went and pretended to be ambassadors. And they took old sacks on their donkeys, old wineskins torn and mended, 5 old and patched sandals on their feet, and old garments on themselves; and all the bread of their provision was dry and moldy. 6 And they went to Joshua, to the camp at Gilgal, and said to him and to the men of Israel, “We have come from a far country; now therefore, make a covenant with us.”


The Gibeonites were not stupid by any stretch of the imagination. While The Hittite, the Amorite, the Canaanite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite…gathered together to fight with Joshua and Israel, thinking that by their sheer numbers and force they could defeat the armies of the Living God, when the inhabitants of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and Ai, they worked craftily, and went and pretended to be ambassadors. They knew who was fighting on the side of Joshua. They knew that if an army that was as relatively puny as that of Israel could defeat a strong city like Jericho, just by marching outside the walls and shouting and blowing trumpets—that they had Someone even greater fighting for them.


But, Joshua, being a man of God, decided to test them first, Joshua 9:7--Then the men of Israel said to the Hivites, “Perhaps you dwell among us; so how can we make a covenant with you?” Before we go any further, let me just point out that Gibeon was the chief city of the Hivites. These broke away from the main body of Hivites; they were Hivites who lived in the city of Gibeon. So in Joshua’s response, we see a man who knew the commands of God and held those commands in the highest regard. Listen to Exodus 23:27-33—"27 I will send My fear before you, I will cause confusion among all the people to whom you come, and will make all your enemies turn their backs to you. 28 And I will send hornets before you, which shall drive out the Hivite, the Canaanite, and the Hittite from before you…31 And I will set your bounds from the Red Sea to the sea, Philistia, and from the desert to the River. For I will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand, and you shall drive them out before you. 32 You shall make no covenant with them, nor with their gods. 33 They shall not dwell in your land, lest they make you sin against Me. For if you serve their gods, it will surely be a snare to you." So what Joshua is saying here is, “Hey, you might be some of the people that God has forbidden us from making covenants with. So why should we make a covenant with you?”


So far, Joshua is showing discernment. But again, these people are crafty, and they have a response all thought out. Joshua 9:8-13--8 But they said to Joshua, “We are your servants.” And Joshua said to them, “Who are you, and where do you come from?” 9 So they said to him: “From a very far country your servants have come, because of the name of the LORD your God; for we have heard of His fame, and all that He did in Egypt, 10 and all that He did to the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan—to Sihon king of Heshbon, and Og king of Bashan, who was at Ashtaroth. 11 Therefore our elders and all the inhabitants of our country spoke to us, saying, ‘Take provisions with you for the journey, and go to meet them, and say to them, “We are your servants; now therefore, make a covenant with us.”’ 12 This bread of ours we took hot for our provision from our houses on the day we departed to come to you. But now look, it is dry and moldy. 13 And these wineskins which we filled were new, and see, they are torn; and these our garments and our sandals have become old because of the very long journey.” How many times do people come up here, hat in hand, looking for all the world like they don’t have two nickels to rub together. They’ll be begging for the Center to pay their light bill, pay their phone bill, and pay this bill and that bill. But when they walk out the door, they get into their car that has the 26” spinning rims and the $2000 stereo system—and drive a couple blocks down the road and spend $100 on crack cocaine. But they don’t have money to pay their bills. They are portraying themselves as being weak and destitute in order to take advantage of the people of God.


That’s kinda what we have here. And the first thing that Joshua should have done was to ask counsel of the LORD. BUT, sadly, Joshua 9:14-15—14 Then the men of Israel took some of their provisions; but they did not ask counsel of the LORD. 15 So Joshua made peace with them, and made a covenant with them to let them live; and the rulers of the congregation swore to them. These Gibeonites wanted to enter into a covenant with the Israelites—a covenant in the name of YHVH. And if we are going to make a covenant in the name of YHVH, should we ask Him if it’s a good idea? If some other church were to approach us about entering into a partnership for whatever reason—should we ask the Lord if it’s a good idea, and maybe check some things out about the other church? But, Joshua and the princes of Israel were fooled by outward appearances, and rather than inquire of the LORD, they entered into an oath in the name of YHVH to spare these people. We can't really say that they were guilty of breaking the commandment against entering into covenant with certain peoples, because they were under the impression that these people were not of the forbidden groups—the Jebusite, the Canaanite, the Hittite. So the worst thing they could be accused of was being a bit too hasty. Which is why the apostle Paul, in the New Testament, says in 1st Timothy 5:22—Do not lay hands on anyone hastily, nor share in other people's sins; keep yourself pure. What he’s saying here is, before you lay hands on someone and ordain them into the ministry, he should be thoroughly examined, to see if he is in right standing with God. Then—and only then—should he be ordained.


And this episode in the life of Joshua is a perfect example of this. He did not consult God, he depended on outward appearances and smooth talk and a good bit of acting, and swore by the name of YHVH that the people of Israel would not harm these folks. If we enter into a covenant in the name of YHVH, are we bound to keep it? Psalm 15:1-4—1 LORD, who may abide in Your tabernacle? Who may dwell in Your holy hill? 2 He who walks uprightly, and works righteousness, and speaks the truth in his heart…4 He who swears to his own hurt and does not change. Which is why we are now encouraged, in the NT, to NOT take oaths. Matthew 5:33-37—“33 Again you have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform your oaths to the Lord.' 34 But I say to you, do not swear at all: neither by heaven, for it is God's throne; 35 nor by the earth, for it is His footstool; nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. 36 Nor shall you swear by your head, because you cannot make one hair white or black. 37 But let your 'Yes' be 'Yes,' and your 'No,' 'No.' For whatever is more than these is from the evil one.” James 5:12—But above all, my brethren, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or with any other oath. But let your "Yes" be "Yes," and your "No," "No," lest you fall into judgment. So the people of Israel have entered into a covenant, in the name of YHVH, to not do any hurt to these people, thinking that these were poor, wretched nomads simply passing through.


And now we get to the point where our actions must match our words. And we see what it means to keep an oath made to God even if it means we look foolish for doing so. Joshua 9:16-21--16 And it happened at the end of three days, after they had made a covenant with them, that they heard that they were their neighbors who dwelt near them. 17 Then the children of Israel journeyed and came to their cities on the third day. Now their cities were Gibeon, Chephirah, Beeroth, and Kirjath Jearim. 18 But the children of Israel did not attack them, because the rulers of the congregation had sworn to them by the LORD God of Israel. And all the congregation complained against the rulers. 19 Then all the rulers said to all the congregation, “We have sworn to them by the LORD God of Israel; now therefore, we may not touch them. 20 This we will do to them: We will let them live, lest wrath be upon us because of the oath which we swore to them.” 21 And the rulers said to them, “Let them live, but let them be woodcutters and water carriers for all the congregation, as the rulers had promised them.” The rulers decided to keep their oath, even though it was entered into under false premises, in order to uphold the name of God, rather than go back on their word, and bring reproach upon the name of YHVH their God. When we mess up and make a mistake, and we get ourselves into some kind of pickle because we leaped before we looked, and we have to decide between suffering a loss on one hand, or bringing shame to God on the other—it’s really a no-brainer. The honor and reverence of the name of God is to be defended at all costs.


In the early church, there was a fellow named Polycarp, who was actually a student of the apostle John. He was discovered by the Roman government, and brought before the court and ordered to renounce the name of Christ and burn incense to the Caesar. If he didn’t, then he would be burned. His response: “Eighty and six years, have I served him and He never did me harm. How, then, can I blaspheme my King and my Saviour?” These rulers of Israel were not being threatened with being burned, only with being made to look like fools. So now that the horse was out of the barn, they decided to think about what to do next, and decided that upholding the honor of the name of this great God who brought them out of Egypt was more important than their image. Our friends Keil and Delitzsch said this:

“They were bound to observe the oath which they had once sworn, if only to prevent the sincerity of the God by whom they had sworn from being rendered doubtful in the eyes of the Gibeonites; but they were not justified in taking the oath. They had done this without asking the mouth of YHVH, and thus had sinned against the Lord their God. But they could not repair this fault by breaking the oath which they had thus imprudently taken, i.e., by committing a fresh sin; for the violation of an oath is always sin, even when the oath has been taken [impulsively], and it is afterwards discovered that what was sworn to was not in accordance with the will of God, and that an observance of the oath will certainly be hurtful.”

Now, if we are a Christian—meaning, in a way, that we have taken the name of Christ upon ourselves—when we make a promise to someone, we are making that promise in the name of the Lord. When we pray, we are praying in the name of Jesus—whether we tack that little phrase on at the end or not. Because what it really means to be praying “in the name of Jesus, Amen” is that we are asking that the will of the Father be done. Matthew 6:10—“Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done.” John 4:34—“My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me.” And we are praying in accordance with love and righteousness. Again, the difference between loving your Aunt Hildegard and hoping for her cancer to be cured versus demanding that God gives you the brand new Land Rover that you just know that you deserve.


And to finish this up, let’s take a look at the embodiment of one who came in the name of the LORD God. Turn to Matthew 21. This is what is called Christ’s “Triumphal Entry” the day when He rode into Jerusalem. And the people are clapping and shouting and throwing down palm branches as the King rides through on a donkey. A few days later they would all be calling for His death. Such is the fickleness of man. Matthew 21:9—Then the multitudes who went before and those who followed cried out, saying: "Hosanna to the Son of David! 'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!' Hosanna in the highest!" The people shout 'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!' This is a direct quote from Psalm 118:26. If one is claiming that they come “in the name of the LORD”, they are claiming that God Himself sent them. That they speak on behalf of, and with all the authority of, Almighty God. The Old Testament prophets could claim to be speaking “in the name of YHVH” because they were speaking what they heard from God directly, and with His authority. The New Testament apostles could speak with all the authority of Christ—who is God—because they had been given that authority by Christ. Which was why men like Paul and Peter could cast out unclean spirits with the mere mention of Christ’s name, but the Jewish exorcists and the seven sons of Sceva could not. Paul and Peter had the authority to use Jesus’ name—the others did not. When Jesus spoke, He was speaking with the full authority of God—for one, because he IS God—but also because He had been given that authority by the Father.


At the end of the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 7:28-29—28 And so it was, when Jesus had ended these sayings, that the people were astonished at His teaching, 29 for He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes. And, in some of the last recorded words of our Lord before He ascended to the Father after His resurrection, He tells His disciples in Matthew 28:18—“All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.” So, coming back around and completing the circle, when we pray “in the name of Jesus” we are praying in the name of the One who came in the name of YHVH—the LORD. Which is why James 5:14-15 says, 14 Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. Now, the sickness here is not a physical ailment. Actually, James is referring to an old Jewish teaching (James was, after all, writing to Jewish Christians who were pretty familiar with Jewish writings). What he is probably calling to mind is a writing of Rabbi Simeon, who said this:

Q: What should a man do who goes to visit the sick?
A: He who studies to restore the health of the body, should first lay the foundation in the health of the soul. The wise men have said, ‘No healing is equal to that which comes from the word of God and prayer.’

What is the root cause of sickness? Sin. We will be sick in this life. We will eventually die. BUT if we know Christ as our Savior, when we die we will go to be with the Father, and one day we will receive new bodies that will never ever get sick or break down ever again for all eternity—THAT is true healing. Salvation comes through the name of Jesus. And when one takes upon themselves the name of Jesus, in spirit and in truth (John 4:24), then, James goes on to say in that same passage, James 5:16—The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. Next week we will summarize for just a minute before we begin talking about the Sabbath.


Jesus is Lord.
Amen.