Messianic Perspectives

Liz Aiello: Jesus said if we know the truth, the truth will make us free. On this edition of Messianic Perspectives, Dr. Gary Hedrick shows us one truth in particular that enables us to walk in real freedom. Stay with us as we discuss the Christian's greatest discovery.

Shalom and welcome to Messianic Perspectives, a daily program where we look into the Scriptures from a distinct first-century Jewish point of view. I'm Liz Aiello. Today, Dr. Gary Hedrick is discussing the Christian's greatest discovery. I'll be back at the close of the program to tell you about our special offer. And now, with today's installment, here's Gary Hedrick.

Dr. Gary Hedrick: We welcome you, listening friend, to this edition of the program. It's good to have you with us today as we continue our series of studies from the life of Abraham which we've entitled, "The Christian's Greatest Discovery." Of course, the discovery we're talking about is the assurance of salvation. We've been noticing how even Abraham, the great patriarch of the Jewish nation, needed assurance. Abraham came to the place where he just said, "Lord, how can I really know that You're going to keep Your word and give me a son?" And so the Lord gave Abraham assurance that He would keep His promise.

When we finished up last time, we had been talking about the fact that there are three categories of people in the world today, and everyone falls into one of these three categories. The three categories are: the Jews, the Gentiles, and the church of God. The biblical basis for this categorization is found in 1 Corinthians 10:32 where Paul said, "Give none offense, neither to the Jews, nor to the Gentiles, nor to the church of God." So you've got the Jews, the Gentiles, and the church. Some people think the Abrahamic Covenant had to do with only the Jews, that it was a blessing promised exclusively to the Jewish people.

But we saw on the last program that the blessing of the Abrahamic Covenant extends not only to the Jews, but to all peoples and to all nations. All three categories—the Jews, the Gentiles, and the church—fall under the blessing of the Abrahamic Covenant. We'll talk more about that later, but for today, let's pick up where we left off last time, and I want to show you how the seed of Abraham is portrayed in three different ways in the Book of Genesis. First of all, Abraham's seed is compared to the sands of the seashore, and you'll find the reference in Genesis 22:17 where they're called the sand of the seashore.

Then secondly, in the 15th chapter of Genesis, God tells Abraham, "Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: so shall thy seed be" (Genesis 15:5). So the seed of Abraham is symbolized not only by sand, but also by stars. And then there's a third reference in Genesis chapter 22 where God says that the seed of Abraham should be as the dust of the earth. So you've got three symbols: sand, stars, and dust, referring to the blessing of the Abrahamic Covenant. The sand of the sea, the stars of the sky, and the dust of the earth—all three are referred to as the seed of Abraham.

Now watch this. Most modern commentators associate all three of those symbols with Israel—the sand, the stars, and the dust. But some of the older commentators, like Matthew Henry for example, made a distinction between different kinds of seed. I think we should consider the possibility that since we know three categories of people will come under the blessing of the Abrahamic Covenant, each of these symbols—sand, stars, and dust—may refer to one of those three different seeds of Abraham. For example, is it possible that the sand symbolizes Israel, Abraham's physical seed?

God said to Abraham, "That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the seashore" (Genesis 22:17). Now think about it. What is sand? It's rock that's been crushed and pulverized. Throughout the ages, the shifting tides have jostled the rocks against each other, chipping off larger pieces, which in turn become smaller pieces, and then smaller and smaller. It's a process of abrasion or erosion. And then the waves and the surf beat the fragments back and forth until after countless ages, these rocks have been reduced to fine sand, scattered along the shores of the world's oceans.

What better symbol could there be for Israel than sand? What a prophetic picture of God's people Israel, scattered for 2,500 years among the Gentile nations, compared by God to the sand of the sea. Driven from pillar to post, beaten, crushed, maligned, persecuted, forsaken by everything and everyone but God, apparently, and ground finer and finer in their national pride. Until when God is ready to begin dealing with Israel once again, what does He do? He casts them out upon the shores of Palestine in 1948 as the seashore seed. "In multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the sand which is upon the seashore."

So this is the first application of the phrase "seed of Abraham." It's the physical seed of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—the children of Israel. That's what God meant in Genesis 21:12 when He said to Abraham, "For in Isaac shall thy seed be called." And in our generation, we've begun to see Israel emerge as a nation since 1948, and even now, she's still in the grinding process, being ground fine like sand by persecution, surrounded in the Middle East by hostile Arab neighbors, and they would like to see her destroyed.

But then there's a second seed. God says there will be not only a sand seed, Israel, but also a star seed, like the stars of heaven. And who could that be? Well, I've always had an interest in astronomy, and I don't like to call myself an amateur astronomer because there are some very fine amateur astronomers, and compared to them, I'd be more like an amateur amateur astronomer. But I love the stars and have always had a fascination for the universe and all of its wonders, and bought my first telescope when I was 16 years old. When you look at the Bible, God's people are compared to stars. Daniel said that they that turn many to righteousness shall shine as the stars forever (Daniel 12:3).

And in the Book of Genesis, we read that on the fourth day, God created the stars and set them in the heavens, and we are definitely told that He placed the stars in the heavens to shine upon the earth. Let me say that again because it's important. The stars were placed in the heavens to shine upon the earth. In fact, it's interesting, some Christian astronomers have suggested that the constellations were designed by God to portray, in pictorial form, the plan of salvation. When you think about it, you've got all the symbols necessary to do that. You've got Virgo the virgin, Aries the ram, and the ram is the sacrificial animal that specifically prefigures the Messiah in the Old Testament.

You've got constellations like Draco the dragon, and Hydra the snake, and both of those figures are symbolic of Satan in the Scriptures. And then you've got Leo the lion, and in the Bible, there's the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Messiah. So it's a fascinating possibility, but the point is that God placed the stars in the heavens for a very special purpose. They're up there, in their position, and their job is to let their light shine upon the earth. That's their ministry, to let their light shine. So what does the star seed symbolize? Very simply, it's the church, the body of Christ.

Remember what Christ told His followers. He said, "Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven." You see, it's the church. You might say, "Gary, is that your own interpretation?" No, I wish I could take credit for it, but you can go back and read Matthew Henry, who wrote the first edition of his commentary way back in 1706.

This is what he says. He says, "Abram's seed, according to his flesh, were like the dust of the earth. But his spiritual seed"—and that's the church, his spiritual seed—"are like the stars of heaven, not only numerous, but glorious and very precious." So this interpretation is not original with me. Now that's the first two seeds, the sand and the stars, and we've still got more to go, but we're out of time, so we'll stop there and continue next time.

Liz Aiello: Thank you, Gary, and thank you, listening friend, for tuning in today. It's always good to have you with us as we look into God's Word together. Now let me tell you about our special offer. It's the compact disc which includes all of the programs in this current series of studies on "The Christian's Greatest Discovery." Of course, the discovery we're talking about is the truth of the believer's security. When we understand that salvation depends on Christ and His merits, rather than on ourselves and our merits, then we've taken the first step toward walking in true freedom.

It's unfortunate that so many of us don't fully appreciate our security in Christ. We get bogged down in our spiritual lives because we never know from one minute to the next how we stand with God. That's why this teaching is so important. We need to know that our standing before God doesn't fluctuate depending on how well we perform. All of our sins—past, present, and future—have been forgiven through the shed blood of the Messiah. His righteousness has been imputed to us. So we can know that we're saved.

And that's what this series is all about. The title once again is "The Christian's Greatest Discovery," and it can be yours for a gift of just six dollars or more to Messianic Perspectives. Just visit our secure online store at messianicspecialties.com to place your order. If you would prefer to order by mail, just address your request to Messianic Perspectives, P.O. Box 345, San Antonio, Texas, 78292. To order by phone, use our toll-free order line. The number is 1-800-926-5397.

By the way, listening friend, has it been a while since we've heard from you? It's very important that if you're listening, please let us know you're out there. Almost every time we drop a station from our network, we receive letters from people who say, "Why did you drop our station?" But then we check our files and find out they never bothered to write while we were on their station. So don't wait until it's too late. If you enjoy the program, let us know. We don't want to drop a station if people are listening and we're having a ministry in their lives. But if no one is listening, we can take those funds and go on a station somewhere else.

The only way we have of knowing whether or not you're listening is if you tell us. So we'll look forward to hearing from you. Just drop us a line at Messianic Perspectives, P.O. Box 345, San Antonio, Texas, 78292, or email us at info@cjfm.org. And as always, when you're in touch with us, please mention the call letters of this station. If you're listening to our webcast or podcast, we need to know that too. I'm Liz Aiello. Join us next time, won't you, as Dr. Gary Hedrick continues our series of studies on "The Christian's Greatest Discovery," right here on Messianic Perspectives.