Messianic Perspectives

Guest (Female): Are you one of those people who thinks the genealogies in the Bible are boring? Well, you may change your mind after you hear today's edition of Messianic Perspectives.

Liz Aiello: 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 leading our Bible study with the 10 Gentile patriarchs who lived before the flood. If you have your Bible handy, we invite you to turn to Genesis chapter 5 and join in. I'll be back a little later with information about a special offer, so have your pencil and paper ready. Now, with today's study, here is Dr. Gary Hedrick.

Dr. Gary Hedrick: Thank you, and welcome listening friend to another edition of our program. We're talking about the significance of Bible names and about this amazing sentence that's formed when you take the names of the 10 patriarchs in Genesis chapter 5 and put them together. It very likely forms the earliest clear statement of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Here's what we have so far: The first patriarch is Adam, whose Hebrew name means man. Number two is Seth, whose Hebrew name means appointed. Number three is Enos, which means mortal. Then Cainan means dwelling place or habitation. Number five is Mahalalel, which means the blessed God. Number six is Jared, which means he shall descend. Number seven is Enoch, which means teaching. Number eight is Methuselah, which means his death shall bring. Number nine is Lamech, which means captive. And number 10 is Noah, which means comfort or rest.

Put it all together and here's what you've got: Man is appointed a mortal habitation, but the blessed God shall come down teaching that his death shall bring the captives comfort. Isn't that remarkable? And when we ran out of time on the last program, we were talking about the last part of that sentence where it says the blessed God shall come down. It's one of the central tenets of the Christian faith: the incarnation. Incarnation means enfleshment. It means God leaving the glories of heaven and taking upon himself human form.

In fact, the incarnation is one of the 12 mysteries that are revealed in the New Testament. Remember, we've said before that a mystery in the biblical sense is something that was concealed in the Old Testament but has been revealed in the New Testament. You say, Gary, why would God conceal those things from us like that?

The answer is simple: God operates systematically and methodically. And so instead of dumping all of this truth on us at one time, he unfolds the truth a little at a time. There is a progression of revelation, you see. And as we learn and grow and expand our understanding, we're able to see more and more truth.

It's just like in school. You don't take a first grader and start teaching him calculus and quantum physics and medieval English literature and the eschatological implications of the pseudepigraphal elements of the apocrypha because it would go right over his head. So what do you do? You start with the simple things, basic concepts, and you build on that foundation until eventually he's ready for the more advanced subjects.

And that's what God has done. In the Old Testament, he gave us the basics. In fact, the book of Genesis, Bereshit, is the foundation of the entire revelation of God. Think of the doctrine of redemption, for example. It's based on Genesis chapter 3. If there was no fall in the Garden of Eden, then there was no condemnation. If there was no condemnation, then there was no separation.

And if there was no separation, then there was no need for salvation. If there was no need for salvation, there is no need for an atoning savior. In fact, the whole idea of the incarnation and the virgin birth of our Lord, as well as his suffering and crucifixion, is a sham if there was no fall in the Garden of Eden. The work of the last Adam, the Lord Jesus Christ, and its necessity is predicated on the transgression of the first Adam in the Garden of Eden.

So in the Old Testament, what God was doing was laying the foundation one building block at a time, giving us the basics, getting us ready for the full revelation of the Messiah in the New Testament. And there are 12 things that the New Testament calls mysteries. That is, they are things that were not known in the Old Testament dispensation but have been revealed in the New Testament dispensation.

One of those mysteries is the incarnation. Listen, when our Jewish friends say that the idea of God becoming man is not a Jewish concept and that it's not based on Jewish sources, they're partly right because the incarnation was not clearly revealed in the Old Testament, in the Tanakh, in the Jewish Bible. They're right about that.

Oh, there are certain clues and foreshadowings of the incarnation and prophecies about it in the Tanakh, but it's all shrouded in mystery. It's not until the New Testament that the mystery is revealed. Let's look at the New Testament book of Philippians, chapter 2. He says in verse 5, "Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus." Verse 6, "Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God."

John 1:1 says, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God." Sort of a play on words. The same was in the beginning, Bereshit in the Hebrew. That's the first word of Genesis 1:1. So John says in the beginning, Jesus was already there. Before Genesis 1:1, Jesus was already there. Before the universe was created, he was already there as the second person of the Godhead.

So Jesus thought it not robbery to be equal with God. And by the way, the King James Version brings out the meaning of this verse better than any other English translation because in Jewish thought, that's exactly why it was considered blasphemous for a mortal man to claim to be God because in doing so, you would be robbing God of his glory. You would be taking something that belongs exclusively to God.

Robbing God was an ancient Jewish concept. You'll find it in Malachi chapter 3, for example, where it says, "Will a man rob God?" But the writer of Philippians said that Jesus thought it not robbery to be what? Equal with God. What a radical statement coming from the inspired pen of a Jewish rabbi, a former member of the Sanhedrin, a student of Gamaliel, who was one of the greatest rabbis of first-century Judaism. In the case of Yeshua, or Jesus, it wasn't robbery for him to be considered equal with God. Why? Because he is God.

But that brings up a whole plethora of questions. How could Jesus be God and yet say, "My Father is greater than I"? How could Jesus be God and yet say that there were certain things that he didn't know, but God knew? There are many places throughout the Gospels where Jesus speaks of himself as subordinate to the Father or lesser than the Father. So how can that be if he is equal with God?

Well, Paul anticipates the question and gives us the answer in the very next verse. Philippians 2:7, "But Jesus made himself of no reputation, took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men." There is the unveiling of the mystery.

How could he who existed in the form of God take upon himself the likeness of men? By emptying himself of some of those divine attributes. That's the key. God shed his glory temporarily and stepped down from the portals of heaven to enter this world at a place called Bethlehem some 2,000 years ago. And so temporarily, the Son was subordinate to the Father, that is, until he was restored to his former glory after the resurrection.

But why was all of this necessary? Why did God have to go to all of this trouble? The answer is in the next verse: Philippians 2:8. "And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross." Why did he become a man? One reason: to die. That's it. He took upon himself a human physical body so he could be subject to death.

You see, in his glory, in his heavenly domain, in his divine essence, Jesus could never have died because one thing God cannot do is die. You see, Adam's sin had brought a curse down on the creation, including mankind. And part of that curse was death. And the only way we could be redeemed was for someone who was totally innocent to take that curse upon himself in our place.

He had to take the Adamic curse upon himself, which included disease and pain and finally death. The problem was it had to be someone who was sinless because one sinner cannot die for another sinner. That's why the sacrificial lamb in the Old Testament had to be a spotless lamb because that temple sacrifice was pointing forward to the sacrifice of the spotless, sinless Lamb of God, Jesus the Messiah.

That's why Jesus became a man so he could die, so he could take our place, so he could take the curse upon himself on my behalf and on your behalf and purchase our redemption. That's why the next part of the message says the blessed God shall come down teaching that his death shall bring the captives comfort. The death of Christ was the main stumbling block for the Jews in the first century, and it remains the same today.

To the ancient rabbis, it was unthinkable that God could become a man and die. That's why Paul said, "But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews," what? "a stumbling block, and unto the Greeks foolishness." First Corinthians 1:23. But we must never forget, listening friend, that the atoning death of the blessed Son of God is the heart of the gospel. It's what he came for. He was born to die.

And it says he came teaching that his death shall bring the captives comfort. Jesus the Messiah came to fulfill the prophet Isaiah's emancipation proclamation, where he quotes the Messiah as saying, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor. He hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted. To preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord."

His death shall bring the captives comfort. What a remarkable message from the names of the patriarchs in Genesis chapter 5. Well, we're finished. I hope you've enjoyed this series of studies as much as I've enjoyed giving it. By the way, if we haven't heard from you in a while, why don't you drop us a line? Let us know you're listening. We'd like to hear from you. Until next time, this is Gary Hedrick saying God bless you. Take care. Bye-bye.

Liz Aiello: Thank you, Gary. And thank you, listening friend, for tuning in today. If you liked what you heard today, you will be pleased to know we've taken all of the programs in this series and placed them on one convenient CD entitled "What's in a Name?" and it's yours for a gift of just $6 or more to Messianic Perspectives.

Or if you prefer to have it in printed form, you can order the pamphlet. The pamphlet includes a helpful chart with the Hebrew names of the 10 Gentile patriarchs. It shows how those names together form a remarkable acrostic that may be the first mention of the plan of salvation in your entire Bible. Again, the title of the pamphlet is "What's in a Name?" and it's available for your contribution of any amount to help us keep this program on your radio station.

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. 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 begins his series on the "Mystery of the Seven Churches" right here on Messianic Perspectives.

Guest (Female): Messianic Perspectives is sponsored by CJF Ministries of San Antonio, Texas, and is made possible on this station by the freewill contributions of our listeners in this area.