"When the LORD has washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion,
and purged the blood of Jerusalem from her midst,
by the spirit of judgment and by the burning,
then the LORD will create above every
dwelling place of Mount Zion,
and above her assembles,
a cloud and smoke by day and the
shining of a flaming fire by night.
For over all the glory there will be a covering.
And there will be a tabernacle for shade in the daytime
from the heat, for a place of refuge,
and for a shelter from storm and rain."
Isaiah 4:4
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Hello again...let's begin with prayer:
"Father, thank You for being our covering....our tabernacle...our shelter from storm and rain. I praise You for remembering Your children and hearing our cries for help. I pray that You will hear our cries of worship and those cries are pleasing in Your ear.
I seek the forgiveness of my sins. Forgive me when I do not cry out to You for help and insist on doing things for myself. This is sin against You. I pray that You will wash me and purge me of these sins.
I pray for each lady reading this study. I pray that You will speak to her heart here in scriptures. I pray that when she reads about her Messiah, that she is filled with joy and a longing to see You and hear Your voice above all other voices in her midst.
In Jesus' name...........amen."
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John 4:26
"Jesus said to her, 'I who speak to you am He."
In the last lesson, we looked at how the Holy Spirit stirs believers and makes them long for Jesus. We also looked at how we should long for our Messiah to come to "tell us all things" as the poor Samaritan woman did.
She was at a point in her life where she was tired. Her heart was broken and contrite. In her words, you can almost hear the sorrow in her heart for not having a husband. Yet, here she was drawing water at noon like any other day. Going through the motions. What else could she do?
Only, on this day she met a stranger, a Jewish traveler, weary from his journey asking her for water only to tell her that His water would quench her thirst forever.
Jesus chose her at this well to reveal Himself to her as Messiah.
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The longing for the Messiah was prevelant in Old Testament scriptures:
Please read:
Dan 7:13-14
Dan 9:25
Is 55:4-5
Is 57:15-19
Micah 4:1-5
He was seen as a strong political leader who would save the Lord's people from their enemies.
"I who speak to you am."
In the original Hebrew text, the word "He" did not appear. So, Jesus was saying that He is the "I am" of the Old Testament.
Ex 3:14
He was saying, "I AM speaks to you..."
And just imagine what those words must have done to her heart. Jehovah was speaking to her there at Jacob's well. Yes, Jesus is greater than Jacob indeed.
She was looking for the Messiah. She was searching and hoping. And now He speaks to her face-to-face. What an honor that God Himself chose a poor Gentile woman.
John 8:58
Rev 1:8
Mark 14:62
Matt 16:13-17
Acts 9:5
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But Jesus did not satisfy the Jewish people and their notion of who Messiah ought to be. In their minds, they thought he would be a political leader.
Zech 9:9-10
Luke 4:16-21
Here Jesus quotes Isaiah's prophecy of the Messiah and all that he would do:
Isaiah 61:1-2a
Notice that Jesus stops reading at verse 2a. Then He sat down and said, "Today the Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing."
Continue reading Isaiah 61:2a-11
What does it say Messiah will do?
When Jesus read the verses in Isaiah, He did not complete the entire book because His time had not come yet. All the rest of Isaiah will be fulfilled in His second coming.
The role of Messiah was misunderstood:
Is 42:1-4
Jesus preached peace, but He did not come the first time to bring peace:
Matt 10:34-38
Harsh words here. Jesus knew that His "sword" -or His words- would divide deeply. They would sever relationships as close as mother and daughter and father and son. This is not what the people wanted to hear. They wanted a Messiah to fight against the Romans and end persecution of their people.
John 14:27
His peace is not like the world's peace. I get tired of hearing movie stars like George Clooney constantly talk about bringing "peace to the world" knowing that he is speaking of temporary and imperfect peace, not the eternal and perfect peace of God:
Eph 2:14-18
This is the peace Jesus was trying to tell the people, but they would not listen. They still do not listen even to this day.
Matt 12:15-21
Jesus did not want His glory to be made known in His first coming. His glory will be revealed soon....
John 10:30-39
Jesus here explains that in past days, the Judges God put on earth were His servants....but Jesus was more than a servant or a "god" put here on earth. He claimed not to be a god, but the One True God:
Ps 82:6
Only God can judge the earth.
John 10:33
John 5:18
Jesus claimed to be The One True God. And soon He will judge the earth:
Is 4:4
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Life Application
"I who speak to you am..."
The mysteries of Christ have been revealed to us in the Bible:
Please read:
Deut 29:29
God has graciously revealed these things to us.
Eph 3:3-6
Jesus is God in the flesh. Our Messiah came once and is coming again to bring judgment on the earth and to create for us an eternal resting place in His presence.
Rev 21:22-27
We worship the same Jesus who walked this earth and will walk it again:
Heb 13:8
Rev22:12-13
Is 40:10
Is 62:11-12
2 Cor 1:19-21
He is our God...our Anointed One. We worship what we know.........
We are to live as though we long for the coming of our Christ Jesus. This world is our temporaty dwelling...like the Hebrews had their tabernacle....but now we have a eternal home a permanent home with God. It is easy to get caught up in the things of this earth: bills to pay, kids to feed, house to clean, car to fix, etc. The cares of this world can weigh us down. But just remember that in a little while we will see our Savior...our Messiah. He will give us that rest that we long for. That peace we crave will be satisfied once and for all! What a glorious thought.
Pray the the Lord comes quickly to tell us all things!
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Until next time.........
"Christ gives His Spirit that calms the mind, and is like a refreshing breeze of wind. He gives that strength whereby He lifts up the hands that hang down, and strengthens the feeble knees.
Christ gives to those who come to Him such comfort and pleasure as are enough to make them forget all their former labor and travail. A litte of true peace, a little of the joys of the manifested love of Christ, and a little of the true and holy hope of eternal life are enough to compensate for all that toil and weariness, and to erase the remembrance of it from the mind. That peace which results from true faith passes understanding, and that joy is joy unspeakable."
-Jonathan Edwards (Altogether Lovely, 1997, pp. 106-107)
Blessings,
Ruth
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