Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Transformations: The Signature of God (part 10)


By Brenda Cathcart

Peter testified on the Feast of Weeks that the gift of the Holy Spirit was to all who believed.

Acts 2:38-39 NKJV 38 Then Peter said to them, "Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 "For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call."

What are some aspects of this gift? (Elicit responses.)

Paul tells us that one of the roles of the Holy Spirit is to seal us for the day of redemption.

Eph 4:30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. (NKJV)

What is the seal? The seal has its origins in the priesthood described in Exodus.

Ex 28:36-38 "Make a plate of pure gold and engrave on it as on a seal: HOLY TO THE LORD. 37 Fasten a blue cord to it to attach it to the turban; it is to be on the front of the turban. 38 It will be on Aaron's forehead, and he will bear the guilt involved in the sacred gifts the Israelites consecrate, whatever their gifts may be. It will be on Aaron's forehead continually so that they will be acceptable to the LORD. (NIV))

The word we translate seal is from Strong’s #2368.  חותם chowtham,  kho-thawm' or chotham {kho-thawm'}; from 2856; a signature-ring:--seal, signet.

A signet was used to seal correspondence. The document would be rolled up or folded, wax would be dripped onto the opening, then the signet would be pressed into the hot wax to seal the document. The only way to open the document was to break the seal. Also, the signet was used to “notarize” a signature on a document. The wax would be dripped onto the document and the signet would be pressed onto it to attest to the signature. As an alternate, blood would be dripped onto the document and the signet pressed into the blood. This is where we get the phrase “sealed in blood”.

The high priest wore the plate with the name “Holy to the LORD.” Holy means to be separate or to be set aside. The high priest was set aside to the LORD. In a sense, he has God’s signature on his forehead.

The plate was worn on the forehead. Everyone who looked at the high priest saw that he was “Holy to the LORD.”

After his ascension, Jesus presented Himself before God as our high priest. Since the earthly tabernacle, the vessels used in the tabernacle, and the garments of the priests are patterned after the heavenly ones, we know that Jesus wears the plate with the words Holy to the LORD on His forehead. What name then does Jesus wear? Yeshua, Emmanuel, Holy to the LORD. He will save, God with us, Holy to Yahweh.

The High priest was to wear the words Holy to the LORD, but what about the common people? God brought them out of Egypt to be a nation of priests and holy to the LORD. 

Ex 19:6 'And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.' These are the words which you shall speak to the children of Israel." (NKJV)

As such, God told them to wear the word of God on their foreheads as well as their hands.

De 6:6, 8 These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. 8 Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. (NIV)

A tiny scroll with the words from passages with the commandment to bind the commandments on their foreheads and hands is placed in a small leather box and bound on the foreheads and left hand. The left hand is chosen because it is closer to the heart. By doing so, they are reminded that God’s commands should be on their minds (forehead) and that they should apply them in their lives (hand). An alternate explanation given by the sages is to tie them on the weaker hand showing that true strength comes from God.

We also are priests before God.

1Pe 2:5 you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
 (NKJV)

1Pe 2:9 But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; (NKJV)

God’s name on our foreheads sets us aside for him. Paul tells us that we also are called to be holy, to be set aside for God. He paraphrases Isaiah and Ezekiel.

2Co 6:17 "Therefore come out from them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you." {17 Isaiah 52:11; Ezek. 20:34,41} (NIV)

Like the high priest who wears the visible name of God on his forehead, everyone who looks at us should be able to see that we belong to God by our countenance and by our deeds.

John 13:35 NKJV 35 "By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another."
At the time of the destruction of the first temple, God held off judgment until those who belonged to Him were marked on their foreheads.

Eze 9:3-6 Now the glory of the God of Israel had gone up from the cherub, where it had been, to the threshold of the temple. And He called to the man clothed with linen, who had the writer's inkhorn at his side; 4 and the LORD said to him, "Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh and cry over all the abominations that are done within it." 5 To the others He said in my hearing, "Go after him through the city and kill; do not let your eye spare, nor have any pity. 6 "Utterly slay old and young men, maidens and little children and women; but do not come near anyone on whom is the mark; and begin at My sanctuary." So they began with the elders who were before the temple. (NKJV)

The mark placed on their foreheads was the letter tav, ת .  The Hebrew word for mark is literally tav spelled in Hebrew using the vav and the tav. Read right to left it is תו  meaning mark or the letter tav. In the Hebrew picture language we have the covenant secured. In Ezekiel’s day the shape of the tav was like a slanted cross, The covenant was secured by Jesus’ death on the cross.

The Holy Spirit, the finger of God, has placed God’s mark, God’s signature on our foreheads. We are marked Holy to the LORD, secured by the covenant.

Ephesians 1:13-14 NKJV 13 In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, 14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.

I am so thankful that God has placed His name on me. We looked at the Aaronic blessing in an earlier section. There are two words of particular interest in this blessing. First, the word “you” is in the singular not the plural. God wants to bless each of you, each of us individually. Second, the word bless is barak meaning to kneel. The blessing is  a berakah meaning a gift. So, when the verse says, “May the LORD bless you,” God is coming on bended knee bringing you a gift, the gift of eternal life. What will you do with the gift God has offered to you?

God told Moses to tell Aaron, here is how I want you to bless my people and thus you shall place my name on them:

Numbers 6:24-26 "The LORD bless you and keep you; 25 The LORD make His face shine upon you, And be gracious to you; 26 The LORD lift up His countenance upon you, And give you peace."'

שלום ברוך
Shalom and be blessed
Dan and Brenda Cathcart

Please visit our web site at www.moedministries.com


3 comments:

  1. Thanks for sharing this holy thing!
    I liked it and please keep posting.

    Lancaster, Pa

    ReplyDelete
  2. The original Blessings did not say "May the Bless you" it said, "The Lord shall Bless you!"

    ReplyDelete
  3. Are you focusing on a translation jes3740? That is not the point here. I use many different translations and try to refer to the "original" language where ever possible and practical.

    ReplyDelete

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