(…continues from part three…)

4)            Many have read and recited it several times but are not able to see the protocolary congruity of John 10:11, which reads, “I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.”  The first two words, “I am” is the Greek Egō (eg-o’) eimi (i-mee’): ‘I exist.’ Of very interest is the facticity of Egō eime. The Septuagint translation of the name that God gave to Moses, when He said unto Moses, “Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you” in Exodus 3:14 is Egō eime which is the same as Jehovah. Now, who is the “shepherd”? Let us go to the Psalms. “Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, thou that leadest Joseph like a flock; thou that dwellest between the cherubims, shine forth” (Psalm 80:1). A rumination of this psalm shows that this ‘Shepherd’ is the covenant keeping God of Israel, Jehovah. The very famous Psalm 23 commences with “The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.” The word ‘LORD’ is the Hebraic Yehôvâh (yeh-ho-vaw’): ‘(the) self-Existent or Eternal; Jehovah, Jewish national name of God.’ The Shepherd of Psalm 23 is the Almighty, Most High. The third verse of this Psalm points to the mystery of being born again. “He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake” (Psalm 23:3). The born again Christian is properly clothed in the righteousness of Jesus Christ. The Good Shepherd is the title of His Divinity. Jesus is very God of very God. Amen.

Jesus tells all hearing, in John 5:39, “Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.” Also in the same chapter Jesus tells us, “For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me: for he wrote of me” (John 5:46). From the Book of Genesis, to the Historical Books, the Psalms and the Major and Minor Prophets, it is all about Jesus and sometimes of the physical appearance of His preincarnate manifestations. Adam and his wife saw Him. Abraham saw Him before He sent two angels to annihilate the ungodly Sodom and Gomorrah. This is found in Mosaic Genesis chapter 18 and here are some of the verses: 1) “And the LORD appeared unto him in the plains of Mamre: and he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day; 2) And he lift up his eyes and looked, and, lo, three men stood by him: and when he saw them, he ran to meet them from the tent door, and bowed himself toward the ground, 3) And said, My LORD, if now I have found favour in thy sight, pass not away, I pray thee, from thy servant: 4) Let a little water, I pray you, be fetched, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree: 5) And I will fetch a morsel of bread, and comfort ye your hearts; after that ye shall pass on: for therefore are ye come to your servant. And they said, So do, as thou hast said. 10) And he said, I will certainly return unto thee according to the time of life; and, lo, Sarah thy wife shall have a son. And Sarah heard it in the tent door, which was behind him. 15) Then Sarah denied, saying, I laughed not; for she was afraid. And he said, Nay; but thou didst laugh. 32) And he said, Oh let not the LORD be angry, and I will speak yet but this once: Peradventure ten shall be found there. And he said, I will not destroy it for ten’s sake.” Abraham spoke face to face with the LORD God.

Jesus met with His disciples a couple of times after His resurrection. He told them in Luke 24:44 “And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me.”  The entire Old Testament records the Messianic veridicality of Jesus Christ. In the Law, Moses wrote in Genesis 3:15 “And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.” The prophetic seed of the woman is Jesus, born of the Virgin Mary.

Genesis 49:10 “The sceptre shall not depart from Judah: JESUS

And being the first to hold the patriarchal baton of Israel, from where the Incarnation of the holy One of Israel must come, God Himself revealed to Abraham in Genesis 22:18 “And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice.” Galatians 3:16 “Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ.” Through the Holy Spirit’s vatic involvement, the third in the patriarchal order, Jacob, to whom the divine LORD appropriately gave the sobriquet, Israel, uttered the vaticination concerning the Christ in Genesis 49:10 “The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be.”

The epithetical ‘Son of David’, in appropriation to Jesus, is in reference to His Messianic office. Jesus, in His glorious Second Coming, will wield the sceptre for an unprecedented one thousand unbroken years on earth. Moses, in his longest divine instruction to the assembly of Israel, prophesied in Deuteronomy 18:15 “The LORD thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken;” of the Prophet who is also the Saviour of Israel, and by extension to Gentiles. Some other verses from Moses are Leviticus 16:2-19; Numbers 21:8; Numbers 35:25; Deuteronomy 18:15-19. What do we read in Mark 9:7 when Moses and Elijah were conversing with Jesus? God spoke to their hearing, “This is my beloved Son: hear him.” The One to give ears to is not Moses or Elijah, two great prophets of the Bible; it is Jesus!

Get Jesus initiated by getting born again: pray this prayer, believing it with all your heart. Say,

“Dear heavenly Father, I come to You now in the name of Jesus Christ. I believe in my heart that Jesus is the Son of God. I believe that Jesus died on the cross for my sin. I believe that You raised Him from the dead. I confess with my mouth that Jesus is Lord and I receive Him now as my Lord and my Saviour. I give God all the glory. Amen!” 

 (…to be continued…)

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