the time had fully come

The Time Had Fully Come

“Life & Ministry of the Messiah, Part 2”from

“That the World May Know” series

Lessons in the Wilderness

• Deuteronomy 8 “2 Remember the whole way by which he has brought you these forty years through the desert so that he might, by humbling you, test you to see if you have it within you to keep his commandments or not. 3 So he humbled you by making you hungry and then feeding you with unfamiliar manna. He did this to teach you that humankind cannot live by bread alone, but also by everything that comes from the Lord’s mouth.”


• Deuteronomy 8 “15 …who brought you through the great, fearful desert of venomous serpents and scorpions, an arid place with no water. He made water flow from a flint rock and”

• God used the desert to take Israel from an undisciplined, unfaithful rabble into a powerful nation called to obey Him

• The Essenes knew their history


• How did God use the desert to prepare Israel?– Genesis 12:1-9– Exodus 2:15-22; 3:1– I Samuel 23:19-25; 24:1-2

Zin Valley in the Negev

Single tree in the Negev Desert

Midian

Wilderness/DesertOf

Ziph

Desert of En-Gedi


• How did God use the desert to prepare Israel?– Genesis 12:1-9 (Negev)– Exodus 2:15-22; 3:1 (Midian)– I Samuel 23:19-25; 24:1-2 (Ziph/En-Gedi)

• Discussion groups


• How did God use the desert to prepare Israel?– Genesis 12:1-9

• God calls Abram to leave his homeland• Promises blessings• Abraham travels down to the Negev


• How did God use the desert to prepare Israel?– Exodus 2:15-22; 3:1

• Moses fled to the desert, Sinai peninsula and Arabia• There he met his future wife and father-in-law• There he learned how to be a shepherd• It was there that God appeared to him in the burning

bush• FYI – the Midianites were the descendants of Abraham

by his second wife, Keturah (Gen 25:1-2)


• How did God use the desert to prepare Israel?– I Samuel 23:19-25; 24:1-2

• David hid from Saul in the strongholds of Horesh among the Ziphites

• David also hid in the desert strongholds of En-Gedi• Just read David’s Psalms to see how much he trusted

God, even in the worst of situations


• The 40 years in the wilderness show up again and again in the Biblical text as– Reminders of God’s faithful love (Psalms 105:38-

45; 107:4-5)– Lessons Israel learned there (Jer 2:6; 7:22-24;

Micah 6:3-5)– Jesus used lessons from the wilderness to counter

Satan’s temptations when he quoted Deut 6:16 in Matt 4:7


• Israel was very familiar with the wilderness (we would call it desert)

• The wilderness is next door to where most Israelites lived

• The Negev is just 40 miles S of Jerusalem• The Judea Wilderness can be seen from

Jerusalem just to the E and running 50 miles N to S


• Of course the wilderness is where the Israelites wandered for 40 years

• The wilderness is where Jesus went and was tempted by Satan

God Brings Redemption through the Wilderness

• Luke 1 “68 Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, because he has come to help and has redeemed his people. 69 For he has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David, 70 as he spoke through the mouth of his holy prophets from long ago,...”– The words of Zechariah after the birth of John the

Baptist


• God used the wilderness to show Israel that they had to depend on him

• Israel learned what God wanted and learned to look to Him for everything they needed


• Why did John the Baptist go into the wilderness?– Matthew 3:1-6


• Matthew 3 “1 In those days John the Baptist came into the wilderness of Judea proclaiming, 2 “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.” 3 For he is the one about whom Isaiah the prophet had spoken: “The voice of one shouting in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make his paths straight.’”


• Matthew 3 “4 Now John wore clothing made from camel’s hair with a leather belt around his waist, and his diet consisted of locusts and wild honey. 5 Then people from Jerusalem, as well as all Judea and all the region around the Jordan, were going out to him, 6 and he was baptizing them in the Jordan River as they confessed their sins.”


• Jesus was tempted in the wilderness– The same wilderness where Qumran was located

• How did Jesus respond to Satan’s temptations?– The word of God– Deut 8:13 (…by bread alone…)– Deut 6:13 (…worship the Lord your God…)– Deut 6:16 (…do not test the Lord…)


• Why was Jesus’ temptation important?– I Corinthians 10:13– Hebrews 2:14-18


• Why was Jesus’ temptation important?– I Corinthians 10 “13 No trial has overtaken you that

is not faced by others. And God is faithful: He will not let you be tried beyond what you are able to bear, but with the trial will also provide a way out so that you may be able to endure it.”


• Why was Jesus’ temptation important?– Hebrews 2 “14 Therefore, since the children share

in flesh and blood, he likewise shared in their humanity, so that through death he could destroy

the one who holds the power of death (that is, the devil), 15 and set free those who were held in slavery all their lives by their fear of death


• Why was Jesus’ temptation important?– Hebrews 2 “16 For surely his concern is not for

angels, but he is concerned for Abraham’s descendants. 17 Therefore he had to be made like his brothers and sisters in every respect, so that he could become a merciful and faithful high priest in things relating to God, to make atonement for the sins of the people. 18 For since he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are tempted.”


• Why was Jesus’ temptation important?– I Corinthians 10:13– Hebrews 2:14-18

• Discussion Groups

A Community Set Apart to Fulfill God’s Plan

• Isaiah 55 “10 The rain and snow fall from the sky and do not return, but instead water the earth and make it produce and yield crops, and provide seed for the planter and food for those who must eat. 11 In the same way, the promise that I make does not return to me, having accomplished nothing. No, it is realized as I desire and is fulfilled as I intend.”


• God worked with/through many different people to prepare the way for His Son to come– He chose Abraham– He chose Jacob/Israel– He chose David– He exiled Israel, but then also brought them back– He even used the Essenes of Qumran


• How did God use the Essenes?– They provided a cultural context– They provided a theological context– Jesus’ message fell on fertile soil – Soil/minds that had been prepared to hear


• What were some of the ways the Essenes helped prepare the way?– Held their personal possessions in common (Acts

2:42-45)– Practiced a ceremonial meal that they associated

with the Messiah (Matt 26:26-29)– Practiced ceremonial cleansings symbolizing

repentance and forgiveness (John 3:22-23; Acts 2:36-41)


• What do the following 2 verses tell you about God’s timing and plans?– Galatians 4:4-5– Romans 8:28


• Gal 4 “4 But when the appropriate time had come, God sent out his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those who were under the law, so that we may be adopted as sons with full rights.”

• Rom 8 “28 And we know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose,”


• What do the following 2 verses tell you about God’s timing and plans?– Galatians 4:4-5– Romans 8:28

• Discussion Groups


• What do these verses tells you about God’s timing in our lives?


• What can we learn from the Essenes?– They were committed– They set themselves apart– They studied God’s word– They practiced repentance, forgiveness and pure

living

• Are you willing to make the same level of commitment?


• Psalm 33 “11 The Lord’s decisions stand forever; his plans abide throughout the ages.”

• God has a plan – are we part of it?• God has a plan – are we supporting it?

Preparing Hearts and Mind to Receive the Messiah

• Isaiah 9 “2 The people walking in darkness see a bright light; light shines on those who live in a land of deep darkness.”

• Not only were their practices in some ways similar to those of early Christians, but also their beliefs and terminology


• Their beliefs and terminology similarities– Sons of light -- Light and darkness– Belial -- Poor in spirit– Melchizedek -- Son of God– Son of the Most High– Way of the Lord


• They interpreted prophecy as being fulfilled in their time

• So did the early Christians– Matthew 3:1-3 (Isaiah 40:3)– Luke 4:14-21 (Isaiah 61:1-2a & 58:6)– Luke 18:31-33 (several, Is 50:6)– Acts 2:14-36 (Joel 2:28-32)


• Essenes traced the Messiah’s priesthood to Melchizedek, not Aaron– Luke 1:31-33– Hebrews 7:1-22

• Discussion


• Not all Essene beliefs lined up with Christian beliefs– Believed in 2 Messiahs (a priest and a king in 2

separate people)– Their belief of a need to live separately/apart

from the world


• Some have tried to associate John the Baptist with Qumran and the Essenes– There are many similarities– However there are also differences/omissions

• Was never identified as an Essene• Can’t be historically placed at Qumran• Seemed to not be a member of a community• Preached publicly, did not live like a monk

Called to Evangelize, Not to Separate

• Mark 16 “14 Then he appeared to the eleven themselves, while they were eating, and he rebuked them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they did not believe those who had seen him resurrected. 15 He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. 16 The one who believes and is baptized will be saved, but the one who does not believe will be condemned.”


• While the Essenes tried to honor God, but their separatist method was the opposite of Christ’s

• Christ taught His disciples “to go”, to associate with the lost, not avoid them– Matthew 28:19-20 & Mark 16:15-16 (Great

commission)– Matthew 5:13-16 (salt and light)


• The New Testament record shows– Romans 1:8 (faith proclaimed…the world)– Colossians 1:3-6 (…bearing fruit and growing…)– I Thessalonians 1:6-8 (…from you…echoed forth…)


• Characteristic Christians are to have– Mark 12:30-31 (love neighbor as yourself)– Luke 6:32-35 (…love enemies...do good…)– John 13:34-35 (love as I loved you)


• So we are to go, or as we are going, we are – To be salt– To be light– To be neighbors, i.e. love

the time had fully come

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