On The Road To Emmaus

[Olde Tymer]

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● Luke 24:13-27 . . And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded
unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.

Well; I'm not positive about all the things Jesus may have expounded concerning
himself, but I think we can probably guess a few.
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[Olde Tymer]

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● Ps 16:8-10 . . I have set The Lord always before me. Because he is at my right
hand, I will not be shaken. Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my
body also will rest secure, because you will not abandon me to sheol, nor will you
let your Holy one see decay.

That prophecy is very useful in an unexpected way, to wit: it connects to Acts 2:25-30
which, in so many words, declares Jesus is one of David's biological descendants.

"Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, that he is
both dead and buried, and his sepulchre is with us unto this day. Therefore being a
prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of
his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne . . ."

So then, if Jesus really is one of David's blood relatives, then of course Jesus is also
one of Adam's blood relatives too because David descended from Adam.

" From one man He made every nation of men" (Acts 17:26)
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[Olde Tymer]

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● Ps 110:1 . . The Lord said to my lord; "Sit at My right hand, till I make your
enemies your footstool."

There's two distinctly different Hebrew words translated by the English word "lord"
in that passage

The first is Jehovah (a.k.a. Yahweh) which is a name restricted to God's use. (Isa
42:8)

The second is 'adown which is a common word for superiors and/or seniors in the
Old Testament; both human and divine. For instance: Sarah referred to her
husband as 'adown (Gen 18:12) The people of Heth addressed Abraham as 'adown
(Gen 23:5-6) Abraham's trusted servant referred to his master as 'adown (Gen
24:12) Rachel addressed her father Laban as 'adown (Gen 31:35) Jacob addressed
Esau as 'adown (Gen 33:8) And God is spoken of as 'adown too. (Isa 1:24 and Isa
3:1 et al.)

Jesus said Ps 110:1 pertains to Christ (Matt 22:42-45) who his audience believed
was David's descendant. But in ancient Jewish culture, fathers were superior to
their posterity; so Jesus asked his audience how it could be that David's son would
outrank him.

Well, the thing is: biblical preeminence relative to primogeniture is transferable, i.e.
it can be taken from a senior and bestowed upon a junior, for example: Ishmael to
Isaac (Gen 20:11-12) Esau to Jacob (Gen 25:23) Reuben to Joseph (Gen 49:3-4 &
1Chr 5:1) and Manasseh to Ephraim. (Gen 48:13-14)
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[Olde Tymer]

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● Mic 5:2 . . But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah-- too little to be among the clans
of Judah --from you one will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel. His goings forth
are from long ago, from the days of eternity

NOTE: I believe it would be a mistake to assume that the words "His goings forth
are from long ago, from the days of eternity" are saying the one is an eternal being
when a better take on it would be that his birth was scheduled before the world
began. (1Pet 1:18-21 & Rev 13:8)

Anyway: although the Bible gives the location of Jesus' birth, it doesn't give a date
for it. However, the Bible does give the date of his official presentation; beginning
with Zech 9:9 which says:

"Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion! Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem! See, your king
comes to you: righteous and having salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a
colt, the foal of a donkey."

That prediction was fulfilled during what is customarily known as Palm Sunday.
(Matt 21:1-10, John 12:12-16) The date of that event can be determined with little
difficulty from Dan 9:25 in combination with the 1st and 2nd chapters of the book
of Nehemiah.

* If perchance someone out there wants to give this a try, be sure and use
prophetic years of 360 days in your arithmetic instead of calendar years or the
result won't come out right. Also; be very sure to begin your reckoning with
Artaxerxes' decree to rebuild Jerusalem rather than Cyrus' decree to rebuild the
Temple as those two projects were not concurrent.
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[Olde Tymer]

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● Ps 110:4 . .The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind: "You are a priest
forever, in the order of Melchizedek."

Now the interesting thing is: Mel's wasn't a succession kind of priesthood like
Aaron's, nor was Mel's restricted to a particular nationality nor a particular family.

Anyway; Mel was a high priest (Heb 5:10) which is a sacred trust exercised by one
man alone rather than a responsibility shared among a guild of priests. And the
position isn't something men win, viz; the high priesthood is neither an
achievement nor a career path. In other words: men don't compete for the job
because it's an appointment (Heb 5:4-6) In point of fact; a lifetime appointment,
i.e. the high priesthood is a position that the man occupies till he's deceased.

Well; Jesus came back from death with immortality (Rom 6:9) so we need not be
concerned that he might some day be replaced. (Heb 7:23-25) In other words:
Jesus is the last of his kind; hence there won't be any more after him.

Now, Mel was a high priest on Earth, whereas Jesus is a high priest in Heaven (Col
3:1) which implies Jesus has direct access to God's ear-- a tremendous advantage
for folks for whom Jesus is their mediator between God and Man.

● Heb 4:14-16 . .Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone
through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we
profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our
weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are--
yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so
that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

The Greek word translated "confidence" basically pertains to all out spokenness, i.e.
candid, man to man, heart to heart, and straight from the shoulder, so to speak. So
let's not be trying God's patience with rote prayers when we are so strongly
encouraged to just be ourselves.

● Phil 4:6-7 . .Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and
petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God,
which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ
Jesus.
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[Olde Tymer]

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● Gen 3:15 . . I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your
offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.

Just about everybody on both sides of the aisle concurs that prophecy predicted
Christ; and in point of fact, the New Testament emphasizes a woman brought Jesus
into the world, viz: he didn't just appear on the scene out of nowhere. (Luke 1:26-31,
Gal 4:4)

FAQ: Who are those "your offspring" spoken of in Gen 3:15?

REPLY: According to John 8:38-44 they're people.

FAQ: How so?

REPLY: The Serpent-- a.k.a. the Devil (Rev 20:2) --has the power of death (Heb
2:14) and the ability to tamper with the human body and the human mind in ways
not easily detected. (Ps 51:5, Luke 13:16, Mark 5:1-5, Eph 2:2)

FAQ: Are you suggesting the Devil tampers with people's conception so that they
come into this world with a demonic nature instead of a divine nature?

REPLY: Yes.

● 1John 3:7-8 . . Little children, let no one deceive you; the one who practices
righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous; the one who practices sin is of
the Devil; for the Devil has sinned from the beginning. The Son of God appeared for
this purpose, that He might destroy the works of the Devil.
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[Olde Tymer]

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● Gen 49:8-10a . .You, O Judah, your brothers shall praise; your hand shall be on
the nape of your foes; your father's sons shall bow low to you. The scepter shall not
depart from Judah, nor a ruler from between his feet

That prediction looked ahead to Jesus' tribal affiliation.

● Heb 7:14 . . It is clear that our Lord descended from Judah

The pathway for Jesus' connection to Judah was via David; who himself was of the
same tribe. (Matt 1:2-6) The line from Judah to David can be easily traced in the
Old Testament by a patient researcher. It's a pretty interesting journey as it takes
Bible readers into and thru the little story of Ruth: an amazing girl.
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[Olde Tymer]

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● Dan 9:25-26 . . Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the
commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall
be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and
the wall, even in troublous times. And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah
be cut off,

Now, that last sentence, the one that says Messiah shall be cut off, has somehow
escaped the notice of a pretty good number of the Jews' rabbinical scholars. And
Daniel wasn't the only prophet to mention this; Isaiah did too.

● Isa 53:8 . .Who shall declare his generation? For he was cut off out of the land of
the living

In other words: Messiah was not only supposed to die, but also to die childless.

The thing is: the Jews were expecting a God-given immortal monarch who would
liberate them from foreign dominance and usher in the glorious theocratic kingdom
as it's depicted by the prophets. Because he didn't do as expected. quite a few
modern Jews honestly believe they have sufficient justification for refusing to
consider Jesus.
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[Olde Tymer]

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● Isa 7:14 . .The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call
him Immanuel.

The New Testament applies that prophecy to Christ.

"They will call him Immanuel-- which means "God with us" (Matt 1:23)

Well; there is no use in looking for a black and white example of the people
speaking of Jesus by that name because there isn't one. However, it isn't
necessarily an ID tag when it can also speak of divine patronage, for example:

"And fear gripped them all, and they began glorifying God, saying: A great prophet
has arisen among us! And: God has visited His people! And this report concerning
him went out all over Judea, and in all the surrounding district." (Luke 7:16-17)
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[Olde Tymer]

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● Dan 7:9-10 . . I beheld till the thrones were cast down, and the Ancient of days
did sit, whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like the pure
wool: his throne was like the fiery flame, and his wheels as burning fire. A fiery
stream issued and came forth from before him: thousand thousands ministered
unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him: the judgment
was set, and the books were opened.

That's very likely an early mention of the great white throne event depicted by Rev
20:11-15 which will be supervised by none other than the man who came into the
world as a sweet little babe in swaddling clothes.

● John 5:21-23 . . Moreover, the Father judges no one, but has entrusted all
judgment to the Son

● Acts 17:31 . . He has set a day when He will judge the world with justice by the
man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to all men by raising him from the
dead.

* This next comment may not be an important note, but it caught my attention that
Christ will have white hair the same as the Ancient of Days in Daniel's prophecy.

● Rev 1:12-14 . . And I turned to see the voice that spoke with me. And being
turned, I saw one like unto the Son of man, his head and his hairs were white like
wool, as white as snow.

Well; that white hair speaks of seniority, viz: Christ will be presented as an elder;
and according to the Bible, elders are worthy of respect-- not because they earned
it, but simply because the supreme being requires it.

● Lev 19:32a . . Rise in the presence of the aged; show respect for the elderly:
revere your gods. I am The Lord.

The elders among us aren't really divine, but the supreme being identifies Himself
with them that way because He's an elder too, ergo: disrespect for elders down
here is felt by the elder up there.
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[Olde Tymer]

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The passage below isn't a prophecy per se, but it is prophetic in its own way.

● Gen 3:8-9 . .Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as He
was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God
among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to the man: Where are
you?

Due to the forbidden fruit incident, the rapport between God and the man had
broken down and it was God who sought to restore their connection; not the man.
That situation became more or less permanent.

● Luke 19:10 . . For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.
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[Olde Tymer]

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The Talmud teaches that the 53rd of Isaiah refers to Messiah. (Sanhedrin 98)

The Targum of Jonathan begins it with the words Ha yatslakh avdee Mashikha
which mean: Behold my servant the Messiah shall prosper.

Others believed the 53rd of of Isaiah speaks of the sufferings of Messiah, e.g. Rabbi
Moshe Kohen Ibn Crispin. (a.k.a. Ibn Krispin)

Rabbi Mosheh El-Sheikh (a.k.a. Alshekh) claimed: Our Rabbis with one voice accept
and affirm the opinion that the prophet [Isaiah] is speaking of King Messiah.

So; not every Jew has, nor has had, a problem with that chapter, and in point of
fact, it wasn't till the Christians came along that a number of Jewish scholars began
doing all in their academic power to spin that chapter away from Christ.

Anyway, the 53rd of Isaiah shows up in the New Testament at Acts 8:26-34 which
says:

"And the angel of the Lord spake unto Philip, saying: Arise, and go toward the
south unto the way that goeth down from Jerusalem unto Gaza, which is desert.
And he arose and went: and, behold, a man of Ethiopia-- an eunuch of great
authority under Candace queen of the Ethiopians, who had the charge of all her
treasure, and had come to Jerusalem for to worship --was returning, and sitting in
his chariot read Isaiah the prophet. Then the Spirit said unto Philip: Go near, and
join thyself to this chariot.

. . And Philip ran thither to him, and heard him read the prophet Isaiah, and said:
Understandest thou what thou readest? And he said: How can I, except some man
should guide me?

. .The place of the scripture which he read was this: He was led as a sheep to the
slaughter; and like a lamb dumb before his shearer, so opened he not his mouth. In
his humiliation his judgment was taken away: and who shall declare his generation?
For his life is taken from the earth. And the eunuch answered Philip, and said: I
pray thee, of whom speaketh the prophet this? Of himself, or of some other man?

. .Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same scripture, and preached
unto him Jesus."
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[Olde Tymer]

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Although Numbers 21:5-9 isn't a prophecy per se, it is prophetic in its own way as
Jesus appropriated that event to illustrate some of the spiritual elements of his
crucifixion.

● John 3:14-17 . . As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must
the Son of Man be lifted up; that whoever believes may in him have eternal life.

Long story short: Moses' people became weary of eating manna all the time at
every meal. But instead of courteously, and diplomatically, petitioning their divine
benefactor for a different diet, they became indignant and confrontational; angrily
demanding better accommodations.

In response to their insolence, and their ingratitude for His providence; God sent a
swarm of deadly poisonous snakes amongst them; which began striking people;
and every strike was 100% fatal, no exceptions.

After a number of people died, the rest came to their senses and begged Moses to
intercede. In reply; The Lord instructed Moses to fashion a replica of the snakes
and hoist it up on a pole in plain view so that everyone dying from venom could
look to it for relief.

The key issue here is that the replica was the only God-given remedy for the
people's bites-- not sacrifices and offerings, not tithing, not church attendance, not
scapulars, not confession, not holy days of obligation, not the Sabbath, not
rosaries, not weeping, not the golden rule, not charity, not Bible study, yeshiva,
catechism, and/or Sunday school, not self denial, not vows of poverty, not the Ten
Commandments, nor even one's ideology of choice, i.e. it wouldn't have mattered
whether somebody was Muslim, Hindu, Jew, Buddhist, Catholic, Protestant, Baha'i,
Atheist, Agnostic, Pagan, or whatever-- the replica was it; nothing else would
suffice to save their lives.

As an allegory, the replica speaks of Christ's crucifixion for the sins of the world as
the only God-given rescue from retribution and perdition; and when people accept
it, then according to John 3:14-17 and John 5:24, they qualify for a transfer from
death into life. Those who reject his crucifixion as the only God-given rescue from
the sum of all fears, are already on the docket to face it.

● John 3:18 . .Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not
believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of
God's only begotten son.

FAQ: How might one go about looking to Jesus like those folks back then looked to
that replica?

REPLY: I recommend RSVP.

Find a quiet place; anywhere will do. Cover you face with your hands for a sense of
connection, and tell God-- under your breath or out loud if you like --that you have
never yet measured up to His standards and you're pretty sure you never will. Tell
Him you would like to take advantage of His son's death to protect yourself from
judgment.
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[Olde Tymer]

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The 2nd chapter of the book of Daniel tells of a rather curious statue constructed with a
variety of materials representing a number of significant Gentile empires.

It's my understanding that the several empires represented by the statue have come
and gone except for the one down at the bottom represented by an aggregate of iron
and clay.

The thing to note is that a world controlled by Gentile emperors will finally and
conclusively be ended when a mysterious stone, quarried by the hand of God, smashes
the statue to pieces; which of course will include that one last empire down at the
bottom yet to be identified.

It is very, very tempting to assume the stone quarried by the hand of God represents
Christ, but in my estimation it's far more likely the stone represents the empire that
Christ is destined to rule.

● Dan 7:13-14 . . In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son
of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was
led into his presence. He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all peoples,
nations and men of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting
dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.

Now, the kingdom described in that passage won't start out big at first but instead will
start out relatively insignificant.

● Dan 2:34-35 . .While you were watching, a rock was cut out, but not by human hands.
It struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and smashed them. Then the iron, the
clay, the bronze, the silver and the gold were broken to pieces at the same time and
became like chaff on a threshing floor in the summer. The wind swept them away
without leaving a trace. But the rock that struck the statue became a huge mountain and
filled the whole earth.

The rock destined to become a huge mountain begins its journey to greatness with
David's little pee-wee realm in the land of Israel.

● Luke 1:31-33 . . You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him
the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord
God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of
Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end.
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[Olde Tymer]

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● Isa 42:1-2 . . Behold My servant, whom I uphold; mine elect, in whom My soul
delighteth; I have put My spirit upon him: he shall bring forth judgment to the
Gentiles. He shall not cry, nor lift up, nor cause his voice to be heard in the street.

That prophecy came to pass at Matt 12:16-21 where it looks to me that Jesus did
not want people to go about advertising him as a thaumaturgist, which is often
associated with occult practices, especially magic.

* Not long after that incident; some of Jesus' opponents began to accuse him of
sorcery. (Matt 12:24)
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