Matthew 7:15-29

“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore by their fruits you will know them.           NKJV

My wife and I have been going through Content to Be Good, Called to be Godly by Janet Denison as part of our daily devotionals. In the book, Mrs. Denison, who is a Pastor’s wife, makes some very astute observations about the passage which I felt led to share with my readers.

           This warning from Jesus is critical. Every church has both sheep and wolves sitting in the pews. The wolves dress and sound just like the sheep, but they wear a disguise of faithfulness . . . How do you identify the wolves? More importantly, how do you keep yourself from becoming one? The answer to both questions is by prayerfully becoming a fruit inspector.
           When I speak, I love to use this illustration. I set two apples on the podium. One of the apples is real and the other is artificial. No one in the audience can distinguish the difference until I ask someone to come up and inspect the fruit. Close up, the differences are unmistakable. Wolves dressed like sheep look almost identical to real sheep. The only way we can detect the difference is by looking closely.
         Then I hold up both apples and describe them. The artificial fruit is perfect in appearance. There are no bruises or breaks in the skin. Often the artificial apple appears to be in better shape than the real one. My artificial apple doesn’t have a stem. It was never attached to a tree and so it never needed one. A real apple is created because it was attached to a tree that produces an apple. Artificial fruit can sit in a bowl and look good for years. With a little dusting, this plastic fruit will maintain its fresh and “tasty” appearance. Real fruit doesn’t need maintenance for the best appearance—it requires sustenance.
           An artificial witness can often look better than a genuine witness. The artificial witness seems flawless and is “stem free.” It makes sense because a false witness is manufactured, not grown. A real witness cannot be manufactured; God Himself must create him. What strengthens and sustains your witness: you or God?
           But the real difference between my two apples is the weight. One apple is much lighter than the other because it is hollow. The same is true with a person’s faith. Just like people who reach for artificial fruit when they are hungry and walk away disappointed and unsatisfied, many people lead Christian lives that are hollow, unable to benefit anyone. Only real fruit can feed people when they are hungry. Seeds can be found only in the center of a real apple. Real apples produce other apples; real Christians produce other Christians. Does your witness result in the fruit of other people coming to know Jesus as Lord and Savior of their lives?
           What does it mean to be a fruit inspector? It means you look closely at a person’s life to identify whether that person is a sheep, or a wolf disguised as a sheep. You won’t be able to tell unless you have the chance to inspect his or her life. Most wolves carefully limit their exposure to spiritual situations. When surrounded by real sheep, their disguise is easier to notice. Wolves might have the appearance of faith, but they are unable to produce the fruit of a godly witness. In truth, they often feed on the sheep. Significantly, wolves produce other wolves, not sheep.           Janet Denison

These are sobering thoughts based on Jesus’ warning concerning wolves in sheep’s clothing and the lack of spiritual fruit in their lives. Let this be a warning to us to carefully examine the fruit of our lives. Are we real sheep? Or wolves in sheep’s clothing?

Final thoughts on Hebrews 7:22-28

By so much more Jesus has become a surety of a better covenant. Also there were many priests, because they were prevented by death from continuing. But He, because He continues forever, has an unchangeable priesthood. Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them. For such a High Priest was fitting for us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and has become higher than the heavens; who does not need daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for His own sins and then for the people’s, for this He did once for all when He offered up Himself. For the law appoints as high priests men who have weakness, but the word of the oath, which came after the law, appoints the Son who has been perfected forever.          NKJV

In Hebrews 7:1-21, the scripture declares that Jesus is an eternal high priest after the order of Melchizedek rather than a temporal high priest after the order of Aaron. As a result, verse 22 declares that Jesus has become the surety (or guarantee) of a better covenant than that of the Old Testament high priests. In our text, the Lord proceeds to give us three reasons that Jesus’ high priesthood is superior to that of the Old Testament high priests.

First, Jesus high priesthood is superior to that of the Old Testament high priests because He lives forever (vs.23-25). Because the Old Testament priests died, they had to be continually replaced (v.23). Conversely, because Jesus was raised from the dead in an immortal, incorruptible body, His high priesthood is eternal (v.24). Since Jesus lives forever, He is able to save those of us who trust in Him forever because lives forever to make intercession for us (v.25). Despite the accusations of Satan who acts as a prosecuting attorney (Rev. 12:10), Jesus stands before God the Father, the great judge of all in the court of heaven, to testify as our defense attorney that He has already paid the penalty for our sins (I Jn. 2:1).

Second, Jesus’ high priesthood is superior to that of the Old Testament high priests because He is sinless (v.26-28). Unlike the Old Testament high priests, Jesus did not have to offer up a sacrifice for His own sins (v.27). The animal sacrifices offered up by the Old Testament high priests were not acceptable to pay for the peoples’ sins (Heb. 10:4). Sin, which is the breaking of God’s laws (I Jn. 3:4), requires a sinless human being to be sacrificed and pay for the sins of sinful human beings. Even the Old Testament high priests couldn’t sacrifice themselves for the peoples’ sins because they too were sinners. No human being could be an acceptable sacrifice for the sins of mankind because all human beings are sinners (Rom. 3:23). But God Himself provided the solution in becoming a human being in the person of Jesus Christ, and then living a sinless life here on earth. As a perfect, sinless man, He became the perfect, acceptable sacrifice for our sins (v.26).

Third, Jesus high priesthood is superior to that of the Old Testament high priests because He paid for all of our sins forever with His one sacrifice (v.27). Jesus’ last words from the cross were “It is finished.” (Jn. 19:30). By His substitutionary death, He had accomplished everything that needed to be accomplished for the redemption of His people. Nothing more needed to be done. Contrast that with the sacrifices of the Old Testament high priests which had to be continually offered over and over again for sins (Heb. 10:1,3). When you trust the Lord Jesus Christ as your personal Savior, every sin you have ever committed, or will ever commit, is paid for forever (Heb. 10:11-14). To use an Old Testament metaphor, the sacrifices of the Old Testament high priests were but a cracked cistern that frequently ran dry and had to be constantly refilled, but the sacrifice of Jesus is an unceasing fountain that flows continuously for the cleansing of sin (Zech. 13:1).

What about you dear reader? Have you been to the unceasing fountain of Jesus’ blood opened to cleanse all your sins forever? Have you repented of your sins and trusted the Lord Jesus Christ as your personal Savior?

Final thoughts on Hebrews 7:1-3

For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him, to whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all, first being translated “king of righteousness,” and then also king of Salem, meaning “king of peace,” without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like the Son of God, remains a priest continually.          NKJV

Melchizedek (Gen. 14:18-20) is one of the most mysterious and controversial figures in all of scripture. There are two major views regarding Melchizedek. The first is that Melchizedek was simply a man who was a contemporary of Abraham, who had no record of his genealogy, and who was both a king and a priest, and thus is a type (or picture) of Christ. The second view is that Melchizedek was the pre-incarnate Christ, who appeared to Abraham to bestow His own special blessing on the patriarch who would become the father of the Hebrew nation. Christ sometimes appeared in the Old Testament in visible form, known in theological circles as a Christophany. Some examples of Christophanies from scripture include Christ appearing to Moses in the form of a burning bush (Ex. 3:4-18, compare with Jn. 8:58); Christ appearing as a man with whom Jacob wrestled, who preserved Jacob’s life, blessed him with a new name (Israel), and whom Jacob identified as God Himself (Gen. 32:24-30); Christ appearing to Joshua as the Captain of the Lord’s Army (Jos. 5:13-15); Christ walking in the fiery furnace in human form with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego (Dan. 3:23-25); etc. Looking at our text, there seems to three strong lines of evidence that Melchizedek is a Christophany.

First, Melchizedek has the authority of Christ. In verse two, we learn that “Melchizedek” (actually a title rather than a personal name) means “King of Righteousness.” This Old Testament title applies only to Christ (Isa. 32:1, Jer. 23:5-6). Melchizedek is also referred to in verse two as the “King of Salem,” which literally means “King of Peace.” Again, this title is similar to the Old Testament title for Christ, “Prince of Peace.” (Isaiah 9:6). At Christ’s millennial reign, He will certainly reign over the nations of the earth as the “King of Peace” (Zech. 9:10).

Second, Melchizedek, like Christ, is greater than Abraham. In the eyes of the Jews, Abraham was the greatest man who ever lived. When the Jews heard the claims of Jesus, they asked, “Are you greater than our father, Abraham? Who do you make yourself out to be?” Jesus answer to them was, “Before Abraham was, I Am.” (Jn. 8:58). Likewise, the scripture states that Melchizedek is greater than Abraham (Heb. 7:4-7). The superiority of Melchizedek to Abraham is also seen in the fact that Abraham paid tithes to Melchizedek before the implementation of the Levitical priesthood (v.2). Biblically, titles are paid not to men, but to the Lord (Mal. 3:8, Gen. 28:22, Lev. 27:30). Why was Abraham, the Patriarch of Israel, paying tithes to Melchizedek? It is because Melchizedek was Christ Himself in human form.

Third, Melchizedek is eternal like Christ (v.3). There are four declarations in Hebrews, chapter seven, regarding the eternality of Melchizedek. Verse three declares that Melchizedek had no parents. Those who hold that He is merely a type of Christ say that this verse just means that there is no record of His genealogy. However, applying the “golden rule of interpretation” which requires that any passage be taken “literally” as “plainly stated” unless there is good contextual reason to do so otherwise, then this passage goes far beyond just saying that there is no record of Melchizedek’s genealogy. Verse three explicitly states that Melchizedek had no beginning or end. Not only does this rule out Him being a man, it also rules out Him being a angel (Psa. 148:2, 5). Melchizek is declared to be like the Son of God (compare with Dan. 3:25, Rev. 1:12-13, 18), an eternal priest (Heb. 7:15-16), who is still alive (Heb. 7:8).

Who is Melchizedek? The Biblical evidence points to Him as the pre-incarnate Christ. This same priest who blessed Abraham as the father of the Hebrew nation is the great, eternal High Priest who is able to bless us with salvation because He lives forever to make intercession for us (Heb. 7:25). Have you repented of your sins and trusted the Lord Jesus Christ as your personal Savior and eternal High Priest?

Final thoughts on Song of Solomon 1:1-2

The song of songs, which is Solomon’s. Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth—
For your love is better than wine.           NKJV

It is clear from the very first verse of the book, that Solomon is the author of the author of Song of Solomon. Song of Solomon is titled “Song of Songs” in the Hebrew text and in the Greek Septuagint. Early Latin translations titled it “Canticles” (Latin for Song of Songs). English translations began titling the book “Song of Solomon,” thus giving the fuller sense on 1:1. The phrase “song of songs” means “the superlative (best or most excellent) song.” Song of Solomon was written early in Solomon’s reign which began in 971 B.C., but before he took Pharaoh’s daughter as his second wife (I Kings 3:1).

The main theme of Song of Solomon is the love that should exist between a husband and wife (Song. 1:2, 13-16; 2:16; 3:11; 4:9-11; 5:1, 16; 6:3; 7:10). Two people dominate this true-life, dramatic, love song. Solomon, whose kingship is mentioned 5 times (Song. 1:4, 12; 3:9, 11; 7:5), appears as the beloved husband. The Shulamite maiden (Song. 6:13) is the beloved wife. In 1826, Heinrich Ewald, a liberal scholar, proposed a triangle in which the Shulamite falls in love with a shepherd who is not Solomon, but a young man from the maiden’s home town. In Ewald’s interpretation, the Shulamite actually resists the overtures of Solomon to be his wife, longing to be with the young shepherd from her home instead, and eventually she and her shepherd are reunited and marry. Ewald based his interpretation on the argument that Solomon was a polygamist and therefore could not have written a book on the purity of wedded bliss. However, this interpretation is not only dishonoring and without historical foundation, it assumes that Solomon could not have truly loved only one woman early in his reign as king. It is important to note that Solomon entered into his later marriages for political reasons, not for love.

The Shulamite is never mentioned by name in the book, but according to Jewish tradition, she is Abishag, the Shunammite maiden, who cared for King David on his death bed (I Kings 1:3-4, 15; 2:17-25). There are a number of parallels between the Shulamite and Abishag. Both were from Shunem (the consonants, lamed and nun, are frequently interchangeable in Semitic languages and some Hebrew manuscripts (as well as the Septuagint) read Shunammite instead of Shulamite). Examples of this interexchange of lamed and nun can also be seen in Hebrew words such as Azal and Azan (both meaning “to go away from”) and Ya`al and Ya`an (both meaning “to have purpose”). The same type of letter exchanges can be found in most languages, including English (examples: cipher and cipher, offence and offense, gray and grey, sceptic and skeptic, adviser and advisor, barbecue and barbeque, and enquire and inquire). Both the Shulamite and Abishag were outsiders brought into the court. Both of them were contemporaries of Solomon. Both of them knew him personally. Both of them were in an emotionally charged situation involving marriage. Both were virgins. Both were beautiful. Both were brought in to serve kings. Both of them vanish from the pages of scripture before Solomon marries Pharaoh’s daughter. Since the love between Solomon and the Shulamite is a picture of the love between Christ, the shepherd/king, and His bride, the church (Eph. 5:25-33), it is worth noting that Abishag actually served the shepherd/king, David.

It is curious that the Shulamite vanishes from the pages of scripture before Solomon marries Pharaoh’s daughter. Roberta Kells Dorr, a former Middle Eastern scholar and author, in her book, Solomon’s Song, makes the compelling case that, as happened so often in those days, the Shulamite died in childbirth and suggests that it may have been at that time that Solomon wrote his great love song. In Song of Solomon 8:5, the references to death” and “the grave” may have forshadowed the Shulamite’s early death.

Some have objected to the inclusion of Song of Solomon in the canon of scripture, claiming that God is never mentioned in the book, but a closer examination of the book will demonstrate that this claim is in fact, not true. The name of God is actually found in Song. 8:6 in the phrase “most vehement flame.” This entire phrase is one word, “shalhebeth” in Hebrew and literally means “flame of Yah.” “Yah” is the shortened name of “Yahweh” or the “LORD,” the Hebrew name for God, so the phrase “most vehement flame” literally means “flame of the LORD.”