Hidden (Krypto) Treasures

To get pearls, one must dive deep!

Jesus in the OT :: Malachi

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On January 27, 2010

In Christian, Jesus in the O.T.

The book of Malachi gives us a glimpse of who Jesus is in the Old Testament (O.T).

This is the last book of the Old Testament and it means Messenger. Interesting in this book entitled Messenger, we have two (2) messengers who are explicitly called out. One messenger is with a cause, the other is of the covenant. Malachi 3:1 reads Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the LORD, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the LORD of hosts. God is silent for the next 300 to years between the Old Testament and the New Testament, and His silence is broken by this messenger.

Messenger #1 is the Messenger with a Cause which was to prepare the way of the Lord (referring to the voice in the wilderness, John the Baptist – Luke 3:4).
And Messenger #2 is the Messenger of the Covenant whom God delights in (referring to Jesus Christ, the Lord). God delights in Jesus. He announced it not once but twice, when he said This is My BELOVED Son, in whom I am well pleased (in whom I delight) at the baptism of Jesus (Luke 3:22) and the transfiguration of Jesus (Matthew 17:5).

In Malachi, Jesus is the Messenger of the covenant, in whom God delights.

Jesus in the OT :: Zechariah

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On January 26, 2010

In Christian, Jesus in the O.T.

The book of Zechariah gives us a glimpse of who Jesus is in the Old Testament (O.T).

Zechariah  means “Yahweh Remembers” i.e., God remembers his covenant (He will be their God and they will be His people). There are many instances in this book that has a direct reference to the Savior and Messiah (the anointed/chosen One), Jesus Christ.

Zechariah 6:12-13 talks about the coronation of Joshua (a variant of Yeshua a.k.a. Jesus) as priest who will rebuild the temple, bear the glory and shall sit and rule upon his throne as King.  In Hebrews 8:1 we see Jesus Christ, THE High Priest who sits at the right hand of the Majesty in the heavens, who reigns.

Zechariah 9:9 talks about a King riding on a donkey. In Luke 19 we see Jesus riding on a donkey as He enters into Jerusalem.

Zechariah 9:10 talks about a King riding on a horse. In Revelation 19, we read about Jesus who will come riding on a white horse.

Zechariah 11:12 states that the price for the staff of the shepherd (LORD), called Beauty, that the people will agree to pay would be thirty (30) pieces of silver. In Matthew 26:15, we read that Judas covenanted to betray Jesus, the Beautiful staff of God (the Good Shepherd), for thirty (30) pieces of silver.

Zechariah 12:10 states that they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, …. In John 18:34-37, we see that Jesus was pierced on the Cross.

In Zechariah, Jesus is the High Priest and riding King. He rode once on a donkey, He will  ride as King on the horse. Jesus is the Beauty of the LORD, the Staff of the Good Shepherd. He was priced and pierced for us, because Yahweh remembered his covenant with man, to be their God so that they could be His people.

Jesus in the OT :: Haggai

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On January 25, 2010

In Christian, Jesus in the O.T.

The book of Haggai gives us a glimpse of who Jesus is in the Old Testament (O.T).

Haggai is probably an abbreviated form of Haggiah which means “Festival of Yahweh”. THe backdrop in this books is that the temple of God is not complete because people’s personal affairs have interfered with God’s business.

The prophet Haggai brings God’s message to first bring priority to the House of God over their personal pursuits. God describes his House as being laid waste (Haggai 1:4,9) and warns through Haggai, that if the people don’t start focusing on God’s house over their own, the fruit of their labor would be futile akin to putting wages in a bags (pockets) with holes in them ( Haggai 1:6).

But as we seek to see Jesus in the book of Haggai, the key verses that surfaces are Haggai 2:7 & 9 which reads
7 And I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations shall come: and I will fill this house with glory, saith the LORD of hosts.
9 The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former, saith the LORD of hosts: and in this place will I give peace, saith the LORD of hosts.

Desire of all nations will come (refers to the coming of Jesus Christ – Matthew 1:21) and I will fill this house with glory (Jesus in the temple cleansing it to reveal the glory of God – Matthew 21:12);
The glory of this latter house will be greater than the former, saith the Lord of hosts and In this place will I give peace (the Prince of peace – Isaiah 9:6 & 7) saith the Lord.

In Haggai, Jesus is the desire of all nations. He is not only the cleanser of the temple (our bodies are the temple of the Holy God – 1 Corinthians 6:19-20) to restore God’s glory, but He is the in fact the very glory of God within the temple (our bodies that are jars of clay – 2 Cor 4:7). He is the Prince of Peace.

Jesus in the OT :: Zephaniah

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On January 22, 2010

In Christian, Jesus in the O.T.

The book of Zephaniah gives us a glimpse of who Jesus is in the Old Testament (O.T).

The name Tesphan-yah mean “Yahweh hides” or “Yahweh has hidden”.

Zephaniah 1:7 states that The Lord has prepared a sacrifice. The Lord has prepared a sacrifice; not sacrifices. It is a singular sacrifice prepared by the LORD (Yahweh); Jesus Christ is the first (alpha) and final (omega) sacrifice acceptable and pleasing to God. (Hebrews 10:1-18)

Zephaniah 2:3 counsels that we ought to seek God, seek righteousness, and seek meekness and we shall be hid in the day of the LORD’s anger.

When we seek and believe in Jesus Christ, the righteousness of God, we no longer have to hide ourselves from God, because his sacrificial blood hides our sins from Him. Jesus hides the anger of God on us.

In Zephaniah, Jesus is THE SACRIFICE prepared by God, who hides us from the wrath of God.

Zephaniah 1:7 (KJV)
7 Hold thy peace at the presence of the Lord GOD: for the day of the LORD is at hand: for the LORD hath prepared a sacrifice, he hath bid his guests.

Zephaniah 2:3 (KJV)
3 Seek ye the LORD, all ye meek of the earth, which have wrought his judgment; seek righteousness, seek meekness: it may be ye shall be hid in the day of the LORD’s anger.

The gift of my mother

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On January 21, 2010

In Christian, Reuben

Napolean Bonaparte is said to have quoted ‘Let France have good mothers and she will have good sons’ which is often paraphrased into ‘Give me a good mother and I will give you a good nation’. Mothers and grandmothers play a vital role in the upbringing of a child. Lois (grandmother) and Eunice (mother) are credited for rearing Timothy, Paul’s young protege  with unfeigned faith (2 Timothy 1:5). While Napolean was accurate in his estimation on the power and influence, a mother has on her children, the real reason as to why good sons can rise, goes back to a promise that was made by God to his friend Abraham when he promised that Sarah (as her name is to be called) will be blessed of being a mother and kings (rulers of nations) of people shall be of her (Genesis 17:16).

It is my mother, Dr. Iris Paul’s  birthday and as I tried to recollect my childhood days, memories of yore inundated my mind. She used to fast and pray each evening for her children. Before administering medication, she would tell her patients that it is not the medicine that will heal them, but Jesus Christ, the healer of all diseases. She stayed alongside my ailing father till the very end of his life on earth. One statement she said that still rings in my mind was on Easter morning when she expressed that what the pastor had preached that morning was true; that even if the mother’s heart is cut into many pieces, each piece will still yell out, ‘I love my children’. I must admit that I did not understand that saying then as much as I do now, as I see my wife (Sangeetha) be a mother to our son (Reuben).

To be a mother is a reward from God for the mother (Psalm 127:3) but at the same time, for the child, a mother is the means to hear of God, when she acts as a prophet of God (Proverbs 31:1) teaching her children to listen to the voice of God. Many know my mother as a missionary of Jesus Christ, who joined with and continued the work started by my father, Dr. R.A.C Paul,  to people groups inhabiting the remote hills of Orissa in India. She has been the voice of God to many in the villages of Malkangiri and neighboring areas, as she has been to me and my brothers (Ragland Remo, David Livingstone) and sister (Mary Smrutha), both through her words and her life.  And on her birthday, I wish her many more happy returns of this day and pray that she continues to be a voice of our Savior, Jesus Christ, to all lost in this world without the knowledge of Jesus’ redemption and to her own. Happy birthday, Amma. God bless you richly. Thank you Jesus, for the gift of my mother, from whom kings of people shall rise.

The gift of our Son

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On January 20, 2010

In Christian, Reuben

It is Reuben’s fourth birthday and as we celebrate this day of the Lord, the day in which He has made us (Sangeetha and I) glad, we reminisced on the wonderful past four years that the Lord has graciously merited unto both of us and thank Him for His gift of our Son, Reuben Abishai Paul (RAP). Our prayer today is that Reuben grows up as Jesus did (Luke 2:52), in Wisdom (mentally), in stature  (physically), in favor of God (Spiritually) and in favor of man (socially).

Specifically, we pray that Reuben has

  • the Spirit (soul) of Joseph to run from evil and seek hidden treasures from God’s revelations;
  • the zeal and heart of David that always sought after God;
  • the resolve of Daniel to not defile himself;
  • the strength of Samson;
  • the wisdom of Solomon;
  • the beauty of Esther;
  • the faith of the Centurion;
  • the boldness of Peter and Paul; and
  • the mind of Jesus Christ, meek and submissive to the will of God.

Psalm 127:3 informs us that children are a HERITAGE OF the LORD. The Merriam-Webster’s dictionary defines heritage as something possessed as a result of one’s natural situation or birth. Note the verse does not read ‘from the LORD’, but ‘of the LORD’. In other word’s, children are God’s own possession naturally, and the fruit of the womb is a reward (Psalm 127:3) granted to earthly parents.

On one’s birthday we give the one to whom the day belongs (the birthday child) many gifts. With this day truly belonging to God, what is the gift that we can give Him?
The best gift that Sangeetha and I can give to our God is the gift that He has so bountifully given to us – our Son. This would be the true expression of our Love for him. It is His model that we must emulate. He loved us so greatly, that He gave us His Only begotten Son (Jesus Christ; John 3:16). Hannah’s dedication of her son that she was merited yielded in one of the greatest prophets that Israel (or for that fact, the world) saw. Likewise, we dedicate Reuben to be the servant of our loving Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Reuben is a possession of the LORD, rewarded unto us and we pray that He will be a cherished possession of God, beloved and instrumental in fulfilling God’s will in his life and in the lives of everyone’s he encounters.

Happy Birthday, Reuben, our beloved beloved beloved Son. Thank you Jesus for the gift of our Son.

Jesus in the OT :: Habakkuk

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On January 19, 2010

In Christian, Jesus in the O.T.

The book of Habakkuk gives us a glimpse of who Jesus is in the Old Testament (O.T).

The name ‘Habakkuk’ means the one who embraces (or) clings. Habakkuk was a contemporary of the weeping prophet, Jeremiah. If Hosea is the Prophet with a Prostitute, then Habakkuk is the Prophet with a Problem and the problem is phrased in a question, very much reflective of what we face today! How Long O Lord, How long will I have to cry and You will not hear or save us? For how much longer Lord, will the wicked prosper and your people perish? Not only is God’s promise of an answer stated in Habakkuk 2:3 which states slowly, steadily and surely the answer will come but his work that would truly be unbelievable is assured. Even if God was to say what he was going to do, the people would not have believed it (Habakkuk 1:5) is what the Bible records.

Habakkuk 1:12 states that God is an everlasting God, a Holy One. Jesus said, Before Abraham was, I AM (John 8:58). When the demons saw Jesus they declared He is the Holy One of God (Mark 1:24).

Habakkuk 3:13-14 has the redemptive act of Salvation (one that even if it was said, would not have been believed) beautifully hidden.

13 You came out to deliver your people, (Jesus’ birth)
to save your anointed one. (Jesus on the Cross)
You crushed the leader of the land of wickedness, (Satan crushed) you stripped him from head to foot. Selah
14 With his own spear [weapon or staves] you pierced his head

The Cross and Golgotha was Satan’s weapons against Jesus. With Satan’s own weapons (the cross), which looking like an inverted sword, wielded into Golgotha, Satan’s head was crushed as prophesied in Genesis 3:15.

In Habakkuk, Jesus is the one who embraces us and clings on to us, the one who is the everlasting God, the Holy One, the God of our Salvation.

Jesus in the OT :: Nahum

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On January 18, 2010

In Christian, Jesus in the O.T.

The book of Nahum gives us a glimpse of who Jesus is in the Old Testament (O.T).

The Hebrew word Nahum which means “Comfort” or  “Consolation” is a shortened form of Nehemiah which means “Comfort of Yahweh”.  Nineveh is a great city in Assyria which is the sister state of Babylon. Assyria was a military state, while Babylon was the merchant state. Nineveh is the city to which Jonah was commissioned to preach, and when he did, the entire nation (starting with the then king) repented and God relented from executing his judgment on them. But now a hundred years later, Nineveh had returned to its wicked ways and are violent, idolatrous and arrogant in their ways, elevating themselves to be as God where they declare of themselves “I AM and there is no other” (Zechariah 2:15), oppressing God’s people, so much so that God’s judgment falls to the comfort of Judah and Nineveh is destroyed with no trace whatsoever (no longer on the face of the map).

Not only is this book about physical freedom, but it also talks about Christ and His mission as the one who frees us all from Spiritual bondage. Jesus said I have come to set the captives (those in bonds) free (Luke 4:18) and that His yoke is light (Matthew 11:30). He is the GREAT I AM, the Comfort of Yahweh. 

In Nahum, Jesus is God’s consolation, the Comfort of Yahweh, The Yoke breaker and bearer, the one who sets those in bondage free.

Luke 4:18 (KJV)
18 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,
19 To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.

Jesus in the OT :: Micah

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On January 15, 2010

In Christian, Jesus in the O.T.

The book of Micah gives us a glimpse of who Jesus is in the Old Testament (O.T).

This book can be divided into 3 parts

  • 1st of the 3rd – Rebuke
  • 2nd of the 3rd – Repentance call
  • 3rd of the 3rd – Restoration

The Name Michayahu (Micah) itself is a QUESTION meaning Who is like unto Yahweh?

Micah 1:8 reads I will go stripped and naked. Jesus was stripped and shamed when He was crucified. He was stripped and shamed, so we can be bold with power, unashamed (Acts 1:8, Romans 1:16)

Micah 5:2 states that a ruler shall come forth out of Bethlehem. The angel’s announcement to the shepherds who kept watch at night when Jesus was born was “For unto you is born this day in the city of David (Bethlehem) a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.” Jesus is the ruler from Bethlehem.

Micah 5:5 describes a man who shall be the peace. Isaiah 9:6-7 records that Jesus shall be called the Prince of peace.

Micah 7:18,19 asks the question Who is like unto Yahweh? i.e., Who is God? and the answer really is Jesus Christ!

In Micah, Jesus is the ruler from Bethlehem, the man of peace.

Jesus in the OT :: Jonah

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On January 14, 2010

In Christian, Jesus in the O.T.

The book of Jonah gives us a glimpse of who Jesus is in the Old Testament (O.T).

Jonah is an account that reminds us that running from God is futile. In Hebrew, Jonah means  ‘Dove’, which is symbolic of the Spirit of God.

Jonah in a sense prefigures Christ as tabulated below.

Jonah Jesus
Slept when troubled (1:6) Slept when it stormed (Mark 4:38)
Fate determined by casting lots (1:7) Jesus’ clothes determined by casting lots (John 19:23)
Pick me up and throw me into the sea and the storm will calm (1:12) Jesus offered to die willingly – He humbled himself unto death (Philippians 2)
Men tried to row back (1:13) Pilate tried to release Jesus (John 19:4)
Men cried do not hold us accountable (1:14) Pilate states Jesus’ blood is not in my hands (Matthew 27:24)
Then they threw him over (1:15) Pilate handed Jesus over (John 19:16)
Was thrown into the depths (sea, belly of a fish) – (1:15-17) 40 For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth (grave). Matthew 12:38-42) – Jesus was in the grave because of GRACE.

Jonah is one of the two books in the Bible (the other being Nahum) that ends with a question as recorded in Jonah 4:11 which reads And should not I spare Nineveh, that great city, wherein are more than sixscore thousand (120000) persons that cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand; and also much cattle?

2 Peter 3:9 gives the answer. No one must perish, and all must come to repentance (The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.)

In Jonah, Jesus is the one who went to the GRAVE because of His GRACE and who wants no one to perish.

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