The Spiritual & Religious Background of Christs First Advent

Desire of Ages, Chapter 2-3, pp.27-42

The Spiritual & Religious

Christs First Advent

Context of

Friday, August 19, 2011

Friday, August 19, 2011

Why Learn the Context?

Let us in imagination go back to that scene, and, as we sit with the disciples on the mountainside, enter into the thoughts and feelings that lled their hearts. Understanding what the words of Jesus meant to those who heard them, we may discern in them a new vividness and beauty, and may also gather for ourselves their deeper lessons (MB, 1).

Context Drives Interpretation

Friday, August 19, 2011

Friday, August 19, 2011

The Anticipation of the Jews for the Messiah

For more than a thousand years the Jewish people had awaited the Saviors coming. Upon this event they had rested their brightest hopes. In song and prophecy, in temple rite and household prayer, they had enshrined His name. And yet at His coming THEY KNEW HIM NOT.

http://oneyearbibleimages.com/josiah_.jpg

HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE?

(DA, 27)

Ancient Israel: Historical Sketch

Friday, August 19, 2011

Friday, August 19, 2011

For What Purpose Did God Choose Israel?

1. to preserve among men the knowledge of His law, and of the symbols and prophecies that pointed to the Savior (DA 27). 2. to be as wells of salvation to the world (DA 27). 3. They were to reveal God to men (DA 27).

I. Failures of Ancient Israel upon Entering Canaan?

1. They xed their hopes upon worldly greatness (DA 28). 2. They departed from the commandments of God, and followed the ways of the heathen (DA 28). 3. They failed to listen to the prophets and learn lessons through chastisement of heathen oppression (DA 28).

If Israel remained faithful, God would have exalted and honored them above all other nations (Deut 26:19; 28:10; 4:6).

Because of their unfaithfulness, Gods purpose could be wrought out only through continued adversity and humiliation (DA 28).

Friday, August 19, 2011

Friday, August 19, 2011

II. Babylonian Captivity & Beyond

(DA 28, 29)
1. By Babylonian captivity: Israelites cured of idol worship 2. Led to believe: prosperity depended upon their obedience to the law of God. 3. Obedience external: actuated by selshness & attainment of prominence 4. Built wall of separation: Shut themselves from the world to escape idolatry; despise Gentiles

II. Babylonian Captivity & Beyond

After the return from Babylon: much attention given to religious instruction (DA 29). 1. synagogues erected 2. priests/rabbis expound law 3. schools established (i.e., arts & sciences) But these agencies became corrupted. During the captivity, many of the people had received heathen ideas and customs, and these were brought into their religious service (DA 29).
Friday, August 19, 2011

Friday, August 19, 2011

II. Babylonian Captivity & Beyond

Israelites lose meaning of ritual services: in every part it was a symbol of Him 1. dead forms 2. trust sacrices/ordinances 3. multiply rigid rules/ regulations 4. holiness measured by observance of ceremonies 5. impossible to keep man-made laws

II. Babylonian Captivity & Beyond

Israelites lose meaning of ritual services: 6. Israelites grow weary from multitude of restrictions 7. leads to troubled conscience, no peace, no rest 8. Gods character misrepresented (exacting, draconian) 9. Satans intent: perceive Gods requirements unjust & impossible to obey.

Friday, August 19, 2011

Friday, August 19, 2011

III. Conclusion: Time of Christ

Israelites: no conception of Messiahs purpose or mission. Focus: not on redemption from sin, but freedom from Roman power Expectation of Messiah: to break the oppressors power and exalt Israel to universal dominion. Thus the way was prepared for them to reject the Savior. How was the way prepared to reject the Messiah?

The Jews & the Romans

Friday, August 19, 2011

Friday, August 19, 2011

The Jews and the Romans (DA 30)

1. Roman domination, breeds hatred 2. high priests appointed/removed by Romans

They Knew Him Not

The priests tried to maintain a reputation for sanctity by scrupulous attention to the ceremonies of religion. The people, in their darkness and oppression, and the rulers, thirsting for power, longed for the coming of One who would vanquish their enemies and restore the kingdom of Israel. . . Thus they overlooked those scriptures that point to the humiliation of Christs rst advent, and misapplied those that speak of the glory of His second coming. Pride obscured their vision. They interpreted prophecy in accordance with their selsh desires (DA 30).

secured by fraud, bribery, murder very corrupt

3. priests wield much power, use position for selsh ends 4. Jews taxed heavily 5. insurrection/outbreaks frequent 6. general spiritual apathy, greed, violence, distrust
Friday, August 19, 2011

Friday, August 19, 2011

Jesus Came at An Appointed Time

But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son . . . to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons (Gal 4:4-5). The prophecy of Daniel revealed the time of His advent, but not all rightly interpreted the message (DA 31). So in heavens council the hour for the coming of Christ had been determined. When the great clock of time pointed to that hour, Jesus was born in Bethlehem (DA 32).

Perfect Timing
Friday, August 19, 2011

Friday, August 19, 2011

God Directs Nations in Preparation for Christs First Advent

Providence Prepares the Nations for the First Advent (DA 32)
1.nations united under one government (Rome) 2. one language (Greek) !OT Scriptures translated into Greek (Septuagint) 3. Jews dispersed all over the world (diaspora) potential to spread gospel

Providence had directed the movements of nations, and the tide of human impulse and inuence, until the world was ripe for the coming of the Deliverer. (DA 32)

Friday, August 19, 2011

Friday, August 19, 2011

Providence Prepares the Nations for the First Advent (DA 32)
4. heathenism losing its hold on the people 5.multitudes long for heart-satisfying religion 6.many searching for light 7. death a mystery, dreadful, uncertain, and gloomy - want answers

Israel Fails to Share Meaning of Symbolic Services 1. Philosophers/heathen endeavor to understand Jewish rites, ceremonies, and laws 2. Jews lled with bigotry 3. Maintain separation, unwilling to impart knowledge

Friday, August 19, 2011

Friday, August 19, 2011

Jesus Mission to Reveal Shrouded Meaning of the Old Testament

Lessons must be given to humanity in the language of humanity. . . Christ must come to utter words which should be clearly and denitely understood. He, the author of truth, must separate truth from the chaff of mans utterance, which had made it of no effect. The principles of Gods government and the plan of redemption must be clearly dened. The lessons of the Old Testament must be fully set before men (Desire of Ages, p. 34).

In Which Way Had the Fullness of Time Arrived According to EGW? (DA 34-38)
1. humanity degraded in sin 2. Satan creates seemingly impassable chasm between earth & heaven 3. knowledge of God, nearly obliterated 4. Israel [leaders] now agents of Satan 5. sanctuary service & rites: curse, not a blessing 6. men becoming demonic 7. unfallen worlds await to see Gods next move 8. Satan exulting: image of God in man obliterated

Friday, August 19, 2011

Friday, August 19, 2011

Then Jesus came [1] to restore in man the image of his Maker. None but Christ can fashion anew the character that has been ruined by sin. He came [2] to expel the demons that had controlled the will. He came [3] to lift us up from the dust, to reshape the marred character after the pattern of His divine character, and to make it beautiful with His own glory (DA 37-38).

Friday, August 19, 2011