High places in the OT are associated with worshipping idols, most often false gods. The Canaanites worshipped their gods on high places which were basically hills that were sometimes artificially made for that purpose. These hills would often have some sort of altar at the top, surrounded by groves of trees and Asherah poles, pillars, or standing stones. Their worship often consisted of burnt offerings, incense, feasts and festivals, cult prostitution, and child sacrifice.
God had often warned His people of imitating the heathen in these practises but only confine themselves at the prescribed places for worship. Even after the Tabernacle was built, where God met with the High Priest at the Ark of the Testimony, & later the building of the Temple by Solomon, people still through the years resorted to creating their own worship places.
Today, some religions still have their worship structures built at higher elevations. Some examples are: The great Pagoda atop Thailand's Doi Inthanon mountain; Taung Kalat Monastery in Myanmar (Burma); The Hanging Temple in Shanxi, China; The Roussanou Monastery in Greece; Saint-Michel d'Aiguilhe Chapel in France. By building these, the structures not only become central & visible to all & a focus of veneration & worship, but also give the sense of being closer to God. All these things detract from knowing & worshipping the True God.
But to the child of God, the Lord desires that the 'high places' in our thoughts & deep in our hearts be removed. That is, anything that would substitute for the lordship of God in our lives, where we give Him equal or second place in how we think & behave, rather than the first place. The NT speaks against being 'high minded': Romans 11:20, 1 Timothy 6:17, 2 Timothy 3:4 all show that such a state of mind & behaviour are contrary to the desires of God for us. Rather, to be like His Son: Philippians 2:3-11.
As was said of Jesus, that He would have His heritage in Eve, of Abraham, of Jesse, made like unto his brethren, the root and offspring of David, tells me that as Mary had this Divine Seed developing in her, being nourished, experiencing all the normal feelings & movements of the Babe within & even bringing Him out in the normal way, is proof sufficient that this Holy Seed brought into the world by Mary had every right & claim to the Davidic line through Mary (& Joseph).
Does then the absence of a 'bloodline' preclude Jesus being what was claimed of Him? Would it be sufficient that a wholly Divine Jesus, born through a human agent, could be included in the lineage all the way back to Adam? Or, if there was a "bloodline" through Mary, would Jesus have a sinful nature as well? Aspects worthy of some thought to Jesus' qualification not only to be wholly Divine but also to His human descendancy.
Thanks for your input Bendito. The reference to 'seed' of course does mean as you suggested, but we have to allow for a wider meaning as prescribed from the Hebrew: which is, 'zera', & this includes 'child, descendant, posterity, race, etc.', as seen in other Scriptures showing this (e.g. Genesis 12:7 & others).
So we could read as you state that the Embryo that was Jesus in Mary's womb, was of her seed coupled with the Divine, or as I believe, that she only carried God's Seed to be brought out into the world. If she supplied her seed for the Word of God to become flesh, then Jesus would have been tainted with the sinful nature of humanity as I don't believe that Mary was sinless. To say that Jesus wouldn't have been so tainted then denies the transmission of the sin nature throughout humanity. Now I know that some believe that Jesus was born with a sin nature & during His testings with Satan & throughout His earthly sojourn, He resisted Satan so that He wouldn't feed that Nature & commit sin. I don't know if you subscribe to this view, but I believe that Jesus didn't have such a nature but His testings from Satan were to instil such a nature in Him as was done to Adam & Eve.
You also state: "Else he would have not truly been the Son of Man, but another life form." I couldn't quite get my head around this one: I understand that a human being can only be one from both the male & female contributions. If one part was of the Divine & the other human, does this also constitute a human being? Or, if both parts were Divine, could a human be formed in such manner? Or seen in another way, if God could create Adam from dust & Eve from his rib, can God not produce another human only from His compilation of seed(s)?
My belief is that Mary, by the grace of God, supplied the ovum necessary for the Word to become flesh. Else he would have not truly been the Son of Man, but another life form.
According to scripture, Jesus Christ would be the seed of the woman, the root of Jesse, the seed of Abraham, made like unto his brethren, the root and offspring of David.
And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. ( Genesis 3:15)
Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. ( Isaiah 7:14)
And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest shall be glorious. ( Isaiah 11:10)
For verily he took not on him the nature of angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham. Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. ( Hebrews 2:16-17)
I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star. ( Revelation 22:16)
You're referring now to one of my favourite Bible NT Books, so I'll try & contain myself sharing a bit of the background & answers to your questions.
The Book was written to Christians who were mainly of Jewish background, hence they needed to see from the Scriptures & understand why Jesus was greater in every way being the only suitable Sacrifice for us & to not apostatize by reverting back to Judaism or Jewish thought. Therefore, the Hebrews writer (possibly, Paul), endeavours to show Christ's superiority & of Christianity.
Jesus was superior to the Prophets (1:1-4); to the Angels (1:5 - 2:18); to Moses (3:1-6); & to the Priesthood (5:1 - 10:39). To the Priesthood: Jesus did not come in the line of the priests of old (i.e. through the Levite tribe): He came through David & Judah & yet He came fulfilling the position of Priest. The Hebrews writer explains that Jesus' position exceeded the position & work of the priests: the priests had to offer sacrifices for their sins & for the people, but Jesus fulfilled the role of a High Priest from Heaven, by offering up Himself as the Sacrifice (7:27) & also presently doing a mediating Work in Heaven on our behalf (8:1).
So if Jesus had no earthly qualification to be Priest, it had to be from another. So the typology is taken from King Melchisedec who was a King & served as a priest to his people in Salem (later, Jerusalem). Since there was no record of this king's birth, family or death, Jesus is likened to such an one who served as a priest without coming from a Levitical background. So in Hebrews chap 7, 'perfection' was not realized from the earthly priests (ordained from the 'law of a carnal commandment'), but from one such as Melchisedec (by the authority of an 'endless life', a type of 'eternal existence' of the man Melchisedec).
That Jesus did not sin had nothing to do with 7:16, but that Jesus withstood Satan who determined to make Jesus fail as the eternal Saviour, giving us no further way to salvation.
Thank you for the detailed response. I have a better understanding of why Jesus was not sinful.
So you had referenced Heb 4:15 and I have been reviewing this passage along with Heb 7. In particular I noticed that Jesus was referenced as a High Priest through the power of a life that cannot be destroyed ( Heb 7:16). I have 2 questions:
1. Is it though this power of a life that cannot be destroyed that explains why Jesus cannot sin (or did not have a sinful nature?
2. I do not know or understand the backstory of the high priests. Specifically in Heb. 7: 15-28, what was wrong with the old system that required Jesus to be the ultimate high priest?
That's a great question Danae. It is one that has brought on many discussions & ideas over the years.
My belief is this: you're right that Mary & Joseph were ordinary human beings, though of course special as they were selected by God to bring forth His Son into the World. And in their humanity, they, like us, were born with a sin nature passed onto us from our first parents. And they would have sinned as well, though some would teach that they (specifically Mary) did not, since they were in every respect human as we are.
So why wouldn't baby Jesus also receive a sin nature like all of us? I see it this way: neither Mary or Joseph contributed to the conception of the babe. That is, Joseph certainly wasn't the father & Mary did not contribute her ovum to this conception. The Bible says in Luke 1:35, "And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God."
I understand this verse to say that God, by His Spirit overshadowed Mary & placed this Holy Seed (one entirely from God without human intervention) into Mary's womb. So this Seed had not the nature that is passed down through mankind - it is a pure & Holy Seed. So couldn't God just zap Jesus onto the Earth & avoid all this human involvement? Well, the Scriptures speak of this Holy One coming, Who would be the Messiah, born in humanity ( 2 Samuel 7:12,13; Isaiah 7:14; Micah 5:2), so Jesus was born in fulfilment of all Scriptures, even the Sacrifices which spoke about His redemptive work. Yet, Jesus' Birth was without a sin nature so that He could ultimately be the Perfect Spotless Sacrifice for mankind. So Jesus was tempted of Satan ( Matthew 4:1-11), not to commit sin since He had no sin nature, but Satan wanted to cause the sin nature to be a part of Jesus, just as he did to Adam & Eve. But Jesus resisted this attempt & remained pure ( Hebrews 4:15).
Someone once mentioned to me that Jesus was not born into sin. But since Mary and Joseph were born into the world, they were born into sin, even if they never committed sinned. Doesn't that still mean that both Mary and Joseph were of a sinful nature? And wouldn't that mean that Jesus being born into the world, would be born into sin or born to have a sinful nature even though He is God?
Hades in Greek, or Sheol in Hebrew, is generally defined in these three ways:
a. the Grave. A place of bodily rest & decay. Acts 2:29-31.
b. a place of punishment for the wicked. Luke 16:20-23; Matthew 11:23.
c. a temporary place for the righteous dead. Luke 16:23-26. The Luke account seems to indicate that hades had two areas separating the righteous from the wicked in death. But after Jesus' death & resurrection, the righteous are no longer held there, being justified by faith, for which the Cross provided the means now which they didn't have before Christ's death.
Hades will always oppose Christ's Church ( Matthew 16:18); it must be distinguished from being just synonymous with death ( Revelation 6:8); it will one day be destroyed ( Revelation 20:13,14); Jesus has the 'keys' to it ( Revelation 1:18); & it is remains now only a temporary place of the unbelieving dead, as the Apostle Paul believed that Hades would not be his destiny, but Heaven ( 2 Corinthians 5:8).
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Verse 18~These words found their major fulfillment in Jesus Christ. Jehovah God used not only another human prophet, but his only-begotten son Jesus Christ.
Sheena; You shall not be afraid of false prophets! The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom and knowledge, and the foundation of repentance and conversion out of an honest and sincere heart. Our conscience smites us sore when we do wrong, because it is the Spirit of God convicting us and warning us away from the evil and worthless ways of the devil. The man sent from God speaks by God!
There is only one True living GOD. ( 1st John 5:7) For there are three that bear record in heaven the FATHER, the WORD and the HOLY SPIRIT: these three are one. Read John1:1; John 10:30 I and my Father are one. Matt 28:19; John 14:26.
Adam means MAN,Seth-APPOINTED,Enosh-MORTAL,Cainan-SORROW,Mahalalel-THE BLESSED GOD,Jared-SHALL COME DOWN,Enoch-TEACHING,Methuselah-HIS DEATH SHALL BRING,Lamech-DESPAIRING,Noah-COMFORT/REST.Geneology of Genisis, and meaning of the names,we were spoken to through their names about JESUS coming,pretty cool huh,I found this on youtube and was like..interesting,a coded message using GENEOLOGY AMEN!!!!.
This is NOT a rebuke; simply a statement: Moses was not a Levite; his brother Aaron and his sons were; Aaron was the only one could go into the Holy of Holies. Moses was just a GREAT prophet and FRIEND of God.
Moses was a ''type'' of Christ, not a god at all, period. He was a Levite, and was chosen to instruct the Israelites to worship God, and to prepare the way for our Savior. Jesus Christ, The Savior, is the only begotten Son of God: God Himself manifested in the flesh. The Prophet Moses wrote of in this chapter is Jesus. The Lord says this to the Pharisee Jews in John ch. 5: "for he wrote of Me."
God is the father Jesus is the only begotten son and word of God in the flesh John CH 1 Moses is NOT a god but a chosen vessel and his brother Arron went with him are you calling him a god to? Read the story and you will have your answer.
God had often warned His people of imitating the heathen in these practises but only confine themselves at the prescribed places for worship. Even after the Tabernacle was built, where God met with the High Priest at the Ark of the Testimony, & later the building of the Temple by Solomon, people still through the years resorted to creating their own worship places.
Today, some religions still have their worship structures built at higher elevations. Some examples are: The great Pagoda atop Thailand's Doi Inthanon mountain; Taung Kalat Monastery in Myanmar (Burma); The Hanging Temple in Shanxi, China; The Roussanou Monastery in Greece; Saint-Michel d'Aiguilhe Chapel in France. By building these, the structures not only become central & visible to all & a focus of veneration & worship, but also give the sense of being closer to God. All these things detract from knowing & worshipping the True God.
But to the child of God, the Lord desires that the 'high places' in our thoughts & deep in our hearts be removed. That is, anything that would substitute for the lordship of God in our lives, where we give Him equal or second place in how we think & behave, rather than the first place. The NT speaks against being 'high minded': Romans 11:20, 1 Timothy 6:17, 2 Timothy 3:4 all show that such a state of mind & behaviour are contrary to the desires of God for us. Rather, to be like His Son: Philippians 2:3-11.
As was said of Jesus, that He would have His heritage in Eve, of Abraham, of Jesse, made like unto his brethren, the root and offspring of David, tells me that as Mary had this Divine Seed developing in her, being nourished, experiencing all the normal feelings & movements of the Babe within & even bringing Him out in the normal way, is proof sufficient that this Holy Seed brought into the world by Mary had every right & claim to the Davidic line through Mary (& Joseph).
Does then the absence of a 'bloodline' preclude Jesus being what was claimed of Him? Would it be sufficient that a wholly Divine Jesus, born through a human agent, could be included in the lineage all the way back to Adam? Or, if there was a "bloodline" through Mary, would Jesus have a sinful nature as well? Aspects worthy of some thought to Jesus' qualification not only to be wholly Divine but also to His human descendancy.
Thanks for your input Bendito. The reference to 'seed' of course does mean as you suggested, but we have to allow for a wider meaning as prescribed from the Hebrew: which is, 'zera', & this includes 'child, descendant, posterity, race, etc.', as seen in other Scriptures showing this (e.g. Genesis 12:7 & others).
So we could read as you state that the Embryo that was Jesus in Mary's womb, was of her seed coupled with the Divine, or as I believe, that she only carried God's Seed to be brought out into the world. If she supplied her seed for the Word of God to become flesh, then Jesus would have been tainted with the sinful nature of humanity as I don't believe that Mary was sinless. To say that Jesus wouldn't have been so tainted then denies the transmission of the sin nature throughout humanity. Now I know that some believe that Jesus was born with a sin nature & during His testings with Satan & throughout His earthly sojourn, He resisted Satan so that He wouldn't feed that Nature & commit sin. I don't know if you subscribe to this view, but I believe that Jesus didn't have such a nature but His testings from Satan were to instil such a nature in Him as was done to Adam & Eve.
You also state: "Else he would have not truly been the Son of Man, but another life form." I couldn't quite get my head around this one: I understand that a human being can only be one from both the male & female contributions. If one part was of the Divine & the other human, does this also constitute a human being? Or, if both parts were Divine, could a human be formed in such manner? Or seen in another way, if God could create Adam from dust & Eve from his rib, can God not produce another human only from His compilation of seed(s)?
According to scripture, Jesus Christ would be the seed of the woman, the root of Jesse, the seed of Abraham, made like unto his brethren, the root and offspring of David.
And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. ( Genesis 3:15)
Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. ( Isaiah 7:14)
And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest shall be glorious. ( Isaiah 11:10)
For verily he took not on him the nature of angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham. Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. ( Hebrews 2:16-17)
I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star. ( Revelation 22:16)
The Book was written to Christians who were mainly of Jewish background, hence they needed to see from the Scriptures & understand why Jesus was greater in every way being the only suitable Sacrifice for us & to not apostatize by reverting back to Judaism or Jewish thought. Therefore, the Hebrews writer (possibly, Paul), endeavours to show Christ's superiority & of Christianity.
Jesus was superior to the Prophets (1:1-4); to the Angels (1:5 - 2:18); to Moses (3:1-6); & to the Priesthood (5:1 - 10:39). To the Priesthood: Jesus did not come in the line of the priests of old (i.e. through the Levite tribe): He came through David & Judah & yet He came fulfilling the position of Priest. The Hebrews writer explains that Jesus' position exceeded the position & work of the priests: the priests had to offer sacrifices for their sins & for the people, but Jesus fulfilled the role of a High Priest from Heaven, by offering up Himself as the Sacrifice (7:27) & also presently doing a mediating Work in Heaven on our behalf (8:1).
So if Jesus had no earthly qualification to be Priest, it had to be from another. So the typology is taken from King Melchisedec who was a King & served as a priest to his people in Salem (later, Jerusalem). Since there was no record of this king's birth, family or death, Jesus is likened to such an one who served as a priest without coming from a Levitical background. So in Hebrews chap 7, 'perfection' was not realized from the earthly priests (ordained from the 'law of a carnal commandment'), but from one such as Melchisedec (by the authority of an 'endless life', a type of 'eternal existence' of the man Melchisedec).
That Jesus did not sin had nothing to do with 7:16, but that Jesus withstood Satan who determined to make Jesus fail as the eternal Saviour, giving us no further way to salvation.
Thank you for the detailed response. I have a better understanding of why Jesus was not sinful.
So you had referenced Heb 4:15 and I have been reviewing this passage along with Heb 7. In particular I noticed that Jesus was referenced as a High Priest through the power of a life that cannot be destroyed ( Heb 7:16). I have 2 questions:
1. Is it though this power of a life that cannot be destroyed that explains why Jesus cannot sin (or did not have a sinful nature?
2. I do not know or understand the backstory of the high priests. Specifically in Heb. 7: 15-28, what was wrong with the old system that required Jesus to be the ultimate high priest?
My belief is this: you're right that Mary & Joseph were ordinary human beings, though of course special as they were selected by God to bring forth His Son into the World. And in their humanity, they, like us, were born with a sin nature passed onto us from our first parents. And they would have sinned as well, though some would teach that they (specifically Mary) did not, since they were in every respect human as we are.
So why wouldn't baby Jesus also receive a sin nature like all of us? I see it this way: neither Mary or Joseph contributed to the conception of the babe. That is, Joseph certainly wasn't the father & Mary did not contribute her ovum to this conception. The Bible says in Luke 1:35, "And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God."
I understand this verse to say that God, by His Spirit overshadowed Mary & placed this Holy Seed (one entirely from God without human intervention) into Mary's womb. So this Seed had not the nature that is passed down through mankind - it is a pure & Holy Seed. So couldn't God just zap Jesus onto the Earth & avoid all this human involvement? Well, the Scriptures speak of this Holy One coming, Who would be the Messiah, born in humanity ( 2 Samuel 7:12,13; Isaiah 7:14; Micah 5:2), so Jesus was born in fulfilment of all Scriptures, even the Sacrifices which spoke about His redemptive work. Yet, Jesus' Birth was without a sin nature so that He could ultimately be the Perfect Spotless Sacrifice for mankind. So Jesus was tempted of Satan ( Matthew 4:1-11), not to commit sin since He had no sin nature, but Satan wanted to cause the sin nature to be a part of Jesus, just as he did to Adam & Eve. But Jesus resisted this attempt & remained pure ( Hebrews 4:15).
a. the Grave. A place of bodily rest & decay. Acts 2:29-31.
b. a place of punishment for the wicked. Luke 16:20-23; Matthew 11:23.
c. a temporary place for the righteous dead. Luke 16:23-26. The Luke account seems to indicate that hades had two areas separating the righteous from the wicked in death. But after Jesus' death & resurrection, the righteous are no longer held there, being justified by faith, for which the Cross provided the means now which they didn't have before Christ's death.
Hades will always oppose Christ's Church ( Matthew 16:18); it must be distinguished from being just synonymous with death ( Revelation 6:8); it will one day be destroyed ( Revelation 20:13,14); Jesus has the 'keys' to it ( Revelation 1:18); & it is remains now only a temporary place of the unbelieving dead, as the Apostle Paul believed that Hades would not be his destiny, but Heaven ( 2 Corinthians 5:8).
They shall have like portions to eat, beside that which cometh of the sale of his patrimony. What is this?