Yesterday afternoon we did some sightseeing, looked at a couple of very expensive condos in Canmore, then curled up in our chalet—out of the drizzle-shower-downpour-drizzle that continued all day. My husband rented a couple movies, and I watched them and the last part of a third before going to bed.
The plots sort of blur together. Nothing was outstanding except that the value systems expressed in the lives of the characters were typical of today’s thinking. Power, money, no concern for justice (only revenge and violence to “get even” — their form of justice) and a great deal of me-first thinking. The third movie on television was a science-fiction story about some type of experiment to see if the memory of children could be wiped from the minds of their parents. The experiment didn’t fully succeed, but even with a sort of happy ending, it’s no wonder I had bad dreams.
This morning God brings me back to the big picture. I am reading in Esther as I work my way through the Bible for the year. Haman was introduced and his plot to rid the world of Jews. A footnote in my Bible said, “Haman was being satanically used to target the entire Jewish race in an unsuccessful attempt to change the course of redemptive history and God’s plans for Israel.”
The big picture is simple. God created man to love and serve Him. Man turned his own way and the human race fell into sin and became separated from God. God planned redemption from sin by sending His Son, born of a woman from the line of Abraham and David, who would not only pay our penalty for sin and redeem us, but who would also become God’s perfect Priest and King of kings. If Haman had succeeded in destroying the Jews, this plan would not be fulfilled.
Then my devotional reading took me to Ezekiel 21:26-27. The context is about God’s judgment on His disobedient people. Because of their sin they had failed to be the spiritual leaders that He intended. They also failed to maintain their place in the world, again because of sin. The Davidic line of kings had become corrupt. Their spiritual leaders were also corrupt. For this, God says to the prophet Ezekiel what will happen in Israel: “Remove the turban, and take off the crown; nothing shall remain the same. Exalt the humble, and humble the exalted. Overthrown, overthrown, I will make it overthrown! It shall be no longer, until He comes whose right it is, and I will give it to Him.”
From the beginning God had told them that He would bring a King from the line of David who would sit on the throne in righteousness and judgment. This King would be holy and true. The throne would be His right because He alone would be a worthy King.
Not only that, He would also be a priest. The “turban” represents priestly leadership. This and the succession of kings were never fully restored after the captivity of the Jews. Both offices would not be established until God sent His Son who would be that Priest and King that He had promised.
Right now, and for all Christians, Jesus is our priest. We can approach God through Him. He offered Himself as our sacrifice for sin and He ever lives to make intercession for us. Jesus is our King in that He rules our lives and we honor and pay homage to Him.
This is not just for Christians; God’s Son died for the sins of the whole world. He opened the way for all sinners to come to God. He is the everlasting and sinless Priest who did not first have to give an offering for Himself. He earned the right by saying no to sin.
For now, the kingdom of Jesus Christ seems to be mostly about those who submit themselves to Him. We who obey Him are certain that He is the King of Kings. However, “God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:9-11).
In God’s big picture, Jesus is Lord and King, and someday everyone will not only know it, but bow before Him, whether they want to or not. Today’s value systems of me-first and win at any cost will come to an end and all modern-day Hamans will be brought to their knees. The plan of God will be fulfilled and Jesus Christ will reign as King of kings and Lord of lords, our perfect High Priest forever.
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