LAMB OF GOD
Locusts and Honey
Vol. 9, Pt.1
In this edition of Locusts and Honey we will be focusing upon Jesus as the Lamb of God. To better understand why God would send Jesus as a Lamb to us, we need to first understand the use of the blood sacrifice in the Old Testament, which is a symbol or a “type” of the real sacrifice of Jesus Christ for our sins. As we engage in this study, it is also important to understand that Jesus not only is the Lamb of God but also he is the Good Shepherd and we are the sheep of his pasture. (Pm. 100:3).
In the Beginning–Man’s Need for Redemption
In the book of Genesis we learn of man’s disobedience to God’s commands. This is called “sin.” In Greek, the word “sin” is hamartia which means “missing the mark.” Adam and Eve missed the mark by disobeying God’s commands to them not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Likewise we have in us an inborn tendency from our ultimate parents (Adam and Eve) to miss the mark by wanting to do what we want to do rather than what God wants us to do. One of the first words that children say is likely to be “no.” Generally “no” is in the top 10 words and “yes” does not even make the top 20. Paul in Romans 7:18 says, For that I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells….” (See also Jer. 12:9). We innately are rebels. As Isaiah 53:6 says :
All we like sheep have gone astray;
We have turned everyone to his own way;
And the Lord has laid on him (Jesus) the iniquity of us all.
God had commanded Adam not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. (Gen.2:16). After Adam and Eve had disobeyed God their eyes were open and they knew they were naked. (Gen. 3:7). Although it may be difficult to think of the original couple tending to the garden as a small nudist colony, they were. There is a certain innocence in that Adam and Eve were much like young children playing in a large tub called Eden and bounded by the four rivers mentioned in Genesis 2:10. Once they had eaten of the forbidden fruit, their eyes were opened to their own nakedness. (Gen.3:7). Being aware of their nakedness is very much analogous to being aware of their sinful condition. In an effort to cover themselves (and I presume as a way of covering their sin), they made their own clothing by sewing together fig leaves. (Genesis 3:7). Although I have scant experience with this type of dress, it seems to me that dressing in fig leaves is neither comfortable nor is the clothing very useful in the winter and certainly not permanent. From a theological perspective, the attempt to cover our sins with excuses (“the woman gave me the fruit and I ate”) certainly was not an acceptable excuse for being disobedient to God. (Gen. 3:12). The efforts of man and woman to cover their sin from a moral standpoint were as ineffective as the fig tree loin cloths which they sewed together.
It is interesting but the loin cloth is an article of clothing in almost all cultures and absolute nakedness in public is considered to be shameful, just as it was when Adam and Eve became aware of good and evil. We even find loin cloths in other places in the Bible including in Jeremiah where Jeremiah was instructed to buy a linen loin cloth, wear it, hide it near the Euphrates and dig it up. The loin cloth in that instance represented Judah which had deserted God. (See Jer. 13:1).
The punishments for disobedience to God’s word for Adam and Eve are spelled out in Genesis. Disobedience to God was a capital crime worthy of death. The results included eventual death of men and women, pain in child-birth, the need to till the soil and exclusion from the kingdom of God (Adam and Eve could no longer enter Paradise with the way being guarded by angels with flaming swords). Man and woman were precluded from taking of the Tree of Life which would have resulted in eternal life. Today the only way to take of the Tree of Life is to embrace the Cross. (For those interested some years ago I wrote a book on the Tree of Life which can be found at Amazon and is entitled The Tree-A Study of the Tree of Life by Ernest C. Jett.)
All of God’s Children Have Clothes
Despite the disobedience of man and woman, God made provision for the future Among the promises of God are that someday the offspring of woman (Jesus Christ) would bruise the head of the serpent (Satan). (Gen. 3:15). God also made provision for the clothing of Adam and Eve at Genesis 3:21 which says, “And the Lord God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them.” Some translations use the word “tunics.” In any event, garments of skin were much more substantial than fig leaf underwear. Adam and Eve now had garments for all seasons.
One of the questions theologians and scholars discuss is where these skins came from. Chuck Smith in his Notes on Genesis says that these skins “necessitated the death of an animal” and was the beginning of animal sacrifices to make a covering for sin. Endicott’s Commentary for English Readers says, “…Adam must in some way, immediately after the fall, have been taught that without shedding of blood is no remission of sin, but that God will accept a vicarious sacrifice.” Many theologians have speculated as to whether these skins were found in the garden (however, death had just come into the world) or whether they were skins from blood sacrifices made by Adam (no indication of this from Scripture) or that either God or Adam had caused certain animals to die to provide the garments for Adam and Eve.
Almost all Christian Commentaries agree that the death of the animal typifies the coming sacrifice of Christ for our sins. Looking backward, Hebrews 9:22 says, “And almost all things are by the law purged with blood, and without shedding of blood is no remission (of sins).”
Interestingly a number of the more puritanical commentators take the position that the garments were “garments of shame”. In short, we wear almost shamefully the skins of animals which died for mankind because men and women made a fatal mistake. Matthew Henry’s Commentary says, “When God made clothes for our first parents, he made them warm and strong, but coarse and very plain; not robes of scarlet, but coats of skin. Let those that are meanly clad, learn from hence not to complain. Having food and a covering, let them be content; they are as well off as Adam and Eve. And let those that are finely clad, learn not to make the putting on of apparel their adorning.”
The dour John Calvin said God was not “a furrier, or a servant to sew clothes.” He went on to say, “The reason why the Lord clothed them with garments of skin appears to me to be this: because garments formed of this material would have a more degrading appearance than those made of linen or of woolen. God therefore designed that our first parents should in such a dress, behold their own vileness-just as they had before seen it in their own nudity….”
I disagree with Calvin’s comments. God generously saw that Adam and Eve had clothing to wear which not only kept them warm but which was substantial. Jesus took a much more positive view regarding God’s mercy and clothing reminding us all that we were not to give great concern to our clothing and that God who caused the lilies of the field to be clothed more beautifully than Solomon could well take care of his children who trusted him. (Matt. 6:28-34). Thus not only is God willing to clothe his children but clothe them beautifully as well. Further, the clothing is a covering of our sins. For the believer the rags of our unrighteousness are replaced with garments of praise and the happy wedding garments of the redeemed. God covers our sins through the sacrifice of the Lamb of God and he covers these sins beautifully.
As a further point, I would mention that the outside of the Tabernacle of God was covered with skins but the glory of God was within which I believe is a further picture of the presence of God coming within our hearts thanks to the blood sacrifice of Jesus.
The institution of the first sacrifice is important because this is the seed or a “preview” of the provision which God would make in the future which was to restore man to relationship with God and ultimately also to give us access to the Tree of Life through Jesus Christ.
Atonement
The study of the blood sacrifice and the atonement is one of the fundamentals of the faith. We will be discussing other matters relating to the Blood Sacrifice and to Jesus as the Lamb of God in several future editions of Locusts and Honey. The term “atonement” in essence means that people can be reconciled to God by the suffering, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Books have been written on the atonement and in one book which I read on Systematic Theology there were 50 pages in fine print discussing the atonement and various theories relating to types of atonement and the meaning of atonement. Often preachers will correctly point out that one can read the word “atonement” as “at one-ment”. This illustrates that through the substitutionary work of Christ we who were far away have now been brought near through the blood of Jesus Christ. (Ephesians 2:13)
In the times of the ancient Hebrews, the blood sacrifice of an animal helped bring an individual closer to God and to keep him from perishing due to sinfulness. The sacrifice was done individually from time to time prior to Moses. After the institution of the Aaronic priesthood, the sacrifice was performed by the High Priest who represented the Jewish people. We will discuss in a future edition the role of the High Priest and the blood sacrifice performed by the High Priest annually to cover the sins of the Jewish people. Along with the Annual Sacrifice, the Jewish people were to reflect upon their sins, confess their sins and make restitution for their known wrongs. The blood sacrifice of Christ transcended all of the burnt offerings and sacrifices mentioned in the Old Testament which were only imperfect promises of the real sacrifice by Jesus Christ (Heb. 10:1-10).
Inside the Ark of the Covenant, was the law (The Ten Commandments) which makes mankind aware of their sins. Annually the blood sacrifice was sprinkled on the “Mercy Seat” which was the lid of the Ark. The blood “covered” the sins of people and caused the judgment of God to be suspended. In the book of Hebrews in the New Testament, the Christian author points out that instead of a sinful High Priest, the “atoning” sacrifice is now made by a sinless High Priest (Heb. 4:14-1`6). Instead of defective animal blood, the perfect blood of the sinless Lamb of God was shed to cover sins. The ancient sacrifice involving a sinful High Priest and defective animal blood had to be repeated annually. In contrast, Jesus was the Son of God and the perfect High Priest (Heb. 5:9; Heb. 7:26). The blood used in the atonement as a result of the crucifixion was the unique and sinless blood of Christ (Heb. 9:12-14). This resulted in a sacrifice that only had to be done once and that sacrifice happened when Christ went to the cross to die for our sins (Heb. 10:11-14).
In future editions we will be discussing much more about the Lamb of God, sacrifices, the atonement, shepherds and sheep.
Also, there are numerous books and tapes which are available if you have an interest in learning about the atonement and the Blood Covenant. One of my favorite series of tapes were a number of tapes by Malcolm Smith on the Blood Covenant. I first came into contact with these tapes about forty-five years ago and found that they gave some real insights into the Blood Covenant and its importance. (Here is a link to the 10 CD Set if anyone is interested but keep in mind I listened to the series many years ago). https://www.malcolmsmith.org/index.php?l=product_detail&p=1271
Also there are numerous books on the Atonement and Blood Covenant including :
- The Blood Covenant: The Hidden Truth Revealed at the Lord’s Table by E.W. Kenyon
- The Power of the Blood Covenant: Uncover the Secret by Malcolm Smith
- The Power of the Blood by H.A. Maxwell Whyte
- The Blood Speaks: Discover the Life-Giving Power of Jesus by Larry Huggins
- Nothing but the Blood of Jesus: How the Sacrifice of Jesus Saves by J.D. Myers
