Minor Prophets Volume 2 (Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi Commentary) (The Bible Believer's Commentary Series) by Ruckman Dr. Peter

Author:Ruckman, Dr. Peter [Ruckman, Dr. Peter]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Publisher: BB Bookstore
Published: 2011-12-13T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER THREE

3:1 And he shewed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right hand to resist him.

2 And the LORD said unto Satan, The LORD rebuke thee, O Satan; even the LORD that hath chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee: is not this a brand plucked out of the fire?

This passage contains a startling revelation that nobody discusses or preaches. Nobody says anything about it, so it’s bound to be important.

The scene of verses 1–2 is like that of Job 1:6–12, 2:1–7. Here the Holy Spirit deals with Joshua the high priest, one of the two leaders of the Jews who returned from the captivity (see the comments on Hag. 1:1). He stands before the Angel of the Lord, with Satan to his right.

In the Old Testament, the Angel of the Lord is a pre-incarnate appearance of Christ in angelic form; you will sometimes hear it referred to as a “theophany” or a “Christophany.” The Apostle Paul said, “For there stood by me this night the angel of God, whose I am, and whom I serve” (Acts 27:23). Well, he didn’t worship an angel; he’s referring to Jesus Christ (Rom. 14:8; 2 Cor. 10:7; Rom. 1:1; Gal. 1:10). Over in Galatians 4:14, Paul writes, “but received me as an angel of God, EVEN AS CHRIST JESUS.”

This is the thing that messes everybody up, especially the Mohammedans. God is so powerful that He can manifest Himself in a number of different ways. In Revelation 5:6–7, you have God on the throne in Heaven. Before Him there’s “a Lamb” “slain from the foundation of the world” (Rev. 5:6 cf. 13:8). Who’s that? Why, that’s “the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world” (John 1:29); that’s “the Word” who “was made flesh” (John 1:14): it’s Jesus Christ. The Lamb gets up and turns into a man (or an angel) and goes up to God on the throne to take the book out of His hand. Well, which one is God? The Lamb, the man (or angel), or the One on the throne? The answer is all of them. That’s one God manifested in different ways.

Of course, that can be stretched too far. The tribal peoples of the world practice a thing called “animism”; the Hindus are pantheists. Animism says the Spirit of God is in nature so you should worship it; pantheism says God is nature so you should worship it. That’s taking the manifestation of God in His creation (Psa. 19:1–6) and twisting it to where you’re worshipping and serving “the creature more than the Creator” (Rom. 1:25).

That’s the position of the modern “green movement” and tree huggers that are so concerned about “protecting the environment” for the spotted owl and the white pussy cat, and “global warming” and “climate change.” They believe the earth is a goddess (Gaia), and when you hurt the earth, you are hurting your mother (“Mother Nature”). I tell them: “Nuke the unborn baby whales” and “Be kind to animals: kiss a shark.

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