You Can Know You Have Eternal Life
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697 – The Divine Mystery Revealed (4)

by Jim Mettenbrink

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     Most religions are enshrouded in mystery.  Many who believe in Jesus as the Savior, treat the Bible as if it is a mystery to be uncovered.  Even those who want to know the exact date of the end times or Jesus coming search the Bible as if God is playing a game of “Clue” with humanity.  Jesus said He would come as a thief in the night (Matthew 24:42-44; 25:13).  So why do folks spend, yea, waste, so much time trying to figure out the date of His return?  One reason is man fears the unknown.  Another is folks love solving mystery.

     The New Testament (NT) uses the word mystery 26 times, thus there was a mystery in the Bible.  But the apostle Paul wrote, “
how that by revelation He [God-jm] made known to me the mystery” (Ephesians 3:3).  Paul goes on to say it is the mystery of Christ (v4).  By reading the NT we can know the mystery was in the past, but no longer.

     Recently, we considered the unfolding of this mystery.  It was given ambiguously to Adam and Abraham — one of his descendants would be a blessing to all people (Genesis 22:18).  Isaac, Abe’s son, received the same prophetic promise (Genesis 26:4), as did his son Jacob (Genesis 28:14).  But who would be the blessing and how would mankind be blessed by the “
seed”?

     In Jacob’s last days he bestowed farewell blessings and curses upon his sons (Genesis 49).  Most unusual was his blessing upon Judah.  In contrast to the sterling faith and character of Joseph, the Egyptian grand vizier, who saved the family from the regional famine (Genesis 41:37-44; 47:1-31), Judah was the opposite.  He sired an illegitimate son, by his widowed daughter-in-law (Genesis 38) and although he saved Joseph from being murdered by his brothers, he concocted the plan to sell Joseph into slavery (Genesis 37:12-36).

     Yet Jacob prophetically declared “
The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh comes; and to Him shall be the obedience of the people” (Genesis 49:9-12).  The scepter implied Judah’s descendants would be kings, and Shiloh.  Who had heard of Shiloh?  Shiloh would come in the future signifying the end of the royal lineage from Judah’s family.  “Shiloh” means “Rest Giver.”  The next mention of Shiloh is a location some 250 years later (Joshua 18:1).  So what is this rest giver?  The mystery unfolds….

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      © Jim Mettenbrink; used by permission. rev.170218
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