COVERED BY
CHRIST'S WINGS
FROM THE CUP OF GOD'S WRATH
October 26, 2003 pmMF Blume
Psa 91:1-11 (1) He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. (2) I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust. (3) Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence. (4) He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler. (5) Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day; (6) Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday. (7) A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee. (8) Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked. (9) Because thou hast made the LORD, which is my refuge, even the most High, thy habitation; (10) There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling. (11) For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. Mat 23:29-37 (29) Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchres of the righteous, (30) And say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets. (31) Wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves, that ye are the children of them which killed the prophets. (32) Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers. (33) Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell? (34) Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them ye shall kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city: (35) That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar. (36) Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation. (37) O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! Of all the sacrifices in the Old Testament ritual, one was very different and special!
One foremost pictures in the bible of God's covering wings of protection, as we read in our texts, was this ark of the covenant. Exo 25:17-22 (17) And thou shalt make a mercy seat of pure gold: two cubits and a half shall be the length thereof, and a cubit and a half the breadth thereof. (18) And thou shalt make two cherubims of gold, of beaten work shalt thou make them, in the two ends of the mercy seat. (19) And make one cherub on the one end, and the other cherub on the other end: even of the mercy seat shall ye make the cherubims on the two ends thereof. (20) And the cherubims shall stretch forth their wings on high, covering the mercy seat with their wings, and their faces shall look one to another; toward the mercy seat shall the faces of the cherubims be. (21) And thou shalt put the mercy seat above upon the ark; and in the ark thou shalt put the testimony that I shall give thee. (22) And there I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubims which are upon the ark of the testimony, of all things which I will give thee in commandment unto the children of Israel. The PLACE they covered was the mercyseat. Notice what they did with this mercyseat. Lev 16:14-16 (14) And he shall take of the blood of the bullock, and sprinkle it with his finger upon the mercy seat eastward; and before the mercy seat shall he sprinkle of the blood with his finger seven times. (15) Then shall he kill the goat of the sin offering, that is for the people, and bring his blood within the vail, and do with that blood as he did with the blood of the bullock, and sprinkle it upon the mercy seat, and before the mercy seat: (16) And he shall make an atonement for the holy place, because of the uncleanness of the children of Israel, and because of their transgressions in all their sins: and so shall he do for the tabernacle of the congregation, that remaineth among them in the midst of their uncleanness. Lev 16:34 (34) And this shall be an everlasting statute unto you, to make an atonement for the children of Israel for all their sins once a year. And he did as the LORD commanded Moses. Make an atonement. The blood that was placed beneath the wings of the cherubim on the mercyseat of the ark SPANNED BACKWARDS IN TIME FOR AN ENTIRE YEAR.
(10) For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. (11) And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement. Being Reconciled back to God by the death of Jesus is experiencing ATONEMENT.
The Gospel is so awesome a reality and truth that we can just look at the size of our Bibles in order to realize how much God had to say in order to get across the nuances of the plan of Salvation by the gospel. THE ARK IN THE MINDS OF THE HEBREWS When Israelites would watch the priests walk out of the midst of the tabernacle carrying over their shoulders an object covered with the veil coverings, when the encampment was ready to march forward to another location in the wilderness, they knew that this ark of the covenant beneath those coverings -- with wings of cherubims, a mercyseat splattered with last year's atoning sacrificial blood -- spoke VOLUMES to them. It ENCAPSULATED a tremendous amount of TRUTHS and understanding of God. It was a gold plated box to anybody else, but to the people of God, it was a deep and powerful message of the separating sin that destroyed mankind's very relationship with God being dealt a lethal blow by the sacrifice of an innocent. Of the millions of Jews, for every single one of the 360 days beforehand, the twelve months and 51.429 weeks, SINS were dealt with by God BY THE ATONEMENT. Sins were heaped up for a year.
Jesus said the Jews FILLED UP THE MEASURE OF THEIR FATHERS. He spoke of their fathers slaying prophets.
TO BE PROTECTED FROM IT ALL But Jerusalem would fill that kind of cup and receive that kind of Wrath of God from which JESUS WOULD HAVE PROTECTED THEM BENEATH HIS WINGS!!!!! The blood of atonement beneath the wings of the ark spanned backward in time for one year and covered sins for an entire nation. But this blood BENEATH HIS WINGS, was not just dealing with sins for an entire year.... but sins from an entire race of mankind, committed since Adam's first son murdered the second son!!! And Jesus would have gathered Jerusalem beneath HIS WINGS FROM ALL OF IT! Talk about an atonement! His death on the cross and his bloodshed would be AN ATONEMENT SECOND TO NOTHING EVER CONCEIVED!!! ***THE IDEA OF THE ARK COVERED WITH THE WINGS WHERE THE BLOOD THAT REMOVED A YEARS' WORTH OF SIN-GUILT AWAY FROM ISRAEL, IS AGAIN SEEN IN JESUS' WORDS ABOUT COVERING WITH HIS WINGS ITS REMOVING AN EARTH'S HISTORY OF SIN-GUILT!!!! Its more wonderful than most people ever conceive. CUP OF WRATH Notice references to a CUP of wrath poured out in the book that speaks about the wrath of God's judgment.. Rev 14:9-10 (9) And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, (10) The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb: Rev 16:19 (19) And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath. ANOTHER CUP But while a cup filled with blood of wrath was going to be poured out to wards Jerusalem, Jesus took a cup of blood, figuratively. Mention of this other cup is a good thing for us as follows: Mat 26:39 (39) And he went a little further, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt. Jesus was going to be slain as our sacrifice for our sins.
Jesus associated filling the cup of the wine of wrath with the refusal to come into His care beneath His wings. Jesus took our sins as indicated by the drinking of a cup. Mat 26:39 (39) And he went a little further, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt. Mat 26:42 (42) He went away again the second time, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if this cup may not pass away from me, except I drink it, thy will be done. He hesitated to drink the cup.
Being Beneath wings is mentioned often in lieu of protection. Under the shadow of God, God being a refuge, covering with his feathers, trusting under his wings all give the same idea that Jesus gave in Matthew 23:35. Ezekiel saw what he called God's glory (Ezek 1:28), and it was associated with wings as well. Eze 1:11 (11) Thus were their faces: and their wings were stretched upward; two wings of every one were joined one to another, and two covered their bodies. The ark of the covenant represented this. Exo 25:20 (20) And the cherubims shall stretch forth their wings on high, covering the mercy seat with their wings, and their faces shall look one to another; toward the mercy seat shall the faces of the cherubims be. In the Temple: 1Ki 6:27 (27) And he set the cherubims within the inner house: and they stretched forth the wings of the cherubims, so that the wing of the one touched the one wall, and the wing of the other cherub touched the other wall; and their wings touched one another in the midst of the house. The wings of the cherubim touch each other. THE SOUND OF THE WINGS Eze 1:24 (24) And when they went, I heard the noise of their wings, like the noise of great waters, as the voice of the Almighty, the voice of speech, as the noise of an host: when they stood, they let down their wings. The wings sounded like the voice of God... the voice of speech. Eze 43:2 (2) And, behold, the glory of the God of Israel came from the way of the east: and his voice was like a noise of many waters: and the earth shined with his glory. COMPARE THAT VERSE WITH :... JESUS Rev 1:15 (15) And his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters. So trusting under wings, where wings sound like the voice of God, implies trusting under the PREACHED WORD OF GOD concerning SALVATION. Psa 91:4 (4) He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler. The glory of God was referred to as the ark, as well as the vision of cherubims and throne that Ezekiel saw.
(21) And she named the child Ichabod, saying, The glory is departed from Israel: because the ark of God was taken, and because of her father in law and her husband. Psa 78:59-61 (59) When God heard this, he was wroth, and greatly abhorred Israel: (60) So that he forsook the tabernacle of Shiloh, the tent which he placed among men; (61) And delivered his strength into captivity, and his glory into the enemy's hand. The ark was taken from Shiloh by the priests and the Philistines took the ark, said by God to have been the glory that was taken. God's glory COVERS. PROTECTS!!! Isa 60:2 (2) For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the LORD shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen UPON thee. Hab 2:14 (14) For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea. Exo 24:16 (16) And the glory of the LORD abode upon mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days: and the seventh day he called unto Moses out of the midst of the cloud. Hab 3:3 (3) God came from Teman, and the Holy One from mount Paran. Selah. His glory covered the heavens, and the earth was full of his praise. 1Pe 4:14 (14) If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you: on their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified. His glory covers.
THE PLACE HE COVERS IS WHERE THE BLOOD IS. The picture of the wings covering the sprinkled blood means, "JERUSALEM, IF YOU WOULD CHOOSE THE CUP OF MY BLOOD SHED FOR YOU, YOU WILL NOT EXPERIENCE THE CUP OF GOD'S WRATH!" I WILL COVER YOU! His WORD or VOICE ministers to us about the necessity of the atonement sacrifice of His shed blood for our salvation.
(5) Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day; (6) Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday. (7) A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee. (8) Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked. (9) Because thou hast made the LORD, which is my refuge, even the most High, thy habitation; (10) There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling. (11) For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. Psa 36:7 (7) How excellent is thy lovingkindness, O God! therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of thy wings. What kind of love surpasses the love that one has to DIE FOR YOU and everyone else who ever lived, so we do not have to die and be destroyed??? Psa 17:8 (8) Keep me as the apple of the eye, hide me under the shadow of thy wings, Psa 57:1 (1) <...David, when he fled from Saul in the cave.> Be merciful unto me, O God, be merciful unto me: for my soul trusteth in thee: yea, in the shadow of thy wings will I make my refuge, until these calamities be overpast. Psa 61:4 (4) I will abide in thy tabernacle for ever: I will trust in the covert of thy wings. Selah. Psa 63:7 (7) Because thou hast been my help, therefore in the shadow of thy wings will I rejoice. When one comes to conversion to truth and obedience and servitude to God's word, one is said to have trusted under the wings of God. Rth 2:12 (12) The LORD recompense thy work, and a full reward be given thee of the LORD God of Israel, under whose wings thou art come to trust. Its to walk out from danger and destruction to come into the covering of safety. This is the picture of the ark of the covenant and its mercyseat.
You find protection there. There is a thought of wings covering also in another part of our bibles. Rev 4:4 (4) And round about the throne were four and twenty seats: and upon the seats I saw four and twenty elders sitting, clothed in white raiment; and they had on their heads crowns of gold. Rev 4:8 (8) And the four beasts had each of them six wings about him; and they were full of eyes within: and they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come. Four multiplied six times is twenty four. One wing of a cherub for each elder. The reason the blood is where there is covering for you, is because HE TAKES THE DESTRUCTION AS YOU when you accept His death for your sins.
TRUST IN THIS MESSAGE! You've taken it to heart and trusted in it when you are able to REST in times of severe trouble. Revelation shows people receiving the cup of the wine of God's wrath.
(3) He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. (4) Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. (5) But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. (6) All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. In the garden of gethsemane, He took the cup.
Psa 49:6-9 (6) They that trust in their wealth, and boast themselves in the multitude of their riches; (7) None of them can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him: (8) (For the redemption of their soul is precious, and it ceaseth for ever:) (9) That he should still live for ever, and not see corruption. Not being able to redeem anybody else, nor give a ransom to God for people that they might live forever. Your riches cannot do it. But... 1Pe 1:18-21 (18) Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; (19) But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: (20) Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you, (21) Who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God. Contrariwise, trusting in Jesus does redeem your soul and He was a ransom for others to be able to live forever and not see corruption. Reject His word and go on your merry way and live like there's no tomorrow and no judgment before God, and a cup of wrath will be poured out upon your head one day.
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