Through the Bible with Les Feldick
LESSON 2 * PART 1 * BOOK 78
PART 1 of the MESSIANIC PROPHECIES – 1
Psalms 2, 8, and 16
As most of you know, this is just an informal Bible study. I’m not a preacher. I’m not an evangelist. But I do like to pick the Scriptures apart and, specifically, as we’re going to show now in these next several programs, show how intrinsically all of this Book fits from cover-to-cover. What’s in the Old concealed is in the New revealed and visa versa. So this is what we’re going to be doing as we open with this series of the Messianic Psalms. We’re going to be looking at 16 different chapters throughout the Book of Psalms that all vividly foretell the death, burial, and resurrection of the Messiah. That’s why we call them the Messianic Psalms.
Again, I want to thank our television audience for all of your prayers. What a thrill that wherever Iris and I go, the word we hear over and over is, we pray for you every day. I think what’s made this program what it is, are the prayers of the saints. And we do thank you, and, of course, for the financial help, as well; because we do have to pay the bills. And I will never ever ask for money. That was one of the first things we got straight with the TV guys when we first started taping about 18 years ago. I told them at that time—I will never ask for money. And I was ready to go home if that didn’t fly. But we haven’t had to, and we trust we never will.
We’re going to start with something that Peter says in his little epistle, and then we’ll go back to Psalms. But look up I Peter chapter 1. We’re going to start with verse 10, because what I want to show is in verse 11.
I Peter 1:10
“Of which salvation the prophets (Old Testament writers) have inquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come (sometime up into the future) unto you:”
Now again, I’m going to stop a moment. Always take our rule of thumb for Bible study. What’s the first question we ask? Who’s writing? What’s the second one? To whom? The third one? The circumstances? The fourth one? Well, what’s gone before? The fifth one? What follows? All right, so right here is a good example. Who is writing? Peter. Who is he writing to? Jews. He’s not writing to the Gentile body of Christ. In no way, shape, or form is he doing that. He’s writing to Jews who are still associated with the Kingdom program. They were saved by the Kingdom gospel, which was completely different than the Gospel of Grace. They were looking forward to the Kingdom coming soon. With that in mind, then, Peter is writing to Jews in view of the coming Kingdom, which they thought was just down the road.
These Jews didn’t have any idea there was going to be a 2,000 year hiatus, where God would be calling out the Body of Christ in this Age of Grace that you and I are enjoying today. And remember, the only way you can get into the Body of Christ is by believing Paul’s Gospel of I Corinthians 15:1-4. Now verse 11:
I Peter 1:11a
“Searching (Now remember, who’s doing the searching? Those prophets as they wrote.) what, or what manner of time (the when) the Spirit of Christ who was in them did signify,…” Now this is all just “double-speak” to show that every word of Scripture was inspired by the Holy Spirit.
Whether it was Peter or Paul or Isaiah or Moses makes no difference. It’s all the Word of God by virtue of the Holy Spirit’s inspiration. All right, so they were trying to figure out what or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ that’s within did signify. Did He put a specific time-frame on it that they could look for? No. It was left, as Paul calls it, a mystery, a secret.
I Peter 1:11b
“…what manner of time the Sprit of Christ which was in them did signify, when he testified beforehand (Before any of it every happened. Now here’s what I want you to home in on.) the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow.” I’m going to put it on the board. Even though you probably can’t read my writing, it’s going to be better than nothing.
Maybe at break time Sharon can come up here and redo it for me. But we’re going to be speaking of the suffering of Christ and then the glory. The glory that would what? Follow. In other words, come after. And the biggest part of understanding Scripture, even for us in the Age of Grace, is that all of the Old Testament writers, in one way or another, were speaking of the sufferings of Christ. But it wouldn’t end there. There would be glory that should follow.
And I’ve referred to this more than once over the years. How in the world could one Messiah be both? How could they have a suffering Messiah and also a ruling King for a Messiah? Well, you remember, I’ve shared that at times they would say, there must have been two Messiahs prophesied. And yet David had enough understanding that that couldn’t be the case. So there was only one other answer to the dilemma: that a result of the suffering Messiah is that He would die and be buried, but be raised back to life. He would go back to Glory and then in a future time return and still be the second part of that prophecy, a ruling King. Now this is what we’re going to especially look for as we go back and look at the 16 different Messianic Psalms.
So go back with me for this half hour to Psalms chapter 2. We’ve looked at it many, many times as just sort of a jump-start of the Old Testament program. It’s just a quick review. But today we’re going to take it verse by verse, just like we would if we were teaching Romans. And again, don’t ever forget, who’s writing the Psalms for the most part? David. When did David live? What was the time-frame? One thousand years B.C. One thousand years before Christ’s first advent, the Book of Psalms is being written, again by inspiration of the Holy Spirit.
Okay, already the prophetic program is laid out so clearly. We can readily believe that it was all set in motion before anything was ever created. And that’s what Scripture tells us. That all that has happened was foretold up front. It was laid out like a blueprint, and everything has followed the blueprint. Consequently, I repeat myself again, here we are 6,000 years after it all started, and where are we in God’s timetable? Right on schedule. To the exact hour and minute.
We’re not ahead of God. We’re not behind Him. We’re right on schedule because of His omnipotent foreknowledge of everything. All right, so we’ll come into Psalms chapter 2 as the first of these Messianic Psalms that are vividly foretelling the coming of this Messiah or the Anointed One. Verse 1:
Psalms 2:1
“Why do the heathen (Now I trust you all understand that heathen and Gentile are all one and the same. Anybody who was not a Jew of the line of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is categorized in that term heathen, or Gentile.) rage, and the people (the people of God, the Jew, all together they…) imagine a vain thing?”
Well, what was their vain imagination? That they could run this planet without the Creator. Thank you. We don’t need Him. Sound familiar? They’re no different today. Do you think for a minute that a vast percentage of the world’s leaders ever stop to ask God for wisdom? I doubt if anybody outside of America ever does. Not many in America do anymore. And when they do, they’re ridiculed by the press and the media. After all, who needs God? Well, it’s never been any different really. Back here the Psalmist now is foretelling what’s going to come to pass a thousand years into the future. These two groups of people that we still have today, Jew and Gentile, are imagining or thinking vain things.
Psalms 2:2a
“The kings of the earth (Whether they were small banana republic kings, or whether they were the rulers of Rome, it makes no difference.) set themselves, and the rulers (Now that’s implying the rulers of Israel. They…) take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed, saying,…”
So you see, already we’ve got it prophesied that it’s not going to be a Jewish thing. It’s not going to be a Roman thing. It’s going to be a combination of both. Consequently, how much of the world’s population were guilty of the crucifixion? Everyone! You and I were just as guilt-ridden for His crucifixion as any Jew and visa versa. Because He died for the whole human race, Jew and Gentile.
All right, so now these kings of the earth and the rulers of Israel take counsel together. Now you’ve got to know a little bit about your New Testament. Because on the night of His arrest, who were involved in all that commotion involving His arrest and His trial leading up to the Crucifixion? Well, the Jewish religious leaders, the High Priests, and everybody else, but who else? Pilate and the Roman leaders. They were having their discussions together. They weren’t operating independent of each other. They were all in it together. Well, the Psalmist has already prophesied that that’s what would happen.
Psalms 2:2b
“…they took counsel together, against the LORD, and against his (What’s the word) anointed,…” Now, once in a while someone will write, and they will think I’m anointed. And nothing rubs me more, faster, or more vigorously. There’s only one person on earth that deserves that title, and I cannot come close to it. And that is “anointed.” I do not want to be referred to as anointed. That’s a title only for the Lord Jesus Christ. Some of these people are comfortable with it. So be it. But I never can be, because there’s only been one truly anointed, and that’s our Lord Jesus Christ Himself. All right, now then, verse 3. What do the rulers of the world and Israel think they can do?
Psalms 2:3
“Let us break their bands asunder, (Or the powers that be that control human activity and they think they can.) and cast away their cords from us.” And I think I’m correct. If you go to your Strong’s Concordance, this word translated cords is also a root form of reigns on horses. In other words, that which we control. So they’re going to break away all of God’s control on planet earth. They don’t want any of His control in their day-to-day proceedings. God, just leave us alone, thank you. We don’t need You! And like I said, that hasn’t changed over the millennia.
Now then, here’s the Creator’s response as He sits in Heaven and views all of these things. And you’ve got to remember, this is all pushing out into a thousand years into the future as it’s written.
Psalms 2:4
“He that sitteth in the heavens (the Creator Himself) shall laugh: (Not a laugh of amusement, but a laugh of scorn and ridicule.) the Lord shall have them (That is the nations of the world including Israel.) in derision.” After they have accomplished their rejection and have totally turned on the Anointed One, and they have crucified Him, and they have screamed all these various epitaphs and so forth—that we’ll not have this man rule over us.
All right, then God in His laugh of scorn and derision, verse 5, will do the next thing on the prophetic calendar. And that is to bring in the wrath and vexation of God.
Psalms 2:5
“Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure.”
Now remember, we’ve put the timeline on the board over and over. I don’t think I have it up here anymore. But anyway, after the crucifixion, according to all the Old Testament—with no hint whatsoever of the Grace Age coming in—all the Old Testament foretold prophetically was that after this rejection and a short period of time, in would come the anti-Christ and the seven years of Tribulation. That would trigger, then, the Second Coming and His becoming the ruling King and the One who would be ruling and reigning.
All right, we’ve got to remember that in the Old Testament there’s not one iota of room for the Body of Christ or the 2,000 years of Grace. We’re looking only at God dealing with the Nation of Israel. So as I’m teaching now today, you’ve got to be constantly aware that I won’t be referring much to Paul during these lessons. Because this is all God dealing with His covenant people – Israel. So those of you who think I’ve been overbearing with regard to Paul, why you’re going to have a little break for a while. I’m going to go to the other extreme now. We’re going to be talking about God dealing with Israel and how that has nothing to do with us in the Age of Grace. When this takes place, we’ll be in Heaven. This is all just for our learning. This is all to help us understand what a tremendous Book this is and how it all fits so perfectly.
All right, so after the rejection, the crucifixion, His death, burial, and resurrection, He would bring in the wrath and vexation—which, of course, is taught in Daniel as seven years in length. Then after the seven years has run its course, Christ would return and now kick in at verse 6. Here’s the next part of the program—foretold a thousand years before it ever happened.
Psalms 2:6
“Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion.” Now we’ve already passed the sufferings of the Messiah. He was crucified. He was rejected. We’re already jumping into the glory that should follow, so far as the Psalmist is concerned. In reality, we’ve had 2,000 years interval. It still hasn’t happened yet. But according to the Old Testament prophetic program, it was to have come in just shortly after.
Psalms 2:6
“Yet have I set my king (Not on the shores of Heaven or not on the sides of the north, as Heaven is sometimes described. But where will this King rule? In Jerusalem…) on my holy hill of Mount Zion.” And never forget, Mount Zion is not like the hymnbook says it. We’re not marching to a Zion in Heaven. Mount Zion is in Jerusalem.
Hopefully, if the world doesn’t fly apart, we’ll be there (Mt. Zion) in a few more weeks. We’re getting tired of thinking about it. But hopefully we’ll be on Mount Zion in Jerusalem. Same one as here. All right, look at the next verse. God says:
Psalms 2:7a
“I will declare the decree: the LORD hath said unto me, Thou art my (What’s the term?) Son;…” Capitalized. Here we have a reference in 1,000 B.C. of the Son of God being the prospected King of Israel. That’s the whole idea—and not in Heaven, but rather on planet earth.
Now, I know that most of Christendom doesn’t have a clue about this. And yet the Scripture is so vividly plain that that’s 90% of our Old Testament promises—this coming glorious earthly Kingdom over which God the Son will rule and reign. All right, so here we have it.
Psalms 2:7b
“…Thou art my Son; this day I have begotten thee.” Now, what’s the first verse you think of when you see that word begotten? Well, John 3:16, don’t you? “For God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten Son,…”
Now you know, people have been quoting that verse for 2,000 years, and 99% of the time they don’t have a clue of what they’re talking about. What does it mean “the only begotten Son”? You go out in the streets tomorrow and you just ask or on Sunday at church, whatever. What does it mean—the only begotten Son of God? And I can just about guarantee what the average rank and file answer will be. Who wants to venture? Well, Bethlehem. That’s the only thing they can figure. It must have been when He was born at Bethlehem. No!
Now we’ve got to let the Scripture answer for us. Now we’re going to jump back up into the New. For the last several years we went from the New to the Old. Today, we’re going to go from the Old to the New. Come back with me to Acts chapter 13, and the Scripture tells us as plain as language can make it. Drop in at verse 32. Paul is speaking.
Acts 13:32-33
“And we declare unto you the glad tidings, how that the promise which was made unto the fathers, (Now remember, that’s all these Old Testament prophecies.) 33. God hath (past tense) fulfilled the same unto us their children, (at the time that Paul is speaking) in that he hath raised up Jesus again; (And, of course, in Paul’s time it wasn’t that many years ago.) as it is also written in the second psalm, (That’s where we just came from.) Thou art my Son: this day have I begotten thee.”
Plain? As plain as language can make it. But all right, now the next verse gives us the answer to when did Jesus Christ become the only begotten Son of God? Not Bethlehem. Verse 34:
Acts 13:34
“And as concerning that (His being the Only Begotten Son of God) he (God) raised him up from the dead, now no more to return to corruption, he said on this wise, I will give you the sure mercies of David.” What’s it a reference to? He’s still going to be not only the suffering and dying and resurrected Savior, He’s also going to be the what? The King. So, when was the “only Begotten Son” made what we understand? Resurrection morning! Resurrection morning He became the Only Begotten Son of God. He’s the only person of the Godhead that lived and died and was resurrected. That’s plain common sense.
All right, now let’s just follow that up. We’ve got a few minutes yet. Go over to Romans chapter 1 and we have the very same thing again. Romans chapter 1. It doesn’t say it quite as explicitly as it does here in Acts, but nevertheless the point is made. Romans 1 and we have to start at verse 1 to pick up the flow.
Romans 1:1-3
“Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God, 2. Which he had promised before by his prophets in the holy scriptures, 3. Concerning his Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord who was made of the seed of David according to the flesh.” In other words the lineage by way of Mary went all the way back to Solomon and King David.
Romans 1:3b
“…which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh; (And now here it comes.) 4. And declared to be the Son of God with power, (That would be exercised from that point on.) according to the spirit of holiness, by (What?) the resurrection from the dead.” That’s what made Him superior to every other religious leader that the planet has ever entertained.
It was by virtue of His death and His burial and His resurrection that He was able to proclaim salvation to the whole human race. Not just Israel. Not just to the white race. Not just to the Oriental. But to the whole human race. Because His resurrection power was so beyond human comprehension; it was so complete. It would reach into the very deepest dens of iniquity, and yet it would reach up to the very elite of society with Salvation on the same basis for every one of us—and all because of the fact that He was the Only Begotten Son of God.
Now, I’m going to repeat it for emphasis. Did any other person of the Godhead die and rise from the dead? Of course not. He’s the only one. Even in the physical realm, no one was ever resurrected until Jesus Christ. Now, we have those that came after His resurrection back there in Matthew 27. But you see other instances like the widow’s son that Elijah raised from death to life. That wasn’t resurrection. That kid died later on. Lazarus wasn’t resurrected. He died again later on. But resurrection is a death that now comes to life eternal someplace.
Every human being that dies will at one time yet be resurrected. That’s the words of the Lord Jesus Himself in John chapter 5.
John 5:28-29
“Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, 29. And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.”
The day is coming when all that are in the graves, the lost as well as the saved, will be resurrected. Some to an eternal doom—don’t miss the word eternal—and some to an eternal life. Every human being that has ever lived and died will yet be resurrected back to an eternal state. That’s scriptural. And again, it goes back to like I’ve taught over and over at Creation in Genesis 1 verse 27. In whose image was the human race made? Well, in the image of God. And what is God? He’s eternal. He will never die. And I can’t put it any plainer. We will live in eternity as long as God lives. And how long is that? That’s forever and ever and ever!
So never forget, now, this whole concept that starts way back a thousand years before Christ – “Thou art my only begotten Son.” And that’s because He’s the only One, in the Deity or in any other level of living—angelic or human—Jesus Christ was the first and only to be resurrected from the dead. Never to die again, as Hebrews puts it so plainly, because we now have eternal life associated with resurrection power.