the Third Week after Easter
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Daily Devotionals
Voice of the Lord
In his forebearance, he had passed over ...the sins people had committed in the past (Romans 3:25).
In the Midrash (traditional commentary) on Ruth 2:14, we read this about the Messiah: "The phrase 'dip your morsel in the vinegar' refers to his sufferings, as it is said, 'But he was wounded for our transgressions'" (Isaiah 53:5). After this statement we find the following interesting comparison: "Rabbi Berekiah said in the name of Rabbi Levi: 'The future Redeemer [Messiah] will be like the former Redeemer [Moses]. Just as the former Redeemer revealed himself and later was hidden from them...so the future Redeemer will be revealed to them and then be hidden from them. ...He who believes in him will live, and he who does not believe will depart to the Gentile nations and they will put him to death'" (Midrash Ruth 5:6).
In our efforts to reach others with the truth about Messiah, we often expend our energies trying to show how Yeshua was like Moses. This is like pointing out how many ways the original Rembrandt is like the copy! Although Moses instituted the first covenant, the Book of Hebrews states that there was still a need for a second one (8:7). The blood of Yeshua the Messiah instituted this new covenant.
We have the original, the perfect, the complete, and we never need to be ashamed of the one whom we declare and represent.
...give God thanks for the great redemption which he has given me through the atoning death of his Son.
RP
The Voice of the Lord, Copyright © 1998 by the Lewis and Harriet Lederer Foundation, Inc. Published by Messianic Jewish Publishers, Distributed by Messianic Jewish Resources, www.messianicjewish.net. All rights reserved. Used by permission. No part of this article may be reproduced in print or on the web, or transmitted in any form, without the written permission of the publisher.
