A Time Gap Between the Messiah’s Three Roles
Time concept art
Last time, we talked about the three roles of the Messiah: prophet, priest, and king, and showed how scripture prophesied each of these roles. So, this then begs the question: Why did God’s plan break the Messiah’s Role into these 3 Parts separated by time?
God had to redeem not only mankind, but the Earth as well. God gave Adam and Eve dominion over all the Earth. We read in Genesis: God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground” (Gn 2:28). Yet their disobedience/rebellion led to the land deed going to Satan.
How do we know that Satan has ownership of the Earth? Well, Jesus called Satan “the prince of this world” at least three different times: Jn 12:31, 14:30, 16:11. We also know that when Satan tempted Christ in the wilderness, he offered all the kingdoms of the world to be given to Jesus by him and Jesus did not contradict the validity of Satan’s offer (Mt 4:8-10). We also need to understand the Jewish mindset about land deeds. The deed was usually two separate documents: an open deed and a sealed deed. The land can be sold using the open deed to record the land passing from person to person. Yet the sealed deed always indicated the original owner and to whom the land would return when a redemption fee was paid or the year of Jubilee occurred (which was every 50 years).
We have a good example of this in Jeremiah chapter 32. Jeremiah bought a field in Anathoth from his cousin Hanamel to redeem it and keep it in the tribal clan (Jr 32:6-12). Apparently, the land has passed outside their Jewish clan and Hanamel requested Jeremiah to redeem the land and bring it back into their tribe. When he bought the land, Jeremaih had both the sealed copy and the unsealed copy kept in a safe place (v 11). This was because they were on the verge of going into captivity, so both needed to be in a safe place so he could retrieve it after they returned from captivity to prove his ownership of the land. Typically, using the unsealed copy, the land could be sold to others, but the sealed copy was always held by the original owner.
Jeremiah thereby became the kinsman redeemer for his cousin and purchased the land prior to its time of being returned at Jubilee. This could be a costly purchase. We find the following in the book of Leviticus: When the years [to Jubilee] are many, you are to increase the price, and when the years are few, you are to decrease the price, because what is really being sold to you is the number of crops (Lv 25:16).
Jesus became our kinsman redeemer and purchased back what Adam had lost – both mankind’s relationship with God and the kingdom he lost. Here are three verses showing Christ has purchased back the Earth: (1) Then I saw in the right hand of him who sat on the throne a scroll with writing on both sides and sealed with seven seals (Rv 5:1). This is the land deed just like what we saw with Jeremiah. (2) No one in heaven or earth or under the earth could open the scroll or even look inside it (Rv 5:3). Only he from the original tribal clan could open a sealed deed. (3) The Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David . . . is able to open the scroll (Rv 5:5). Jesus Christ is the original owner of the deed before it was given to Adam.
Two additional verses show that Christ became our Kinsman redeemer: (1) Then I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain ... take the scroll from the right hand of him who sat on the throne (Rv 5:6-7). Jesus Christ became our kinsman redeemer paying a high price to take back the deed from Satan’s control and restore it to its original owner. (2) Christ can now rule over the Earth which he has purchased: You [Christ] are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased for God persons from every tribe and language and people and nation. You have made them to be a kingdom of priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth (Rv 5:9-10).
Just as Jeremiah had to wait until their captivity was over to claim his land, so Christ waits to take possession of the Earth until all God’s plans have been fulfilled. Hence, his role as our High Priest in Heaven.
Jesus is our Savior for all seasons. He came as a prophet to fulfill the Law, reconcile us back to God, and take back the authority for us Adam lost. Jesus is now our high priest to hear our prayers and make intercession for us before the Father and plead our case to defend us against our accuser, Satan. Our belief in Jesus Christ and what he did for us on the cross is what allows God to declare us righteous. Jesus will return as king to reign as the true owner of the deed to the Earth and defend his right to rule the Earth and all the universe forever.
So, this was God’s plan for us from the very beginning. It sounds like a good plan, right? And if so, we need to ask the question: What went wrong? This will be our topic for next time. Please, join me.
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Visit Books & Words to Inspire by Randy C. Dockens