Beth Moore — The Mark of God
We're turning to Galatians 6 together -- Galatians chapter six to the closing portion of Paul's letter to the Galatians. I love the Apostle Paul so much. To me he is sort of the New Testament David of the Old Testament.
In other words, he is the one that has all that passion that you could imagine perhaps, in given that situation, might have danced down the streets of Jerusalem. He was the one that had just this effervescent, truly, not only spiritual love for the Lord Jesus Christ but emotional love. I mean it was wet and it was a fervent and it was lively.
I love his letters and something that I find remarkable is that over and over again, if you're ever memorizing out of the letters of Paul and you're stumped on what word comes next, just try saying Christ Jesus because let me tell you, every three or four words it seems and I'll just be -- I'll just not exaggerate. Listen, every couple of verses he's got to throw it back in there.
Sometimes verse by verse -- sometimes it will be in the same verse. It is remarkable. He loves the name of Jesus. I want you to hear what he says here as he concludes this powerful letter to the Galatians about their freedom.
It says in verse 14 -- so I'm in Galatians six. I want to read verses through 18:
But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. For neither circumcision counts for anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation.
Do you know what? I wish that we could write that sentence over and over and over again with our own blanks because to him, the big issue he had here with the Galatians was whether or not some of them were to take on the marks of circumcision as a way as believers in Christ, those who had a Gentile background, where they need to be put under the law in order to receive the grace of Jesus Christ given to them through the cross? So this was the big issue: Circumcision versus non circumcision or uncircumcision.
But wouldn't it be interesting if we went back to verse 15: For neither black counts nor white counts but a new creation. Anybody else? It's not woman or man, it's a new creation. It's not Baptist or Lutheran but a new creation. It's not long term believer or short term believer, it's new creation. This is what matters, this is what it all comes down to; new creation boasting in the cross of Christ alone.
Verse 16: And as for all who walk by this rule, peace and mercy be upon them, and upon the Israel of God.
Listen. He is not one to mince words. When Paul has something to say, if he is under the inspiration he has boldness to say it.
Verse 17: From now on let no one cause me trouble, for I bear on my body the marks of Jesus. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brothers. Amen.
You know what he's saying right there? Get off me because you know what? I bear the marks of Jesus.
Listen. Here's what we're going to do. We have a wild, wild lesson and series in front of us. So this is going to be, for feelers, yes, but also I need your thinker part of your psyche to just come out in you because what we're going to do, we're going to draw a concept, so we're going to take a rope and we're going to lasso the thing, try to look at it with an overview of the scriptures and then pull it back down into these passages where we can see it.
So our word for our present series is what it means to be marked by Jesus Christ; to bear the marks of Jesus Christ. As you and I are going to find out, of course, the Apostle Paul is talking physical scars and we'll get to that later in our series but there are all sorts of ways that we get marked by Jesus Christ and that's what we're talking about.
So here's where I need you to go with me. If you would please, I want to do just a little bit of an overview of where the mark begins; anything that was called marking. When someone bore a mark of some kind; what was the Old Testament history to that? So would you go with me there just a moment, because I find it fascinating?
The very first time we see the concept of somebody being marked in some way is all the way back in Genesis in chapter four. Turn with me there. We're doing something really, really unfair to the text in that we're jumping into the middle of a narrative without being able to go into it explaining it. But you know what? Even a lot of people that have no background in the scriptures know the story of Cain and Abel and how Cain has killed his brother and how his blood is crying out from the ground, as it says in verse 10 of Genesis chapter four.
But remember, we're looking specifically for one concept. Somebody bring it back to me. What is it we're looking for? We're looking for marks; when someone gets marked. So I want you to see some verse 14 it says that God, of course, gives the repercussions of Cain's actions through punishment to him and Cain responds to him:
“My punishment is greater than I can bear. Behold, you have driven me today away from the ground, and from your face I shall be hidden. I shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me.” Then the Lord said to him, “Not so! If anyone kills Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold.” And the Lord put a mark on Cain, lest any who found him should attack him.
We have no idea what it looked like. No idea! But listen, it would have been obvious enough to where if somebody had seen him they could have noticed it and somehow would have been repelled by it and frightened to deal with him. We have no idea what the mark was but you're looking at the very first place as you and I are trying to study in this present series the concept of being marked.
There are a couple of reasons why people were marked in the scriptures and we see the very first one is protection -- its protection. This was a mark of protection.
I want you to see it again. Would you be willing to turn with me now, flip with me deep into your Old Testament to the book of Ezekiel, and go with me to Ezekiel chapter nine. We're studying marks, the history in the scripture and what they were used for. Tell me again why Cain was given a mark. It was for his what? -- For his protection. We're going to see that a mark would do a couple of different things in the scriptures and the first one we see and the we see it a number of times is that it is used for protection. Ezekiel 9:3-34.
Now Ezekiel has been called by God to be a prophet at a time of tremendous rebellion in the nation of Israel. Listen. Basically, let me boil it down to the simplest factor. This is not doing it justice but just hear me out here. There were a lot of things that the people of God could get away with and yes, they would have had consequences to their sins. They would have needed to repented; there were the sacrificial lambs, there was the Day of Atonement, there was all manner of ways that they sought repentance. But God told them over and over, listen, you don't want to have to deal with me on this. You follow other gods and this is not going to go well for you.
This was like -- this was idolatry that God considered adultery. Anybody getting that with me? To God, idolatry is adultery because he considers that you are betraying and I am betraying, we don't have fidelity toward our one and only that we've been called to. Well, of course, they did it over and over and over again and they are in a huge mess here. They will be taken.
He's going to be prophesying when they are taken captive by the Babylonians. This is interesting because when all of this comes down, God then begins to give prophecy to Ezekiel about their future restoration. Our God is so good and our God is so faithful. But watch what happens here in this prophecy. Ezekiel chapter nine, verses three and four:
Now the glory of the God of Israel had gone up from the cherub on which it rested to the threshold of the house. And he called to the man clothed in linen, who had the writing case at his waist.
So in this vision they're at the temple. He sees the cherub resting on the threshold of the house. He calls to the man clothed in linen; so there's this man in the vision, clothed in linen who has a writing case at his waist. So there would have been perhaps a belt around it and it would have just been a little cylinder here that would have had a pen in it. So it would have been there for a ready writing. So this is the man that he sees.
Now watch this. Watch this! Verse four:
And the Lord said to him, “Pass through the city, through Jerusalem, and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh and groan over all the abominations that are committed in it.”
Then he's going to tell him, then strike the city -- strike the city. But you will put a mark on every single one of them that are repentant, every single one of them that groan over the sinful state that this nation is in.
So this is very, very interesting because this mark is serving as a Passover of sorts. Anybody getting that with me? Remember back in the book of Exodus in Exodus chapter 12, 13, and 14, telling the Passover story when the children of Israel were released from Egypt to head to the Red Sea. Then they were to put blood, the blood of this lamb that they would have killed, put the blood on the doorpost and when the angel of death went over them, it would pass by those houses because they bore the mark on the door.
Well, this mark on their foreheads, where was it? You tell me? -- On their foreheads. This mark on their foreheads, this man in linen, so in this vision, here's what he's doing, got his pen out -- boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, mark, mark, all over the ones that had groaned in repentance, in sadness, in grief over the state that the nation was in.