Escher and Prophecy Fulfillment

Artist M.C. Escher created the drawing on the left. He titled this woodcut Regular Division of the Plane III. A close study reveals that Escher simultaneously shows (1) white horses and riders moving from left to right, (2) black horses and riders moving from right to left, (3) white background at the top, (4) black background at the bottom, and (5) horses and riders interlocking like jigsaw puzzle pieces. His drawings leave me amazed at his creative ability.

The Bible contains passages that amaze me in the same way. They reveal more than one truth at the same time. Malachi 4:5-6 is one of those passages. “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes. And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers…" (ESV) Through the years, the Jewish rabbis debated the meaning of this prophecy without reaching consensus.


The first fulfillment shows up in Luke 1:13-17: “The angel said to him, "Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, for he will be great before the Lord. And he must not drink wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother's womb. And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God, and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children…" (ESV)


The angel announced the birth of John the Baptist as fulfillment of Malachi’s prophecy. However, that fulfillment did not look the way the Jewish rabbis expected it to look. When they asked John the Baptist if he were Elijah, he told them that he was not. (John 1:19-21, ESV)


Jesus clarified the way John the Baptist fulfilled the prophecy and pointed to an additional, more complete fulfillment in Matthew 17:10-13. “And the disciples asked him, "Then why do the scribes say that first Elijah must come?" He answered, "Elijah does come, and he will restore all things. But I tell you that Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him, but did to him whatever they pleased. So also the Son of Man will certainly suffer at their hands." Then the disciples understood that he was speaking to them of John the Baptist.” (ESV)


John the Baptist fulfilled Malachi’s prophecy in a way that the most highly trained religious scholars could not recognize. It appears that even John the Baptist did not see his own part in fulfilling it. It took Jesus to reveal that the prophecy had more than one fulfillment and that the first one included John the Baptist.


What did you see when you first looked at the Escher drawing: white horses on a black background or black horses on a white background? Did it take you some time to see for yourself that it was both?


People who can only see black horses sometimes argue with those who see only white horses about what they see. The Jewish scholars argued over the fulfillment of Malachi's prophecy. We sometimes fall into that same mind set when we read a passage in the Bible. Before we find ourselves convinced that a passage in the Bible can have only one interpretation, we might think about this drawing.

If a man is intelligent and creative enough to produce a picture that shows so many things at the same time, then we can well believe that God can do the same thing. By exploring just two verses in Malachi we see that God may surprise us in the way He chooses to fulfill His words, similar to the way Escher surprises us by his art. After all, the Bible is God’s Living Word.

Can You Answer These Trick Questions?

Periodically, one of those messages makes its way into my in-box. "My score is 67%" the subject line reads. I open it and discover a brainteaser quiz (a.k.a. trick questions). A typical question says, "You only have a match when you enter a dark and cold room. You come across an oil lamp, an oil heater, and a candle. Which do you light first?" I find those quizzes irresistible, even though I seldom do well.

My score discourages me because I think I know the (obvious) answer when the right answer is something unexpected. That same "are you sure that's the right answer" reaction happened to me not long ago when I was asked this question: "In the New Testament, how many apostles are identified by name?" (I will tell you now my answer was not even close.)

The obvious answer – the first answer I got wrong - was "twelve." Jesus commissioned twelve men to send out as His special representatives, to be His apostles (Matt. 10:2-4):
1. Simon (Peter)
2. Andrew (Peter's brother)
3. James, the son of Zebedee
4. John, the son of Zebedee
5. Philip
6. Bartholomew (Nathanael)
7. Thomas
8. Matthew (Levi)
9. James, the son of Alphaeus
10. Thaddaeus (Judas, the son of James)
11. Simon the Zealot
12. Judas Iscariot.

However, the answer of "twelve" leaves out Matthias. He took the place of Judas Iscariot (Acts 1:26) after Judas committed suicide. Unfortunately, "thirteen" is not the right answer, either. The book of Acts also identifies both Paul and Barnabas as apostles (Acts 14:14). The count is up to fifteen, but we have yet to complete the list. Several places in the New Testament record James, the brother of Jesus, as an apostle, including the passage of I Corinthians 15:7.

As trick questions go, this one ranks right up with the trickiest. Even "sixteen" is not the right answer and I never got that close. As far as I know, the correct answer is "seventeen." The name of the last apostle to put on the list is Jesus.

I know. I didn't believe it either. When I heard the answer and the scripture reference, I wasted no time in reading it for myself. Hebrews 3:1 (ESV) states, "Therefore, holy brothers, you who share in a heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the apostle and high priest of our confession." Yet, when we hold the definition of an apostle up to Jesus, we see that the title easily applies to Him. An apostle is defined as one sent out as a special representative. In John 6:57 (ESV), Jesus said, "As the living Father sent me…" Everyone else on the list was an apostle of Jesus. Jesus is The Apostle of the Living God.

While you and I are not named as apostles in the Bible, that definition can also apply to us. Jesus sends us out as special representatives to people in our spheres of influence. You've probably heard that our lives are the only Bible that some people will ever read. Well, you may also be the only apostle some people ever meet. We may never have the opportunity to speak a word of kindness to anyone but a neighbor's child or to comfort anyone other than a coworker, but the Holy Spirit can use the smallest act to reach into eternity. For those times, and for those people, we can be God's special representatives that turn their hearts toward Him. And, when God asks, "Will you go for me?" it's not a trick question.

(The answer to the first trick question: Everyone would light the match first. Did you get it right?)

Happy Easter!

This weekend we celebrate the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. Looking back at the event on which hangs the destiny of every person who will ever live causes us to look forward to a time when Jesus will reign as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Nevertheless, right now we live in the "abide 'til He comes" time. The story below dramatizes the way in which some early Christians chose to spend their "abiding time." I hope you enjoy it.

The Interruption
as retold by Lynnda Ell

Rhoda sighed. Maybe now she could sit down for longer than two minutes. The Seder meal had been long over and preparations for breaking the morning fast completed. This time of year, during the Passover celebrations, everyone had more work than usual. However, this year, the execution of James bar Zebedee and the arrest of Peter also had everyone on edge. She slid down the wall by the door at the back of the dimly lit room. Rhoda hoped that she would not fall asleep as she closed her eyes and joined the group in prayer.

Rhoda's whole body jerked when the pounding on the outer door began. She staggered to her feet and scooped up the nearest oil lamp. Stumbling across the courtyard, her heart skittered in her chest as she wondered who would come to Mary and John Mark's house in the middle of the night.

"Who's there?" Rhoda called out through the stout door.

"Open up, girl."

Rhoda stepped back at the sound of the voice she recognized as the apostle Peter's. Without unbarring the door, she whirled around and ran back to the prayer meeting.

"Peter's at the door!" she exclaimed over the sound of several people praying aloud.

"Sshh!"

"Quiet."

"You're out of your mind," hissed one young man, shaking his head.

His friend nudged him with his elbow. "It must be his angel."

Rhoda ignored them as she gingerly stepped through the crush of people, making her way to Mary and John Mark.

"Please come. I know it's Peter."

Motioning with her hands for Rhoda to speak softly, Mary said, "Yes, yes, we will come."

Once clear of the room, they could hear the pounding on the door. John Mark quickly removed the bar and opened the latch.

"Peter!" Mary exclaimed. "Come in, come in."

"Not so loud," Peter whispered. "I want to hide before sunrise, so I won't stay."

Quickly Peter told them how an angel had come to his cell, awakened him, removed his chains, told him to dress and then escorted him out of the prison, down the street and finally disappeared.

Peter grabbed the locks of hair on both sides of his head. "I thought I was dreaming. The angel lit up the night as brightly as day, but the guards didn't see us walking right passed them. They even ignored the iron gate that opened itself."

Peter glanced over his shoulder and then turned around. "Tell James bar Joseph and the rest of the brothers what happened." He disappeared into the night.

Rhoda followed Mary and John Mark back into the prayer meeting. She no longer felt the least bit sleepy. She knew that they would pray the rest of the night for Peter's safety and she was ready to do her part. Tomorrow, the soldiers would tear the town apart looking for him. Rhoda trusted that the God who got Peter out of prison would hide him as well. Nevertheless, right now, it was time to pray.

Fire Drills and Famine

As he sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, "Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the close of the age?" And Jesus answered them, "See that no one leads you astray. For many will come in my name, saying, 'I am the Christ,' and they will lead many astray. And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places.
All these are but the beginning of the birth pains.
(Matt 24:3-8 ESV)

Don't the disciples of Jesus sound just like us? We want to know what will happen in the future, especially the future time when Jesus will return. The best-selling success of the Left Behind series of books and the fascination with Nostradamus give evidence that many people seek to know the future.

However, Jesus responds, not with the time of His return, but with events leading up to it. He mentions four specific signs: false messiahs, wars/rumors of wars, earthquakes, and famines. He calls them the beginning of birth pangs and a look at history demonstrates that every generation since Christ's ascension to heaven experienced these events. Watching the evening news for a few minutes demonstrates that our generation is no exception.

More importantly, Jesus' response contains two commands about the ways we are to respond to these events. First command: listen to godly advisors. Bad advice can lead us out of God's purpose for our lives. Not everyone who says, "The sky is falling! Follow me, I can save you," knows what they are talking about. Without comparing what we hear to what God says in the Bible, praying about the issue, and talking to other godly people, we can be led astray.

Spending too much time watching the TV news networks makes the second command almost impossible to obey; Jesus tells us not to be frightened. Rather than "Don't worry. Be happy," advice, the command gives us an opportunity to prepare as God directs. (Fear and worry can drown out God's voice.)

When we know the possibility exists for an event to occur, we can prepare. Fire is one of the most common catastrophic events. For that reason, people hold fire drills in schools, offices, and homes. Knowing how to respond in case of fire reduces both the risk and the fear.

Famine is also a common catastrophe. We see pictures of the effects of famine in foreign countries often. Even in the United States where food is plentiful, Feeding America estimates that one in four children struggle with hunger.

A grass-roots opinion seems to be growing that the United States may face a famine in the near future. A military officer recommends to an executive that he store food for his family. A financial advisor emails a similar suggestion to his clients. A neighbor receives a large order from Emergency Essentials. A relative begins gardening and storing the harvest.

Should you be alarmed? No, go back to the first command and listen to God. Determine what preparations – if any – God wants you to take. Then obey God. (That takes the risk out of anything!) Relieve your fear by taking to heart the prophet Habakkuk's words when he saw a famine looming over Israel. He said, "Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord; I will take joy in the God of my salvation." (Habakkuk 3:17-18, ESV) Deciding to trust God before a catastrophe occurs is the best antidote for any fear.

Whether we are faced with war, earthquake or famine, we can trust God and rejoice in His love. After all, nothing can separate us from God's love.

The Necklace Treasure

As I've tried to explain in The Treasures series, I have strong opinions on the matter of God's emotions. I think that it is impossible to overstate how intensely God expresses His love for His people.

As I complete this series, I want to draw your attention to the ESV translation of Zephaniah 3:17: "The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing." (I added the italics.) Part of the note in the ESV Study Bible on Zephaniah 3:17 contains these thoughts: "This verse remarkably adds that God himself will rejoice over you with gladness, indicating that when God's people seek him and follow him, and rejoice in him and trust him, then God personally delights in them. This is not an aloof, emotionless contentment, but it bursts forth in joyful divine celebration: he will exult over you with loud singing."

I can hardly imagine it. God wants to sing His love song over me. Just the thought of it leaves me breathless with amazement.

No wonder we have an empty hole in our hearts before we find Jesus as our Lord and Savior. He created us to experience His pure, intense love expressed as His delight in our actions as we seek and follow Him and as love songs from His ravished heart as we rejoice in Him and trust in Him – and Him alone – to lead us. We can know nothing of that until we have repented of our sins and accepted His sacrifice on our behalf.

If you are like me, the first question that pops up in your mind is, "Why don't Christians experience these all the time?"

In order to give some of the answer to this question, I want to look at Song of Solomon 4:9 again. It says, "You have ravished my heart, My sister, My spouse; you have ravished My heart with one look of your eyes, with one link of your necklace." (NKJV) (I added the italics.)

The Bible is full of symbols. For me, this necklace symbolizes my obedience to God. Let me show you how I got there.

The neck can represent a person's will. The term "stiff necked" speaks of a resistant will, someone who will not submit. Isaiah 48:4 speaks of this: "…I know that you are obstinate, and your neck is an iron sinew…" (ESV) When someone bows in submission to a king, the most vulnerable part of the body is exposed – the back of the neck.

So, for me, this necklace represents the activity of my will. When I willingly, eagerly, and lovingly obey God's guidance, I add a link to this spiritual necklace. Sometimes the link is fashioned in the heat of heartache, other times in the sparkle of joy, but always in the absolute trust that my Master knows best. In order to experience the reality of God's love and delight, we must know God's ways and obey His will.

In my jewelry box, I have a necklace made of small oval links. In the center of each link is a tiny precious or semi-precious stone: sapphire, ruby, topaz, emerald, citrine and others. When I waver in my willingness to obey God in all things, I look at that necklace and remind myself that God and I are creating a spiritual necklace much more beautiful than the one I have now. Each link of that necklace is a remembrance of a time when I ravished the heart of God with my loving obedience. I hope to wear that priceless necklace on my wedding day, at the wedding feast of The Lamb of God. I want it to be a sparkling witness to the glory of my Lord.

Now you know the treasures of my heart and the way I experience them: God's powerfully passionate love for me, His delight in me as I turn away from sinful ways, my desire to ravish God's heart as I keep my life focused on Him, the protection I have from the Holy Spirit, and the necklace I'm designing with my joyful, loving obedience. My prayer is that you will find these treasures as valuable as I have. I pray that God would always fill your heart with the joy and peace that comes from loving Him, the source of all treasure.

Treasure #4: Secure in His Love

Have you tired of gazing at my treasures: God's pure, encompassing love, His delight in my fumbling attempts to be like Him, His ravished heart when I look only to Him? These treasures make my dark days brighter and my bright days indescribably lovely. You have undoubtedly turned them into your treasures, too, so let me share another one with you.

My fourth treasure: The Holy Spirit is jealously guarding me.

Fear and insecurity can deprive me of sleep at night and of joy in the morning, but God desires me to live my life secure in His love. He has gone to extremes to see that I am secure. James 4:5 says, "Or do you think it's without reason the Scripture says that the Spirit He has caused to live in us yearns jealously?" (Holman Christian Standard Bible)

Normally, jealousy would be considered a negative emotion. It usually indicates a lack of trust one person has of another person. However, in one relationship, jealousy can be appropriate: marriage. Suppose a man discovers that his wife is being romantically pursued by another man. This husband truly loves his wife and is committed to the relationship, so he does not ignore the situation and let this thief steal his wife's heart. He does everything in his power to keep his wife's love and to eliminate this thief permanently.

The New Testament speaks often of the church being the bride of Christ.

The best way to understand this relationship is to look at the Jewish practice of betrothal and marriage. The betrothal lasted for about a year, but was much more than our engagement is, today. The betrothal was as binding as the marriage. A betrothed woman could be executed for adultery if she became pregnant, because the marriage was not consummated during the betrothal. (This almost happened to Jesus' mother.) Traditionally, the woman received a gift from her husband at the betrothal.

From the perspective of betrothal and marriage, I have been betrothed to Jesus Christ and am now waiting for Him to come and claim me as His own bride. I have received the Holy Spirit as a type of betrothal gift. He is a seal that guarantees that I am Christ's, but He is also here to defend me from temptation and to rescue me from the world.

According to Rick Renner in Sparkling Gems for the Greek, one scholar expands James 4:5 to it's full meaning this way: "The Spirit takes it very personally when we share our lives with the world. He wants us so entirely for Himself that if the world tries to take us away, it infuriates Him. You need to know that in these cases, the Holy Spirit will not sit idly by and watch it happen. He'll do something to change the situation."

With the Holy Spirit completely committed to protecting me and to holding me safely in my betrothal to Jesus Christ, I have nothing to fear. I am secure in His love. Absolutely.

Treasure #3: Ravishing God’s Heart

I trust that, by now, you have meditated on how God's love for you is His infinite, all encompassing, enveloping love that can never be destroyed. I hope you have experienced the feeling of God delighting in you as you work in the power of the Holy Spirit to remove sinful actions and attitudes from your life. Now I want to share with you another special treasure.

My third treasure: I have the ability to ravish God's heart.

"What!" you say, "Does the Bible say that?"

Yes. In the beautiful love song called the Song of Solomon, chapter 4 verse 9 says, "You have ravished my heart, My sister, My spouse; you have ravished My heart with one look of your eyes, with one link of your necklace." (NKJV)

Ravish is not often used in today's vocabulary. In the few times that modern translations of the Bible include the word, it has the general sense of doing violence, humiliating, and oppressing another. Most often, it refers to a man forcing a woman to have intercourse.

In the eloquent declaration of His bride's affect on Him, the Bridegroom (Jesus) twice says that she "ravishes my heart." This is violence, all right, but not violence committed against another. It is the expression of such an overwhelmingly intensely loving emotion that all other emotions seem colorless by comparison.

A strongly intense emotion of the heart is seldom described in the Bible. Proverbs 5:19 gives one example. It states that a husband should be intoxicated with the love of his wife. A second example can be found in Luke 24:32, where the two disciples stated that their hearts burned within them while Jesus walked with them.

Two other examples include God in text. Genesis 6:5-6 show God looking at the continuous evil of man's life and the end of verse six states, "…and it grieved him to his heart." How the sinfulness of man pierced the heart of God!

The last example comes from Ephesians 5:25, where Paul commands husbands to love their wives. This love is not just the insipid love we associate with modern-day romance. Paul told the husbands to love their lives as much as Jesus loves the church.

How much does Jesus love the church? This overwhelmingly intense emotion caused Jesus to give up equality with God, to become a human being, to take on all the sins of the world and to die a shameful death on the cross. Here is a Heart that is waiting to be ravished.    

I, who have never ravished anyone's heart, am able to fill God's heart with overwhelming love. That is so amazing to me.

God tells us what causes His heart to be ravished. The verse says that I ravish His heart when I look at Him with my eyes. As the old hymn says,

            "Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
             Look full in His wonderful face,
             And the things of earth
              Will grow strangely dim,
             In the light of His glory and grace."

When I turn my eyes toward Jesus, He is already looking towards me, wanting me to see the love in His eyes. With one look from my eye, God's heart is filled with an overwhelmingly intensely loving emotion, His heart is ravished. How awesome is that?