Handel's Messiah: The Person and Work of Christ

11. 'And Who May Abide the Day of His Coming?'

By Dr. Paul M. Elliott
Throughout history, world rulers and religious apostates have taken their futile stands against the Lord and His Messiah.

From the TeachingtheWord Bible Knowledgebase

Part 11 of a series. Read part 10.

Throughout history, world rulers and religious apostates have taken their futile stands against the Lord and His Messiah.

Having sung the prophetic declarations of Christ's certain coming in Haggai 2:6-7 and Malachi 3:1, the bass soloist continues Handel's Messiah with the crucial questions of Malachi 3:2 -

But who may abide the day of His coming, and who shall stand when He appeareth? For He is like a refiner's fire. (Malachi 3:2)

The force of the original Hebrew is, more directly, "But who may endure the day of His coming, and who shall take his stand against Him when He appears? For He is like the purifying fire of the smelter." Throughout history this world's rulers have continually thought that they could stand against the Lord:

Why do the nations rage, and the people plot a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord and against His Anointed [literally, His Messiah], saying, "Let us break Their bonds in pieces and cast away Their cords from us." (Psalm 2:1-3)

Herod's Unsuccessful Stand Against Messiah

Herod tried to withstand the day of Messiah's coming, seeking to destroy the infant Jesus by killing all male infants two years old and under (Matthew 2:16-18). Yet even this was in the prophetic plan of God:

[A]n angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, "Arise, take the young Child and His mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I bring you word; for Herod will seek the young Child to destroy Him." When he arose, he took the young Child and His mother by night and departed for Egypt, and was there until the death of Herod, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying, "Out of Egypt I called My Son" [a quotation of Hosea 11:1].

Religious Leaders' Unsuccessful Stand Against the Messiah

The Pharisees and Sadducees and rulers of the Jews tried to withstand the coming of the Messiah, accusing Him of having a demon, and being an illegitimate child, and seeking to kill Him:

"I know that you are Abraham's descendants, but you seek to kill Me, because My word has no place in you. I speak what I have seen with My Father, and you do what you have seen with your father."

They answered and said to Him, "Abraham is our father."

Jesus said to them, "If you were Abraham's children, you would do the works of Abraham. But now you seek to kill Me, a Man who has told you the truth which I heard from God. Abraham did not do this. You do the deeds of your father."

Then they said to Him, "We were not born of fornication; we have one Father - God."

Jesus said to them, "If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and came from God; nor have I come of Myself, but He sent Me. Why do you not understand My speech? Because you are not able to listen to My word. You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it. But because I tell the truth, you do not believe Me. Which of you convicts Me of sin? And if I tell the truth, why do you not believe Me? He who is of God hears God's words; therefore you do not hear, because you are not of God."

Then the Jews answered and said to Him, "Do we not say rightly that You are a Samaritan and have a demon?"

Jesus answered, "I do not have a demon; but I honor My Father, and you dishonor Me. And I do not seek My own glory; there is One who seeks and judges. Most assuredly, I say to you, if anyone keeps My word he shall never see death."

Then the Jews said to Him, "Now we know that You have a demon! Abraham is dead, and the prophets; and You say, 'If anyone keeps My word he shall never taste death.' Are You greater than our father Abraham, who is dead? And the prophets are dead. Who do You make Yourself out to be?"

Jesus answered, "If I honor Myself, My honor is nothing. It is My Father who honors Me, of whom you say that He is your God. Yet you have not known Him, but I know Him. And if I say, 'I do not know Him,' I shall be a liar like you; but I do know Him and keep His word. Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad."

Then the Jews said to Him, "You are not yet fifty years old, and have You seen Abraham?"

Jesus said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM." [Here Jesus literally called Himself "Yahweh" - Jehovah.]

Then they took up stones to throw at Him; but Jesus hid Himself and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by. (John 8:37-59)

Satan's Unsuccessful Stand Against the Messiah

Satan tried to withstand the day of Messiah's coming by tempting Him in the wilderness.

Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry.

Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, "If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread." But He answered and said, "It is written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God' " [a quotation from Deuteronomy 8:3].

Then the Devil took Him up into the holy city, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, "If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down. For it is written: 'He shall give His angels charge over you,' and, 'In their hands they shall bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone' " [quotations from Psalm 91:11-12]. Jesus said to him, "It is written again, 'You shall not tempt the Lord [literally, Jehovah] your God' " [a quotation from Deuteronomy 6:16].

Again, the Devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to Him, "All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me." Then Jesus said to him, "Away with you, Satan! For it is written, 'You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve' " [a quotation from Deuteronomy 6:13].

Then the Devil left Him, and behold, angels came and ministered to Him. (Matthew 4:1-11)

Postmodern Man's Futile Stand Against the Messiah

Two thousand years later, people withstand the day of His coming by denying that there is such a person as a historical Jesus, or such events as a historical crucifixion or resurrection. Apostates like the late Rudolph Bultmann still futilely attempt, even in our time, to withstand the day of Messiah's first coming by saying that we must "de-mythologize" the Gospels and reduce Jesus to someone less than fully God.

In his book Jesus for the Non-Religious, Episcopal bishop John Shelby Spong seeks, as his website puts it, to "free Jesus from religion's prison" by denying His virgin birth, His miracles, and His resurrection from the dead. As Spong puts it, taking His stand against the Lord and His Messiah, "I do not want to worship a God that I cannot challenge."[1]

I do not believe that food can be expanded by anyone from five literal loaves to a volume sufficient to feed a multitude... I do not believe that anyone can, with supernatural power, cause the blind to see, the deaf to hear, the mute to sing and the lame to walk in any literal way... The ability of anyone to walk on water exists in our world not in reality, but only in very bad golf jokes... Certainly a crucified man, executed and buried on Friday, cannot walk out of his tomb resuscitated and alive on Sunday, nor can a body defy gravity in order to ascend into the sky as the way to return to the God who was once believed to dwell above the clouds.[2]

Yet Jesus said these were the very attesting signs of His Messiahship:

So He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. And as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read. And He was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written:

"The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed; to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord" [a Messianic prophecy from Isaiah 61]. Then He closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed on Him. And He began to say to them, "Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing." (Luke 4:16-21)

And when John [the Baptist] had heard in prison about the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples and said to Him, "Are You the Coming One [the Messiah], or do we look for another?" Jesus answered and said to them, "Go and tell John the things which you hear and see: The blind see and the lame walk; the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear; the dead are raised up and the poor have the gospel preached to them. And blessed is he who is not offended [literally, scandalized] because of Me." (Matthew 11:2-6)

So the Jews answered and said to Him, "What sign do You show to us, since You do these things?" Jesus answered and said to them, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up." Then the Jews said, "It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days?" But He was speaking of the temple of His body. Therefore, when He had risen from the dead, His disciples remembered that He had said this to them; and they believed the Scripture and the word which Jesus had said. (John 2:18-22)

God Is Not Moved

How does the Sovereign God of the Universe respond to those who stand against His Messiah? He is never taken by surprise, and none of this is ever out of His compete control.

He who sits in the heavens shall laugh; the Lord shall hold them in derision. Then He shall speak to them in His wrath, and distress them in His deep displeasure:

"Yet I have set My King On My holy hill of Zion. I will declare the decree: The Lord has said to Me, 'You are My Son, today I have begotten You. Ask of Me, and I will give You the nations for Your inheritance, and the ends of the earth for Your possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron; You shall dash them to pieces like a potter's vessel.'"

Now therefore, be wise, O kings; be instructed, you judges of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest He be angry, and you perish in the way, when His wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all those who put their trust in Him. (Psalm 2:6-12)

Are You Standing Against God?

How is it with you, dear reader? Are you standing, even now, in unbelief against the first coming of Messiah? Are you, in your heart, standing against His second coming? I have heard people say, "When I stand before God, I'm going to tell Him a thing or two." I shudder to hear such words. "Who shall stand when He appeareth?" This is the picture we find, when at the end of time Messiah metes out His judgment upon rebellious mankind:

And the kings of the earth, the great men, the rich men, the commanders, the mighty men, every slave and every free man, hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains, and said to the mountains and rocks, "Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! For the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand?" (Revelation 6:15-17)

Is this what awaits you? Or can it be said of you, "Blessed are all those who put their trust in Him" (Psalm 2:12)? This is the testimony of the one who is trusting in Jesus the Messiah for time and eternity:

As for God, His way is perfect; the Word of the Lord is proven; He is a shield to all who trust in Him. For who is God, except the Lord? And who is a rock, except our God? God is my strength and power, and He makes my way perfect. (2 Samuel 22:31-33)

 

References:

1. John Shelby Spong, Jesus for the Non-Religious (New York: HarperCollins, 2007 ), page 7.

2. Spong, page 11-12

 

Next: "For He is like a refiner's fire"

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