All Creation Obeys the Messiah
- samshmn
- 4 hours ago
- 6 min read
Among the discovery of the Dead Scrolls in 1947, a fragment was found in cave 4 called 4Q521, and named "Messianic Apocalypse" or "Resurrection Fragment." It has been dated around the 1st to 2nd century BC.
This fragment is interesting in that it describes the heavens and earth obeying the Messiah.
Beside the entire creation submitting to the Messiah, the scroll describes the Lord carrying out specific miracles and preaching the good news:
Heaven and earth will obey his messiah . . . And the glorious things that have not taken place, the Lord will do as he said,
For he will heal the wounded, give life to the dead and preach good news to the poor,
And he will satisfy the weak ones and lead those who have been cast out and enrich the hungry. (4Q521)
The miracles that are attributed to God are the same ones mentioned in the Hebrew Bible:
“Do not trust in nobles, In merely a son of man, in whom there is no salvation. His spirit departs, he returns to the earth; In that very day his plans perish. How blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, Whose hope is in Yahweh his God, Who made heaven and earth, The sea and all that is in them; Who keeps truth forever; Who does justice for the oppressed; Who gives food to the hungry. Yahweh sets the prisoners free. Yahweh opens the eyes of the blind; Yahweh raises up those who are bowed down; Yahweh loves the righteous; Yahweh keeps the sojourners; He helps up the orphan and the widow, But He bends the way of the wicked. Yahweh will reign forever, Your God, O Zion, from generation to generation. Praise Yah!” Psalm 146:3-10
“The wilderness and the desert will be delighted, And the Arabah will rejoice and flourish; Like the crocus It will flourish profusely And rejoice with rejoicing and shout of joy. The glory of Lebanon will be given to it, The majesty of Carmel and Sharon. They will see the glory of Yahweh, The majesty of our God. Strengthen limp hands, and give courage to the knees of the stumbling. Say to those with an anxious heart, ‘Be strong, fear not. Behold, your God will come with vengeance; The recompense of God will come, But He will save you.’ Then the eyes of the blind will be opened, And the ears of the deaf will be unstopped. Then the lame will leap like a deer, And the tongue of the mute will shout for joy. For waters will break forth in the wilderness And streams in the Arabah.” Isaiah 35:1-6
Note that it is God himself, and not some created agent, who comes to give sight to the blind, open deaf hears, heal the lame and enable the mute to speak.
What makes this so remarkable is that the New Testament attributes all these miraculous acts to the Lord Jesus, and affirms that the entire creation is eternally subjection to him:
“But the eleven disciples proceeded to Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had designated. And when they saw Him, they worshiped Him; but some doubted. And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, ‘All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to keep all that I commanded you; and behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.’” Matthew 28:16-20
“And it happened that soon afterwards He went to a city called Nain, and His disciples were going along with Him, accompanied by a large crowd. Now as He approached the gate of the city, behold, a dead man was being carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow. And a sizeable crowd from the city was with her. And when the Lord saw her, He felt compassion for her and said to her, ‘Do not cry.’ And He came up and touched the coffin, and the bearers came to a halt. And He said, ‘Young man, I say to you, arise!’ And the dead man sat up and began to speak. And Jesus gave him back to his mother. And fear gripped them all, and they began glorifying God, saying, ‘A great prophet has arisen among us!’ and, ‘God has visited His people!’
“And this report concerning Him went out all over Judea and in all the surrounding district. And the disciples of John reported to him about all these things. Summoning two of his disciples, John sent them to the Lord, saying, “Are You the One who is to come, or should we look for someone else?’ When the men came to Him, they said, ‘John the Baptist has sent us to You, saying, “Are You the One who is to come, or should we look for someone else?”’ At that very time He cured many people of diseases and afflictions and evil spirits, and He granted sight to many who were blind. And He answered and said to them, ‘Go and report to John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have the gospel preached to them. Blessed is he who does not take offense at Me.’” Luke 7:11-23
“for an administration of the fullness of the times, that is, the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things on the earth in Him... and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe according to the working of the might of His strength, which He worked in Christ, by raising Him from the dead and seating Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, FAR ABOVE ALL rule and authority and power and dominion, and EVERY NAME that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And He put ALL THINGS in subjection under His feet, and gave Him as head OVER ALL THINGS to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.” Ephesians 1:10, 19-23
“Therefore, God also highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” Philippian 2:9-11
“Who rescued us from the authority of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For in Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, And in Him all things hold together.
“And He is the head of the body, the church; Who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything. For in Him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, And through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross—through Him—whether things on earth or things in heaven.” Colossians 1:13-20
“For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells bodily, and in Him you have been filled, who is the head over all rule and authority;” Colossians 2:9-10
“And when He had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each one having a harp and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. And they sang a new song, saying, ‘Worthy are You to take the scroll and to open its seals, because You were slain and purchased for God with Your blood people from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. And You made them to be a kingdom and priests to our God, and they will reign upon the earth.’
“Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne and the living creatures and the elders; and the number of them was myriads of myriads, and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice, ‘Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing.’
“And EVERY CREATED THING which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and on the sea, and ALL THINGS IN THEM, I heard saying, ‘To Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, be the blessing and the honor and the glory and the might forever and ever.’ And the four living creatures kept saying, ‘Amen.’ And the elders fell down and worshiped.” Revelation 5:8-14
The reason why Christ performs the same exact miracles that YHWH will carry out when he appears is because the NT identifies Jesus as the human incarnation and manifestation of the God of Israel.
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