The Dual Authorship of Scripture

One of the amazing things which will become apparent in Psalm 51 is the co-authorship of God the Holy Spirit and David.

The Co-Authorship of God the Holy Spirit and David

There is another topic which we will cover in this psalm which is fundamental to understanding prophecy, but has never been fully explained—the co-authorship of God the Holy Spirit and the human author (David, in this case). David is a man of limited knowledge. Now, he possibly knew more about the plan of God than anyone else during his day, but that knowledge was limited. I am of the opinion that he did not fully understand that the Messiah would come and die for our sins. In fact, I don’t know that any Old Testament saint understood this to be God’s plan. Old Testament believers did know that Messiah was coming, and they knew that He would restore all things, and they knew that He would rule over the earth—but they did not fully understand what Jesus would do in His 1^st advent. They did not know that Jesus would die for our sins. I say this because I am unaware of anywhere in the Talmud of the Mishna where any ancient Jewish rabbi suggests such a thing. Even John the Baptizer did not fully understand Who Jesus was or what He would do (Matt. 11:1–3). Therefore, let me propose to you that David did not fully appreciate what Messiah would do. David understood enough to realize that there had to be more to it than the offering of animal sacrifices to cleanse him, yet, he knows that he is fully cleansed of his sins. In fact, David knows that he can demand complete cleansing from God.

Here is what will be amazing to you in this psalm: David will take us as far as he is able to take us, and tell us as much as he is able to convey. However, God the Holy Spirit is the co-Author of Psalm 51, so His complete knowledge of what is to come will be conveyed by the same words that David uses to convey his incomplete knowledge. We will be able to see this psalm from the perspective of two parallel tracks, both of which use the exact same words. We will view this psalm from David’s perspective, which is one of incomplete knowledge; and from God’s perspective, which is one of full and complete knowledge.

What has been mistakenly taught by many excellent Bible teachers is, David or Isaiah or Abraham understood the gospel fully when they wrote Psalm 22 or Gen. 22 or Isa. 53—but they did not. They were writing about things which were pertinent to their own lives at that time. They did not have the full picture. God the Holy Spirit had the full picture, so that we, often coming to these passages from having learned the gospel in the New Testament, understand them in that light. Now, this is fine, because that is the understanding of God the Holy Spirit, Who understands all things. However, if we step into the sandals of David, Abraham or Isaiah, our perspective is suddenly limited. They did not fully comprehend that Jesus would come to this earth, fully God and fully man, and die for our sins. This was outside of their frame of reference.

How were they saved? Exactly the same way you and I are saved—they believed in Jehovah Elohim (or, Jesus Christ in the New Testament). Many of us had barely a thimbleful of knowledge of soteriology when we were saved. For me, all I knew was Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved. I knew nothing about the resurrection, the ascension, nor did I fully understand His sacrifice on the cross. I only knew those words and I depended upon those words—I depended upon Jesus Christ for my salvation many decades ago, and later, had the gaps filled in—after I had been saved. Not too long after I was saved, I began to study the Bible and I began to understand that Jesus died for me on the cross, that God the Father poured out my sins upon Him and judged these sins; and that God later raised Jesus from the dead, as a clear testimony that His sacrifice was efficacious. I did not know all of this stuff when I was saved; I did not study for months, begin to develop some understanding of soteriology and then was really saved. I was saved the moment I put my faith in Jesus Christ, even though what I knew about Him was minuscule. It is the same for all Old Testament believers; they were saved through faith in Jehovah Elohim, the Revealed Member of the Godhead. They placed their faith in Him, knowing very little about Him, and God saved them. God made their non-meritorious faith efficacious.

There will be more on this topic to come; but what is key is, David will reveal his limited knowledge and God the Holy Spirit will reveal His complete knowledge, both using the same exact words.

David obviously understood that God would completely and thoroughly cleanse him from all unrighteousness, to the point that, David thrice demands that God completely separate him from his sins; that God completely and thoroughly wash him of his filth. Therefore, in the light of progressive revelation, just how much of that did David fully understand?

What Did David (and Other Saints) Know About God’s Forgiveness?

1.      All Old Testament saints understood that, they were saved by believing in Jehovah Elohim. They understood this from Gen. 15:6, where Abram had believed in God, and that was credited to him as righteousness.

2.      Believers today understand, to whatever degree, that faith in Christ results in their salvation. Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved.

3.      Just as believers today have an incomplete knowledge of soteriology (the doctrine of salvation) at the point of salvation, believers in the Old Testament also had an incomplete knowledge of soteriology for their entire lives (obviously, this can be true of believers today, who choose not to grow spiritually).

4.      How much David knew is closely related to the topic of progressive revelation. Progressive revelation means that, each additional truth builds upon, expands, and better explains that which was already taught. New revelation does not supercede, replace or nullify previous revelation, but builds upon that which is past and that which is foundational.

5.      The question I am asking is, what did David know at the time that he wrote this psalm?

6.      David knew enough here to demand that God cleanse him of his sin and purify him of his iniquity. He demanded that God blot out his wrongdoing. This is very strong. However, this knowledge requires some Bible doctrine. That is, a person could do nothing more than believe in Jehovah Elohim in that day and be saved, and yet not fully understand that he could demand God remove his sin from him.

         1)      As an aside, this can be true of a believer today. Believers today commit sins which shock them, throw them completely off their game, and they spend the rest of their lives nurturing a guilt complex.

7.      God said through Isaiah: "Come now, let us reason together,” says the LORD: “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool.” (Isa. 1:18). This should sound like a thorough cleansing to you, just as Psalm 51:1–2 describe a complete and thorough cleansing.

8.      So, believers in the Old and New Testaments—particularly new or immature believers—may not fully grasp just how completely separated God will make us from our sins or why He is able to do this (apart from the fact that He is God).

9.      David and Isaiah are mature believers and so, they obviously understand this to a limited degree. Not every believer fully gets it, however.

10.    When Jesus Christ died for our sins, only John the Apostle and a few others actually stood beneath the cross. The rest of the disciples scattered in fear.

11.    Even John did not fully understood that Jesus had died for his sins on the cross and would be raised from the dead at that time. When he went to the tomb of our Lord, a few days later, he was excited to find the Jesus had been raised from the dead.

12.    Since the other disciples scattered when Jesus was taken, it was clear that, even if they understood that Jesus was going to the cross, and that this was an integral part of God’s plan (which Jesus taught), they either did not believe it or they did not understand it.

13.    Although it is difficult to get into the minds of 10 disciples, it seems apparent by Peter’s denials that Jesus dying on the cross for our sins did not enter into his thinking. He never seemed to stop to entertain this theological point, even though Jesus taught that His going to the cross was inevitable and a part of God’s plan. Matt. 16:21–23

14.    So, in the case of the disciples, this theological point was not believed by 11 of them, and so, this did not enter into their thinking when Jesus was taken.

15.    Subsequently, in later years, John began to recall the things that Jesus said and to put them all together (see, for instance, John 2:22).

16.    Therefore, if the disciples, who were with Jesus day and night for over 3 years; who listened to Him prophesy concerning His death and resurrection, did not get that He would die for our sins and then be raised, then who in the Old Testament fully understood this?

17.    Therefore, we can reasonably assume that few, if anyone, in the Old Testament understood all that the Savior-Messiah would do.

18.    No one standing below Jesus at the cross, said, “This is just like Isa. 53!” This was understood later.

19.    Therefore, David certainly understood that he was saved by faith in Jehovah Elohim; and he understood that he could demand, from God, a cleansing of sin. However, it is doubtful that David fully understood that Jesus would come and die for our sins.

20.    Many in the Old Testament—believers and unbelievers alike—understood that Messiah would come. However, it is not clear that Old Testament believers understood much more than this about the Messiah to come.

21.    In the Old Testament, the 1^st and 2^nd Advents of our Lord were often portrayed as one event. See the Doctrine of Intercalation (HTML) (PDF) (WPD).

22.    Therefore, when Jesus the Messiah came in His 1^st Advent, this confused many people who expected that, if He came at that time, He would throw off the yoke of the Romans as a conquering hero.

23.    I don’t believe that anyone of the Old Testament fully understood the suffering Servant passage of Isa. 53 (or Psalm 22 or Gen. 22). In retrospect, we as believers see how these passages and the 1^st Advent of our Lord fit together like a glove. However, I do not think Old Testament saints fully understood this. For further parallels of Psalm 22, see David’s Suffering in Psalm 22 Parallels Jesus Christ on the Cross.

24.    This is great evidence of the divine nature of the Scripture: that human authors could write about things which they knew or had experienced, and yet for the Holy Spirit to give these exact same words a complete other meaning, which is clear 1000 years later, but not to the very author who wrote those words.

25.    Similarly, they did not, in any way, differentiate the 1^st and 2^nd Advents, which, to them, was just one event.

26.    There is irrefutable evidence of this lack of knowledge in the New Testament.

         1)      A year or so into Jesus public ministry, and John the Baptizer dispatches some of his disciples to speak to Jesus and ask Him if He is the Messiah, or if they should look for another. This is sometime after John meets Jesus and baptizes Him. Matt. 11:2–6

         2)      Not too long before the cross, after nearly 3 years of intensive teaching, Jesus tells Peter that He is going to the cross, and Peter says, “Don’t let this come to pass!” Our salvation is based upon the cross, so no matter how horrendous this event is to human history, it is central to our faith. Matt. 16:21–23

         3)      When Jesus went to the cross, most of His disciples scattered, running away from Him. Peter even denied knowing Him and being a disciple. So, within 24 hours of the cross, His disciples did not understand its necessity. Matt. 26:31–35, 58, 69–75

27.    My conclusion here is, even though David understood that God could and would thoroughly cleanse him of his sins, David did not fully understand why God is able to do this, beyond being abundant in graciousness (Psalm 51:1 103:8).

I don’t know if anyone has ever taught before what Old Testament saints knew and did not know.

Clearly, Satan is a super-genius, and 1000X smarter than any of the disciples on their best days. However, it is my hypothesis that he did not understand the function of the cross before it happened.

What Satan Did not Understand

1.      It is my contention, and this is one of the few areas where I depart from many theologians, that even Satan, in his great genius, was not fully able to grasp what the (Roman) cross was all about, despite the fact that Jesus taught his suffering on the cross was inevitable, even calling Peter, Satan, for suggesting that He not go to the cross.

2.      Satan was instrumental in getting our Lord to the cross, but without him realizing that this would be the great victory of the Angelic Conflict. In order for Jesus to be identified, Satan had to enter into Judas and point Jesus out to the religious types who took Him. If Satan understood the cross and how this would break his back, my thinking is, he would do everything to keep Jesus from being crucified.

3.      In other words, Satan, who is a far greater genius than any person who has ever lived, who knew the Old Testament from cover to cover, who heard our Lord teach about his crucifixion, did not get it. He did not understand what the cross was all about.

4.      It is reasonable to pose the question, how can Satan, a super-genius, be aware of all that Jesus taught, and yet be instrumental in getting Jesus to the cross? Hatred. Satan’s mental attitude sins were so blinding, that He did not put 2 and 2 together until the cross happened.

5.      At some point during or after all of the trials, Satan may have begun to understand; but at that point, the die had been cast and there was nothing that he could do to stop it.

6.      God brought the thick darkness over the cross for several reasons—to hide the humiliation of His Son but also to retain the continuity of the punishment. This darkness was so thick, even the demons could not penetrate it; even the demons could not see it. Therefore, they were unable to stop God’s judgment of our sins while Jesus was on the cross.

7.      Recall that God the Holy Spirit has made spiritual information available to believers which is not available to unbelievers. An unbeliever cannot study the Bible and understand much beyond the basics. An unbeliever can sit in a doctrinal church and not understand much beyond the basics either.

8.      Therefore, why should Satan be any different? Why should we expect him to be able to put Scripture together better than a believer with doctrine?

9.      As a result, God used Satan to seal his own doom. Satan was not smart enough to see this coming.

Again, this is an opinion and, insofar as I know, not only is this opinion not widely held, but I am unaware of any theologian who has ever taught this. This is a tertiary doctrine, and I am unsure as to how this affects a great many other doctrines, and, if presented with proof to the contrary, I would back off from this point of view (which is true of pretty much anything I have written—Let God be true and every man a liar). However, I include this doctrine, which I believe is a reasonable and logical conclusion. That is, in the greatest conflict of all time, Satan himself unknowingly participated in the events of the cross, which is our deliverance from sin and death, and therefore, our deliverance from Satan.

There is an invisible conflict in which we play a part, known as the Angelic Conflict (HTML) (PDF). Angels learn from this, and the lesson they would understand is, despite Satan’s great genius, his intelligence is nothing compared to the intelligence of God. Logically, if angels are observing all of this human drama and learning from it, that presupposes that there are things which they do not know about God’s character and plan that they learn. Therefore, it is much more logical for a full understanding of Jesus to come with time. So, angels can look over Isaiah’s shoulder as he writes Isa. 53 and not fully understand what Isaiah is writing. However, when we come to the cross of Christ, then it all begins to fit together for these angels; and later, for us as men.

There are 2 authors for any passage of Scripture: the human author and the Divine Author, God the Holy Spirit. For this reason, it is not a great leap to reason that, there are times when the human author has one thing in mind when he writes, but God the Holy Spirit has something entirely different in mind.

The Dual Authorship of the Holy Scriptures

1.      The Bible is clearly a book written by man. These authors often affixed their names to what they wrote: Prov. 1:1 2Trim. 1:1–2 Rev. 1:1–2

         1)      There are times when we are fairly certain of the authorship of this or that person, e.g., Luke for the book of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles or Moses for the books of Exodus, Leviticus and Numbers. However, in those books, we do not find a phrase like, “I, Luke, wrote this history of Jesus Christ.”

         2)      There are some books whose authorship is unknown, like the book of Hebrews or the book of Ruth. However, we have accepted these books as canonical.

                  (1)     As an aside, I suspect that the book of Hebrews was written by a gentile, and therefore, his name was not affixed to the book; and that the bulk of Ruth was written by Ruth (apart from the genealogy at the end) and her name was not given because, men had a difficult time with female authorship.

2.      The other author of Holy Writ is the Holy Spirit. The prophets did not think these things up on their own, but they were guided by the Spirit of God (2Peter 1:21; Contemporary English Version). It was never man's impulse, after all, that gave us prophecy; men gave it utterance, but they were men whom God had sanctified, carried away, as they spoke, by the Holy Spirit (2Peter 1:21; Knox NT). No prophecy ever originated from humans. Instead, it was given by the Holy Spirit as humans spoke under God's direction (2Peter 1:21; God’s Word).

         1)      See the Short Doctrine of Inspiration (HTML) (PDF).

         2)      See the Study of Inspiration (HTML) (PDF).

         3)      The Doctrine of Inspiration (HTML) (PDF).

3.      When an author writes something, he often has a purpose for writing. This may not be some high and lofty purpose—it may be for money or for propaganda—but he has a reason for writing what he does.

         1)      In Gen. 22, where Abraham nearly offers up his son Isaac as a human sacrifice to God, this incident is recorded either by Abraham or by Isaac, and they were simply presenting the historical event of Abraham’s obedience to God in offering up his uniquely-born son to God.

         2)      However, God the Holy Spirit writes this passage with the intention of teaching the gospel and providing a shadow image of Jesus dying on the cross for our sins.

4.      Therefore, when we study Scripture—particularly the Old Testament—we must be mindful that, the human author is often saying one thing, whereas the Divine Author is teaching us something else.

5.      As a result, human authors, like David, could write Psalm 22, about a very difficult and painful period in his life, and yet not realize that, this foreshadowed His Savior on the cross.

6.      Related to this is the idea that, David here can demand God’s forgiveness and a complete washing away of his sins, yet not fully understand the basis for God’s ability for forgive him.

7.      These are doctrines which are built up and progressively revealed throughout the Bible. Again, progressive revelation builds truth upon truth; each additional truth builds upon, expands, and better explains that which was already taught. New revelation does not supercede, replace or nullify previous revelation, but is founded upon that which is past and upon that which is foundational.

8.      This is one reason that dual authorship is so important. Abraham and David, in Gen. 22 and in Psalm 22, respectively, did not fully realize what it was that they were teaching. They were recording events in their own lives. God the Holy Spirit, Who knows the end from the beginning, understood the big picture, and uses these passages to reveal to us our Lord on the cross.

9.      Therefore, not every believer in the Old Testament understood soteriology in its entirety. What they did not know or understand, God the Holy Spirit was still able to reveal.

10.    In fact, this information is revealed so well in Gen. 22, Psalm 22 and Isa. 53, that few theologians look at these passages critically and realize that the authors of these passages did not understand fully and completely what they were saying—they understood one aspect of their writing (for instance, Abraham fully understood the historical circumstances which took place in Gen. 22 and he recorded them accurately)—but they did not realize, necessarily, that they were writing about the Savior Who would die for their sins.

11.    God the Holy Spirit understands the historical incidents and the spiritual information of all of these passages.

12.    Therefore, we, as Church Age believers, can read from these 3 chapters and have a greater understanding of what these chapters mean because we are guided by the Divine Author, God the Holy Spirit (and, ideally speaking, we are guided by a pastor who has studied and is able to properly teach these passages).

13.    Progressive revelation is quite persuasive in this way: those who lay the foundation for these doctrines which we learn did not fully understand those doctrines. The examples I gave—the writers of Gen. 22, Psalm 22 and Isa. 53 did not fully understand all that they were writing. They did not have a complete Christology in their thinking as they wrote those words. Yet, what they wrote was so completely and thoroughly integrated with Christology that, we have a greater understanding of what occurred while Jesus was on the cross from these 3 chapters than we have in the New Testament. Now, how is it that someone living 700 years before the cross, writes about the cross? How is it that someone living 1000 years before the cross writes about the cross? How is it that someone living 2000 years before our Lord, writes about the cross? How is this even possible? God the Holy Spirit, Who inspired and guided these writers. What is even more amazing is, how do these men write about the cross of our Lord and they themselves do not fully understand it?

14.    Let me give you an analogy. How is it possible for one crew of workers to come in and lay a foundation for a house and then for a completely different set or workers—who do not know the first set of workers—to come in, a few days later, and build a house upon that foundation? They have to all be working from the same set of plans. If they have the exact same set of plans, then this is easy. Any crew can do it. They don’t ever have to meet or know one another. One crew of 5 can be followed by another crew of 10, so that there is no overlap, no common foreman, and yet, the house which is built perfectly matches the foundation. That is what we have in the Bible. The unifying factor in building a house is, of course, the house plans. The various contractors must have a copy of the house plans and they work based upon those plans. In the writing of the Bible, the unifying factor is God the Father, who planned this all out, and God the Holy Spirit who guided the writers of Scripture. According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building upon it. Let each one take care how he builds upon it (1Cor. 3:10).

15.    Let me continue with this analogy. Those workmen who lay the foundation for the house do not need to know what the house actually looks like. Their concern is the foundation and seeing to it that whatever wiring and plumbing that is needed is laid in the foundation. If you have an island kitchen then, very likely, you have electricity built into that island kitchen, which wiring comes up through the foundation. This had to be placed there by those who laid the foundation.

16.    A foundation crew might lay a dozen foundations over a week’s time. They would be unable to determine, without looking at the rest of the plans, just how the final product will look. They don’t know if the style of the house will be Victorian or Old English or Contemporary. 12 months later, they might drive down the street where they laid out a foundation, and not even be able to pick out the house that they laid the foundation for.

17.    So this is with David, who wrote this Psalm 51. He knows that he can demand that God thoroughly cleanse him. He knows that God is abundant in mercy and graciousness. However, David does not fully understand why God is able to do this. David can reasonably understand the essence of God, that He is righteous, just, eternal, gracious, truth and love. However, exactly how all of these attributes interrelate and interact with respect to the sins that David has committed—David doesn’t know all of that.

18.    At salvation, you had a lot of ideas about God, most of which were probably wrong. However, in time, you learned Who God is and why He is able to forgive you. You are able to see what the finished house looks like. David just laid the foundation. He knew some of the basic information about God, but he did not knew enough to put it altogether.

19.    The unifying factor in all of this is God the Holy Spirit, Who is just as much an Author of this psalm as is David. The Holy Spirit has these plans from God the Father, so the Holy Spirit is able to properly guide those who laid the foundation for our faith. Therefore, you [gentiles] are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In Him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit (Eph. 2:19–22).

The more you understand the intricacies of progressive revelation and dual authorship, the greater will be your appreciation for the Word of God.

See the entire Doctrine of The Dual Authorship of Scripture (HTML) (PDF) (WPD).

The Holy Spirit had a slightly different ministry in the Old and New Testaments.

The Holy Spirit in the Old Testament

1.      The Trinity is mentioned throughout the Old Testament. In Gen. 1:1, we have the noun Elohim, which is plural for God. In Gen. 1:2 we have the Spirit of God warming the waters of the earth (melting the ice which apparently surrounded the earth) and in Gen. 1:26, we have God saying, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our pattern.”

2.      We have all three members of the Trinity in Psalm 23:2–3: “The Spirit of Jehovah spoke by me and His word was on my tongue. The God of Israel said, The Rock of Israel spoke to Me, He who rules over men righteously, Who rules in the fear-respect of God.”

3.      That God the Holy Spirit is a separate entity is presented in several places in the Old Testament, but one of the most clear is in Isa. 48:16, where we have the trinity mentioned: “Come near to Me, listen to this: From the first I have not spoken in secret; from the time it took place, I was there. And now the Lord Y^ehowah has sent Me, and His Spirit.”

4.      Isaiah mentions all three members in Isa. 63:7–10, as well: I will be caused to remember the grace of Jehovah and the glories of Jehovah according to all the Jehovah has given us and the great goodness toward the house of Israel, which He has granted them according to His compassion and according to the multitude of His grace. For He said, “Surely, they are My people, Sons who will not deal falsely.” So he became their Savior. In all their affliction, He was afflicted and the Angel of His presence delivered them. In His love and in His grace, He redeemed them, and He lifted them and carried them all the days of old. However, they rebelled, and they grieved His Holy Spirit. Therefore, He turned Himself to become their enemy. He fought against them.

5.      In Judges 14–16, we have the phrase the Spirit of Y^ehowah came upon him (Samson) (Judges 14:19 15:14), and Samson uses this power and strength to kill 1000 Philistines in the latter reference. In Judges 16:18–20, Y^ehowah departed from upon him (Samson). We are dealing with the exact same preposition, the same man Samson, and the same Person Who comes upon Samson and, in the end, departs from upon Samson. This makes the Spirit of God equivalent to Y^ehowah in this passage.

6.      The Holy Spirit participated in the restoration of the earth. Gen. 1:2

7.      The Holy Spirit would work among mankind, presumably to lead man to the gospel of Jehovah Elohim and to preserve him. Gen. 6:3

8.      The Holy Spirit was given to certain individuals for their ministries in the Old Testament. Gen. 41:38 Ex. 31:2–5 2Kings 2:9–10

9.      God the Holy Spirit came upon Samson to give him great human power. However, he could also lose this power. Therefore, the Holy Spirit could be taken from the Old Testament believer. Judges 16:18–20 Psalm 51:11

10.    In the gospels, the ministry of the Holy Spirit to Jesus Christ was a preview of things to come for believers in the New Testament; we would have the same access to this power as did Jesus Christ. This does not mean that we would touch people and they would be healed, but the evangelical ministry of man evangelists has exceeded that of even Paul. John 5:19–30 14:16–17

Many of these points were taken out of the Doctrine of the Deity of the Holy Spirit (HTML) (PDF).

See also the complete Doctrine of the Ministry of God the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament (HTML) (PDF) and the Doctrine of the Trinity in the Old Testament (HTML) (PDF).

During David’s time, we need to examine what sort of teaching took place and how available it was to him. This will give us clues as to how available Bible teaching was to anyone in that day who desired it.

Doctrinal Teaching Available to King David

1.      David apparently knew God and trusted God when he was a young man watching the family flocks. We know that he killed a bear and a lion during this time (1Sam. 17:34–37—note that David credits this to God). We suspect that he may have written some psalms during this time. However, we do not know how much David would have learned about God as a young man, unless it was in the home prior to being put out with the flocks and herds. So, it appears as though David had an interest in God early on, and also received teaching early on, but the exact source of this teaching is unknown to us. At first, I would be tempted to guess he learned from his mother, but she is not named or even mentioned in the Bible. The Talmud records her name as Nitzevet daughter of Adael.. Her name means to stand (although I cannot confirm this in my own Gesenius lexicon).¹

         1)      It is possible that Psalm 118:22 is David’s mother’s description of David as King of Israel. The Stone which the builders refused has become the Head of the corner. Obviously, this refers ultimately to Jesus Christ; but many prophecies of Jesus are based upon actual event contemporary to the writer of Scripture. That is, there is a man-ward side to the psalm—what David was thinking when he wrote it; and there is the God-ward side of the psalm, what God the Holy Spirit wanted us to know from the passage.

         2)      David’s older brothers were soldier-warriors. 1Sam. 17:12–13

         3)      David was despised by his family and mostly left to shepherd the family flocks. Recall that, when Samuel came to anoint one of Jesse’s sons, Jesse never considered David as a possible son to anoint. 1Sam. 16:11 17:15, 28

         4)      We know that, despite whatever derision David received, he took this responsibility seriously. 1Sam. 17:15

         5)      We do not know why David was so despised, but perhaps he was bookish and artsy-fartsy. He did play a musical instrument and he did seem to have a good understanding of God at an early age. 1Sam. 16:16, 23 17:34–37 45–47

         6)      In any case, somewhere, in his young life, David was interested in the Word of God and he received excellent teaching, but we do not know from whom.

2.      During David’s time, there were individual prophets and groups of prophets who apparently taught Bible doctrine. 1Sam. 3:20 9:9 10:10–13

3.      Related to this is, Samuel had a school for prophets. 1Sam. 19:20–24

4.      God apparently revealed truth to some kings by dreams, by means of Urim and through prophets. 1Sam. 28:6, 15

5.      When David became king, he attempted to move the Ark of God, and he was unsuccessful on the first try. He studied the Bible (which he had access to as king—in fact, he had his own personal copy of the Bible—Deut. 17:18–19). So, he would have learned how the Ark was to be moved, along with a number of other things from the Law of God. 2Sam. 6:2–20 1Chron. 13:2–14 15:1–28 16:1–42

6.      There was the Tabernacle of God, which was not too far from Jerusalem, but the Ark of God had been removed from there; and Saul killed almost all of the priests. 1Sam. 21:1–9 22:6–19

7.      David had close associations with two priests, Abiathar and Zadok. They would have been a source of doctrinal teaching. 1Sam. 22:20–23 30:7 2Sam. 8:17 15:24–29 20:25

8.      When David brought the Ark to Jerusalem, and placed it in a tent, we do not know if teaching was instituted here or not.

9.      When David’s infant son died, David went to the house of Jehovah. We do not know if this was at the Tabernacle or at the tent which David erected for the Ark of God. However, this suggests that there is a place where David went to commune with God. It is not unreasonable to assume that there was some teaching which took place in this house of Jehovah. 2Sam. 12:20

10.    David had close associations with at least three prophets: Samuel, Nathan and Gad. 1Sam. 16:1–13 19:18 22:5 2Sam. 7:2–8, 17 12:1–15 24:11–15

11.    Because David wrote so many psalms, and because he set up quite a group of psalms to be sung when the Ark was moved, David probably organized a choir of sorts among the Levites, by which doctrine was taught. 1Chron. 15:2–28 16:5–42

12.    David was divinely inspired to write many of the psalms in the Word of God, as well as most of Proverbs; and possibly, he wrote down some of his own history. Psalm 51:11 Mark 12:26 Acts 4:25

As king, David was in a unique position to receive a lot of teaching, from priests and prophets, and from the Holy Spirit when he studied the Word of God himself. For the average Old Testament person, less teaching would have been available. In Psalm 51:13 (Let me teach [or, train with discipline] rebels Your ways and sinners will return unto [or, turn back to] You), David says that he would help to turn around those people who, like him, had gone astray. Whether or not David had some sort of a teaching ministry is not revealed (except for an occasional small group situation—2Sam. 12:18–24); but his writings have had an impact on Jews and Christians alike for thousands of years.

¹ From http://www.hebrewbabynames.com/item.cfm?itemid=42413 accessed September 2, 2011.

Psalm 51:18 reads: For You do not desire [take pleasure in, delight in] an animal sacrifice and You are not satisfied should I give a burnt offering.

The Man-ward and God-Ward Interpretation of Psalm 51:16

I believe that there are two ways to understand this. From David’s standpoint, as the writer of this psalm, he does not believe that God requires him to make these animal sacrifices, and, if you will recall, the Ark of God is in Jerusalem, but the Tabernacle of God (where the sacrifices occur) is not. David, for whatever reason, was inspired to bring the Ark of God to Jerusalem, but not to bring the Tabernacle here (probably because he wanted to build a permanent structure for God). Therefore, animal sacrifices do not appear to be a part of the routine in Jerusalem.

Furthermore, most of Israel believes in Jehovah Elohim; therefore, they do not need a repetition of the gospel (which is revealed in the animal sacrifices), but they need more advanced doctrine, which will come through the teaching of God’s Word.

God the Holy Spirit reveals something entirely different. David is a type of Christ, and therefore, the focus is upon him, so that the animal sacrifices and other rituals are no longer in the forefront (as they were with Saul, for instance). However, in the Millennium, when the walls of Jerusalem would be Jesus Christ, then animal sacrifices will begin again as a memorial to Him.

So, from the man-ward side, God has not called upon David to bring the Tabernacle into Jerusalem, so there is no emphasis upon animal sacrifices while David is king. He knows that in the future, when the walls of Jerusalem are rebuilt (and the permanent Temple is built—1Kings 7–8), that animal sacrifices in Jerusalem will resume—all of which will occur under Solomon (1Kings 3:1, 4 8:62–64 9:15).

From the God-ward side, there is a parallel which is set up—David represents Jesus Christ in the 1^st and 2^nd advents; Solomon represents Jesus Christ in the Millennium. God wants David to be front and center, rather than a set of animal sacrifices.

Furthermore, from the God-ward side, God the Holy Spirit knows that man is not saved or forgiven because of animal sacrifices. This verse is compatible with that understanding.

There are two authors of Scripture—man and God the Holy Spirit. There are times when the human author—David in this case—is saying one thing, but God the Holy Spirit is getting across a different point. These points-of-view are never antithetical, but they may or may not be complementary.

Psalm 41:9 reads: Even a man desiring my welfare, I trusted in him, eating of my bread; this one has lifted up his heel against me.

The Man-ward and God-Ward Interpretation of Psalm 41:9

In context, Psalm 41:9 appears to be all about David being betrayed. Is it very likely that he was referring either to Absalom or to Ahithophel.

However, Jesus later quotes this psalm, but with a much different interpretation:

John 13:10–11, 18 Jesus said to him, The one having been bathed has no need other than to wash the feet, but is wholly clean. And you are clean, but not all. For He knew the one betraying Him. For this reason He said, You are not all clean. I do not speak concerning all of you; I know whom I chose out; but that the Scripture might be fulfilled, "The one eating the bread with Me lifted up his heel against Me." (Quoting Psalm 41:9)

In context, it is clear what Psalm 41:9 is all about: David writes a psalm about being betrayed (probably it is about Absalom or Ahithophel). However, Jesus takes this psalm and says that it is fulfilled by Judas. Therefore, God the Holy Spirit had Judas in mind as the Divine Author of this psalm; David had Ahithophel in mind, as the human author of this psalm.

There are two authors of Scripture—man and God the Holy Spirit. There are times when the human author—David in this case—is saying one thing, but God the Holy Spirit is getting across a different point. These points-of-view are never antithetical, but they may or may not be complementary.

In order to understand the parallels of David’s suffering, we need to separate it completely from the reasons for his suffering. Psalm 22 is about David enduring great suffering, which suffering parallels the suffering of Jesus Christ on the cross.

David’s Suffering in Psalm 22 Parallels Jesus Christ on the Cross

David

Jesus Christ

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning? Psalm 22:1

And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, "Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?" that is, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" Matt. 27:46

In you our fathers trusted; they trusted, and you delivered them. To you they cried and were rescued; in you they trusted and were not put to shame. Psalm 22:4–5

“He trusts in God; let God deliver Him now, if He desires Him. For He said, 'I am the Son of God.' ” Matt. 27:43

But I am a worm, and no man; A reproach of men, and despised by the people. Psalm 22:6

The worm here is one which is crushed for its blood in order to make a scarlet dye, as Jesus was crushed for our sins, His blood [i.e., His spiritual death] delivering us from our sins.

Jesus was a reproach among His Own people: Now the chief priests and the elders persuaded the multitudes to ask for Barabbas, and destroy Jesus. But the governor answered them, "Which of the two do you want me to release to you?" They said, "Barabbas!" Pilate said to them, "What then shall I do to Jesus, who is called Christ?" They all said to him, "Let him be crucified!" But the governor said, "Why? What evil has he done?" But they cried out exceedingly, saying, "Let him be crucified!" Matt. 27:20–23

All those who see me mock me. They insult me with their lips. They shake their heads, saying, "He trusts in Yahweh; Let him deliver him; Let him rescue him, since he delights in him." Psalm 22:7–8

Those who passed by blasphemed him, wagging their heads, and saying, "You who destroy the temple, and build it in three days, save yourself! If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross!" Likewise the chief priests also mocking, with the scribes, the Pharisees, and the elders, said, "He saved others, but he can't save himself. If he is the King of Israel, let him come down from the cross now, and we will believe in him. He trusts in God. Let God deliver him now, if he wants him; for he said, 'I am the Son of God.'" The robbers also who were crucified with him cast on him the same reproach. Matt. 27:39–44

The people stood watching. The rulers with them also scoffed at him, saying, "He saved others. Let him save himself, if this is the Christ of God, his chosen one!" The soldiers also mocked him, coming to him and offering him vinegar, and saying, "If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!" An inscription was also written over him in letters of Greek, Latin, and Hebrew: "THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS." One of the criminals who was hanged insulted him, saying, "If you are the Christ, save yourself and us!" Luke 23:35–39

Don't be far from me, for trouble is near. For there is none to help. Psalm 22:11

Then all the disciples left him, and fled. Matt. 26:56b

Many bulls have surrounded me. Strong bulls of Bashan have encircled me. Psalm 22:12

Now when morning had come, all the chief priests and the elders of the people took counsel against Jesus to put him to death: and they bound him, and led him away, and delivered him up to Pontius Pilate, the governor. Matt. 27:1–2

They open their mouths wide against me, Lions tearing prey and roaring. Psalm 22:13

Now the chief priests, the elders, and the whole council sought false testimony against Jesus, that they might put him to death; and they found none. Even though many false witnesses came forward, they found none. But at last two false witnesses came forward, and said, "This man said, 'I am able to destroy the temple of God, and to build it in three days.'" Matt. 26:59–61

I am poured out like water. All my bones are out of joint. My heart is like wax; It is melted within me. Psalm 22:14

Then he said to them, "My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here, and watch with me." Matt. 26:38

The cross would have pulled some of our Lord’s bones out of joint.

My strength is dried up like a potsherd. My tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth. You have brought me into the dust of death. Psalm 22:15

After this, Jesus, seeing that all things were now finished, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, said, "I am thirsty." John 19:28

Jesus cried again with a loud voice, and yielded up his spirit. Matt. 27:50

For dogs have surrounded me. A company of evil-doers have enclosed me. They pierced my hands and my feet. Psalm 22:16

Herod with his soldiers humiliated him and mocked him. Dressing him in luxurious clothing, they sent him back to Pilate. Luke 23:11

When they came to the place that is called The Skull, they crucified him there with the criminals, one on the right and the other on the left. Luke 23:33

The other disciples therefore said to him, "We have seen the Lord!" But he said to them, "Unless I see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe." After eight days again his disciples were inside, and Thomas was with them. Jesus came, the doors being locked, and stood in the midst, and said, "Peace be to you." Then he said to Thomas, "Reach here your finger, and see my hands. Reach here your hand, and put it into my side. Don't be unbelieving, but believing." Thomas answered him, "My Lord and my God!" John 20:25–28

I can count all of my bones. They look and stare at me. Psalm 22:17

When they had crucified him, they divided his clothing among them, casting lots, and they sat and watched him there. Matt. 27:35–36 As for the first half of Psalm 22:17, our Lord’s bones would have become prominent when hanging from the cross.

They divide my garments among them. They cast lots for my clothing. Psalm 22:18

Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took his garments and made four parts, to every soldier a part; and also the coat. Now the coat was without seam, woven from the top throughout. Then they said to one another, "Let's not tear it, but cast lots for it to decide whose it will be," that the Scripture might be fulfilled, which says, "They parted my garments among them. For my cloak they cast lots." Therefore the soldiers did these things. John 19:23–24

The reason that we look at this is to see that David, in Psalm 22, is writing about a particularly difficult incident in his own life; however, God the Holy Spirit uses these same words to look forward to our Lord going to the cross in our stead.

The author of Hebrews writes:

The Shadows of Hebrews 9

Scripture

Text/Commentary

Now even the first covenant had regulations for worship and an earthly place of holiness. For a tent was prepared, the first section, in which were the lampstand and the table and the bread of the Presence. It is called the Holy Place (Heb. 9:1–2).

The first covenant is the Old Testament, and there were many regulations for worship as well as a place of holiness. God had people in the Exodus generation built the Tabernacle, and one section of this Tabernacle contained the lampstand, table and bread of His Presence.

Behind the second curtain was a second section called the Most Holy Place, having the golden altar of incense and the ark of the covenant covered on all sides with gold, in which was a golden urn holding the manna, and Aaron's staff that budded, and the tablets of the covenant. Above it were the cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy seat. Of these things we cannot now speak in detail. (Heb. 9:3–5).

In the Holy of Holies, there was the Ark of God, which contained the golden urn of manna, Aaron’s rod that budded, and the tables of the Law. The manna represents God’s provision; the rod represents regeneration and resurrection, and the Law lists the ways in which we have failed God.

The cherubim represent the Angelic Conflict and the observation of angels. The author of Hebrews was not going to explain what everything meant at that time.

These preparations having thus been made, the priests go regularly into the first section, performing their ritual duties, but into the second only the high priest goes, and he but once a year, and not without taking blood, which he offers for himself and for the unintentional sins of the people (Heb. 9:6–7).

The priests ministered daily to the people going in and out of the first section of the Tabernacle regularly. However, only the High Priest (who represents Jesus Christ) could go into the Holy of Holies, which he did once a year, sprinkling blood upon the mercy seat, which was affixed to the Ark of God.

By this the Holy Spirit indicates that the way into the holy places is not yet opened as long as the first section is still standing (which is symbolic for the present age). According to this arrangement, gifts and sacrifices are offered that cannot perfect the conscience of the worshiper, but deal only with food and drink and various washings, regulations for the body imposed until the time of reformation (Heb. 9:8–10).

All that was done in relation to the Tabernacle was representative; none of these rituals could take away sin.

But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation) He entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption (Heb. 9:11–12).

Jesus Christ is our true High Priest, and He enters into the presence of God, not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His Own blood, thus securing our eternal redemption for us.

For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God (Heb. 9:13–14).

All of the animal sacrifices did not secure salvation for those who participated in these rituals. It is the blood of Christ which purifies us before God.

Therefore He is the Mediator of a new covenant [or, this New Testament], so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, since a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant [i.e., the Old Testament]. For where a will [lit., covenant, testament] is involved, the death of the one who made it must be established (Heb. 9:15–16).

A mediator is usually seen as a man equal to two parties, which acts as a go-between for two parties. Jesus Christ is fully God and true humanity, so He can bridge the gap between man and God.

However, here, He is seen as One Who establishes and/or ratifies a covenant. In order for this covenant to take effect, there must be the death of the One Who made it.

For a will [lit., covenant, testament] takes effect only at death, since it is not in force as long as the one who made it is alive. Therefore not even the first covenant [i.e., the Old Testament] was inaugurated without blood (Heb. 9:17–18).

For a will to take effect, there must be the death of the One Who made it.

The Old Testament was initiated with blood. Everywhere you turn in the Old Testament, there is blood.

For when every commandment of the law had been declared by Moses to all the people, he took the blood of calves and goats, with water and scarlet wool and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people, saying, "This is the blood of the covenant that God commanded for you." (Heb. 9:19–20; Ex. 24:8).

Moses sprinkled the Law with blood, so that, from the very beginning, the Law of God was to be associated with blood.

And in the same way he sprinkled with the blood both the tent and all the vessels used in worship. Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins (Heb. 9:21–22).

Everything used in the worship of the Jews was purified with blood. Without the shedding of blood, there was no forgiveness for sin; there was no release from the bondage of sin.

Accordingly, it was necessary for the representations of the heavenly things to be purified with these rites, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. For Christ has entered, not into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf (Heb. 9:23–24).

All of these things in the Old Testament were representations or imitations of the truth. Jesus Christ does not enter into the Holy of Holies, a room made with hands, but He enters into heaven itself and He stands before God on our behalf.

Nor was it to offer himself repeatedly, as the high priest enters the holy places every year with blood not his own, for then He would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But as it is, He has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself (Heb. 9:25–26).

The high priest went into the Holy of Holies year by year to sprinkle the blood of an animal onto the Mercy Seat, but Jesus Christ would suffer once for all mankind, being the sacrifice.

And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for Him (Heb. 9:27–28).

Just as we all die once and then the judgment, Jesus Christ died one time, bearing the sins of many; and when He appears again, it will be to deliver those who wait on Him.

Let me remind you how we got there: Psalm 51:16 reads: For You do not desire [take pleasure in, delight in] an animal sacrifice and You are not satisfied should I give a burnt offering. This required us to figure out two things: what did David mean here and what did God the Holy Spirit mean here.

This is a marvelous verse, so let’s take one more look at it.

Psalm 51:16 Summarized

1.      This verse reads: For You do not desire [take pleasure in, delight in] an animal sacrifice and You are not satisfied should I give a burnt offering.

2.      David is speaking to God.

3.      David knows the heinous nature of the sins which he has committed.

4.      David also knows that he has been completely and totally cleansed from these sins. Psalm 51:1–2

5.      David recognizes that God does not actually take pleasure in or desire a blood sacrifice. Nor is God pleased with a burnt offering. David is recognizing that these are symbols; the sacrifice of an animal is a ritual; and that there has to be more than just this ritual to blot out his sin.

6.      However, David may not understand just exactly what more is required to blot out his sin.

7.      On the other hand, God does not despise a broken and crushed heart (Psalm 51:17).

8.      However, this will not be the end of burnt offerings (Psalm 51:18–19).

9.      What does God desire? David tells us in v. 6: You desire [and take pleasure in] truth in the inner being; and You make me know wisdom in [my] hidden [being]. God desires doctrine in the inner being of the believer.

10.    This is as far as David can take us. He recognizes that he has committed horrible sins, and that animal sacrifices do not seem to be enough; and that, he needs to fully understand the depth of and effects of his sin. However, he cannot take us any further than this.

11.    The writer of Hebrews pulls all of this together for us, explaining what the Holy Spirit was saying.

12.    God does not take pleasure in an animal sacrifice, because this slaughter of an animal is not truly efficacious for our sins. We cannot just sin and then slaughter and animal and call it even.

13.    God requires the sacrifice of His Son. Jesus Christ must go to the cross and pay for the sins which we have committed. For, without the shedding of blood, there is no remission of sins (Heb. 9:22).

14.    It takes the New Testament to explain all that is in the Old. One can look at the Old Testament from the New Testament perspective and what we find makes a great deal of sense.

15.    God the Holy Spirit has a perfect knowledge of all events, past, present and future; so that His complete knowledge of all things is apparent throughout the Old Testament.

16.    Because we have the privilege of living in the Church Age, having the complete Old and New Testaments, we can understand all that God has for us in both testaments—including verses like this, for which David, the human author, only had a partial understanding. For You do not desire [take pleasure in, delight in] an animal sacrifice and You are not satisfied should I give a burnt offering.

17.    David understood that these animal sacrifices were not enough. We understand that it is the efficacious sacrifice of God the Son which saves us and allows us to be restored to fellowship with Him.

18.    The writer of Hebrews sums all of this up in Heb. 10:1–14 For since the law has but a shadow of the good things to come instead of the true form of these realities, it can never, by the same sacrifices that are continually offered every year, make perfect those who draw near. Otherwise, would they not have ceased to be offered, since the worshipers, having once been cleansed, would no longer have any consciousness of sins? But in these sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year. For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. Consequently, when Christ came into the world, He said, "Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired, but a body have You prepared for Me; in burnt offerings and sin offerings You have taken no pleasure. Then I said, 'Behold, I have come to do Your will, O God, as it is written of Me in the scroll of the book.'" When He said above, "You have neither desired nor taken pleasure in sacrifices and offerings and burnt offerings and sin offerings" (these are offered according to the law), then He added, "Behold, I have come to do Your will." He does away with the first in order to establish the second. And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, He sat down at the right hand of God, waiting from that time until His enemies should be made a footstool for His feet. For by a single offering He has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.

19.    So, David knew that these animal sacrifices were not quite enough. God the Holy Spirit knew that Jesus Christ would die for our sins. David the human author tells us what he knows in Psalm 51:16; and, simultaneously, God the Holy Spirit tells us what He knows in this passage, which we understand now, in the Church Age, when our Lord’s sacrifice is an historical incident in human history.

20.    For You do not desire [take pleasure in, delight in] an animal sacrifice and You are not satisfied should I give a burnt offering. Such is the brilliance of God, to simultaneously communicate incomplete knowledge and complete knowledge with the same words.

So, David knew that there had to be more involved in his forgiveness than simply offering up another animal sacrifice. The Holy Spirit understands this, and allows for these words to be written, because they look ahead to the only true efficacious sacrifice, that of our Lord Jesus Christ.

See the entire exegesis of Psalm 51 (HTML) (PDF) (WPD).

We have a very similar situation where God the Holy Spirit takes the words of an unbeliever, who means one thing with his words, and which the Holy Spirit uses in a completely different way.

The ESV; capitalized is used below.

The Testimony of Caiaphas, the High Priest

Jesus has caused Lazarus to rise from the dead, and this was an incredible miracle which astonished all those in attendance of his funeral/memorial service.

John 11:45–46 Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what He did, believed in Him, but some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done.

People who saw our Lord raise Lazarus from the dead believed in Him. However, there were some who saw this and decided that they needed to tell the pharisees about it.

John 11:47–48 So the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered the council and said, "What are we to do? For this Man performs many signs. If we let Him go on like this, everyone will believe in Him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation."

The pharisees held a meeting, gathering the council (this would have been the Sanhedrin—and remember, the pharisees did not get along that well with the Sadducees). These are the religious leaders of the day, and they recognize that Jesus is performing many signs and miracles. They do not dispute that things which Jesus is doing; they do not claim that Jesus is bamboozling people into thinking that He does these things.

Their primary worry is, the people who continue to believe in Jesus, and that the Romans will descend upon their land and take away their power and their nation, because the people are not under the control of the Sanhedrin (which is what gave them their power and their quasi-autonomy in the first place).

John 11:49–50 But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, "You know nothing at all. Nor do you understand that it is better for you that one Man should die for the people, not that the whole nation should perish."

The High Priest, who should have understood what was occurring and that Jesus is the Messiah in whom they should believe, provides the plan that will solve the Jesus problem: they will kill Jesus, and that He would die on behalf of the people.

What Caiaphas meant was, if they kill Jesus, then people will no longer believe in Him, and that the Romans would not invade nation Israel and put the people under Roman rule.

God the Holy Spirit, speaking through the High Priest, says: “...it is better for you that one Man should die for the people, not that the whole nation should perish." This is why Jesus is God become flesh in this world (John 1:1–3, 14). He came to die for the sins of all the people and to preserve nation Israel.

There are two plans here: the evil plan of Caiaphas to kill this Jesus Who troubled them; and the plan of God for His Son to die for the sins of the world. God the Holy Spirit used the words of Caiaphas to convey this latter meaning to us.

John 11:51–52 He did not say this of his own accord, but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation, and not for the nation only, but also to gather into one the children of God who are scattered abroad.

God the Holy Spirit somehow allowed Caiaphas to say what he said, and yet for these words to mean exactly what God reveals to us: Jesus would die for nation Israel, and for all the children of God who are scattered abroad. This is God’s plan; this is why God became man and walked among us.

John 11:53 So from that day on they made plans to put him to death.

So, the words of Caiaphas mean one thing to those who are unbelievers under his influence; and yet, his words mean something very different to us as believers, as the words of the High Priest.

This is yet another example where man says one thing and it means one thing to some people; but that God the Holy Spirit takes these same words and gives them an often completely different meaning. Caiaphas tells the men in this meeting that it is time for them to plot the death of Jesus in order to preserve them and their power; and God the Holy Spirit uses these same words to inform us that Jesus will die for our sins.

This is an example of dual authorship in the New Testament.

Do you see how this son is a type of Christ?

Benjamin is a Type of Christ

The Historical Narrative

Jesus Christ and His Death

Rachel suffers hard labor and dies.

Jesus Christ faces excruciating pain and suffering, and then pays for our sins on the cross, after which He dies.

Benjamin is named a son of my sorrow.

Jesus Christ is the Suffering Servant in Isa. 53.

Benjamin is named the son of my right hand, the son of my strength (power).

Jesus Christ is the Son on God’s right hand (Hereafter shall the Son of man sit on the right hand of the power of God. —Luke 22:69; KJV).

The mother names Benjamin. The name given emphasizes his weakness.

Mary is the mother of Jesus’s humanity.

The father names Benjamin; the name emphasizes his strength.

Jesus Christ is the Son of God.

Rachel says that she will die if she does not bear another son to Jacob.

We would be lost (suffer death and separation from God), without Jesus Christ.

Rachel dies, that her son might live.

Jesus Christ must die that we will live.

Jacob will erect a pillar over her grave, which pillar is still there at the time of the final writing of this chapter.

A pillar is a memorial to one’s death. Our pillar in the Church Age is the Eucharist, where we remember our Lord in the eating of the bread and drinking of the cup.

Obviously, from the human point-of-view, Benjamin must be included, as he is the 12^th son of Jacob. However, he is included by God the Holy Spirit as a type.

A related topic here is Typology (HTML) (PDF) (WPD).

I have simply taken my mostly literal translation and made some minor modifications. In the first translation, I have understood this to apply mostly to the maturing believer (which is in keeping with the overall context of the psalm). In the second translation, I have understood this to apply to the Lord as the Revealed Member of the Trinity.

Two Approaches to Psalm 91:9–12

First Translation

Second Translation

Commentary

For You, Y^ehowah [are] my refuge; Most High, You have made [or, appointed] Your habitation [here, on earth, to protect Your people];...

For You, Y^ehowah [are] my refuge; Most High, You have made [or, appointed] Your habitation [here, on earth]...

In both cases, David, the human author, is addressing God, calling Him his refuge. In the first translation, God is making His habitation on earth to protect His people; in the second, Y^ehowah, the Revealed God, is literally making His habitation here on earth (in both cases, I am going slightly beyond the text with this interpretation).

...[because of this,] evil will not befall you [the maturing believer] and the [effects of a] plague will not come near to your tent;...

...evil will not befall You and the [effects of a] plague will not come near to Your tent;...

1^st interpretation: Much of this psalm is addressed to the maturing believer, and this theme of divine protection is continued.

2^nd interpretation: the protection of God the Son by God the Father is specifically referenced.

...for He commissions His angels for you, to protect you in all of your activities.

...for He commissions His angels for You, to guard You in all of Your ways.

1^st: David speaks of the guardian angels which God has commissioned to protect us. 2^nd: God provides these same angels for His Son.

They will lift you up with [their] hands so that your foot does not [even] strike against a stone.

They will lift You up with [their] hands so that Your foot does not [even] strike against a stone.

1^st: David speaks of the carefulness and consistency of the guardian angels regarding the maturing believer. 2^nd: God provides the same for His Son.

This first translation is David’s understanding of what he is writing.

This second translation is God the Holy Spirit revealing to us the relationship between God the Father and God the Son.

You will note that the differences in these translations are primarily a change in capitalization of some of the pronouns; and some explanatory text is added here or there to help explain the interpretation. In one place I have the word protect; and in the other guard.

My hope here is, you can read through each translation, read the explanation, and think, that makes perfect sense; I get it. What we have here is another case of a parallel track of the human author and the Divine Author. Each person/Person uses the exact same words to express a set of ideas and doctrines which may be closely related; but they are clearly different in many respects.

For the complete exegesis and a more thorough approach, see Psalm 91 (HTML) (PDF) (WPD).

Right now, this doctrine is not abbreviated much from the original doctrine found herein.

An area of difficulty for New Testament pastors is, how do we explain Gen. 22, Psalm 22 or Isa. 53. Did the writers of these passages fully understand Jesus Christ, that He would come and die for our sins? From our standpoint, post-crucifixion, post-resurrection, this has been the popular explanation. To us, nearly 3000 years after the fact, Isaiah 53 could be talking about nothing other than Jesus Christ going to the cross and dying for our sins. But is that what Isaiah understood? Did he really look through the windows of the future, see Jesus on the cross, and write about it circa 700 b.c.?

Let me propose to you a different interpretation—Isaiah understood one thing, and wrote about that; God the Holy Spirit understood something other than that, and conveyed this other information using the exact same words as the human author Isaiah. Where this is often most apparent is in the psalms. David, in Psalm 51:16, wrote: You [God] do not want a sacrifice, or I would give it; You are not pleased with a burnt offering. Was David here telling us that God was not interested in an animal sacrifice because Jesus would die on the cross? I don’t think so. David both understood that God must forgive him totally and completely for his heinous sins (Psalm 51:1–2, 9) and he understood that God did not forgive David on the basis of animal sacrifices. God the Holy Spirit, 1000 years before Christ, knows that God will forgive us because Jesus Christ will go to the cross and die for our sins. So, we have the exact same set of words used to convey two related but different concepts. From David’s point of view, he knew that God would not forgive him and cleanse him simply based upon offering up a burnt offering; and from the point of view of the Holy Spirit, God would forgive us based upon the spiritual death of Jesus Christ on the cross. The same words gives us two ways of understanding this verse—we can see it from David’s point of view or from God’s.

This will be difficult for many New Testament pastors. We know what happened. The cross is an historical event to us. The theology has been very nearly fully developed. We understand that our salvation is based completely and totally upon our Lord’s sacrifice on our behalf on the cross. We know that God the Father poured out our sins on God the Son and judged those sins; and, therefore, we are both forgiven and cleansed. However, revelation is progressive; so what we know now is not what David knew then. So, for a complete and total understanding of Psalm 51 (along with many other passages of Scripture), we must be able to place ourselves in David’s sandals and see life as he did and understand that there were limitations on him when it came to understanding Bible doctrine and the Lord to come.

The Pulpit Commentary speaks to the interpretation of Prov. 8 On the one hand, Prov. 8 is clearly about wisdom; but, on the other, it seems so clear that the author is speaking of Jesus Christ: If we confine our inquiry to the question What was in the mind of the author when he incited this wonderful section concerning Wisdom? we shall fail to apprehend its true significance, and shall be disowning the influence of the Holy Spirit, which inspires all Scripture, which prompted the holy men who spake to utter words of which they knew not the full spiritual significance, and which could only be understood by subsequent revelation. There is, then, nothing forced or incongruous in seeing in this episode a portraiture of the Second Person of the blessed Trinity, the essential Wisdom of God personified, the Logos of later books, and of the gospel. This interpretation obtained universally in the Church in the earliest times, and has commended itself to the most learned and reverent of modern commentators.

There are 2 authors for any passage of Scripture: the human author and the Divine Author, God the Holy Spirit. For this reason, it is not a great leap to reason that, there are times when the human author has one thing in mind when he writes, but God the Holy Spirit has something entirely different in mind.

The Abbreviated Doctrine of the Dual Authorship of Scripture

1.      The Bible is clearly a book written by man. These authors often affixed their names to what they wrote: Prov. 1:1 2Trim. 1:1–2 Rev. 1:1–2

         1)      There are times when we are fairly certain of the authorship of this or that person, e.g., Luke for the book of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles or Moses for the books of Exodus, Leviticus and Numbers. However, in those books, we do not find a phrase like, “I, Luke, wrote this history of Jesus Christ.”

         2)      There are some books whose authorship is unknown, like the book of Hebrews or the book of Ruth. However, we have accepted these books as canonical.

                  (1)     As an aside, I suspect that the book of Hebrews was written by a gentile, and therefore, his name was not affixed to the book; and that the bulk of Ruth was written by Ruth (apart from the genealogy at the end) and her name was not given because, men had a difficult time with female authorship.

                  (2)     This is just a theory. It could have been written by someone who had no known authority at that time.

2.      The other author of Holy Writ is the Holy Spirit. The prophets did not think these things up on their own, but they were guided by the Spirit of God (2Peter 1:21; Contemporary English Version). It was never man's impulse, after all, that gave us prophecy; men gave it utterance, but they were men whom God had sanctified, carried away, as they spoke, by the Holy Spirit (2Peter 1:21; Knox NT). No prophecy ever originated from humans. Instead, it was given by the Holy Spirit as humans spoke under God's direction (2Peter 1:21; God’s Word).

3.      R. B. Thieme, Jr.’s definition of inspiration: (he relied heavily upon Chafer for this): The human writers of Scripture so wrote that without waiving their human intelligence, their vocabulary, their personal feelings, their literary style, their personality or individuality, God's complete message to man was permanently recorded with perfect accuracy in the original languages of Scripture.

4.      When an author writes something, he often has a purpose for writing. This may not be some high and lofty purpose—it may be for money or for propaganda—but he has a reason for writing what he does.

         1)      In Gen. 22, where Abraham nearly offers up his son Isaac as a human sacrifice to God, this incident is recorded either by Abraham (or by Isaac), and they were simply presenting the historical event of Abraham’s obedience to God in offering up his uniquely-born son to God.

         2)      However, God the Holy Spirit writes this passage with the intention of teaching the gospel and providing a shadow image of Jesus dying on the cross for our sins.

         3)      There is absolutely no reason to think that Abraham was able to look down the corridors of time and say, “This is all about the Messiah to come, Who will die for our sins.” Regarding Abraham and the faithful in the Age of Israel, this was all about obedience.

5.      Typology is something well-known to most theologians today. We have a person or a set of circumstances in the Old Testament, and they look forward to our Lord Jesus Christ or to His death on the cross on our behalf. Some examples include:

         1)      When Abraham offered up the son he loved to God, this was seen by him as an act of obedience; however, the offering of his son parallels the offering by God the Father of God the Son on our behalf.

         2)      The world being created perfectly, becoming trashed out, and then being restored is a picture of God saving us. God created man without sin; man sinned; and God redeems (and restores) us.

         3)      See the Doctrine of Typology (HTML) (PDF) (WPD) for more examples and a more thorough explanation.

6.      Logically, it follows that, if God can orchestrate some set of events or the actions of a person (or several people) so that they reveal a truth unknown to the participants involved in those events, then surely God is able to use the words of the various prophets to look far ahead into the future.

7.      The dual authorship of Scripture simply means, a human author has one thing in mind when he records this or that chapter in the Bible; but the Divine Author, God the Holy Spirit, uses those very words to communicate something else.

8.      Therefore, when we study Scripture—particularly the Old Testament—we must be mindful that, the human author is often saying one thing, whereas the Divine Author is teaching us something else.

9.      As a result, human authors, like David, could write Psalm 22, about a very difficult and painful period in his life, and yet not realize that, this foreshadowed His Savior on the cross.

10.    Related to this is the idea that, David here can demand God’s forgiveness and a complete washing away of his sins, yet not fully understand the basis for God’s ability for forgive him.

11.    These are doctrines which are built up and progressively revealed throughout the Bible. Progressive revelation builds truth upon truth; each additional truth builds upon, expands, and better explains that which was already taught. New revelation does not supercede, replace or nullify previous revelation, but is founded upon that which is past and upon that which is foundational.

12.    This is one reason that dual authorship is so important. Abraham and David, in Gen. 22 and in Psalm 22, respectively, did not fully realize what it was that they were teaching. They were recording events in their own lives. God the Holy Spirit, Who knows the end from the beginning, understood the big picture, and uses these passages to reveal to us our Lord on the cross.

13.    Therefore, not every believer in the Old Testament understood soteriology in its entirety. What they did not know or understand, God the Holy Spirit was still able to reveal.

14.    From our perch in time, we get the big picture; there is no reason to think that the authors of Scripture always understood the big picture.

15.    Interestingly enough, this information is revealed so well in Gen. 22, Psalm 22 and Isa. 53, that few theologians look at these passages critically and realize that the authors of these passages did not understand fully and completely what they were saying—they understood one aspect of their writing (for instance, Abraham fully understood the historical circumstances which took place in Gen. 22 and he recorded them accurately)—but they did not realize, necessarily, that they were writing about the Savior Who would die for their sins.

16.    God the Holy Spirit understands the historical incidents and the spiritual information of all of these passages.

17.    Therefore, we, as Church Age believers, can read from these 3 chapters and have a greater understanding of what these chapters mean because we are guided by the Divine Author, God the Holy Spirit (and, ideally speaking, we are guided by a pastor who has studied and is able to properly teach these passages).

18.    Progressive revelation is quite persuasive in this way: those who lay the foundation for these doctrines which we learn did not fully understand those doctrines. The examples I gave—the writers of Gen. 22, Psalm 22 and Isa. 53 did not fully understand all that they were writing. They did not have a complete Christology in their thinking as they wrote those words. Yet, what they wrote was so completely and thoroughly integrated with Christology that, we have a greater understanding of what occurred while Jesus was on the cross from these 3 chapters than we have in the New Testament.

19.    Progressive revelation tells us that, even though those authors may not have fully understood what their words mean to us today; their words are not contradicted by Jesus of Nazareth, or by His life and death for our sins. Those words and their original intent form a foundation for a unified whole.

20.    Now, how is it that someone living 700 years before the cross, writes about the cross? How is it that someone living 1000 years before the cross writes about the cross? How is it that someone living 2000 years before our Lord, writes about the cross? How is this even possible? God the Holy Spirit, Who inspired and guided these writers. What is even more amazing is, how do these men write about the cross of our Lord and they themselves do not fully understand it?

21.    Let me give you an analogy. How is it possible for one crew of workers to come in and lay a foundation for a house and then for a completely different set or workers—who do not know the first set of workers—to come in, a few days later, and build a house upon that foundation? They have to all be working from the same set of plans. If they have the exact same set of plans, then this is easy. Any crew can do it. They don’t ever have to meet or know one another. One crew of 5 can be followed by another crew of 10, so that there is no overlap, no common foreman, and yet, the house which is built perfectly matches the foundation. That is what we have in the Bible. The unifying factor in building a house is, of course, the house plans. The various contractors must have a copy of the house plans and they work based upon those plans. In the writing of the Bible, the unifying factor is God the Father, who planned this all out, and God the Holy Spirit who guided the writers of Scripture. According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building upon it. Let each one take care how he builds upon it (1Cor. 3:10).

22.    Let me continue with this analogy. Those workmen who lay the foundation for the house do not need to know what the house actually looks like. Their concern is the foundation and seeing to it that whatever wiring and plumbing that is needed is laid in the foundation. If you have an island kitchen then, very likely, you have electricity built into that island kitchen, which wiring comes up through the foundation. This had to be placed there by those who laid the foundation.

23.    A foundation crew might lay a dozen foundations over a week’s time. They would be unable to determine, without looking at the rest of the plans, just how the final product will look. They don’t know if the style of the house will be Victorian or Old English or Contemporary. 12 months later, they might drive down the street where they laid out a foundation, and not even be able to pick out the house that they laid the foundation for.

24.    So this is with David, who wrote this Psalm 51. He knows that he can demand that God thoroughly cleanse him. He knows that God is abundant in mercy and graciousness. However, David does not fully understand why God is able to do this. David can reasonably understand the essence of God, that He is righteous, just, eternal, gracious, truth and love. However, exactly how all of these attributes interrelate and interact with respect to the sins that David has committed—David doesn’t know all of that.

25.    At salvation, you had a lot of ideas about God, most of which were probably wrong. However, in time, you learned Who God is and why He is able to forgive you. You are able to see what the finished house looks like. David just laid the foundation. He knew some of the basic information about God, but he did not knew enough to put it altogether.

26.    The unifying factor in all of this is God the Holy Spirit, Who is just as much an Author of this psalm as is David. The Holy Spirit has these plans from God the Father, so the Holy Spirit is able to properly guide those who laid the foundation for our faith. Therefore, you [gentiles] are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In Him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit (Eph. 2:19–22).

See the entire Doctrine of The Dual Authorship of Scripture (HTML) (PDF) (WPD).

Sometimes the terms in the exegesis of this chapter are simply alluded to, without any in-depth explanation of them. Sometimes, these terms are explained in detail and illustrated. A collection of all these terms is found here: (HTML) (PDF) (WPD). Often, the terms below are linked to complete doctrines.

Definition of Terms

1^st and 2^nd Advents of Jesus

When Jesus first came to walk on this earth, that was the 1^st Advent. When He returns to destroy the nations who are about to invade Israel, that will be the 2^nd Advent. David and the two advents of Jesus Christ (HTML) (PDF) (WPD). (Stan Murrell)

Age of Israel

This is the period of time in history where God works through believers in nation Israel. God also worked through the Abraham and those descended from him until nation Israel was established. See the Three Dispensations: The Age of Israel, the Age of the Hypostatic Union and the Church Age (HTML) (PDF) (WPD).

Angelic Conflict

Before man was created, God had created angels, and some of these angels sinned against God. This conflict, which we cannot see, is a conflict that we are a part of, and our spiritual lives in particular are directly to the Angelic Conflict. See the Angelic Conflict (HTML) (PDF) (WPD).

Ark of God

The Ark of God (also called the Ark of Testimony, Ark of the Covenant) was a box which was made of acacia wood overlaid with gold; and it was placed in the Holy of Holies of the Tabernacle and then in the Temple. This is perhaps the most important religious symbol in the Old Testament, representing the humanity and the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ. The tables of the Law, Aaron’s rod that budded, and a pot of manna were placed. The Ark of God (HTML) (PDF) (WPD).

Intercalation

The 1^st and 2^nd advents of Jesus Christ was taught as one whole event in the Bible. However, intercalated (or, inserted) between these two events is the Church Age. See the Doctrine of Intercalation (HTML) (PDF) (WPD).

Progressive Revelation

Progressive revelation simply means that God reveals Himself progressively. As we read about God and His decree in the Bible, it is not revealed to us all at once. Although we find suggestions of the Trinity in Gen. 1, it is not until the New Testament that the concept of the Trinity is revealed well enough to more fully comprehend it. God’s grace and judgment, and what He would do about sin, is first mentioned in Gen. 3; further elaborated on when God asked Abraham to sacrifice his firstborn (by Sarah); and fulfilled by the incarnation of Jesus Christ. See the Doctrine of Progressive Revelation (HTML) (PDF) (WPD)

Soteriology

Soteriology is the study of salvation provided for man by the Lord Jesus Christ. Salvation (HTML) (PDF) (WPD). (Salvation from Grace Fellowship Church) (Salvation from Maranatha Church)

The Tabernacle

The Tabernacle was the original place of worship designed by God. It was constructed in the desert wilderness where the Jews lives before entering the Land of Promise; and it was the focal point of their worship up to the monarchy. The design of the Tabernacle, the furniture, and the way its furniture was arranged, all spoke of the first advent of Jesus Christ and His death on the cross. For instance, the Ark of God was made of wood overlain with gold, speaking of the Lord’s Deity and humanity. The Tabernacle represented the 1^st Advent of the Lord, as it was moveable. The Temple (a permanent structure) represented the Lord in the Millennium as the King of Israel. See the Ark of God (HTML) (PDF) (WPD); and the Model of the Tabernacle (which represents Jesus Christ and the cross) (HTML) (PDF) (WPD); the Tabernacle (Redeeming Grace); Jesus—the Golden Lampstand (Grace Bible Church).

Type, Typical, Antitype,

Typology

A type is a person, a thing or an act which looks forward to Jesus or to Jesus on the cross. For instance, Isaac’s birth was the type; our Lord’s birth was the antitype, which was the fulfillment of the type. Typical is the adjective; and typology is the study of type. See Typology (HTML) (PDF) (WPD).

Bibliography

Although this doctrine is original, I stand upon the shoulders of many theologians; in particular, R. B. Thieme, Jr., whose ministry I was under for approximately 25 years (and I continue to listen to his sermons even today).