Providing theological insight and commentary about the productions of Masquer Ministries, as well as spiritual thought about the inner workings of the ministry and the relationships we share with one another.

Thursday, October 21, 2010

His Wings as Drifted Snow, His Eyes as Flames

Well everyone, this week I was excited and had this post all written out on Monday, but it turned out I ran into a major snag.  I was going to talk about Isaiah 7:14, but I hit a wall in my research on whether or not that verse is a direct prophecy to the virgin birth or a typology (that is, a verse etc with independent historical context that also pertains to the life of Jesus... e.g. Abraham and Isaac, Jonah's 3 days in the fish, etc).  I personally lean more towards the typology view, but I want to make absolute sure of something on here before I present my case.

So instead (and unfortunately), I'll only be posting an excerpt of my original post (to which I'll be elaborating on), which covers a little bit of background information on the angel we know as Gabriel.  Our "journey to the manger" begins with Gabriel and his proclamation to Zacharias.  In next week's post we're going to skip to his proclamation to Mary however.  But without further a due, let's learn a little bit about this interesting character:

Gabriel is one of two non-fallen angels mentioned by name in the entire bible, the other of which being Michael.  Gabriel's name in Hebrew is actually pronounced “Gavriel” (Gahv-ree-el), and essentially means “mighty man of God.”  He is first mentioned in Daniel 8:16, and while not much is said about him there, we learn later in Luke 1:19 that Gabriel “stands in the presence of God.” He is never explicitly titled as an Archangel, Cherub, or Seraph, but it is safe to assume by his statement in Luke 1:19 that he probably falls under one of those three as far as angelic hierarchy is concerned. Gabriel is typically viewed as a messenger, because of his roles in the book of Daniel, and of course the New Testament.

The Qur'an references Gabriel (called by "Jibrail" in Arabic), though I don't think it's really worth citing in this case, as views of Gabriel in the Qur'an were most likely adopted and distorted from Jewish or Christian views anyway.  Normally I find value in citing extra-biblical texts to give my readers an idea of what popular Ancient Near Eastern thought was on certain subjects, but considering that the Qur'an was written really late in the game (610 - 632 CE), there's nothing worth citing from it.

The Book of Enoch however does mention Gabriel, and while the credibility of that text is in obvious question, it does at least give us a hint to what some or most Jews thought at the time.  In the Book of Enoch, Gabriel is said to have been commanded by God to instigate war between the offspring of Nephilim (who are called "The Watchers" in the Book of Enoch) because they were so corrupt.  Furthermore, it mentions that Gabriel is an authoritative figure above "all that is powerful" (including the seraphim and cherubim) and sits at the left hand of God with the angel Metatron (supposedly the angel who interceded and saved Isaac from Abraham's sacrifice).  Considering the Book of Enoch focuses a lot on angel literature (an unnecessary deviation from the Tanakh), it's probably just fanciful elaboration for the most part... but there is still educational value to it historically speaking.

Case and point though, Gabriel is a pretty powerful guy!  His name says so, and God certainly says so if He allows him to stand in His presence for eternity.  If Gabriel ever dropped you a line, I'd recommend you listen up!




Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Following the Star

During this Christmas season's production of Journey to the Manger, the staff of Masquer Ministries will be leading the audience on, well... a journey, as usual.  "We have seen His star, and we have seen the light...", and it is yet again time to share the light of that star with the world.

Accompanying us this time are, thankfully, most of the familiar faces in the company, as well as some not-so-familiar ones.  Sadly we lost a foundational member at the end of our last show, and so it's nice to see a good sized handful of newbies in the company.  I have been with this ministry going on 4 years now, and it's exciting to see how much it is growing.

Once the show progresses a little more, I have some interesting topics related to the nativity to touch on.  Things such as when the wisemen arrived to Jesus and company, who they were, the meaning of their gifts, as well as some other interesting facts about Jesus' place of birth.  Did you know that Jesus was not actually born in a cave, or even necessarily a "stable" as we know or think of?  Controversy, I know!  We'll be diving into the Greek text on that one, and it should make for an interesting and hopefully informative adventure.

Stay tuned next week for more updates.

Sincerely in Christ,
D