Jesus Christ Covers the World's Woes

"Woe unto them! for they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the gainsaying of Core." (Jude 11)

In previous posts, I had explained the three woes which afflict the world:

1. The Way of Cain: man seeking God's righteousness through His efforts

2. The Error of Balaam: man forsaking God's word and seeking unrighteous gain (to his hurt)

3. The Rebellion of Korah: Man rejecting godly authority and seeking to establish righteousness based on numbers and not truth.

Now, even though evil deceivers have fallen into these woes, and even believers who are ignorant of God's Word and His redemption can fall into these woes, we must recognize that no matter how woeful the world has become, Jesus is still the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world:

"Behold the Lamb of God, which takes away the sins of the world!" (John 1: 29)

and also

"1My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: 2And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world." (1 John 2: 1-2)

Jesus takes away the sins of the world (present tense), whether the world recognizes it or rejoices over Him or not.

He is the mercy seat forever for our sins, whether we rest in the truth of this revelation, or not.

That is why the Holy Spirit convicts the world of one thing, not many things:

"8And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: 9Of sin, because they believe not on me; 10Of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more; 11Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged." (John 16: 8-11)

Man has more than sins in his life, but sin in his flesh, in his nature. Jesus has taken away all our sins through the Cross.

People will not go to hell because God sends them there. They will go to hell because they refused to accepted His grace, i.e. they refused to believe.

Now, regarding the three woes, we can find types of these three perversions in the Old Testament, outlined in the New Testament.

Picture of Ark and Its Contents

"1Then verily the first covenant had also ordinances of divine service, and a worldly sanctuary. 2For there was a tabernacle made; the first, wherein was the candlestick, and the table, and the shewbread; which is called the sanctuary. 3And after the second veil, the tabernacle which is called the Holiest of all; 4Which had the golden censer, and the ark of the covenant overlaid round about with gold, wherein was the golden pot that had manna, and Aaron's rod that budded, and the tables of the covenant; 5And over it the cherubims of glory shadowing the mercyseat; of which we cannot now speak particularly." (Hebrews 9: 1-5)

Here are the specific references in the Old Testament of the objects placed in the Ark:

The Ten Commandments:

"16And thou shalt put into the ark the testimony which I shall give thee" (Exodus 25: 16)

The Pot of Manna:

31And the house of Israel called the name thereof Manna: and it was like coriander seed, white; and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey. 32And Moses said, This is the thing which the LORD commandeth, Fill an omer of it to be kept for your generations; that they may see the bread wherewith I have fed you in the wilderness, when I brought you forth from the land of Egypt. 33And Moses said unto Aaron, Take a pot, and put an omer full of manna therein, and lay it up before the LORD, to be kept for your generations. 34As the LORD commanded Moses, so Aaron laid it up before the Testimony, to be kept." (Exodus 16: 31-34)

Aaron's rod:

"And the LORD said unto Moses, Bring Aaron's rod again before the testimony, to be kept for a token against the rebels; and thou shalt quite take away their murmurings from me, that they die not." (Numbers 17:10)

Now, the Ten Commandments represents God's holy standard, and the tablets in the Ark were the second set which Moses made, signifying man's inability to measure up to God's holiness in his own efforts.

The pot of manna represents man's rejection of God's provision. During their wanderings, the Israelites despised the manna:

"And the people spake against God, and against Moses, Wherefore have ye brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? for there is no bread, neither is there any water; and our soul loatheth this light bread." (Numbers 21: 5)

The manna is a picture of Jesus, the Bread of Life who came down from heaven to feed us:

Yet even before recognizing the type of Jesus rejected, consider what the Psalmist shares about the manna:

"Man did eat angels' food: he sent them meat to the full." (Psalm 78: 25)

God provides and provides more for us, yet man in his sin nature insists on trying to meet his needs the world's way. Even Christians may believe God for salvation from eternal death to life, but they somehow do not esteem His power to bless them in every other area of their lives.

Then there was the rod of Aaron, which budded almonds and flowers, a picture of resurrection life, for we were all dead sticks with no life, but when we are joined to our High Priest Forever, Jesus, we receive His life and standing, not just coming to life, but bearing fruit in all ways (John 15: 1-5).

All three of these elements represent the woes of mankind, and Jesus is our mercy seat today, and He not only covers our sins, our woes, but supplies every need.

Jesus has covered the woes of the world represented in the three objects in the Ark.

He is our righteousness (1 Corinthians 1: 30; 2 Corinthians 5: 21), our provision (Philippians 4: 13, 19), and our perfect standing (1 John 4: 17) before God the Father today.

Jesus Christ has covered, paid for the woes of this world, yours and mine.

Do you believe Him? Rest in His Perfect Work, and let Him take away all your woes today!