The Beauty of Jesus 9

The Beauty of Jesus (9)

Dear Phyllis,

In our study of the beauty of Jesus we are down to His belly. This is going to be a difficult one. The verse is; “His belly is as bright ivory overlaid with sapphire.” I feel like the Jews in the synagogue in Antioch when Paul and Barnabas showed up. They said, “Ye men and brethren, if ye have any word of exhortation for the people, say on”. That is what I said to the Lord this morning. Unless the Holy Spirit Himself steps forward and speaks to us to us we're sunk. This will be one colossal dud. I know very little about this verse.

The best I can do is research a concordance. The word ivory appears in the OT 12 times, two of which are in the Song of Solomon, and once in the NT, in Revelation 18:12. The most obvious reference to ivory is Solomon's throne. Twice the Word of God tells us Solomon made himself a great throne overlaid with gold (1 Kn. 10:18; 2 Ch. 9:17). Every reference to ivory in the Bible it in connection to things very expensive and elegant.

Another reason why this is a difficult verse is that it is talking about Jesus' belly. That immediately brings up a bad image in our mind. Today when we talk about a persons belly it usually isn't a complement. The first thing we think of is a beer belly on a man or a fat lady; neither of which are complementary. But if we can set aside or secular concepts and simply look at the Bible we might be able glean some spiritual truth.

There is a verse in John 7:38 that we struggle with in our KJV Bible. In speaking of a person filled with the Holy Spirit, Jesus said, “For out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.” To understand that verse we have to step outside our American culture. For Americans when we talk about the heart or the center of our being we point to our chest. But in some other cultures they feel the center of their being is in their stomach. They point to their stomach. It seems obvious that in 1611 when the Bible translators were doing their work for King James, that is what they had in mind. When our Holy Bible says belly it is talking about our innermost being. Keeping that in mind we might go back to talking about the innermost being of Jesus.

I don't know, maybe when we talk about the innermost being of Jesus we might say that it is like ivory overlaid with sapphires. Ivory is usually listed with precious stones or jewels. But in that category ivory is unique. Other jewel are inorganic. Ivory and pearls are the only jewels that are organic. Ivory comes from elephants. There is only one way to get ivory – the elephant has to die. The only other jewel that is produced by death is a pearl. In this Jesus is unique. He was the only man that came into this world for the singular purpose to die. Everyone else who has walked among us came here for the purpose of accomplishing something through his life. Jesus came here to accomplish something through His death. Perhaps we have a message here. When we talk about the innermost being of Jesus we are brought face to face with the fact that the purpose for His coming was to die. Maybe that is why the Holy Spirit tells us that the innermost being of Jesus is like ivory. The reason it is precious is because of His death. Every other great person is acclaimed for what they accomplished through their life. Jesus is acclaimed for what He accomplished through His death. Oh. where would we be if Jesus hadn't died? Volumes have been written about what Jesus accomplished through His Cross. And indeed the entire New Testament is devoted to that purpose.

I don't know where to go from here. What can I say? Perhaps it might be helpful if we remind ourselves what Jesus told us would be required to be followers of Him (Lk. 14:27). This can be summed up in one word - be soldiers of the Cross. There is only one way we can be soldiers of the Cross, we have to carry a cross too. The cross is not an ornament. A cross is an instrument of death.

What a lost art this is toady. Today what many earnest young Christians have in mind when they set themselves to be a follower of Jesus is to be a successful witness, evangelist, pastor, writer, missionary, etc. Everyone wants to be successful. Most young men in seminary today want to be pastor of the 1^st church. Who wants to be pastor of that little flock struggling in that store front meeting place? Let's get out of here and build a real big church. Maybe if we are successful we might get to be the 1^st church in town. And then the top of the line would be if we could have a national TV program. Let's give it a shot. That isn't much of a stretch in describing what is in the heart of most Christian workers. They would like to work their way up to the top. But that is not the way of the Cross.

Has anyone heard of Mary Bean? I don't believe her biography was ever written, but she was a terrific missionary in Africa. She was just a seed that fell in the ground and died. But, man howdy, she had fruit. In that she is an example of thousands of unsung missionaries. It can hardly be said, the-name-of-the-game is obscurity. But this is the way of the Cross. Jesus didn't come to cut a path in life. He came to give His life for others. He came to die. And if anyone wants to be His follower, this is the only way. We have to live to give our lives for the sake of others.

What is the innermost being of Jesus like? It is like ivory. And, oh, it is precious! It is overlaid with sapphires. This is something of great value in the sight of the Lord. I don't know what sapphires means but I do know they are jewels. When I was first saved, my favorite books were missionary biographies. I would highly recommend this for anyone who wants to follow the Lord. These are the stories of people who were true soldiers of the Cross. These lives are the ones of the greatest value.

At the expense of saying something so obvious that it might be foolish to mention it, but it is important to keep in mind that the currency heaven and earth are different. Things that are of great value on earth are worthless in heaven. And things that are of great value in heavens sight are considered wasteful here.

Watchman Nee told the story of meeting an old professor he had in college one day. It had been years since last they met. The professor asked him to join him in a tea house for a chat. As they sat there drinking tea the professor was anxious to hear how Watchman Nee had done in life. Brother Nee was at a very low point at that moment. The churches he had started were not doing well. He was being crushed with problem, but he shared with his teacher how he had dedicated his life to serving the Lord. When he finished telling his story, the professor looked at him sadly and remarked, “What a waste! We had such expectation for you. You were such a promising student and we thought you would do well in life. But now look; you have nothing to show for your life.” Brother Nee said that was one of the devastating blows of his life. He looked back over the years he had been serving the Lord and in earths view it was a waste. But then he

was filled with the spirit of glory. He thought, “Oh what a wonderful investment! Thank God I wasted my life for Jesus.”

In light of heaven things look different. When Jesus left this earth to return to heaven you could almost say He had wasted His life. But to His Bride, when asked what Jesus was like, she said His belly (His innermost being) is like ivory overlaid with sapphires. Ivory is listed with jewels but it cost the life of an animal to produce that material. It was the most precious life possible. And if we want our life to be of great value the only possible way is to follow Jesus in bearing a cross.

I don't know. Maybe this doesn't make any sense, but that is the way I view this verse.

bill