Salvation History. Chapter 14. The Time of Israel.

Chapter 14. The Time of Israel.


The OT period is the period of preparation for the Messiah. We need to understand it from this vantage point. It is only as we see the OT in relation to Christ that it takes on any meaning at all.

Oscar Cullman writes in his book, “Christ and Time”.
“The Christ event at the midpoint (of the line of history) is on its part illuminated by the Old Testament preparation, after this preparation has first received its light from that very midpoint. We have to do here with a circle…
“However the Old Testament course of events constitutes a distinctive character--a preparation for Christ. This is the inner justification for the Old Testament...The recognition that the entire redemptive history of the Old Testament tends toward the goal of the incarnation is the understanding that should now be possible in Christ. The Old Testament offers another part of the redemptive history than those the New. It is itself first of all a unique story of what once happened. But its meaning for redemptive history is recognized only when this entire section of time is placed in relation with the unique, once for all event of the midpoint, and this relationship can only be understood as the relationship between preparation and fulfilment.”

Jesus said essentially the same thing after the resurrection on two occasions:

(i) To the two disciples on the road to Emmaus.
Luke 24:25-27.
“He said to them, "How foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Did not the Christ have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?" And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.”

(ii) To the whole group of disciples.
Luke 24:44-46.
He said to them, "This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms." Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. He told them, "This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day,…”

Jesus clearly understood the OT scriptures to be a revelation of himself and his work – but the truth is, if we read it literally, very little is said about the coming Christ. It is hidden in types and shadows, symbols. But it is this very hiddenness that made it possible for the events to come true and the true meaning to be seen. If Satan had been able to “crack the code” he would not have so easily fallen into the trap. So we are to understand the OT as a revelation of the work of Christ in preparation for the event so that, on reflection, we would be able to look back and see that Jesus was indeed the Christ.

One of the big approaches in Bible study today is to understand the Bible in the context of the time, culture and purpose for which it was written. Hence we are instructed to understand the OT in an OT historical and cultural context and from an OT point of view. While this is helpful to some degree it does not teach us what the OT means. The NT is clear that the OT prophets did not understand what the Spirit of God was revealing to them - it was only to be understood after Christ came (1 Peter 1:10-12) so if we want to understand what the OT really means it is a bit of a dead end if we try to understand it strictly in the light of OT culture and times. For a slightly fuller discussion of this point see my blog:
christianfoundation.blogspot.com
see Chapter 6.

This preparatory revelation, as we have previously said in chapter 11, came in two stages, outlined in Psalm 19:
(i) A general revelation to all mankind given to Adam and Eve and detailed in the Constellations in the stars.
(ii) A specific revelation given through the nation of Israel. It is to this we shall turn now.

The judgement at Babel completed the original revelation. With Abraham became a completely new age. With Abraham begins the actual history of redemption and salvation. All that preceded was introductory and preparatory.
Abraham was not the first believer. But the faith of all beforehand had been mostly limited to themselves or their immediate surroundings. Abraham's faith had effects going on beyond himself. It was a faith with significance for the whole history of salvation, a faith for the future.

The Old Testament is the record of God's preparing of the world for the coming Saviour. In the process God had to do several things:

(1) He had to promise mankind that there was a hope in the future that men could look forward to in faith. Hence he needed to give mankind a revelation of what was going to happen. Yet the revelation could not be so clear that the meaning of it would be open to Satan. In other words some of the details had to be hidden.

(2) He had to give men a way of "Covering" their guilt until the Messiah came so that they could be free of the Enemy's taunts and accusations.

(3) He had to bring to birth in history certain things so that the prophesied salvation could be seen to be the real thing as it fulfilled prophecy.

In Genesis 3,4 we saw how God answered the first two of these requirements. Greater detail on the nature and ceremony of sacrifice is detailed under the Law and also what this means, but the groundwork, the basic ideas are already in place. Now God begins work on the third aspect – a history of salvation. From Genesis 11 onwards we see God beginning to prepare the ground for his promised salvation.

When we enter into this portion of the Scriptures we find that there are two primary themes to do with this question, they are election and covenant. These two form the basis of understanding the whole of the rest of the Old Testament. Just as at the beginning God chose man to be his “son” and entered into covenant with man so God continues the same pattern in his dealings with men – choosing them/ electing them and then entering into covenant with them. The history of the Old Testament is the outworking of these two facts.

There are three major covenants in the time of Israel:

1. Abraham – Election of a family into which the Messiah could be born.
2. Moses – Election of nation to be God’s people through whom the revelation could come (the Law).
3. David – Election of a man through whom the Messiah would be descended so that he would be a true king and priest.

This gives rise to three periods of history in Israel, each instituted by a covenant with the key person.


ELECTION AND COVENANT.


1. The Fact of Election.

Why did God choose Abraham and his descendents?

a. It was not because Abraham worshipped God.

In fact it is clear that Abraham’s family worshiped other gods.

Joshua 24:2.
“…they served other gods”.

This was during their time “over the river”, i.e. in Mesopotamia, at Ur.

Abram and his father Terah, with all their family left Ur of the Chaldees. The question is “Why?”
There is debate as to when Abraham lived. Scholars tend to opt for one of two options:
(i) An Early Date, placing Abraham around 2250-2100B.C.
(ii) A later date, placing Abraham around 1850-1700B.C.
It is beyond the scope of this writing to outline the evidences for each position, and it is really irrelevant for our purposes.

If we opt for the later date (1850-1700BC) then major historical events could explain the move from Ur to Haran.
Ur had been a major city in Babylonia during this time. Ur was the capital city of an empire known to us as “Ur III”, the third empire of Ur. It was an extremely large and powerful city. Around 1750B.C. the city of Ur was destroyed by invading armies from the north and was never after that rebuilt. The leaving of Ur by Terah and family could have coincided with the destruction of Ur, and not really because of any higher motive than personal safety. The fact that they moved from there to Haran in Northern Babylonia is strong confirmation of this. Both Ur and Haran were main centres of the god Haran. This suggests that the move from Ur to Haran was not in any way to do with a conversion to Yahweh by Terah and his family.

If, however, we opt for the early date (2250-2100BC) then any reason for their leaving Ur is possible.

Jewish tradition tells us that Terah and his son, Abram, were makers of idols for the city cult god. At one point, it is said, they had completed a large consignment of idols ready for sale and Terah was out selling them. Meanwhile Abram was back at the warehouse. He was meditating on the idea of these things they had made being “gods”. If they were “gods” then they should be powerful, powerful enough to defend themselves. So he took to them with a sledgehammer and smashed them all. Terah returned home having sold them all, only to find them all in pieces. They were, according to tradition, forced to leave town - so they headed for Haran. This was the beginning of Abram’s move away from idol worship to find the true God, but it was a process.

Whatever the reason for leaving Ur it was not because they had converted to worshipping the true God. In fact we don’t know if Terah ever converted, and he was the head of the household. Abram’s act in leaving home later on from Ur may well have coincided with his actual conversion to Yahweh. But the move from Ur to Haran was clearly not brought about by Abram converting to the true God. This was still some time away.

Stephen, in his speech recorded in Acts 7, indicates that God appeared to Abram before they came to Haran, i.e. in Ur, but this is probably just Stephen reflecting popular belief about Abram rather than the actual facts of history. Acts 7 records, after all, the words of Stephen, a man, not the words of God, so Stephen's words could be mistaken.

God does not guarantee that every human word recorded in Bible is true - only that his own words are true. In the same way the Bible records some words of Satan. There is no way God is going to guarantee that Satan's words are true just because they are recorded in the Bible. In other words, the Bible not only records the words of God, but it also records the words of other people, including Satan. These words of other people are true in the sense that the Bible is a true record of what they said. But it is a vast step from there to argue that what the person actually said was true. Especially since Jesus called Satan a "liar", and pointed out elsewhere that "the truth is not in him."

So while it is true that Stephen said that God spoke to Abraham "beyond the river", i.e. in Ur, it is not necessarily true that what Stephen said was correct. Any preacher can make a mistake - especially if he is under pressure.

There is no indication that Abram had converted when they moved to Haran. The first mention of God speaking to Abram is found in Genesis 12:1 after they had been in Haran for some time.

Genesis 12:1-4.
“The LORD had said to Abram, "Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show you. "I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you."
So Abram left, as the LORD had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he set out from Haran.”

This was a big move for Abram. He seems to have been the eldest son - he is listed first in the list of sons of Terah.

Genesis 11:26.
When Terah had lived seventy years he became the father of Abram, Nahor and Haran.

These were clearly triplets (unless Terah had several wives and the three boys had different mothers), but the naming of Abram first indicates he was the first of the three to be born, so he was the heir. As eldest son he had certain traditional rights and responsibilities towards the rest of the family, especially his father and mother. Hence to leave his father was a major break with culture and family and certainly would have caused some ill feeling in the family.

Genesis 12:4.
“Abram was seventy five years when he departed from Haran.”

So Terah was 145.

Terah was not yet dead, so Abram was not culturally “free” to do as he liked. Terah lived some 65 years after this event.

Genesis 11:32.
“The days of Terah were two hundred and five years; and Terah died in Haran.”

So Terah lived in Haran for another 65 years after Abraham left.
So for Abraham to leave was a major step, almost a step of rebellion against his father.

An interesting sideline: Just putting this is a wider context:

Abraham was 100 years old when Isaac was born, so Terah was 170.

Genesis 21:5.
"Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him..."

Genesis 25:20.
“Isaac was forty years old when he took to wife Rebekah…”

So Abraham was 140, and Terah had been dead for only five years.

The implication of this is clear: Rebekah and Terah knew each other well, he was her great-grandfather. How old Rebekah was when she married Isaac I am unsure but probably in her late teens or early twenties.

Back to our main theme:

Genesis 15:6.
“Abram believed the LORD, and he credited it to him as righteousness.”

God appeared to Abraham in Genesis 12, but it is clear that Abraham did not reach full faith until Genesis 15. The road to faith is nearly always long and marked with steps of obedience along the way.

b. There were others who were believers.

E.g. Melchizedek, Genesis 14.

God could have called any of them to be the founder of the nation the Messiah was to come through. But he didn’t call someone who believed in him – he called someone who didn’t. Thus the call of Abraham was wholly an act of God’s free sovereignty. Abraham had no claim on God.

How often this is the case - God calls someone off the streets who is living in rebellion against him and saves him and gives him a powerful ministry reaching others. Meanwhile those already saved wonder why God "chose that person and not us".

c. It was purely a matter of God’s choice.

God chose Abraham because he chose him, and not for any other reason that we can discern. It was an act of pure grace on the part of God.

d. God chose Abraham because of his plan.

God had a plan to bring salvation to man, one that he had to reveal to man and then execute in a way that was identifiable. To execute his plan required that he choose out of mankind one person, one family, and one nation through which the promised redeemer would come. If the redeemer was going to be born a man, then he had to have a human heritage, this was inescapable, and by grace God chose Abraham to be the start of that heritage.

Leslie Newbigin.
“There is no rationality except a socially embodied rationality, one embodied in a society. For God to reveal his work he thus had to reveal it through a particular community - thus the scandal of particularity is inescapable.”

Stated simply:
1. The Messiah was to come to earth as a baby boy – a person.
2. Therefore there had to be a human “family line” that he was born into.
3. So there had to be a choice made by God of “Who? What family line?”
4. Once that decision was made by God it necessarily excluded other peoples and races from being the “chosen people”. This is just common sense. There really isn't any point getting upset about God's choice.
5. So to ask, “Why did he choose the Jews?” or to ask, “Why didn’t he choose some other people group such as the Chinese, or Indians, or Arabs?” is actually to ask a nonsensical question. Once the choice is made by God – and it was his choice to make – it is made. To ask why he did it that way, or didn’t do it some other way, is irrelevant. It just is that way.

To bring about the promised redemption for all mankind there had to be, for a season, a limiting, a selection, of who God was going to work through. The promised man-child simply could not be physically born to every race of people. He had to be born to one race, one family, because he was to be only one person. There was no other way.

Thus for God to bless the world it required, of necessity, that for a season he limit his activities to the channel through which he determined to bring that blessing, i.e. the descendants of Abraham. But this limiting of God’s working to one man, one family, one nation, always has in view the ultimate goal of blessing every man, every family, every nation.

Eric Sauer:
“The limiting of the revelation at first to Abraham was only the divine method to serve the ultimate universality of the salvation. The restriction was there, but its appointment has its own removal as its object…
This is the meaning and the soul of the Old Testament. Therefore from end to end it is full of promises of salvation for the whole human race. Of all books of pre-Christian times the Old Testament is the most universal. It is the only writing of the ancient Orient which has the idea of a unity of the human race and the hope of a united movement to a common goal.”

The objection to Election: Can we believe that the almighty God acts in this seemingly arbitrary way?

Newbigin.
“This is the doctrine of Christianity most subject to ridicule. Yet it is essential to the Bible. God chooses - he is the initiator. The religious experience of the patriarchs follows from the fact that God chose them.”

Could he have acted in any other way?

It does not seem that there was any other way.

Newbigin.
"However the real question behind the objection is not this but is something quite different, this question hides the real issue: i.e. what assumptions lie behind the question? What is implied in the complaint here is this: Why should I have to rely on another for my salvation? Why can I not get salvation for myself?...
“Behind this objection is the idea of universal truth, i.e. “There are truths we can all discover simply through our own efforts.” One of these universal ideas is the idea of universal individual salvation. Behind this further is human pride, the cry of the Enlightenment “Dare to Know!” which implies it is for the individual to find out for himself...
But clearly the use of human reason does not take place in a vacuum but in a socially embodied tradition of rational discourse. No reasoning is possible without the use of language, which is culturally defined. In that sense no human reason can be totally autonomous.”

Alasdair MacIntyre:
“Whose Justice? Whose Rationality? It is an illusion to suppose there is some kind of pure rationality available to us existing in a disembodied state. No critical act is possible except on the basis of some beliefs or other which are assumed a-critically.”

In other words the task of finding out "for yourself" is an impossibility from the word go. If we are going to come to a knowledge of salvation at all then somewhere, somehow, we will have to rely on the words and ideas of other people. And the words of God. So why not accept the way he chose to do it - through Abraham and his seed?

Newbigin:
“We can only understand the doctrine of election if we see it as a part of the whole way of understanding the human situation as characterised in the Bible. Here there is no attempt to see the person as an autonomous individual and the human relation to God as the alone to the Alone. From the very beginning the Bible sees human life in terms of relationships. It follows that this mutual relatedness is intrinsic to the goal itself. There is, there can be, no private salvation which does not involve us with one another.”

Why did God choose Abram?

* Because he had to choose someone.
* Because that person had to be able to bring to birth a people who had the capacity to receive the revelation God wanted to bring and preserve that revelation so that the redeemer could be recognised when he came. Presumably God saw that capacity in Abram.
* Because Abram had no claim on God at all – the act of God choosing him was simply an act of the grace of God. Thus the Jews, as a nation, could never claim they were chosen because of any intrinsic value in themselves. They didn’t earn it because they had been so faithful to God – quite the opposite in fact.


COVENANT.

For the background ideas of covenants see chapter 6.

There are three major covenants in the history of Israel we need to consider: With Abraham, with Moses and with David.

1. Abraham.

It seems that no people group was at God's disposal for him to make it his chosen people, nor even a single family. Hence the necessity of a completely new start and the call and choice of a single individual. The line must begin as a point. But with this one man commences a completely new historical leading, a separate stream in the midst of the nations which would lead direct to Christ and by way of Christ and his cross to a world embracing expansion of the redemption. Such is the meaning of the call of Abram.

(a) The Call.

Genesis 12:1-2.
Leaving:
(i) Country - give up place in society.
(ii) Father's house - give up family ties.
(iii) Kindred - give up family name.
(iv) Inheritance – Abram was the eldest son, so had the rights of inheritance.

We are not to assume that Abram left home with nothing. Ther following facts suggest he was leader of a large tribe when he left Haran, and he took it with him:
* Genesis 14 tells us that out of his household he raised a fighting force of 318 men. This indicates that he was a very wealthy chief of a very large (for then) “tribe”. Probably his “tribe”, the collection of his servants with their families numbered around 1500. This was only about 10 years after he had left Haran, so it suggests he had great wealth before he left Haran.
* Abram and Lot together had so much cattle that they had to separate (Genesis 13).
* Historians think that Gerar was one of the largest and most powerful cities in Palestine at the time and numbered around 1500-2000 people. When Abram and his “tribe” arrived on the doorstep (Genesis 20) the King of Gerar, Abimelech, decided not to pick a fight with Abram but rather entered into a covenant treaty with him. This too was only 10 years after leaving his father. Pharaoh earlier did the same (Genesis 12).

This is the meaning of the two stories in which Abraham gives Sarah away to be bride of a foreign king. Culturally Abraham was caught in a "cleft stick" He only had Sarah as a family female member - all the other females in his tribe were slaves. So when a foreign king asked for a treaty Abraham was caught. Culture demanded he intermarry with the kings family by the methodology of each giving a "royal" female to the other. To refuse to supply the said female was considered to be the act of declaring war. Abraham had to supply, or he had to fight. Just like Pharaoh and Abimelech, Abraham probably made the calculated decision that he was not powerful enough to take the other on so somehow had to reach a treaty. Hence he was forced (by fear and failure to trust God) to hand Sarah over each time.

All of this suggests Abram left home a very wealthy man with large flocks and herds and servants. Many such “tribes” were on the move throughout Palestine at that time of history.

(b) The Promise.

Comes in several stages over Abraham’s life.

Promise Stage A: Genesis 12:1-3.
“The LORD had said to Abram, "Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show you. "I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you."

This is the backbone to the rest of Genesis. It is repeated with each succeeding generation. There is only one condition attached to the promise: Genesis 12:1 “Go”.
Includes the following elements.

1. A land.
2. A great nation. Innumerable offspring.
3. Blessing.
4. A great name.
5. You will be a blessing.
6. God to be sovereign protector of Abraham and his descendants. This holds good even when Abraham himself causes problems by not trusting God.
7. Blessing on them that bless you. Curses on those who curse you.
"In thee shall all the nations be blessed." Universal blessing. This is a hint at the coming of the Messiah through Abraham’s line.

Abraham lived in the land for 24 years with nothing but promises. God was making a man of faith by allowing the promise to be tested.

Promise Stage B: Genesis 15.
“After this, the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision: "Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward."
But Abram said, "O Sovereign LORD, what can you give me since I remain childless and the one who will inherit my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?" And Abram said, "You have given me no children; so a servant in my household will be my heir."
Then the word of the LORD came to him: "This man will not be your heir, but a son coming from your own body will be your heir." He took him outside and said, "Look up at the heavens and count the stars- if indeed you can count them." Then he said to him, "So shall your offspring be."
Abram believed the LORD, and he credited it to him as righteousness.
He also said to him, "I am the LORD, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to take possession of it."
But Abram said, "O Sovereign LORD, how can I know that I will gain possession of it?"
So the LORD said to him, "Bring me a heifer, a goat and a ram, each three years old, along with a dove and a young pigeon." Abram brought all these to him, cut them in two and arranged the halves opposite each other; the birds, however, he did not cut in half. Then birds of prey came down on the carcasses, but Abram drove them away. As the sun was setting, Abram fell into a deep sleep, and a thick and dreadful darkness came over him.
Then the LORD said to him, "Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own, and they will be enslaved and mistreated four hundred years. But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves, and afterward they will come out with great possessions.
You, however, will go to your fathers in peace and be buried at a good old age. In the fourth generation your descendants will come back here, for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure."
When the sun had set and darkness had fallen, a smoking firepot with a blazing torch appeared and passed between the pieces. On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram and said, "To your descendants I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates-
the land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites, Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites and Jebusites."

The Promise:
1. The Land defined - all that Abraham could see, the Nile to the Euphrates.
2. Seed added - as the stars. Numberless. "Your own child."
3. Faith credited as righteousness.
4. A personal covenant with God.
God confirms the covenant by sacrifice. Abraham is passive; he receives the covenant as a gift.
5. Promise of future events. Genesis 15:4--7, 13—16 is a chronological prophecy.
v13 - Star seed to go into captivity, then a great deliverance.


Promise Stage C: Genesis 17.
“When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to him and said, "I am God Almighty; walk before me and be blameless. I will confirm my covenant between me and you and will greatly increase your numbers."
Abram fell facedown, and God said to him, "As for me, this is my covenant with you: You will be the father of many nations. No longer will you be called Abram; your name will be Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations. I will make you very fruitful; I will make nations of you, and kings will come from you. I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you. The whole land of Canaan, where you are now an alien, I will give as an everlasting possession to you and your descendants after you; and I will be their God."
Then God said to Abraham, "As for you, you must keep my covenant, you and your descendants after you for the generations to come. This is my covenant with you and your descendants after you, the covenant you are to keep: Every male among you shall be circumcised. You are to undergo circumcision, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and you. For the generations to come every male among you who is eight days old must be circumcised, including those born in your household or bought with money from a foreigner- those who are not your offspring. Whether born in your household or bought with your money, they must be circumcised. My covenant in your flesh is to be an everlasting covenant. Any uncircumcised male, who has not been circumcised in the flesh, will be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant."


1. Seed multiplied exceedingly.
2. Father of a multitude of nations.
3. Name change - implies a character change.
4. Everlasting covenant – a special relationship with God.
5. Palestine an eternal possession.
6. Circumcision added as a sign.
7. Sarah part of the promise, i.e. a full son by the rightful wife.
8. Ishmael blessed – 12 nations.
9. Isaac promised.

Ishmael - a great nation.
Antagonism between it and other nations prophesied. Ishmael would dwell "In the presence of his brethren" i.e. enjoy an independent existence in spite of continuing opposition from neighbours.

Circumcision was the sign of the covenant with Abraham.
Why such a strange sign? No one could see it or verify it. Abraham couldn't tell anyone about it. But it was a mark where life flows from.
In the spiritual - like Abraham we have God's promises but he wants us to enter into life and inheritance in the land. The Sign doesn't give you greater standing with God but it made it possible for the promises to come to pass.
Ephesians 1:13,14 – Holy Spirit is the token of our inheritance.

Circumcision = to cut off the works of the flesh = holiness. Genesis 17:10.
Romans 2:29. Deuteronomy 10:16. Colossians 2:11. Hebrews 12:14.
Genesis 17:14 - the sign you are Abraham's seed is holiness.

Abraham’s Posterity.
1. Abraham's posterity = many offspring, many nations, kings. Especially one great nation that would spend time in Egypt in affliction and would inherit Canaan.
2. Ishmael to be a great nation--12 princes.
3. The true seed is in Isaac. In him all the nations to be blessed. Also his seed would be a peculiar witness to one God--Islam, Judaism.


The blessing on all nations through Abraham's seed.
1. All monotheism is traced back to Abraham.
2. Real progress in civilisation has happened largely in the monotheistic half of man. Even among monotheists Christians lead Moslems, Protestants lead Catholics.
Christ overthrew polytheism and mythology.


2. Moses.

The relationship of God with Moses and through him with the nation of Israel is outlined in the following scriptures.

Exodus 3:6-10, 16-17; 6:6-8; 19:3-8; Chapters 20-23.
The covenant is ratified in Exodus 24.


1. Israel's Call and Task.

(a) Israel’s Call.

(i) Israel was not chosen because of itself but because of God’s plan. The call of Abraham involved the promise that he would be the father of a nation through which the world would be blessed. This was pure grace, and said nothing at all about the character of the people who would be in that nation.

(ii) Deuteronomy 7:7.
“The LORD did not set his affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples.”

The choosing of Israel conforms to the lowly outward appearance of the divine revelation. Nowhere in the OT is there any exaltation of the Jew, on the contrary it is full of direct words of judgement against apostate Israel.

God’s choice is grace so that no flesh should glory before him but that the glory should go to God. The more primitive the material the greater the honour of the master. Thus God chose the smallest, the insignificant. This is always God's way. The whole results in the revelation of the divine greatness.

(iii) Not because they were faithful or obedient. Israel always resisted God, were always rebellious, in the history of Israel all the peoples of the world would be able to clearly see the fearfulness of sin, the glory of redemption, the seriousness of judgement and the depth of forgiving grace. Thus Israel's history becomes an object lesson of what judgement and grace are.

In no way did Israel receive a preference. To its higher privileges there was correspondingly greater responsibility. Standing brings obligation. Upon no people has judgement for sin been so visited as upon the Jews. In Israel all things reach the climax--the privilege and the judgement, the blessing and the curse.

The Exodus from Egypt is a creation—a creation of the nation of Israel. The tie between Yahweh as Creator and Yahweh as Israel’s God and King is so close that the sign of Israel’s covenant with Yahweh is the keeping of the Sabbath day.


(b) Israel’s Task.

The meaning of Israel's call was threefold: moral education, historical revelation, missionary.

1. By the example of Israel there should be publicly shown to the nations what sin and grace, judgement and redemption are. An object lesson.

2. So that the divine revelation might descend to earth Israel should be the people of the ear, who heard God's word. Also that through Israel the Redeemer would reveal himself. Thus it became the birthplace of the Christian church.

3. For the spread of salvation, Israel should be God's witness and mouth, God's herald among the nations. Therefore a commission as prophet and missionary.

Exodus 19:5—6.
“Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.' These are the words you are to speak to the Israelites."

A kingdom of priests. They are to be the means of blessing to the world by demonstrating in their national life the true Creator God and being intercessors for the world.

These tasks appear contradictory but in Israel are completely reconciled. So as to be the homeland of the Messiah Israel must be a self contained people separated from all the Gentiles. On the other hand this people must be spread abroad among the Gentiles and have constant intercourse with them so as to prepare for Christianity. It is the only key for understanding the history of Israel. This is most sharply seen in the Redeemer. He is absolute expansion, the Saviour of the world. Yet he is one man, one descendant of David, one Saviour.


(c) Israel's aptitude.

No other people are so capable as the Jew of keeping separate and yet being so widespread. National and yet at the same time universal. The Jew settles in all places, is able to make room for himself everywhere, and yet everywhere remains a Jew. The land of Palestine also corresponds to this twofold bridging of opposites. Palestine is a secluded land yet is the centre of the earth, the bridge between the ruling nations of the ancient world.

Ezekiel 5:5.
"This is what the Sovereign LORD says: This is Jerusalem, which I have set in the center of the nations, with countries all around her.”

Ezekiel 38:12.
“I will plunder and loot and turn my hand against the resettled ruins and the people gathered from the nations, rich in livestock and goods, living at the center of the (earth)."


(d) Israel's Education.

Divine training for separation. 1900--586 BC. A period of separation from the world.

Divine training for world wide service. The exile onwards.
New elements added:
the dispersion, the synagogues, the LXX. Through these Israel became a missionary in the heathen world.

(e) Israel's failure.

Israel has never answered to its calling. Therefore its history becomes both crisis and judgement. Nevertheless God holds fast to his goal.

From the Law to the exile the main sin was idolatry. Thus in the period of separation Israel maintained idolatrous intercourse with the nations.

During the exile in Babylon there was a deep inward change in Israel. Prior to this Israel's chief sin had been idolatry. They were largely healed of this. In Babylon Israel was healed of Babylon. Babylon the mother of all idolatry became the place of healing for the harlot people. But then set in another false way - dead formality and orthodoxy.

From the Exile onwards Israel secluded itself in proud self-exaltation. instead of practicing inclusion they practised exclusion.

Leviticus 26. Deuteronomy 28. A prophecy of Jewish history.

"A swift nation--from afar--Eagle--strange tongue--fierce countenance. = Rome--had an Eagle Standard. Jews were enslaved in Egypt again.
1. Taken from own land.
2. Scattered among nations.
3. Would retain national identity.
4. No rest or peace in any land. Perpetual fear, insecurity, threat of death, property violently stolen before their eyes, families violated.
5. Disliked, despised, an astonishment, a proverb, a byword.
Jew is a synonym for many bad things.
6. A prophet. God raised up many prophets.
"Like unto me"--Moses--speaks of Christ. Many similarities in typology. No one except Christ was like Moses.


3. David.


Having established the nation, God must now establish the family line in the nation through which the Redeemer was to come. As we shall see in the next chapter the future redeemer was to be a king and a priest, so God had to begin in Israel something new, a royal line. Until this time there had been no king in Israel.

But there was more, under Moses political rulership and the priesthood had been separated. The precondition for the Messiah was that he be both a king and a priest. This required a new state of affairs, a new law. Under Moses, and the prophecies of the Patriarchs, kingship was prophesied to come through the tribe of Judah, priesthood from the tribe of Levi. How could this be reconciled? The answer was to create an entirely new priesthood, or in reality to reinstate an older original priesthood, that of Melchizedek, in which kingship and priesthood were united.

This had to be done sensitively, so as not to offend. David’s strategy was simple – he took over the city of Jerusalem in which the office of King-priest already existed, and simply named himself to the chief position. As Jerusalem up until this time had not been part of Israel this step was seen to be the setting up of something entirely new, incorporating into Israel the priesthood of Jerusalem who, like Israel, were worshippers of Yahweh. The kings of ancient cities were named after their gods - Hence Melchizedek, Genesis 14, and Adonizedek, Joshua 10:1. To this priesthood the Levitical priesthood, established under the Law, were eventually subjected. This had the effect of merging the two “faces” of Yahwism in a way acceptable to both. The old priestly family of Jerusalem, the previous kings, became an order of priests – the Zadokites, after their name for Yahweh, “Zedek”. The Jerusalem part of the cult followed the pattern of the Melchizedek line and had no sacrifices. Meanwhile David left the old Levitical priesthood at Shiloh to continue the sacrifices required under the Law. Later on the tabernacle at Shiloh was destroyed by invaders and so subsequent kings brought the sacrifice system to Jerusalem as well, but it was not so originally.
(This is not how the story reads in the Bible, but it is what happened.)

2 Samuel 7:1-17; 23:5; 2 Chronicles 13:5; Psalms 89:3-4,34,35.

God made his covenant with David that he would build David:
* A house 2 Samuel 7:11
* An everlasting kingdom 2 Samuel 7:13,16
* Eternal temple 2 Samuel 7:16.
* Eternal throne 2 Samuel 7:13.
* Eternal kingdom 2 Samuel 7:16.

This promise was continued in the natural also, a long line of David's descendants departed from God, but essentially this was a spiritual covenant.

Matthew 1:1 - Jesus the Son of David.
Luke 1:32 - Jesus receives the throne of David and rules over Jacob forever.

David the King Priest - like Melchizedek Genesis 14, Psalms 110.
Jesus the King Priest - like Melchizedek. Hebrews 7.


THE LAW.


The law has received a bad press. Yet it is part of the Scripture that is recommended as profitable for “instruction in righteousness”.

The law was not a rotten deal for the Israelites. It was the best possible life for God’s people in that time and place. It was not a way of becoming God’s people; rather it was the way to reflect and proclaim the true God. The Apostle Paul did not say, “The law is a rotten deal”, rather he said that “If the legalizers were right it was a rotten deal”.

Many Biblical laws resemble those found earlier codes, but there are significant differences.
1. Biblical law cases a primary concern on human life.
2. Biblical law involves “Eye for eye, tooth for tooth”. This is not barbaric justice but rather equal justice for all. Also children could not be punished for the sins of a parent. In other cultures there was no such limitation on vengeance so an avenger could inflict horrific consequences and get away with it. "An eye for an eye" sounds bad to us but to those who had seen unlimited vengeance this was a great step forward in legal justice.
3. Biblical law judges crimes against property more leniently. Even the life of a thief is worth something.
4. Biblical law includes worship as part of its law. There is no distinction between civil and religious law. All law is religious.

Mosaic Law is the best law code of the ancient world. It is far ahead of many other law codes, particularly in areas of health, hygiene, justice, etc. Much of the law has been demonstrated to have positive benefits if followed.

We are not under the law as our operating covenant with God because it denies the gospel. It not only signals belief that works are needed to be acceptable to God, but also denies that Gentiles are on a par with Jews in the body of Christ. But Paul is not opposed to using the law for instruction. It is a revelation of God, and if we understand the reasons for the various laws we can learn the righteous principles being taught.

The law is an organism and therefore an indivisible unity.

James 2:10.
“For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.”

Galatians 3:10.:
“All who rely on observing the law are under a curse, for it is written: "Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law."

Thus there is no distinction between a moral law and a ceremonial law. Nevertheless the law can be divided into members, and in this sense has three associated groups of ordinances:
(i) Moral law - which is universally true.
(ii) Worship – laws about how to approach God.
(iii) Social regulations – which were culturally applicable to the time and place but were not universally true.


Notes:

1. The Law: a gracious gift of Yahweh.
In it Israel becomes the people of God through covenant. They are not entering this relationship by works. Israel has done nothing to qualify for God’s favour. The law is thus not given to them as a way of entering into relationship with God. Rather the Law is given to those already in relationship through covenant as a description, or guide, as to how to live in the covenant so as to receive the full benefit of the covenant.

2. Law: a constitution for a nation.
The law is Israel’s Constitution and national legislation. The Bible does not contain only spiritual things, but also information concerning God’s purpose in starting a nation. Nations need laws. These laws must include statutes covering criminal and civil cases. All legislation is legislated morality, but not all legislation is good. The Mosaic law was given by God and so is good.

3. Law: a covenant with Yahweh as king.
Hittite treaties reveal a similarity to the arrangement of the Mosaic covenant.

4. Law: a guarantee of Yahweh’s presence.
This is guaranteed by the tabernacle.

5. Law: opportunity to be a blessing.
A kingdom of priests. Israel would be a nation through which the world would find Yahweh. Her success at this is totally conditional; her own experience of blessing as well as her ability to be a blessing to the world is based on her obedience.

6. Law: A Teacher of righteousness.
The chief meaning of the law lies in the developing of an expectation of the Redeemer by revealing human sinfulness, so that thereby the law should be a tutor to bring us to Christ.

The law produces knowledge (Romans 3:20; 7:7), namely:
1. Knowledge of sin.
2. Self-knowledge of the sinner of his sinfulness, powerlessness, lost condition.

1. Knowledge of sin.
Sin is missing the mark, disobedience/transgression/lawlessness, and rebellion.
Romans 7:8. 1 Corinthians 15:56.

2. Self-knowledge.
Reveals personal guilt.
The law increases the responsibility of the doer, thus sets the sinner under the curse. The law brings wrath Romans 4:15.
The law kills 2 Corinthians 3:6--9.


It is:
* as to the past, an addition
* as to the future, an insertion
* as to me at present, an instruction
* against the outer, a hedge
* from above, a restraint
* against the beneath, a barrier
* of the inward, a mirror.

a. An addition.
It no way sets aside the covenant with Abraham but has completed it. It is set by its side. It was added (Galatians 3:19, Romans 5:20). As it came later it could not annul that which was already in force. (Galatians 3:15—17). Thus it acquires no fundamental significance.
Nevertheless the addition was necessary as the covenant with Abraham lacked sufficient emphasis on sin and this comes to pass through the law. Thus the whole pre Christian revelation of salvation divides into two main sections: promise and law.

b. An insertion.
Added until Christ (Galatians 3:19). This act is only temporary, preparatory and has its goal in him, disappearing with his arrival. (Romans 10:4).
A change of priesthood is fundamental as priesthood is fundamental to the law. (Hebrews 7).

c. An instruction.
A hedge, bridle, rule, barrier, mirror.
Hedge--separates Israel from the nations. (Ephesians 2:14,15). Mosaic Law is only to Israel, hence the nations have no law (Romans 2:14). Thus the Mosaic Law was never given to the nations, but only to Israel.
Bridle--from above. God rules Israel through the law.
Beneath--a barrier to restrain the development of sin.
From within a mirror. (Romans 3:20. James 1:23—25). This is really its proper and chief task. Through this inward working of the law it awakens in the sinner the cry for redemption and thus directs us to Christ.


7. Law: a prophecy of Redemption.

The law sits forth the relationship between Israel and God, and prophecies in type the work of Christ. Thus the law has two meanings. The first is symbolic, the second is typical.
A symbol is a visible cover of something invisible, a material garment of a higher truth. The symbol is concerned with its own time and thus is confined to Israel and the OT. The law symbolically outlines how a man can approach God and find forgiveness of sins and relationship with God. As such it provided a way to God before Christ came.
A type is a prophetic symbol, a person, thing, institution or event that refers to Christ and his work. Hebrews 10:1,9:11.
The type speaks of Christ and points to the future; it is messianic prophecy. The symbol remains in the law, the type looks on to grace.

The book of Leviticus is the key section of the Law in bringing the revelation of Christ and his work.

Chapters 1-7, 16 outline different aspects of how Christ’s death for our sins would bring us into relationship with God.
Chapter 23 outlines the prophetic history of redemption over the seven-month period of the Palestine summer harvest season. This:
(i) Begins with Passover, speaking of Christ’s death.
(ii) Then Pentecost, the giving of the Holy Spirit.
(iii) Then the Feast of Trumpets speaking of events before the Second Coming.
(iv) Then the Day of Atonement, speaking of Christ’s Second Coming.
(v) Then the feast of Tabernacles, speaking of events in the Millenium and the Eternal state to follow.