In This Is Love (part 12)

The second of the two-fold consideration of Jesus’ experience of forty days in the wilderness also causes Him to be connected, quite rightly, with the nation of Israel as a whole.  Forty is an often referenced and significant number in relation to Israel and to the history of the people pre-Jacob (forty days and nights of rain for the flood in the days of Noah).  In connection with the all-important exodus event itself, Moses is on Mount Sinai for forty days and nights, where he is said to have received Israel’s covenant marker directly from the finger of Israel’s God.  This time of Moses’ absence presents itself as a test of Israel’s faithfulness to their covenant God that had just rescued His chosen people from their slavery in Egypt.  It was a test that they are said to have failed, doing so quite miserably. 

Elijah, the one looked upon as Israel’s greatest prophet, fasts for forty days as part of an experience that will take him to the mountain of God (1 Kings 19:8).  Saul, David, and Solomon are each said to have ruled over a united kingdom of Israel for forty years.  Quite naturally then, within the context of His presentation as the Son of God, it is altogether logical to draw an analogy between Jesus’ forty days of wilderness testing and the story of Israel in general.  Forty days in the wilderness for Jesus after baptism in the Jordan---forty years for Israel in the wilderness after what is often referred to as their “baptism” in the waters of the sea. 

Jesus had entered the waters of the Jordan to be baptized at the hands of his cousin, John the Baptist.  For a messiah-like figure, this baptism in the Jordan, at the hands of one who presented himself as the voice of one crying in the wilderness to prepare the way of the Lord (with heavy tones of expectation concerning the coming of Israel’s God), would have been taken to be emblematic of a new exodus movement in anticipation of the Creator God’s working through His messiah on behalf of His oppressed people.  Israel had entered the waters of the divided sea (though they did not get wet) as part of their God’s working on behalf of His oppressed people, with this resulting in the crushing defeat of those that had oppressed them, in the movement that would forever define “exodus,” Israel as the people of exodus, and their God as a God of exodus. 

Of course, there is a major difference between Jesus and Israel, in that Jesus’ wilderness experience was on the heels of having been declared as being pleasing to the Creator God, whereas Israel’s forty year wilderness experience was for the opposite reason.  Though the covenant God had previously shown forth Israel as His elect people (son) by bringing them out of Egypt, much like this God shows forth Jesus as His elect Son (who had also been brought out of Egypt, though that is for a different time), His displeasure was evident. 

Needless to say, Israel had its share of problems during their forty years, but it did serve to strengthen their trust in their delivering, covenant God, as the faithless generation that doubted at the foot of Sinai and at the edge of Canaan is said to have died off in the desert.  Owing to this, the people were prepared to enter into their land of promise, and therefore prepared to enter into the mission that their God had established for them.  Israel would cross through the waters of the Jordan (inviting a direct comparison between Jesus and Israel) into their promised land and to their mission, to carry out the work of their God, to establish a kingdom that would allow them to experience their God’s blessing, to become a light for the surrounding peoples, and thereby elicit praise for and acknowledgment of their God as the true and only God.  Israel was to leave the wilderness and enter their land for the purpose of their God’s glory.  

Place For You (part 1 of 2)

Then when the Lord your God brings you to the land He promised your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob to give you---a land with large, fine cities you did not build – Deuteronomy 6:10  (NET)

As Israel is on the verge of entering into their long-awaited land of promise, finally doing so after a reported forty long years of “wandering” in the wilderness, Moses speaks to the covenant people and reminds them of their God’s demonstrations of faithfulness to His covenant that had been delivered to Abraham, and extended to Isaac and Jacob.  Along with that, he reminds them of the covenant that their Creator God had made with His people forty years prior, at Mount Sinai, which had as its basis the statement that “The Lord is our God, the Lord is one!  You must love the Lord your God with your whole mind, your whole being, and all your strength” (6:4-5). 

In His faithfulness, which was always presumed to be due to His love for His people and for His creation (this love of the whole of the creation must always be kept in sight), Moses tells the people that not only was their God going to be bringing them into a land of promise, but He was also informing them, through Moses, that He was going to be providing for them in super-abundance, doing more than they would have asked or thought.  The Creator God of Israel was going to deliver to His people “large, fine cities” which they “did not build” (6:10b). 

As the narrative suggests that the Creator God continued to speak through His servant Moses, His people were informed that the cities would consist of “houses filled with choice things you did not accumulate, hewn out cisterns you did not dig, and vineyards and olive groves you did not plant” (6:11a).  The covenant God told His people that from these things, they would “eat your fill” (6:11b).  Of course, it is worth considering that with the super-abundance of blessings that were being bestowed upon them, would also come a temptation to forget the One that is always to be recognized and remembered as the one who brought them into the place of blessed promise. 

After speaking of the good things that were going to be coming their way, due to their God’s faithfulness to them and in accordance with His purposes for them, the people of Israel receive a reminder of that very faithfulness, with an exhortation to their own required faithfulness to the covenant.  Moses warns the people, saying “be careful not to forget the Lord Who brought you out of Egypt, that place of slavery” (6:12). 

In this passage that is undergirded by an overt implication of their God’s sovereign faithfulness, as He demonstrates His power to fulfill His promises, observers come to learn about a place that the Creator God has prepared for His people.  When considered alongside the whole of the Scriptural narrative and according to its movement to a determined and specific end, these events beg to be understood according to the context that Israel’s God was taking His covenant people into that place which represented the very first part of His creation that He intended to be redeemed and restored. 

As preparation of that place is considered, the thoughts of the modern reader of Scripture should be quickened to the words of Jesus that are to be found find in the Gospel of John.  In the fourteenth chapter of that Gospel, Jesus can be heard to say “There are many dwelling places in My Father’s house” (14:2a).  As it was for Israel, so it was for Jesus’ disciples, who, in their representative grouping of twelve, are to be understood as a microcosm of Israel---a re-formulated example of the covenant people in miniature.  

Justified By Faithfulness (part 2)

Moving forward to Noah, one finds the actual first use of the word “covenant” (at least in terms of an English translation of Scripture).  The Creator God is reported to have judged the earth with a worldwide flood.  This actually allows an observer to see the two-fold nature of judgment.  In one sense, the judgment brought destruction, in that the God of creation destroyed all but eight people.  In the other sense, the positive side of judgment can be considered, as the same God’s judgment liberated the world (albeit temporarily) by purging from what was said to have become the overwhelming wickedness of man, and its effects, that had abounded upon it. 

So yes, the judgment of the covenant God can be both destructive and liberating, and every attempt should be made to see what type of judgment is being presented when read about in the Scriptures.  Following the flood, the Creator God is said to have made a covenant with Himself, with a man (Noah) presumably standing as witness, that He would never again bring about His judgment with a worldwide flood.  As there have been no additional worldwide floods, the history of mankind sets itself forth as clear demonstration that the Creator God has been faithful to this covenant.  Thus, the Creator God is righteous (faithful to His covenants).      

The next covenant to be found in Scripture was the one that is reported to have been struck with Abraham.  In that story, the Creator God entered into history and chose a man for Himself to bear the light of His glory to the world, to represent Him to all nations, and to be the progenitor of a people that would do the same.  The one that would eventually be known as the God of Israel (and often as the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob) said to Abraham (paraphrasing), “I will do this, and you will do that, and this will be the result.”  Additionally, his God gave to him (Abraham) the sign of the covenant, which was circumcision.  This covenant would be passed along through Abraham’s son Isaac, on to Isaac’s son Jacob, and on to Jacob’s progeny, which came to become known as the nation of Israel. 

In each instance, the passing along of the covenant included the Creator God’s foundational (again, paraphrased) statement of “I will do this, and you will do that, and this will be the result.”  With the nation of Israel itself, in its receipt of their God’s law at Mount Sinai following their exodus from Egypt, their God expanded and expounded upon what it was that He was requiring of His covenant holding, light-bearing and glory-reflecting people, asking them in no uncertain terms to take measures to dramatically set themselves apart from the peoples that they were going to encounter in the land that had been promised to Abraham and to them. 

These additional expectations were put in place because, presumably hearkening back to His covenant with Abraham, the Creator God desired to bless all peoples through His covenant people.  “Blessing” was a major component of the Abrahamic covenant.  This blessing of all peoples would be accomplished because the covenant God of creation was going to bless His covenant people if they fulfilled their end of the covenant.  If they fulfilled their end of the covenant by meeting the requirements that were set forth (primarily the issues of being circumcised, reverencing the sanctuary, keeping the Sabbaths, and not worshiping other gods), this would mean that they were “justified” before God.  They would be in right standing in relation to the covenant.  They would be considered to be righteous, and all peoples would then be able to see the blessings upon God’s covenant people and in turn be drawn to those same people.