The Sign of the Branch: The Dead Stump Reborn

Jesus had critics who questioned his authority. He would answer them by pointing to the prophets that came before, claiming that they foresaw his life. Here is one example where Jesus said to his critics:

You study the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me,
John 5:39

In other words, Jesus claimed that he was prophesied in the Old Testament, which preceded him by hundreds of years. The Old Testament prophets claimed that God inspired their writings. Since no human can predict with certainty hundreds of years into the future, Jesus claimed this as evidence to check if he had really come as God’s plan or not. We can use this test to see if God exists and if He speaks. The Old Testament, unchanged and pre-dating Jesus by hundreds of years, is available for us to examine and consider this same question for ourselves.

First some review. The very beginning of the Old Testament hinted at Jesus’ coming. Then Abraham’s sacrifice foretold the spot where Jesus was to be sacrificed while the Passover foretold the day in the year that it would occur. We saw that Psalm 2 inaugurated the title ‘Christ’ to foretell a coming King. But it did not end there. Later prophets advanced additional prophetic themes. Isaiah (750 BCE) began a theme that later prophets developed – that of the coming Branch.

Isaiah and the Branch

The figure below shows Isaiah in a historical timeline with some other Old Testament writers.

isaiah-in-timeline — Isaiah shown in historical timeline. He lived in the period of the rule of the Davidic Kings

The timeline shows that Isaiah wrote his book in the period of David’s Royal dynasty (1000–600 BCE). At that time (ca 750 BCE) the dynasty and the kingdom was corrupt. Isaiah pleaded that the Kings return back to God and the practice and spirit of the Mosaic Law. But Isaiah knew that Israel would not repent. So he also prophesied her destruction and the termination of the royal dynasty.

He used a specific metaphor, or image, for the royal dynasty, picturing it like a great tree. This tree had at its root Jesse, the father of King David. On Jesse the Dynasty began with David, and from his successor, Solomon, the tree continued to grow and develop.

The image Isaiah used of the Dynasty as a tree

First a Tree … then a Stump … then a Branch

Isaiah wrote that God would soon cut this ‘tree’ dynasty down, reducing it to a stump. Here is how he began the tree image which then he turned into the riddle of a stump and Branch:

“A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit. The Spirit of the LORD will rest on him–the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of power, the Spirit of knowledge.”
Isaiah 11:1-2

Dynasty pictured as a Stump of Jesse – father of David

The cutting down of this ‘tree’ happened about 150 years after Isaiah, around 600 BCE. Then the Babylonians conquered Jerusalem and dragged its people into exile (the red period in the timeline above). Jesse was the father of King David, and so was the root of David’s Dynasty. The ‘stump of Jesse’ was therefore a metaphor to the coming shattering of David’s dynasty.

The Branch: A coming ‘him’ from David possessing wisdom

But this prophecy also looked further into the future than just the cutting down of the kings. Isaiah predicted that the ‘stump’ would look dead, as stumps do. Nonetheless, one day in the far future a shoot, known as the Branch, would emerge from that stump. Certain trees have this capability to send up shoots from stumps. Isaiah used this natural process to help us picture how the Branch would come. Isaiah refers to this Branch as a ‘him’ so Isaiah is talking about a specific man, coming from the line of David after the dynasty’s fall. This man would have such qualities of wisdom, power, and knowledge it would be as if the very Spirit of God would be resting on him.

Jesus … A ‘him’ from David possessing wisdom

Jesus fits the requirement of coming ‘from the stump of Jesse’ since Jesse and David were his ancestors. What makes Jesus very unusual is the wisdom and understanding he possessed. His shrewdness, poise and insight in dealing with opponents and disciples continue to impress both critics and followers ever since. His power in the gospels through miracles is undeniable. One may choose not to believe them; but one cannot ignore them. Jesus fits the quality of possessing exceptional wisdom and power that Isaiah predicted would one day come from this Branch.

Jeremiah and The Branch

Isaiah laid down a signpost in history with that prophecy. But it did not end there. His signpost is only the first of several signs. Jeremiah, living about 150 years after Isaiah, when David’s dynasty was actually being cut down before his very eyes wrote:

“The days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when I will raise up to David a righteous Branch, a King who will reign wisely and do what is just and right in the land. In his days Judah will be saved and Israel will live in safety. This is the name by which he will be called: The LORD our Righteousness“.
Jeremiah 23:5-6

Jeremiah expands on the Branch theme of David’s dynasty started by Isaiah 150 years earlier. The Branch will be a King who reigns. But this is exactly what Psalm 2 prophecy said of the coming Son of God/Christ/Messiah. Could it be that the Branch and the Son of God are one and the same?

The Branch: The LORD our Righteousness

But what is this Branch to be called? He would be called the ‘LORD’ who will also be ‘our’ (that is – us humans) Righteousness. As we saw with Abraham, the problem for humans is that we are ‘corrupt’, and so we need ‘righteousness’. Here, in describing the Branch, Jeremiah hints that in the future people would get their needed ‘righteousness’ by the LORD – YHWH himself. (YHWH is the name for God in the Old Testament). But how would this be done? Zechariah fills in more details as he develops further about the Coming Branch. He even predicts the name of Jesus – which we look at next.

June 20, 2016

Simple but Powerful: What is the meaning of Jesus’ sacrifice?

Jesus came to give himself as a sacrifice for all peoples so that we could escape our corruption and reconnect with God. God declared this plan at the beginning of human history. He then signed it in the sacrifice of Abraham by pointing to Mount Moriah where Jesus’ sacrifice would be provided. Then the Jewish Passover sacrifice pointed to the day of the year when Jesus would be sacrificed.

Bad News … The Law of Sin and Death

Why is his sacrifice so important? This is a question worth asking. The Bible declares a Law when it states:

For the wages of sin is death…
Romans 6:23

“Death” literally means ‘separation’. When our soul separates from our body we die physically. Similarly we are even now separated from God spiritually. This is true because God is Holy (sinless) while we have become corrupted from our original creation and so we sin.

The diagram illustrates this. It pictures two cliffs with God opposite from us with a chasm between us. Just like a branch cut from a tree is dead, so we have cut ourselves off from God and become spiritually dead.

We are separated from God by our sins like a chasm between two cliffs — We are separated from God by our sins like a chasm separating two cliffs

Merit from our Good Efforts is insufficient

This separation causes guilt and fear. So what we naturally try to do is build bridges to take us from our side (of death) to God’s side. We do this in many different ways: going to church, temple or mosque, being religious, being good, helping the poor, meditation, trying to be more helpful, praying more, etc. These deeds to gain merit can be very difficult – and living them out can be very complicated. The next figure illustrates this.

Good Efforts – useful as they may be - cannot bridge the separation between us and God — Good Efforts – useful as they may be – cannot bridge the separation between us and God

The problem is that our hard efforts, merits, and deeds, though not wrong, are insufficient because the payment required (the ‘wages’) for our sins is ‘death’. Our efforts are like a ‘bridge’ that tries to cross the gap separating us from God – but in the end cannot do it. This is because good merit will not solve our root problem. It is like trying to heal cancer (which results in death) by eating vegetarian. Eating vegetarian is not bad, it may even be good – but it will not cure cancer. For cancer you need a totally different treatment.

This Law is Bad News – it is so bad we often do not even want to hear it and we fill our lives with activities and things hoping this Law will go away. But the Bible stresses this Law of sin and death to get our attention to focus on the cure that is simple and powerful.

For the wages of sin is death but…
Romans 6:23

Good News of Life

The small word ‘but’ shows that the direction of the message is about to change directions, to the Good News of the Gospel – the cure. It shows both the goodness and love of God.

For the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 6:23)

The good news of the gospel is that the sacrifice of Jesus’ death is sufficient to bridge this separation between us and God. We know this because three days after his death Jesus rose bodily, coming alive again in a physical resurrection. There exists historic, compelling evidence for this. Abraham’s sacrifice and the Passover sacrifice prophetically acted out Jesus’ coming sacrifice. God planned these signs pointing to Jesus to help us find the cure.

Jesus was a human who lived a sinless life. Therefore he can ‘touch’ both the human and the God sides and span the gap separating God and people. He is a Bridge to Life which the diagram illustrates.

Jesus is the Bridge that spans the chasm between God and man

Given as a Gift, not earned by Merit

Notice how God offers this to us. He offers it as a … ‘gift’. Think about gifts. No matter what the gift is, if it is really a gift it is something that you do not work for and that you do not earn by merit. If you earned it the gift would no longer be a gift – it would be a wage! In the same way you cannot merit or earn the sacrifice of Jesus. It is given to you as a gift. It is that simple.

And what is the gift? It is ‘eternal life’. That means that God has cancelled the sin which brought you and me death. Jesus’ bridge of life enables us to re-connect with God and receive life – which lasts forever. God loves you and me that much. It is that powerful.

The Gift Received

So how do we cross on this bridge of life that Jesus gives to us as a gift? Again, think of gifts. If someone gives you a gift it is something you do not work for. But to get any benefit from the gift you must ‘receive’ it. Every time a gift is offered to a recipient there are only two alternatives. Either recipient refuses the gift (“No thank you”) or receives it (“Thank you for your gift. I will take it”). Likewise, you must receive this gift that Jesus offers to benefit from it. You cannot simply believe, study, meditate upon it, or understood it. The next figure illustrates this as we ‘walk’ on the Bridge by turning to God and receiving His Gift offered to us.

Jesus sacrifice is a gift that each of us must choose to receive

So how do we receive this gift? The Bible says that

Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved
Romans 10:12

Notice that this promise is for ‘everyone’. Since he rose from the dead Jesus is alive even now and he is ‘Lord’. So if you call on him he will hear and give his gift to you. You call out to him and ask him – by having a conversation with him. Perhaps you have never done this. Below is a prayer that can guide you. It is not a magic chant. The specific words used do not give it power. It is the trust like Abraham had that we place in him to give us this gift. As we trust him He will hear us and answer. The Gospel is powerful, and yet also so simple. Feel free to follow this guide if you find it helpful.

Dear Lord Jesus. I understand that with my sins I am separated from God. Though I can try hard, no effort and sacrifice on my part will bridge this separation. But I understand that your death was a sacrifice to wash away all my sins. I believe that you rose from the dead after your sacrifice so I know that your sacrifice was sufficient. I ask you to please cleanse me from my sins and bridge me to God so I can have eternal life. I do not want to live a life enslaved to sin so please free me from sin. Thank you, Lord Jesus, for doing all this for me and would you even now continue to guide me in my life so I can follow you as my Lord.

Amen

February 19, 2016

Where does ‘Christ’ of Jesus Christ come from?

I sometimes ask people what Jesus’ last name was. Usually they reply, “I guess his last name was ‘Christ’ but I am not sure”.

Then I ask, “If so, when Jesus was a little boy did Joseph Christ and Mary Christ take little Jesus Christ to the market?”

Hearing it that way, they realize that ‘Christ’ is not Jesus’ last name. So, what is ‘Christ’? Where does it come from? What does it mean? That is what we will explore in this article. Along the way we will also see where the title ‘Son of God’ comes from.

Translation vs. Transliteration

First we need to know some basics of translation. Translators sometimes choose to translate by similar sound rather than by meaning, especially for names or titles. This is known as transliteration. For the Bible, translators had to decide whether its words (especially names and titles) would be better in the translated language through translation (by meaning) or through transliteration (by sound). There is no specific rule.

The Septuagint

The Bible was first translated in 250 BCE when Jewish rabbis translated the Hebrew Old Testament into Greek. This translation is the Septuagint (or LXX) and people used it widely in ancient times and even still today. The apostles wrote the New Testament 300 years later in Greek. Therefore they quoted the Greek Septuagint rather than the Hebrew Old Testament.

Translation & Transliteration in the Septuagint

The figure below shows how this affects modern-day Bibles:

This shows the translation flow from original to modern-day Bible

The original Hebrew Old Testament is in quadrant #1. Because the Septuagint was a Hebrew to Greek translation (in 250 BCE) we show an arrow going from quadrant #1 to #2. The New Testament authors wrote the New Testament in Greek, so this means #2 contains both Old and New Testaments. In the bottom half (#3) is a modern language translation of the Bible (eg English). To get this translation linguists translate the Old Testament from the original Hebrew (1 -> 3) and the New Testament from the Greek (2 -> 3). The translators must decide on transliteration or translation of names and titles as explained above.

Bibles translated in the Orthodox tradition (generally East European churches) translate the Old Testament from the Greek Septuagint. Thus, for these Bibles, both Old and New Testaments come from the Greek (2 -> 3).

The Origin of ‘Christ’

Now we follow this same sequence, but focusing on the word ‘Christ’ that appears in New Testaments.

Where does ‘Christ’ come from in the Bible

In the original Hebrew (in Quadrant #1) the word used for Christ was ‘mashiyach’. The Hebrew dictionary defines ‘mashiyach’ as an ‘anointed or consecrated’ person. Passages of the Psalms prophesied a specific coming mashiyach (with a definite article ’the’). In the 250 BCE Septuagint translation, rabbis used a Greek word for the Hebrew mashiyach having a similar meaning, Χριστός = Christos. This came from chrio, which meant to rub ceremonially with oil.

Therefore the word Christos was translated by meaning (and not transliterated by sound) from the Hebrew ‘mashiyach’ into the Greek Septuagint to prophesy about this coming person. This is Quadrant #2. The New Testament writers understood that Jesus was this very person prophesied in the Septuagint. So they continued to use the term Christos in the Greek New Testament. (again in Quadrant #2)

Christ in Bibles of Other Languages

But for other languages ‘Christos’ was then transliterated from the Greek into English (and other modern languages) as ‘Christ’. This is the lower half of the figure labelled #3. Thus the modern ‘Christ’ is a very specific title from the Old Testament. It derives by translation from Hebrew to Greek, and then transliteration from Greek to other languages. Scholars translate the Hebrew Old Testament directly to modern languages without using Greek as an intermediate language. They have used different words in translating the original Hebrew ‘mashiyach’. Some transliterated the Hebrew ‘mashiyach’ to the word Messiah by sound. Others translated ‘mashiyach’ by its meaning and so have ‘Anointed One’ in these specific passages. In either of these cases we do not often see the word ‘Christ’ in modern Old Testaments. Therefore this connection to the Old Testament is not apparent. But from this analysis we know that in the Bible:

‘Christ’ = ‘Messiah’ = ‘Anointed One’

All of these have identical meanings and refer to the same original title. This is similar to how 4= ‘four’ (English) = ‘quatre’ (French) = 6-2 = 2+2. These are all math and language equivalents of ‘4’.

Anointing was the process that a king designate went through in order to become king. This is similar to how getting elected is the process by which a Prime Minister or President gains the right to rule today. We might say the Prime Minister is the ‘elected one’ in the same way we would say the king is the ‘anointed one’. So the ‘Anointed One’, or ‘Messiah’, or ‘Christ’ designated a King, someone who would rule.

Old Testment prophecies of ‘The Christ’

So where does the title ‘Christ’ first come? We see it as a prophetic title already in the Psalms, written by David ca 1000 BCE – long before the birth of Jesus.

King David, author of Psalms, in Historical Timeline

²The kings of the earth rise up
    and the rulers band together
    against the Lord and against his anointed, saying,
³“Let us break their chains
    and throw off their shackles.”

⁴The One enthroned in heaven laughs;
    the Lord scoffs at them.
⁵He rebukes them in his anger
    and terrifies them in his wrath, saying,
⁶“I have installed my king
    on Zion, my holy mountain.”

⁷I will proclaim the Lord’s decree:

He said to me, “You are my son;
today I have become your father.
Psalm 2: 2-7

The Anointed One is also the ‘Son of God’

Here we also see that the Lord’s decree addresses the Anointed as ‘my Son’. In other words, God calls ‘The Anointed’ his ‘son’. This is where the title ‘Son of God’ originates, from Psalm 2. Thus, it was not invented by Jesus or even by New Testament writers. It is synonymous with the Anointed One. So now:

‘Christ’ = ‘Messiah’ = ‘Anointed One’ = ‘Son of God’

The related title ‘Son of Man’ we explore here.

The Christ anticipated in 1st Century

With this knowledge, let’s make some observations from the Gospel. Below is the reaction of King Herod when the wise men from the East came looking for the king of the Jews. This forms part of the story of the birth of Jesus. You will see ‘Messiah’ or ‘Christ’ used here, depending on the translation. Notice, ‘the’ precedes Messiah or Christ, even though it is not referring specifically about Jesus.

When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Christ was to be born.
Matthew 2:3-4

Notice that the very idea of ‘the Christ’ (or ‘the Messiah’) was already commonly understood between Herod and his religious advisors, even before Jesus’ birth. They use the title without referring specifically to Jesus. This is because, as explained above, ‘Christ’ comes from the Old Testament Psalms written hundreds of years earlier by King David. This was commonly read by Jews of the 1st century (like Herod) from the Greek Septuagint. The title existed hundreds of years before there were any Christians.

King Herod became ‘greatly troubled’ because he felt threatened by this Christ, which he understood to be a rival King. So we see in King Herod’s reaction both the meaning of Christ (a King) and its ancient roots, originating long beforehand.

Christ in Psalm 132

The Psalms had further references to this coming Christ. I put the standard passage side-by-side with a transliterated one with ‘Christ’ in it so you can see it.

Psalm 132- From Hebrew	Psalm 132 – From Septuagint
O Lord, …¹⁰For the sake of David your servant, do not reject your anointed one.¹¹The Lord swore an oath to David, a sure oath that he will not revoke: “One of your own descendants I will place on your throne— …¹⁷“Here I will make a horn grow for David and set up a lamp for my anointed one. ”	O Lord, …¹⁰For the sake of David your servant, do not reject your Christ.¹¹The Lord swore an oath to David, a sure oath that he will not revoke: “One of your own descendants I will place on your throne— …¹⁷“Here I will make a horn grow for David and set up a lamp for my Christ. ”

Psalm 132 speaks in the future tense (“…I will make a horn for David…”) like so many passages throughout the Old Testament. Jews have always been waiting for their Messiah (or Christ). The fact that they are waiting or looking for the coming of the Messiah is because of the future-looking prophecies in the Old Testament.

So to sum up. The following titles are synonymous and all derive from the Psalms.

Christ = Messiah = Anointed One = Son of God

The Old Testament prophecies: Specified like a lock-key system

That the Old Testament specifically predicts the future makes it unusual literature. It is like the lock of a door. A lock has a certain shape so that only a specific ‘key’ that matches the lock can unlock it. In the same way the Old Testament is like a lock. We saw some of this in the articles on Abraham’s sacrifice, Adam’s beginning, and Moses’ Passover. Psalm 132 now adds the requirement that ‘the Christ’ would come from the line of David. This raises the question: Is Jesus the matching ‘key’ that unlocks the prophecies?

We look at whether Jesus fits the prophecy of coming from the line of David here. We begin exploring The Branch theme of prophecies here.

January 10, 2016

Moses’ Farewell Speech: History marching to the beat of its drum

Moses’ Blessings & Curses in Deuteronomy

Moses lived about 3500 years ago and he wrote the first five books of the Bible. We call them the Pentateuch or the Torah. His fifth book, Deuteronomy, contains his last proclamations made just before he died. These were his Blessings to the people of Israel – the Jews, but also his Curses. Moses wrote that these Blessings and Curses would shape history. All peoples, not just by the Jews, should pay attention to them. So he wrote this for you and me to think about. The complete Blessings and Curses are here. I summarize the main points below.

Timeline with Moses. The Blessings and Curses given just before he died.

The Blessings of Moses

Moses began by describing the blessings that the Israelites would receive if they obeyed The Law. He gave the law in the earlier books and they included the Ten Commandments. The blessings were from God and would be so great that all other nations would recognize His blessing. The outcome of these blessings would be that:

Then all the peoples on earth will see that you are called by the name of the Lord, and they will fear you.
Deuteronomy 28:10

… and the Curses

However, if the Israelites failed to obey the Commands then they would receive Curses that would match and mirror the Blessings. The other nations would see these Curses so that:

You will become a thing of horror, a byword and an object of ridicule among all the peoples where the LORD will drive you.
Deuteronomy 28:37

And the Curses would extend through history.

They will be a sign and a wonder to you and your descendants forever.
Deuteronomy 28:46

But God warned that the worst part of the Curses would come from other nations.

The LORD will bring a nation against you from far away, from the ends of the earth, like an eagle swooping down, a nation whose language you will not understand, a fierce-looking nation without respect for the old or pity for the young. They will devour the young of your livestock and the crops of your land until you are destroyed … until you are ruined. They will lay siege to all the cities throughout your land until the high fortified walls in which you trust fall down. They will besiege all the cities throughout the land.
Deuteronomy 28:49-52

It would go from bad to worse.

You will be uprooted from the land you are entering to possess. Then the LORD will scatter you among all nations, from one end of the earth to the other. … Among those nations you will find no repose, no resting place for the sole of your foot. There the LORD will give you an anxious mind, eyes weary with longing, and a despairing heart.
Deuteronomy 28:63-65

God established these Blessings and Curses by a covenant (an agreement) between Him and the Israelites:

You are standing here in order to enter into a covenant with the Lord your God, a covenant the Lord is making with you this day and sealing with an oath, ¹³to confirm you this day as his people, that he may be your God as he promised you and as he swore to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. ¹⁴I am making this covenant, with its oath, not only with you ¹⁵who are standing here with us today in the presence of the Lord our God but also with those who are not here today.
Deuteronomy 29:12-15

In other words this covenant would be binding on the children, or future generations. In fact God directed this covenant at future generations – both Israelite and foreigner.

Your children who follow you in later generations and foreigners who come from distant lands will see the calamities that have fallen on the land and the diseases with which the Lord has afflicted it. The whole land will be a burning waste of salt and sulfur—nothing planted, nothing sprouting, no vegetation growing on it. It will be like the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboyim, which the Lord overthrew in fierce anger. All the nations will ask: “Why has the Lord done this to this land? Why this fierce, burning anger?”
Deuteronomy 29:22-24

And the answer will be:

And the answer will be: “It is because this people abandoned the covenant of the Lord, the God of their ancestors, the covenant he made with them when he brought them out of Egypt. ²⁶They went off and worshiped other gods and bowed down to them, gods they did not know, gods he had not given them. ²⁷Therefore the Lord’s anger burned against this land, so that he brought on it all the curses written in this book. ²⁸In furious anger and in great wrath the Lord uprooted them from their land and thrust them into another land, as it is now.”
Deuteronomy 29:25-28

Did The Blessings and Curses happen?

Nothing neutral about them. The Blessings were delightful, but the Curses were utterly severe. However, the most important question we can ask is: ‘Did they happen?’ The answer is not hard to find. Much of the Old Testament is the record of the history of the Israelites and from that we can see what happens in their history. Also we have records outside the Old Testament, from Jewish historians like Josephus, Graeco-Roman historians like Tacitus and we have found many archeological monuments. All of these sources agree and paint a consistent picture of the Israelite or Jewish history. Review the summary of this history, given through the building of a timeline here. Read it and assess for yourself if the Curses of Moses came to pass.

The Conclusion to Moses’ Blessings and Curses

But this Farewell Speech of Moses did not end with the Curses. It continued. Here is how Moses final conclusion.

When all these blessings and curses I have set before you come on you and you take them to heart wherever the LORD your God disperses you among the nations, and when you and your children return to the LORD your God and obey him with all your heart and with all your soul according to everything I command you today, then the LORD your God will restore your fortunes and have compassion on you and gather you again from all the nations where he scattered you. Even if you have been banished to the most distant land under the heavens, from there the LORD your God will gather you and bring you back. He will bring you to the land that belonged to your ancestors, and you will take possession of it. He will make you more prosperous and numerous than your ancestors
Deuteronomy 30:1-5

After Moses, successive writers in the Old Testament continued with this promise that he first stated. There would be a restoration after the Curses. These later writers made bold, troubling and detailed predictions. Together they make an astounding set of predictions that are happening today.

January 10, 2016

What are the Ten Commandments? What do they teach?

Moses wrote the first five books of the Bible. These books describe the birth of the Israelite nation thousands of years ago. Moses’ mission was to birth this nation to become a light to surrounding nations. He began by leading the Israelites (or Jews) out of slavery in Egypt through a rescue known as Passover. In Passover God liberated the Israelites in a way that pointed to a future deliverance for all mankind.

Moses in Timeline. The Ten Commandments were given in his lifetime.

But Moses’ call was not only to lead the Israelites out of Egyptian slavery. His mandate was also to lead them to a new way of living. So fifty days after Passover Moses led them to Mt. Sinai where they received the Law.

So what commands did Moses receive? The complete Law was quite long, with 613 specific commands. But Moses first received a set of specific 90ots of stone, known as the Ten Commandments. These Ten formed the summary of the Law – the moral prerequisites before all the others. The Ten Commandments (sometimes called Decalogue) are God’s active power to persuade us to repent. This is what we examine in this article.

Part of the All Souls Deuteronomy, Containing the Oldest Surviving Copy of the Decalogue_{^{Author unknown, photograph by Shai Halevi, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons}}

The Ten Commandments

Here are the Ten Commandments as written by God on the stone. Then Moses recorded them in the book of Exodus of the Bible.

And God spoke all these words:

²“I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.

³“You shall have no other gods before me.

⁴“You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. ⁵You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, ⁶but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.

⁷“You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.

⁸“Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. ⁹Six days you shall labor and do all your work, ¹⁰but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. ¹¹For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

¹²“Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you.

¹³“You shall not murder.

¹⁴“You shall not commit adultery.

¹⁵“You shall not steal.

¹⁶“You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.

¹⁷“You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”
Exodus 20: 1-17

The Standard of the Ten Commandments

Now a day, we sometimes forget that these were commands, not suggestions or recommendations. But to what extent are we to obey these commands? The following verse comes just before the giving of the Ten Commandments:

Then Moses went up to God, and the Lord called to him from the mountain and said, “This is what you are to say to the descendants of Jacob and what you are to tell the people of Israel…
Exodus 19:3

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,
Exodus 19:5

Moses recorded the following just after the giving of the Ten Commandments.

Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read it to the people. They responded, “We will do everything the Lord has said; we will obey.”
Exodus24:7

Ten Commands – Not Multiple Choice

Let’s think about this. Sometimes in school exams, teachers gives multiple questions (for example 20). But then they requires students to only answer some of the questions. For example, students can choose any 15 questions out of the 20 to answer. Each student would pick the 15 easiest questions for him/her to answer. In this way the teacher makes the exam easier.

Many people treat the Ten Commandments in the same way. They think that God, after giving the Ten Commandments, meant, “Attempt any six of your choice from these Ten”. We think this way because we instinctively imagine God balancing our ‘good deeds’ against our ‘bad deeds’. If our Good merits outweigh or cancel our Bad imperfections then we hope this suffices to earn God’s favor. Or at least maybe get a pass to heaven. For this same reason, many of us try to earn religious merit through religious activities. These often include; going to church, mosque, or temple, praying, fasting, and giving money to the poor. These acts hopefully balance out the times we disobey one of the Ten Commandments.

However, an honest reading of the Ten Commandments shows that this was not how God gave it. People are to obey and keep ALL the commands – all the time. The sheer difficulty of accomplishing this has made many rebels against the Ten Commandments. The well-known atheist Christopher Hitchens attacked the Ten Commandments for this reason:

“… then comes the four famous ‘shalt nots’ which flatly prohibit killing, adultery, theft, and false witness. Finally there is a ban on covetousness, forbidding the desire for ‘thy neighbours’… chattel. … Instead of the condemnation of evil actions, there is an oddly phrased condemnation of impure thoughts…. It demands the impossible…. One may be forcibly restrained from wicked actions…, but to forbid people from contemplating them is too much…. If god really wanted people to be free of such thoughts, he should have taken more care to invent a different species”
Christopher Hitchens. 2007. God is not great: How religion spoils everything. P.99-100

Why did God give the Ten Commandments?

But to think either that God can accept a 50%+ effort, or that God made a mistake in demanding the impossible, is to misunderstand the purpose of the Ten Commandments. God gave us the Ten Commandments to help us identify our problems.

Let’s illustrate this with an example. Suppose you had a hard fall onto the ground and, hurt your arm badly. However, you are unsure of the internal damage. Is the bone in your arm broken or not? You are unaware if it will get better, or if you need a cast on your arm. So you take an X-ray of your arm, and the X-ray reveals the true situation. Yes indeed, you broke the bone in your arm. Does the X-ray heal your arm? Is your arm better because of the X-ray? No, your arm is still broken. But now you know that it is indeed broken, and you need to put a cast on it to heal. The X-ray did not solve the problem, rather it exposed the problem so now you can treat it properly.

The Commands reveal Sin

Likewise, God gave us the Ten Commandments so that we could see a problem deep within us, our sin. Sin means ‘missing’ the target of what God expects from us in how we treat others, ourselves, and God. The Bible says that

The Lord looks down from heaven
on all mankind
to see if there are any who understand,
any who seek God.
All have turned away, all have become corrupt;
there is no one who does good,
not even one. (Psalm 14:2-3)

We all have this inner corrupting problem of sin. This is so serious that God says of our ‘good deeds’ (which we hope will cancel out our sins) that:

All of us have become like one who is unclean,
and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags;
we all shrivel up like a leaf,
and like the wind our sins sweep us away. (Isaiah 64:6)

Our righteous merit in religious observances or helping others counts only as ‘filthy rags’ when weighed against our sins.

But instead of recognizing our problem, we tend to compare ourselves with others. In doing this we measure ourselves against the wrong standard. Alternatively, some strive harder to obtain religious merit. Others give up and just live for pleasure. Therefore God instituted the Ten Commandments so that:

Therefore no one will be declared righteous in God’s sight by the works of the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of our sin. (Romans 3:20)

Examining our lives and seeing our sins against the standard of the Ten Commandments is like looking at an X-ray to see the broken bone in our arm. The Ten Commandments do not ‘fix’ our problem. Instead, they reveal the problem clearly so we will accept the remedy that God has provided. Instead of continuing in self-deception, the Law allows us to see ourselves accurately.

God’s Gift given in repentance

The remedy that God has provided is the gift of forgiveness of sins. He freely gives it through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The article here explains this more fully. God simply extends this Gift of Life to us if we trust or have faith in His work.

know that a person is not justified by the works of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law, because by the works of the law no one will be justified. (Galatians 2:16)

We can be given righteousness just like Abraham that was justified before God. But it does require that we repent. Repent means to ‘change our minds’ and involves a turning away from sin and a turning towards God and the Gift He offers. As the Bible explains:

Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord
Acts 3:19

The promise for you and me is that if we repent and turn to God, our sins will not be counted against us. Instead, we will receive Life.

That first Passover and Abraham’s test revealed God’s signature in His plan for us. Likewise, the specific day when God gave the Ten Commandments to Moses also points to the coming of the Spirit of God to indwell us. The indwelling Holy Spirit gives us the ability to follow God in a way that we cannot do on our own.

January 9, 2016

Passover Sign of Moses

After Abraham died his descendants were called Israelites. 500 years later they had become a large tribe. But they had also become slaves of the Egyptians.

The Exodus

The Israelite leader was Moses. God had told Moses to go to Pharaoh of Egypt and demand that he free the Israelites from slavery. This began a struggle between Pharaoh and Moses producing nine plagues against Pharaoh and the Egyptians. Even so, Pharaoh had not agreed to let the Israelites go free. So God was going to bring a deadly 10th plague. Click here to read the full account of the 10th Plague in the Bible.

God decreed that every firstborn male in the land would die that night from God’s Angel of Death. But those who remained in houses where sacrificed lamb’s blood painted on the door frames would live. If Pharaoh did not obey, his firstborn son and heir to the throne would die. Every house in Egypt that did not sacrifice a lamb and paint its blood on the doorposts would lose a firstborn son. So Egypt faced a national disaster.

In Israelite (and Egyptian) houses with lamb’s blood painted on the doors the promise stated that everyone would be safe. The Angel of Death would pass over that house. So this day was called Passover.

Passover – A Sign for who?

People think that the blood on the doors was only for the Angel of Death. But notice what the Bible says

The LORD said to Moses … ” … I am the LORD. The blood [of the Passover lamb] will be a sign for you on the houses where you are; and when I see the blood, I will pass over you.
Exodus 12:13

The LORD was looking for the blood on the door and if He saw it Death would pass over. But the blood was not a sign for Him. It says that the blood was a ‘sign for you’ – the people, including you and me.

But how is it a sign? After this happened the LORD commanded them to:

Celebrate this day as a lasting ordinance for generations to come. When you enter the land … observe this ceremony… It is the Passover sacrifice to the LORD’
Exodus 12:27

The Remarkable Passover Calendar

In fact we see at the beginning of this story that this 10th plague began the ancient Israelite (Jewish) calendar.

The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in Egypt, “This month is to be for you the first month, the first month of your year…
Exodus 12:1-2

Starting at this time, the Israelites began a calendar that celebrated Passover on the same day every year. It marked their new year. For 3500 years Jewish people have been celebrating Passover every year to remember this event. Since the Jewish calendar year is a little different from the Western calendar, the Passover day moves each year on the Western calendar.

Jesus and Passover

This is a modern-day scene of Jewish people preparing to celebrate Passover in memory of that first Passover 3500 years ago. — This is a modern-day scene of Jewish people preparing to celebrate Passover in memory of that first Passover 3500 years ago

If we follow Passover celebrations in history we will realize something remarkable. Notice when the arrest and trial of Jesus happened:

Then the Jewish leaders took Jesus from Caiaphas to the palace of the Roman governor. By now it was early morning, and to avoid ceremonial uncleanness they did not enter the palace, because they wanted to be able to eat the Passover.
John 18:28

They arrested and executed Jesus precisely on Passover of the Jewish calendar. This was the same day all Jews were sacrificing a lamb to remember those lambs in 1500 BCE that caused Death to pass over. Remember from Abraham’s Sacrifice, one of the titles of Jesus was:

The next day John (i.e. John the Baptist) saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world… ’”.
John 1:29

Jesus, the ‘Lamb of God’, was sacrificed on the very same day that all the Jews alive then were sacrificing a lamb in memory of the first Passover that started their calendar. This is why the Jewish Passover occurs at the same time as Easter. Easter commemorates the death of Jesus and since that happened on the Passover, Easter and Passover happen close together. (Since the Western calendar is different they are not on the same day, but usually in the same week).

Signs, Signs, Everywhere are Signs

Think back to that first Passover in Moses’ day where the blood was a ‘sign’, explicitly for us. Think what signs do by considering these signs.

Signs are pointer in our minds to get us to think about the thing the sign points to — Signs are pointer in our minds to get us to think about what the sign points to

When we see the ‘skull and crossbones’ sign it makes us think of death and danger. The sign of the ‘Golden Arches’ makes us think about McDonalds. The ‘√’ on Nadal’s bandana is the sign for Nike. Nike wants us to think of them when we see this on Nadal. Signs are made to direct our thinking not to the sign itself but to something it points to.

God had said to Moses that the first Passover blood was a sign. So what was God pointing to with this sign? With the remarkable timing of lambs sacrificed on the same day as Jesus, the ‘Lamb of God’, the sign points to the coming sacrifice of Jesus.

Two Signs – Pointing to Location and Date

It works in our minds like shown in the diagram.

The Passover is a Sign in that it points to Jesus through the remarkable timing of Passover with Jesus' crucifixion — The Passover is a Sign in that it points to Jesus through the remarkable timing of Passover with Jesus’ crucifixion

The sign points us to think about the sacrifice of Jesus. In the first Passover the Israelites sacrificed lambs and painted the blood painted so that death would pass over them . This sign pointing to Jesus tells us that likewise the ‘Lamb of God’ was also sacrificed and his blood spilt so death would pass over us.

With Abraham’s sacrifice the place where the ram died so Isaac could live was Mount Moriah – the same place where Jesus was sacrificed 2000 years later. That allows us to ‘see’ the meaning of his sacrifice by pointing to the location. Passover also points to Jesus’ sacrifice, but from a different perspective. It points to the day of the calendar – the calendar started by the first Passover. In two different ways the most important stories in the Old Testament point directly to the death of Jesus using sacrificed lambs. I cannot think of any other person in history whose death (or life achievement) was foreseen in two such dramatic ways. Can you?

These two events (Abraham’s sacrifice and Passover) should show us that it is reasonable to consider that Jesus is the center of a Divine Plan.

But why has God placed these Signs in ancient history to predict the crucifixion of Jesus? Why is that so important? What is it about the world that requires such bloody symbols? God shows the hopelessness of our situation when he gives the Ten Commandments.

January 8, 2016

Abraham: How God will Provide

Abraham lived 4000 years ago, traveling to modern-day Israel. God promised him a son that would become a ‘great nation’. But he had to believe and then wait until he was very old to see his son born. Jews and Arabs today come from Abraham, so we know the promise came true and that he is an important person in history as the father of great nations.

The Test: The Binding of Isaac

Abraham was now very happy to watch his son Isaac grow up into a man. But then God tested Abraham with a difficult task. God said:

“Go get Isaac, your only son, the one you dearly love! Take him to the land of Moriah, and I will show you a mountain where you must sacrifice him to me on the fires of an altar.”
Genesis 22:2

This is hard to understand! Why would God ask Abraham to do this? But Abraham, who had learned to trust God – even when he did not understand

… got up early the next morning … and left with Isaac and two servants for the place where God had told him to go.
Genesis 22:3

After three days travel they reached the mountain. Then

…when they reached the place that God had told him about, Abraham built an altar and placed the wood on it. Next, he tied up his son and put him on the wood. He then took the knife and got ready to kill his son.
Genesis 22: 9-10

Abraham was ready to obey God. Just then something remarkable happened

But the Lord’s angel shouted from heaven, “Abraham! Abraham!”

“Here I am!” he answered.

“Don’t hurt the boy or harm him in any way!” the angel said. “Now I know that you truly obey God, because you were willing to offer him your only son.”

Abraham looked up and saw a ram caught by its horns in the bushes. So he took the ram and sacrificed it in place of his son.
Genesis 22: 11-13

At the last moment Isaac was saved from death and Abraham saw a male sheep and sacrificed it instead. God had provided a ram and the ram took the place of Isaac.

Now let’s ask a question. At this point in the story is the ram dead or alive?

Why do I ask? Because Abraham will now give a name to the place, but many miss its importance. The story continues…

Abraham named that place “The Lord Will Provide.” And even now people say, “On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided.”
Genesis 22:14

Another question: Is the name that Abraham gave to that place (“The Lord Will Provide”) in the past?

Looking to the future, not the past

It is clearly in the future tense. Many people assume that Abraham, when naming that place, was thinking of the ram. God had provided it by getting the ram caught in the thicket. Then Abraham had sacrificed in place of his Isaac. But when Abraham gave the name that ram was already dead and sacrificed. If Abraham was thinking of that ram – already dead and sacrificed – he would have named it ‘The LORD has provided’. He would have named it in the past tense. And the closing comment would read ‘And even now people say “On the mountain of the LORD it was provided”’. But the name looks to the future, not the past. Abraham is not thinking of the already dead ram. He is naming it for something else – in the future. But what?

Where is that place?

Remember where this sacrifice occurred, told at the beginning of the story:

(“Go get Isaac, …. Take him to the land of Moriah”)
Genesis 22:2

This happened at ‘Moriah’. Where is that? It was wilderness in Abraham’s day (2000 BCE), with only some bushes, a wild ram, and Abraham & Isaac on that mountain. But one thousand years later (1000 BCE) King David built the city of Jerusalem there, and his son Solomon built the First Jewish Temple there. We read later in the Bible that:

Then Solomon began to build the temple of the LORD in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah…
2 Chronicles 3:1

Mount Moriah became Jerusalem, the Jewish city with the Jewish Temple. Today it is a holy place for the Jewish people, and Jerusalem is the capital city of Israel.

The Sacrifice of Abraham and Jesus

Let us think a little about the titles of Jesus. Jesus’ most well-known title is ‘Christ’. But he had other titles, like:

The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.
John 1:29

Jesus was also called ‘The Lamb of God‘. Think about the end of Jesus’ life. Where was he arrested and crucified? It was in Jerusalem (which is the same as ‘Mount Moriah’). The Bible states very clearly that:

He [Pilate] learned that Jesus was under Herod’s authority. Herod was in Jerusalem at that time, so Pilate sent Jesus to him.
Luke 23:7

The arrest, trial and death of Jesus was in Jerusalem (= Mount Moriah). The timeline shows the events that have happened on Mount Moriah.

timeline of major events at Mount Moriah — Major events on Mount Moriah

Back to Abraham. Why did he name that place in the future tense ‘The LORD will provide’? Isaac had been saved at the last moment when Abraham sacrificed a lamb in his place. Two thousand years later, Jesus, the ‘Lamb of God’, is sacrificed at the same location. He did this so you & I could also live.

A Divine Plan

It is like a Mind has connected these two events separated by 2000 years of history. What makes the connection unique is that the first event points to the later event by creating the name in the future tense. But how would Abraham know what would happen in the future? No human knows the future, especially that far into the future. Only God can know the future. Foreseeing the future and having these events happen at the same place is evidence that this is not a human plan. Rather, it is a plan from God. He wants us to think about this like below:

Abraham's sacrifice at Mount Moriah is a sign pointing to sacrifice of Jesus — Abraham’s sacrifice at Mount Moriah is a sign pointing to sacrifice of Jesus

Good News for all nations

This account also has a promise for you. At the end of this account God promises to Abraham that:

“…and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed because you have obeyed me”
Genesis 22:18

If you belong to one of the ‘nations on earth’ then this is a promise to you. It concerns a ‘blessing’ from God.

So what is this ‘blessing’? How do you get it? Think of the story. Just like the ram saved Isaac from death, so Jesus the Lamb of God, by his sacrifice at the same place, saves us from the power of death. If that is true it would certainly be good news.

The sacrifice of Abraham on Mount Moriah is an important event in ancient history. Millions remember and celebrate it around the world today, especially in the Islamic traditions. But it is also a living story of life for you 4000 years later. Its theme continues with Moses.

January 7, 2016

Getting Righteousness – Abraham’s example

Previously we saw that Abraham obtained righteousness simply by believing. That all-important sentence puts it like this:

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

Belief is not about the existence of God

Think what ‘believe’ means. Many people think that ‘believe’ means believing that God exists. We think that God just wants us to believe that He is there. But the Bible states it differently. It says,

You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.
James 2:19

Abraham and his wife Sarah
_{Distant Shores Media/Sweet Publishing, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons}

Here the Bible uses sarcasm to say that simply believing God exists makes us as good as the Devil. It is true that Abraham believed in God’s existence, but that is not the point of his righteousness. God had promised Abraham that He would give him a son. It was that promise that Abraham had to choose to believe or not. He had to make this choice even while he was in his 80’s and his wife was in her 70’s. He trusted that God would somehow fulfill that promise to him. Belief, in this account, means trust. Abraham chose to trust God for a son.

When Abraham chose to believe that promise of a son then God also gave him – ‘credited’ him– righteousness. In the end Abraham got both the fulfilled promise (a son from whom a great nation came) and also righteousness.

Righteousness – not from merit or effort

Abraham did not ‘earn’ righteousness. God ‘credited’ it to him. What is the difference? If you earn something you work for it – you deserve it. It is like receiving wages for the work you do. But when something is credited to you, it is given to you. You do not earn or merit it, but you do need to receive it.

_{Free Clip Art, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons}

We think that doing more good things than bad things, doing good deeds, or meeting obligations allows us to deserve or merit righteousness. Abraham proves this idea false. He did not try to earn righteousness. He simply chose to believe the promise offered to him, and then righteousness was given to him as well.

Abraham’s Belief: He bet his life on it

Choosing to believe in this promise for a son was simple but it was not easy. When he was first promised a ‘Great Nation’ he was 75 years old and he had left his home country and traveled to Canaan. Almost ten years had now passed and Abraham and Sarah still did not have a child – let alone a nation!

“Why has God not already given us a son if he could have done so”?, he would have wondered.

Abraham believed the promise of a son because he trusted God. He did so even though he did not understand everything about the promise. Nor did he have all his questions answered.

Believing the promise required active waiting. His whole life was interrupted while living in tents waiting for the promise. It would have been much easier to make excuses and return home to Mesopotamia (modern-day Iraq). His brother and family still lived there. Life was comfortable there.

His trust in the promise took priority over normal goals in life – security, comfort and well-being. He could have disbelieved the promise while still believing in the existence of God. He could have given up on the promise and still continued with religious activities and good deeds. Then he would have maintained his religion but not have been ‘credited’ righteousness.

Our Example

The rest of the Bible treats Abraham as an example for us. Abraham’s belief in the promise from God, and the crediting of righteousness, is a pattern for us. The Bible has other promises that God makes to all of us. We also have to chose whether we will trust them.

Here is an example of such a promise.

But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. ¹³They are reborn—not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan, but a birth that comes from God.
John 1:12-13

Today we know that the promise to Abraham came true. It is undeniable that the Jewish people today exist as that nation that came from Abraham. But like Abraham we face a promise today that seems unlikely and raises some questions. Like Abraham, we must choose to trust this promise – or not.

Who pays for Righteousness?

Abraham showed that God gives righteousness as a gift. When you get a gift you do not pay for it – otherwise it is not a gift. The giver of the gift is the one who pays. God, the giver of righteousness, will have to pay for righteousness. How will He do it? We see in our next article.

January 6, 2016

The Ageless Promise to an Unnoticed Man

Today’s global news headlines will quickly be forgotten as we move on to other amusements, championships or political events. The highlight one day quickly becomes forgotten the next. We saw in our previous article that this was true in the ancient time of Abraham. The important achievements that held the attention of people living 4000 years ago are now forgotten. But a promise quietly spoken to an individual, though overlooked by the world back then, is growing and still unfolding before our eyes. The promise given to Abraham 4000 years ago has come true. Perhaps God does exist and is working in the world.

Abraham’s Complaint

Several years have passed since God spoke the Promise recorded in Genesis 12. In obedience Abraham had moved to Canaan (the Promised Land) in what is today Israel. But the birth of the promised son did not happen. So Abraham began to worry.

Then 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.”
Genesis 15:1-3

God’s Promise

Abraham was camping out in the Land waiting for the start of the ‘Great Nation’ that God had promised him. But nothing had happened. He was now around 85 years old (ten years having passed since his move). He complained to God that He was not keeping His Promise. Their conversation continued:

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.”
Genesis 15:4-5

So God expanded His initial Promise by declaring that Abraham would get a son that would become a people as uncountable as the stars in the sky.

A map of the Land of Canaan or Holy Land, as divided among the twelve tribes which God promised to Abraham and his seed
^{Bowles, John, PD-US-expired, via Wikimedia Commons}

Abraham’s Response: Everlasting Effect

How would Abraham respond to the expanded Promise? What follows is a sentence that the Bible itself treats as one of its most important sentences. It helps us to understand the Bible and it shows the heart of God. The sentence reads:

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

It is easier to understand if we replace the pronouns with names, it would read:

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

It is such a small, simple sentence, but it is truly significant.

Why?

Because in this little sentence Abraham obtains ‘righteousness’. This is the one – and the only one – quality that we need to get right standing before God.

Reviewing our Problem: Corruption

From God’s point-of-view, though He created us in the image of God something happened that corrupted us. The Bible says:

The LORD looks down from heaven on the sons of men to see if there are any who understand, any who seek God. All have turned aside, they have together become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one.
Psalm 14:2-3

Our corruption has resulted in our not doing what is good –causing emptiness and death. (If you doubt this, read the world news headlines and see what people have been doing the last 24 hours.) The result is that we are separated from a Righteous God because we lack righteousness.

Our corruption repels God in the same way that we would keep away from the body of a dead rat. We would not want to go near it. So the words of the prophet Isaiah in the Bible come true.

All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away.
Isaiah 64:6

Abraham and Righteousness

But here in the conversation between Abraham and God we find God declaring that Abraham had gained ‘righteousness’, the kind that God accepts. This was true even though Abraham was not sinless. So, what did Abraham ‘do’ to get this righteousness? It simply says Abraham ‘believed’.

That’s it?!

We try to earn righteousness by doing so many things, but this man, Abraham, got it simply by ‘believing’.

But what does believing mean? And what does this have to do with your righteousness and mine? We take it up next.

January 5, 2016

An Ancient Journey that Affects us Today

Even though Israel is a small country it is always in the news. The news continues to report on Jews moving to Israel, on the technology invented there, but also on conflict, wars and tensions with surrounding people.

Why?

A look at Israel’s history in the book of Genesis of the Bible reveals that 4000 years ago a man, now very well known, went on a camping trip in that part of the world. The Bible says that his story affects our future.

This ancient man is Abraham (also known as Abram).  The Bible records God’s first steps in fulfilling His primeval promise, taken with Abraham.

The Promise to Abraham

God made a promise to Abraham:

“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.”
Genesis 12:2-3

Abraham’s name became Great

Some today wonder if a personal God exists who cares enough to help our troubled lives and give us hope. In this account we can test this question. Here God made a promise to a specific person, parts of which we can verify today. The account records that The LORD directly promised Abraham that ‘I will make your name great’. We live in the 21st century – 4000 years later. Today the name of Abraham is one of the most globally recognized names from ancient history. Jews and Arabs today trace their ancestry from him. The recent US-sponsored peace plan changing the geo-politics of the Middle East, The Abraham Accords, was named from him. This promise has literally, historically, and verifiably come true.

The Dead Sea scrolls contain the earliest manuscripts of the Bible. They date date to 200-100 BCE. This means that this promise has, at the very latest, been in writing since long before the name ‘Abraham’ became known outside of the Jewish nation. The fulfillment did not come about by simply writing it down after the name of Abraham became known.

… by means of his great nation

What is equally astonishing is that Abraham really did nothing noteworthy in his life. He achieved nothing that normally makes one’s name ‘great’. He did not write anything extraordinary. Abraham did not build anything noteworthy. He did not lead an army with impressive military skill . Nor was he a statesman, or a teacher. Abraham did not even rule a kingdom. He did nothing really except camp on his journey, pray in the wilderness, and then have a son.

^{_{Distant Shores Media/Sweet Publishing, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons}}

If you lived in Abraham’s day and predicted who would be most remembered thousands of years later, you would have bet on the kings, generals, warriors, or court poets living back then to be remembered today. But their names are all forgotten. But the man who just barely managed to have a family in the wilderness is a household name around the world. His name is great only because the nation(s) that he fathered kept the record of his account. Then individuals and nations that came from him became great. This is exactly how God promised it long ago (“I will make you into a great nation … I will make your name great”). No one else in all history is so well-known only because of descendants coming from him rather than from great accomplishments in his own life.

**…Through the Will of the Promise-Maker**

And the people today who descended from Abraham – the Jews – were never really a nation which we typically associate with greatness. They did not build great architectural structures like the pyramids of the Egyptians. They did not write philosophy like the Greeks, or administer over far-flung colonies like the British did. All of these nations accomplished their achievements as world empires stretching their extensive borders through extraordinary military power.

But the Jews never attained such great imperial power. The Jewish people’s greatness is mostly due to the Law and Book (Bible) which they birthed; from some remarkable individuals that came from their nation; and that they have survived for these thousands of years as a distinct and somewhat different people group. Their greatness is not really due to anything they did, but rather what was done to and through them.

The “I wills” stamped into History

Now look to the Person that was going to make this promise happen. There, in black-and-white, it says repeatedly that “I will …”. The unique way their greatness has played out in history fits once again remarkable to this declaration that it was going to be the Creator who would make this happen rather than some innate ability, conquest or power of this ‘nation’. The media attention paid around the world today to events in Israel, the modern Jewish nation, is a case in point. Do you constantly hear of news events in Singapore, Norway, Papua New Guinea, Bolivia, or the Central African Republic? But Israel, similarly-sized as these with 9 million, is constantly and regularly in the global news headlines.

Human events have no preset bias for Jewish people. History could have unfolded along so many different paths. Think how likely it was for this promise to have failed in some way. But instead it has unfolded, and continues to unfold, as it was declared those thousands of years ago. Perhaps the power and authority of that ancient Promise-Maker can penetrate the confusion that governs our lives.

The Journey that still shakes the World

The Bible then says that “So Abram left as the LORD had told him” (v. 4).  He began a journey, shown on the map that is still making history.

Abraham’s long journey would have been done by foot alongside a caravan of people, possessions and livestock_{^{Cleveland Museum of Art, PD-US-expired, via Wikimedia Commons}}

Blessings to us

This journey extends far beyond Abraham and his physical descendants. The blessing was not only for Abraham because it also says that

all peoples on earth will be blessed through you
v. 4

This should make you and I take note. Regardless of your nationality; no matter what your religion; whether you are wealthy or poor, healthy or sick, educated or not – the ‘all peoples on earth’ has to include you also. This promise for a blessing includes everybody alive from back then until today – which means you. How? When? What kind of blessing? In following the account of Abraham we understand better.

We have just verified historically and literally that the first part of the Promise to Abraham has come true. Do we not then have a reason to trust that the Promise to you and to me will also not activate? Because we can see it operating still 4000 years later, we know this promise reaches across history. But we need to unlock it – to understand the Promise, know how it can ‘touch’ us. We find out in continuing to follow the account of Abraham. He shows a pattern we can follow. We see this next.