The Potter’s House: 3/31/2013; Romans 9:6ff. The Assurance of God’s Election and the Hope of Whosoever Will, Part 3
Election has a purpose. However you want to debate the issue, all should agree on that:
Romans 9:11 – though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad—in order that God’s purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of him who calls— 12 she was told, “The older will serve the younger.”
God’s purpose of election is to remove all possibility of works from justification. This is clear. Therefore, election divides justification from sanctification completely. God goes to great extremes to make this as prevalent as He can. Though election is a difficult issue, verse 11 of this chapter could not be clearer on that point. Election makes salvation an issue of Him who calls rather than anything we do to contribute to justification.
But in sanctification (the Christian life), we are continually called to works. Therefore, those works must be seen as works that cannot affect our just standing. How could they if our calling was before the creation of the earth?
Romans 8:30 – And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.
Ephesians 1:4 – even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love 5 he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, 6 to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. 7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, 8 which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight 9 making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ 10 as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.
Sanctification is an entirely different matter. The Scriptures must be interpreted with this dichotomy in mind. This is the only thing that explains the call to work aggressively in our Christian life while justification is by faith alone. If we were called, it is a settled issue:
John 6:35 – Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. 36 But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe. 37 All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. 38 For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. 39 And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. 40 For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”
We must contend that eternal security and election go hand in hand apart from works to maintain our just standing. If we can lose our salvation, the next question must be: WHAT DO WE HAVE TO DO TO KEEP IT? And if we have to do anything to keep it, we are a participant in justification. What of those who eventually deny the faith and walk away to no faith or a false faith? They were never saved to begin with:
1John 1:19 – They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us. 20 But you have been anointed by the Holy One, and you all have knowledge. 21 I write to you, not because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and because no lie is of the truth.
The historical events Paul cites in this chapter further explain the relationship of justification and law. This is important for the Gentiles to know because they are being integrated into a Jewish church, and movements within Judaism that propagated a works salvation by keeping the traditions of men were rampant. Remember, we find in our studies that these works systems are separate from truth and replace it with the ideas of men. This is probably because it makes law-keeping feasible. Ritual is always easier than love. True law-keeping is the direction and goal of sanctification, but justification is totally separate from law—this cannot be said enough.
As we begin to look at the history of covenants and their relationship to election, we will see that they work together toward the common goal of God dwelling with man on earth for eternity.
Genesis 12:1 – Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. 2 And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” 4 So Abram went, as the Lord had told him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran.
The plan from the very beginning was to include the Gentiles: “and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” And, God used events to demonstrate that the guarantee of this covenant was based on His promises alone. The first issue becomes Abraham and Sarah’s age. This is by design because the promised seed will be by a miracle of God and not anything that is a contribution from man:
Genesis 15:1 – After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: “Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.” 2 But Abram said, “O Lord God, what will you give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” 3 And Abram said, “Behold, you have given me no offspring, and a member of my household will be my heir.” 4 And behold, the word of the Lord came to him: “This man shall not be your heir; your very own son shall be your heir.” 5 And he brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” 6 And he believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness.
This is a very fundamental and important element of faith. Not a lot of theology in this conversation. It’s not that the informational part of faith is not important, but as we see here, it is fundamentally believing and trusting God Himself. Saving faith that justifies believes God. Much of what a new believer in God believes is information that comes later. The information itself takes a back seat to the fact that it came from God and that is why it is obeyed and accepted. Faith that justifies believes God Himself, and then whatever information comes from God later as a matter of trust and love. We may not always like it, but our dedication to God will result in a pattern of obedience.
Let’s continue to the next point:
Genesis 15:7 – And he said to him, “I am the Lord who brought you out from Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to possess.” 8 But he said, “O Lord God, how am I to know that I shall possess it?” 9 He said to him, “Bring me a heifer three years old, a female goat three years old, a ram three years old, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.” 10 And he brought him all these, cut them in half, and laid each half over against the other. But he did not cut the birds in half. 11 And when birds of prey came down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away.
12 As the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell on Abram. And behold, dreadful and great darkness fell upon him. 13 Then the Lord said to Abram, “Know for certain that your offspring will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs and will be servants there, and they will be afflicted for four hundred years. 14 But I will bring judgment on the nation that they serve, and afterward they shall come out with great possessions. 15 As for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried in a good old age. 16 And they shall come back here in the fourth generation, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.”
17 When the sun had gone down and it was dark, behold, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed between these pieces. 18 On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your offspring I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates, 19 the land of the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites, 20 the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, 21 the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites and the Jebusites.”
All of the whatnots concerning this covenant ritual aside, God puts Abraham in a deep sleep and consummates the covenant Himself. The faithfulness of the covenant will depend on God, not Abraham. God will fulfill this promise despite the failures of men—it doesn’t depend on man’s faithfulness, but God’s faithfulness. But mark it right here in Scripture: All of these promises to Abraham will be fulfilled. God even predicts the captivity in Egypt so that it will not be seen as proof that God forgot His chosen people or cast them away. While in Egypt, the Jews were transformed from a clan to a nation which required an additional covenant at Mt. Sinai. As we discussed in prior lessons, that covenant is consummated by force as prophesied in the book of Revelation. That is also when the fulfillment of the Abrahamic covenant is realized as well though not fully. The complete realization will be when heavenly Jerusalem descends from heaven and God tabernacles with man in the new heaven and new earth.
God combines the actions of men with His plan for finally dwelling with man in piece. This is a spectacular tapestry of God’s sovereignty and the actions of mankind woven together. In events, God is usually taking care of a lot of business, it is divine multitasking. While God’s nation is being incubated in Egypt along with the accumulation of possessions, the timing for using His nation to judge the Amorites will be right on schedule:
“And they shall come back here in the fourth generation, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete” (v.16).
And the fulfillment:
Joshua 12:1- Now these are the kings of the land whom the people of Israel defeated and took possession of their land beyond the Jordan toward the sunrise, from the Valley of the Arnon to Mount Hermon, with all the Arabah eastward: 2 Sihon king of the Amorites who lived at Heshbon and ruled from Aroer, which is on the edge of the Valley of the Arnon, and from the middle of the valley as far as the river Jabbok, the boundary of the Ammonites, that is, half of Gilead, 3 and the Arabah to the Sea of Chinneroth eastward, and in the direction of Beth-jeshimoth, to the Sea of the Arabah, the Salt Sea, southward to the foot of the slopes of Pisgah;
The next events are indicative of what happens when we are involved in God’s plan for salvation. God uses the events as recorded in Scripture to teach us the importance of salvation resting in His promises. Also, we see the reality of sanctification. Because we are born again, we display extraordinary acts of faith and obedience. We are also still mortal and weakened by the flesh which results in our pattern of faith being interrupted by boneheaded thinking and behavior:
Genesis 16:1 – Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children. She had a female Egyptian servant whose name was Hagar. 2 And Sarai said to Abram, “Behold now, the Lord has prevented me from bearing children. Go in to my servant; it may be that I shall obtain children by her.” And Abram listened to the voice of Sarai. 3 So, after Abram had lived ten years in the land of Canaan, Sarai, Abram’s wife, took Hagar the Egyptian, her servant, and gave her to Abram her husband as a wife. 4 And he went in to Hagar, and she conceived. And when she saw that she had conceived, she looked with contempt on her mistress. 5 And Sarai said to Abram, “May the wrong done to me be on you! I gave my servant to your embrace, and when she saw that she had conceived, she looked on me with contempt. May the Lord judge between you and me!” 6 But Abram said to Sarai, “Behold, your servant is in your power; do to her as you please.” Then Sarai dealt harshly with her, and she fled from her.
7 The angel of the Lord found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, the spring on the way to Shur. 8 And he said, “Hagar, servant of Sarai, where have you come from and where are you going?” She said, “I am fleeing from my mistress Sarai.” 9 The angel of the Lord said to her, “Return to your mistress and submit to her.” 10 The angel of the Lord also said to her, “I will surely multiply your offspring so that they cannot be numbered for multitude.” 11 And the angel of the Lord said to her, “Behold, you are pregnant and shall bear a son. You shall call his name Ishmael, because the Lord has listened to your affliction. 12 He shall be a wild donkey of a man, his hand against everyone and everyone’s hand against him, and he shall dwell over against all his kinsmen.” 13 So she called the name of the Lord who spoke to her, “You are a God of seeing,” for she said, “Truly here I have seen him who looks after me.” 14 Therefore the well was called Beer-lahai-roi; it lies between Kadesh and Bered. 15 And Hagar bore Abram a son, and Abram called the name of his son, whom Hagar bore, Ishmael. 16 Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to Abram.
Family drama is usually the result of bad ideas, and this was a bad idea. Notice the involvement of the angel in counseling Hagar. Remember that in our Mt. Sinai interlude study we learned that the angels are the administrators of God’s covenants, and I think that’s what we are seeing here. Angels are very much involved in the unfolding of God’s redemptive plan. More than likely, the seven letters to the churches in Revelation were delivered by actual angels accordingly. Some interpret the word for angel there as the sole or most prominent pastor at that church. More likely is the idea that the letters were delivered by real angels. This might also indicate that each church has its own angel assigned by God. When Abraham turns 99 years old, God returned and stated the following:
Genesis 17:15 – And God said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name. 16 I will bless her, and moreover, I will give you a son by her. I will bless her, and she shall become nations; kings of peoples shall come from her.” 17 Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed and said to himself, “Shall a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old? Shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?” 18 And Abraham said to God, “Oh that Ishmael might live before you!” 19 God said, “No, but Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his offspring after him. 20 As for Ishmael, I have heard you; behold, I have blessed him and will make him fruitful and multiply him greatly. He shall father twelve princes, and I will make him into a great nation. 21 But I will establish my covenant with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear to you at this time next year.”
Abraham wanted God to establish the everlasting covenant through an heir of his own scheming; that wasn’t going to happen. Ishmael was technically an Israelite, but he serves to make Paul’s point in Romans nine: not all Israelites are of the promise just because they are Abraham’s offspring, and men do not contribute to the successful consummation of the promise in any way:
Romans 9:6 – But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel, 7 and not all are children of Abraham because they are his offspring, but “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.” 8 This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as offspring. 9 For this is what the promise said: “About this time next year I will return, and Sarah shall have a son.”
Here is the specific reference in Genesis:
Genesis 18:9 – They said to him, “Where is Sarah your wife?” And he said, “She is in the tent.” 10 The Lord said, “I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife shall have a son.” And Sarah was listening at the tent door behind him. 11 Now Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in years. The way of women had ceased to be with Sarah. 12 So Sarah laughed to herself, saying, “After I am worn out, and my lord is old, shall I have pleasure?” 13 The Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Shall I indeed bear a child, now that I am old?’ 14 Is anything too hard for the Lord? At the appointed time I will return to you, about this time next year, and Sarah shall have a son.” 15 But Sarah denied it, saying, “I did not laugh,” for she was afraid. He said, “No, but you did laugh.”
Paul’s very next example to further illustrate His point is the twins Esau and Jacob born to Isaac and Rebecca. Technically, Esau was the heir because he emerged first:
Romans 9:10 – And not only so, but also when Rebekah had conceived children by one man, our forefather Isaac, 11 though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad—in order that God’s purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of him who calls— 12 she was told, “The older will serve the younger.” 13 As it is written, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”
Israel was elected and the promise is founded on God’s faithfulness and plan alone. But not all are righteous decedents. Israel is an elected nation and has elect within according to the promise. Israel is comprised of those under the law, enslaved to sin, and headed for a judgment where they will be judged by the law. Then there is a remnant that is under grace, enslaved to righteousness, and will not stand in a judgment to determine their just standing:
Galatians 4:21 – Tell me, you who desire to be under the law, do you not listen to the law? 22 For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by a slave woman and one by a free woman. 23 But the son of the slave was born according to the flesh, while the son of the free woman was born through promise. 24 Now this may be interpreted allegorically: these women are two covenants. One is from Mount Sinai, bearing children for slavery; she is Hagar. 25 Now Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia; she corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is in slavery with her children. 26 But the Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother. 27 For it is written,
[Isaiah 54:1] “Rejoice, O barren one who does not bear; break forth and cry aloud, you who are not in labor! For the children of the desolate one will be more than those of the one who has a husband.”
28 Now you, brothers, like Isaac, are children of promise. 29 But just as at that time he who was born according to the flesh persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, so also it is now. 30 But what does the Scripture say? “Cast out the slave woman and her son, for the son of the slave woman shall not inherit with the son of the free woman.” 31 So, brothers, we are not children of the slave but of the free woman [note what Paul is calling the “law” here. It is the historical account of the linage. A reminder from past studies that the Bible is “the law”].
Paul wanted the Gentiles at Rome to have a thorough understanding that they were children of the promise. Covenants of promise are completely apart from the law and works. Election guarantees that separation. That’s the positive side: free to aggressively obey God in sanctification without affecting the finished work of justification, and knowing that we are secure because our salvation was of God only. That’s the positive side. Next week, we will look at Paul’s anticipated objection from some:
Romans 9:19 – You will say to me then, “Why does he still find fault? For who can resist his will?” 20 But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, “Why have you made me like this?” 21 Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use?
We will look at this deeper next week.
The Potter’s House: Sunday, 3/3/2013; The Gospel According to Moses, Part 3
How do we approach the Scriptures? Asked another way: how should we interpret the Bible? This is an especially important question when we approach Exodus 19-31. This is the Mount Sinai event where the first law was given to Israel and plans for the tabernacle given to Moses. These passages are full of images that can be assigned a plethora of meaning. We live in a day where there are approaches to the Bible that yield certain results; for the most part, lack of life application. Christians in our day give little thought to what methods are being used to interpret the Bible. If the outcome sounds good a sound interpretive method is assumed. But method determines outcome, and the Bible is clear regarding what the outcome of Bible study should be. This answers the question: the method should lead to understanding that is profitable for hope, encouragement, teaching, reproof, correction, and righteousness training with the goal being competent in every area of life. The goal is to be equipped for every good work (2TIM 3:16-17).
That’s critical in understanding what the premier biblical hermeneutic is: the goal; to be fully equipped for every good work. Students of the Bible should leave every teaching more equipped. We should also know that the Scriptures are breathed out by God and He does not speak less than He should or more than He should. “All” of Scripture is profitable for equipping us (2TIM 3:16). All Scripture should be approached with that goal and that attitude. That’s the hermeneutic. And I believe firmly that the Bible interprets itself.
As I stated last week, we are going to approach chapters 25-31 with God’s stated purpose in mind. He told Moses the following in chapter 19:
Exodus 19: 5 – Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; 6 and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. These are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel.
Once the Israelites agreed to the covenant, God begins working with them to bring this plan to volition. What follows has to be interpreted through God’s purpose for doing it in the first place. Secondly, we need to remember what God wanted from the nation of Israel at that time is in fact our present identity as Christians, so we must be on the lookout for how that relates to this body of Scripture:
1Peter 2:9 – But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
It is also a good idea to think about what was going on in general. This is a building project with God as the general contractor. Hence, great insight can be gained by observing how God expected His people to interact with Him in the building of the tabernacle. We see a combination of imperatives and the freedom to use our own creativity. God commanded that molding was to be added to the ark, but didn’t specify design. That was left to the creativity of the craftsman. However, God continually commanded that the craftsmanship be “skillful.” Full diligence was to be exercised and not any halfhearted efforts or shortcuts. And by the way, such should be the case with any project that we do with God—especially sanctification. As we have taken this short interlude into the book of Exodus, I have heard from others regarding the references to sanctification in tabernacle worship. Here is one example:
Just reading in Numbers 28 about the daily sacrifice that was to be offered morning and evening that was to be for a continuing “sweet savour” to the Lord.
The parallel to this is our Sanctification, our daily walk with the Lord.
Rom 12:1 – I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
Eph 5:2 – And walk in love…an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling savour.
Php 4:18 – But I have all, and abound: I am full, having received of Epaphroditus the things which were sent from you, an odour of a sweet smell, a sacrifice acceptable, wellpleasing to God.
In our Christian life we have both freedom and stipulation. Sometimes we have the option to give or not give for whatever reason (EX 25:2). Sometimes giving is imperative (EX 30:11-16). The lives of Christians can be fraught with superstition if this is not understood. For example, those who are single and not gifted to be should marry, and marry whomever they want to marry with some restrictions. This is what Scripture reveals. This is very valuable information when helping people who have left a cult. They often see God as one who is ready to severely punish at any moment for not doing every little thing according to His predetermined will. Something else that might be noted is that God didn’t give Moses a reason for why He wanted some things built a certain way, but I am sure many reasons were realized over time. This speaks to the trust issue. We also see God’s practicality: larger objects were made of wood overlaid with gold while smaller objects were solid gold. The tabernacle was portable and meant to be moved; large items made of solid gold would have made portability very difficult.
The tabernacle represents God’s grand goal—to dwell with mankind. Tabernacle means “to dwell with.” This first requires reconciliation. We must make a covenant of peace with Him. Therefore, the tabernacle represented God’s desire to dwell with mankind and the covenant required to make it possible. He dwelt in the most Holy part of the tabernacle between the cherubim, and over the tablets of stone that represented the covenant. That goal is finally consummated in the fullest sense at the end of the ages and noted towards the end of Revelation:
Revelation 21:1 – Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. 2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. 4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”
Here is the word meaning for “dwelling” and “dwell” in REV 21:1-4;
g4633. σκηνη skene; apparently akin to 4632 and 4639; a tent or cloth hut (literally or figuratively):— habitation, tabernacle. AV (20)- tabernacle 19, habitation 1; tent, tabernacle, ( made of green boughs, or skins or other materials) of that well known movable temple of God after the pattern of which the temple at Jerusalem was built.
g4637. σκηνοω skenoo; from 4636; to tent or encamp, i. e. (figuratively) to occupy (as a mansion) or (specially), to reside (as God did in the Tabernacle of old, a symbol of protection and communion):— dwell. AV (5)- dwell 5; to fix one’s tabernacle, have one’s tabernacle, abide ( or live) in a tabernacle ( or tent), tabernacle to dwell.
Ultimately, we Christians don’t look for what’s next on the prophetic calendar, but the new heaven and new earth when God leaves heaven and dwells with man on earth. This is also the city built by God that Abraham looked for (2Peter 3:13, Hebrews 11:8-10).
The tabernacle also represents the fact God is completely uncompromising when it comes to the only truth that will heal. He is completely uncompromising in regard to the only truth that sanctifies (John 17:17). He is completely uncompromising in regard to truth that brings life. This is the message that often perplexes people and tempts them to think God is harsh. What an appropriate observation for this series in Romans and our gospel commentary! The ark was not to be touched (NUM 4:15). The tabernacle ordinances were to be carried out in specific ways or death could occur. The tabernacle was to be arranged in a specific way lest the same occur as well. When the ark was handled in a flippant way, consequences were severe (1SAM 5:1-6, 6:19, 2SAM 6:1-3). But take note of what the specific offence was: treating God’s holy covenant with man flippantly. The ark represented the covenant that makes reconciliation with God possible. You don’t mess with that. There is only one way to be reconciled to God, and you don’t dare go into the tabernacle and start rearranging the furniture. This is the point the Hebrew writer made in regard to the new covenant being less fearful than its shadow presented at Mount Sinai:
Hebrews 10:26 – For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, 27 but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries. 28 Anyone who has set aside the law of Moses dies without mercy on the evidence of two or three witnesses. 29 How much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the one who has trampled underfoot the Son of God, and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has outraged the Spirit of grace? 30 For we know him who said, “Vengeance is mine; I will repay.” And again, “The Lord will judge his people.” 31 It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
Hebrews 12:18 – For you have not come to what may be touched, a blazing fire and darkness and gloom and a tempest 19 and the sound of a trumpet and a voice whose words made the hearers beg that no further messages be spoken to them. 20 For they could not endure the order that was given, “If even a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned.” 21 Indeed, so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, “I tremble with fear.” 22 But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, 23 and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, 24 and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.
25 See that you do not refuse him who is speaking. For if they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less will we escape if we reject him who warns from heaven. 26 At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, “Yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.” 27 This phrase, “Yet once more,” indicates the removal of things that are shaken—that is, things that have been made—in order that the things that cannot be shaken may remain. 28 Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, 29 for our God is a consuming fire.
Because we supposedly live in an age of grace and not law, there is no reason to fear Mount Sinai and the old “covenant of death.” No, God has less patience today than He did at Mount Sinai for those who treat the covenant lightly. In fact, in times past, God winked at ignorance but now commands men everywhere to repent (Acts 17:30).
Angels occupy a great deal of the tabernacles imagery. Why is that? First, there were myriads of them about Mt. Sinai when God came to meet with Israel for the covenant ceremony. This wasn’t mentioned in Exodus, but reveled in DUE 33:1ff., PS 68:17, and Acts 7:53. This is probably why God didn’t have to give details concerning what images of angels should look like in the tabernacle. We also read the following in Galatians 3:19:
Why then the law? It was added because of transgressions, until the offspring should come to whom the promise had been made, and it was put in place through angels by an intermediary.
“Put in place” is the following:
g1299. διατασσω diatasso; from 1223 and 5021; to arrange thoroughly, i.e. (specially) institute, prescribe, etc.: — appoint, command, give, (set in) order, ordain. AV (16)- command 7, appoint 4, ordain 3, set in order 1, give order 1; to arrange, appoint, ordain, prescribe, give order.
This covenant put in place by the angels at Mt. Sinai was eventually rejected by Israel through disobedience, but will be permanently enforced by the angels as recorded in the book of Revelation. As noted in Hebrews, the Lord will once more shake the earth in regard to this covenant (HEB 12:26). There are references to the tabernacle throughout the book of Revelation; e.g., 6:9-10 and 11:19. In the Book of the Covenant God warns Israel not to make a covenant with other nations for protection and wellbeing (EX 34:15). They do exactly that by making a pact with hell (IS 28:15, Daniel 8:24-25, 9:27, 1THESS 5:2-4) for protection and that launches the last seven years of the times of the gentiles (Luke 21:24). Undoubtedly, the 144,000 are commissioned to announce to the Jews that God has come to enforce the covenant one way or the other and on a grand scale we have the same scene that we see at Mt. Sinai when the Israelites made the golden calf. It will be time for the Jews to fish or cut bait: are you with God or the antichrist? Those who are with God will inhabit the millennial kingdom that Christ will then usher in.
Sabbath ordinances were also a special part of the Book of the Covenant issued at Mt. Sinai (EX 23:10-11), and the Jews broke that covenant leading to God punishing them through Gentile persecution for a designated period of time. 483 years of that time to finish the transgression are complete, and there are seven left. The assembly of Christ inaugurated at Pentecost constitutes a parenthesis within the times of the Gentiles that will be ended by the imminent return of Christ for His assembly and the ushering in of the final seven years that will enforce the Mt. Sinai covenant. Biblical references that you can study on your own follow:
LK 21:24, MAL 1:10-11, ROM 10:14-11:32, LEV 25:4-5, 26:14-35, JER 25:11-12, 29:10-11 2CHRON 36:21, DAN 9:1-2, 20-27.
Throughout the New Testament it is clear that the return of Christ for His assembly is imminent, but nothing in Revelation is imminent—events are clearly marked on a specific timeline. Upon the signing of the covenant between Israel and the anti-Christ, all following events will be able to be marked on a calendar. I believe that the running to and fro and increasing of knowledge stated in the book of Daniel refers to the book of Revelation and its relevance for that day (DAN 12:4).
The Bible interprets the Bible. If you want to say that the curtain that separated the most holy place from the holy place represents Christ, that is correct because HEB 10:19-23 and MATT 27:50-51 states that specifically, but a Christocentric interpretation should not be imposed on any Bible verse where it is not warranted. And lastly, truth may not be played with like a toy. You cannot separate God’s holiness from truth and His covenant. This is perhaps the primary point of the tabernacle. People love to make propositional truth something that is beneath God’s dignity. To suggest that we know anything about God is supposedly the epitome of arrogance. Of course, this gives license to believe anything we want to. Therefore, I think an excerpt from the second part of this three-part interlude is a fitting conclusion:
What better example than the infamous “Touchdown Jesus” that was an icon of a church in Monroe, Ohio. The statue of Jesus was 60ft. high and was merely a couple of hundred ft. from I-75. That is, until it was struck by lightning. The flames could be seen for miles in the night and the pictures thereof can be best described as apocalyptic. The next day, it was the talk of the nation. But telling was the hundreds of testimonies recorded on the news and in newspapers; i.e., “what the image meant to me.” Yikes! The hundreds of different interpretations were staggering, and the statue never spoke one word! Most interesting was a comment by an unbeliever who worked in the Monroe area: “Obviously, God did it.” Often, there is a disconnect between the secular mindset and the Christian mindset which involves the disintegration of common sense that is a natural endowment; mysticism often abandons the matter and faith becomes a license for mindlessness.
The Potter’s House: Romans 8:14-39; Assurance and Aggressive Sanctification
Spiritually Healthy Christians Must Know That They Are Secure Slaves
This message will be the last in our commentary, The Gospel: Clarity in Confusing Times; Volume One. Volume one covers the first half of Romans. Starting in chapter nine the apostle Paul clarifies the truth about Israel in eschatology. In chapter twelve Paul begins to explain the life application of truth. He finishes Romans with that subject.
Our last message in the first volume covers Romans 8:14-39 which completes chapter eight. Paul states the following in verse 8:14-17;
14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. 15 For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” 16 The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.
It is absolutely critical that healthy, strong Christians know without a doubt that they are on their way to heaven. Eternal security is paramount to effective sanctification. I realize many Christians struggle with security, and the Bible seems to indicate that for whatever reason, some will suffer from chronic doubt. But in most cases doubt is the result of weak leadership and weak sanctification. I believe most Christians want to see things happening in their lives and the lives of others. I believe Christians long to see the power of God manifested. In fact, we are to work out our own salvation with trembling and fear (PHIL 2:12-13), and I believe that is a fear from seeing the power of God being worked out in our lives. It can be a fearful thing to realize that you are in the same rowboat with God. Sometimes we fantasize that God is doing some unbelievable work in our lives, but He actually wants to do more than we could ever imagine (EPH 1:18-20).
Let’s face it: people aren’t being saved, and the ones who are being saved stop changing after the honeymoon. We are all nice enough as compared to the world, but every week that we see each other we are the same nice people that we saw last week. In other words, we are boring and the world knows we are boring. Where there is life there is change. The world isn’t stupid; if we are not changing more than them we don’t have any life either. But all Christians are given the same power that raised Christ from the grave (Ibid). This is a matter of wise, aggressive sanctification that appropriates that power. Hence, God’s word teaches us all of the necessary facets of this diamond in the rough.
It starts with getting people signed up correctly. Life insurance salesmen are boring. People rarely like to meet with them. Canned gospel presentations that offer eternal life in exchange for a cheap prayer doesn’t seem quite right to intelligent heathens. Many heathens are more intelligent than we are; therefore, we should go to them with the mind of Christ. We need to tell them that if they believe on the atoning works of Christ alone, God will impute His righteousness to them and impute their sin to the penalty paid in full by Christ. Then, God will give them the gift of the Holy Spirit who will enslave their minds to the law. It’s a gift by faith alone, but it will result in their minds being enslaved to God’s law. If they don’t want to be enslaved to God’s law—God will not save them. They are choosing to remain a slave to sin and the fear that comes with it. Why? We learned in earlier studies in our Romans series that the works of the law are written on the hearts of every individual born into the world. Their consciences either accuse or excuse based on that law. That’s why mankind is not totally depraved. They have a conscience guided by God’s intuitive word. But as we also learned, they are enslaved to sin, under the law, and will be judged by the law. In fact, the law that they will be judged by provokes their sinful nature to sin. Salvation puts that man to death with Christ, imputes to him/her a righteousness apart from the law, frees him/her from any judgment of the law, and resurrects him/her to a new life that is enslaved to the law (ROM 7:25).
When I became a believer, a struggle that haunted me for years ensued. I knew I was saved whether I kept the law or not. I knew that I wasn’t saved by works. But yet, I was disturbed by the fact that obeying God’s law was so important to me. I feared this urgency came from the fact that I was functioning by works salvation. I feared that I was assenting mentally to grace by faith alone, but functioning by works salvation. I feared that I was only giving a tacit nod to grace by faith alone while actually living by works. Here is what I didn’t understand: that wasn’t the case at all; the fact is that my mind was (and still is) enslaved to the law. My obsession with obeying the law was due to being a new creature. My misunderstanding of this crippled my walk with God for years.
Then, when I did understand that, my concern turned to how “powerless” I was to obey. Where is all of this new creaturehood? Why do I sin so much? Why do I keep committing the same sins? This was due to the fact that I was unaware that the Bible has much to say about how we overcome sin. It is a hearty endeavor that includes many, many different subjects. I was trying to do the right thing the wrong way. Many Christians who don’t understand the aggressive nature of sanctification eventually give up and lose hope. Teaching and leading the saints in aggressive sanctification is the premiere failure of the pastorate in our day. If not antinomian, most Christians live by biblical generalities. Most cannot state specifically how the word of God has changed their life in the past month. Many cannot remember the last time that the word of God made a marked difference in their lives.
But part and parcel with aggressive sanctification is suffering; specifically, suffering for righteousness sake. Paul states that we cannot “fall” back into the old spirit running the show resulting in fear of judgment. The apostle John stated that fear has to do with judgment (1JN 4:18). Paul writes that we are heirs, and the Holy Spirit testifies with us (not to us) that we are the sons of God. And then Paul adds the following: “provided we suffer with Him.” What is this suffering? Apart from the joy and hope we have in salvation, Paul is referring to the suffering in our fight against sin in our flesh. This harkens back to Romans 7:21-25 specifically:
21 So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. 22 For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, 23 but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. 24 Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? 25 Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.
As in a previous study, we will take note of the word “wretched.” Note the reference below if you would:
g5005. ταλαιπωροσ talaiporos; from the base of 5007 and a derivative of the base of 3984; enduring trial, i. e. miserable:— wretched. AV (2)- wretched 2; enduring toils and troubles afflicted, wretched.
Paul is saying that we are afflicted as we endure in our battle against sin in our flesh. It’s an affliction. Though the old us is dead, somehow, sin still lives in our mortal flesh. It can no longer enslave us, but it can attack us in various and sundry ways as it still has access to our intellect and emotions. Its power is still significant, and it is tenacious to the point where it even wages war against the indwelling Holy Spirit (GAL 5:16). This is the suffering Paul is talking about.
Paul continues on this point and compares our oppression from sin to how creation is also oppressed by the curse of sin. Unbelievers do not experience this suffering. That’s Paul’s point in verses 15-17—this suffering is evidence of our salvation—this suffering should give us assurance and stoke an eager anticipation for the return of Christ. Creation also groans and eagerly anticipates the return of Christ as well. Having the firstfruits of the Sprit makes us groan for redemption:
Romans 8:18 – For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. 19 For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. 20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. 22 For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. 23 And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. 24 For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? 25 But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.
We are in warfare together with the indwelling Holy Spirit against the sin of our flesh and the sin in the world. With the Holy Spirit, we are putting to death the deeds of the flesh (ROM 8:13). Look how Paul begins verse 26. He begins with “likewise.” Likewise what? Well, Paul just finished speaking of us groaning together with creation in our suffering because of sin. Likewise, the Holy Spirit groans also. In His great love for us, he helps us in many ways as we fight together. He intercedes for us by prayer in groaning that is too deep for words. Other Scripture tells us that the Holy Spirit is also grieved by our failures in fighting the good fight against sin. Here is how Paul states it:
Romans 8:26 – Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. 27 And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.
We are exhorted to grieve not the Holy Spirit who has sealed us until the day of redemption (EPH 4:30). In other words, the Holy Spirit is already suffering for our sanctification in ways that are beyond words—far be it from us to add to His suffering via spiritual laziness, indifference, or outright sin. Is it just me, or are these deep sanctification matters little talked about in our day? Do we experience warfare with our flesh and the world alongside the Holy Spirit? Are we putting to death the deeds of the flesh with the Spirit’s help daily? Are we changing? One thing is for certain, experiencing the aforementioned to any degree excludes doubt. Paul is sharing how this struggle with sin is actually experienced. To the contrary, this experience (it well vary in intensity among Christians) should not cause us to doubt, but should give us assurance. It is indicative of a gift that comes with salvation: love for the truth.
2Thessalonians 2:9 – The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders, 10 and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. 11 Therefore God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false, 12 in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
Do you take pleasure in unrighteousness? If not, this should be one of many things that give you assurance. But even with that, learning to hate unrightousness may be one of the ways you need to change. Even you secretly desire certain sins, the Bible states that you can learn to hate them. Sanctification is a many-faceted issue but we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us.
Let me once more reiterate our major theme here: eternal security is crucial for healthy sanctification. Aggressiveness and hesitation are mismatched colaborers. Paul points out that those born of the Spirit should experience sanctification in a certain way because we are new creatures in the Holy Spirit. He also explains why we still struggle with sin. Now he moves on to other facts that should bolster our assurance:
Romans 8:28 – And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. 29 For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30 And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.
I am not sure that Paul had this in mind when he penned these words, but past regret is also a poor motivator in sanctification. Susan and I often bemoan the fact that we have found each other late in life and have a pretty good marriage because of what we have learned over the years. Just think of what we could have done for the Lord and what our lives could have been if we had found each other earlier. But this isn’t exactly true. Note what Paul states once again:
And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.
Susan and I have a pretty focused life and know where we want to go with it, but the fact is, we get it because of the prior years and what we experienced. It probably took that many years because we have remembrance issues. Remembering what God has taught us in the past to be better in the future is a major, major theme in the Bible. We have enough of the old stubbornness in us to warrant many years of hammering for remembrance purposes. Nevertheless, God works all of life into His plan for us and the grand goal is guaranteed. Susan and I have deep convictions that drive us, but our past lives have a lot to do with that. We could have had longer years together for God’s glory, but what about quality? Those years should also translate into a call of duty. When God has gifted us with many years, it is our duty to take those years that God has worked for our good and apply what we have learned to what years we have left—God has always been at work, and He is always working for our good.
Now, verses 29 and 30 are paramount to our secure standing. They are also paramount to healthy sanctification. First and foremost, these verses teach us that Scripture is applicable. What’s that mean? It’s primarily for life application. The power is in the doing. If you doubt that, read James 1:25 and Mathew 7: 24-27. Doing leads to a blessed life built on a rock. But how can we be aggressive in doing without fear that we are somehow trying to earn our salvation? This is the importance of verses 29 and 30. There is nothing we can do to work towards our salvation because we were saved before creation. The glorification we groan for is also spoken of in the past tense. It’s like the contemporary maxim, “It’s as good as done.” Predestination is key to eternal security—it’s applicable to our security, but that’s where it stops, and indeed, that is the context of which Paul presents predestination—in the context of eternal security. We are not to draw logical conclusions from predestination in order to form a modus operandi for aggressive sanctification; it will hinder aggressive sanctification. Predestination is meant to fuel aggressive sanctification, not render it to various forms of determinism. The Scriptures are absolutely clear: healthy sanctification depends on our aggressive involvement. Predestination is clearly a paradox and a mystery that we will not understand until we reach heaven. It is the sole resident justification.
These verses emphasize the critical issue of keeping justification and sanctification completely separate. Justification is a finished Trinitarian work, and sanctification is a progressive Trinitarian work. The fact that Paul excludes our Christian walk from these verses is the foundation of our assurance. Our glorification was predetermined before creation. It is clear as well that we are to evangelize like it depends on us, and I think it does depend on us. I have seen this paradox at work in reality many times. We evangelize the way the apostle Paul evangelized. Clearly, he did so as though it depended on his zealous goal to do it right. Clearly, method matters. But yet, when one is saved, we quickly give God all the glory. Both are true. How will people be saved if nobody preaches the gospel?
Romans 10:14 – How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? 15 And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” 16 But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?” 17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.
That’s true before people get saved, Romans 8:29-30 are true after people get saved, but both are true. Read the Scriptures for yourselves—this is the mindset of every evangelist from Genesis to Revelation. And here is the great caution of our day: notice in the passage we just read that in verse 17 we have, “the word of Christ” (ESV). What we call the Received Text manuscripts have that as “the word of God.” We have to be careful because most translations of our day came out of the Reformation era which was heavily influenced by Gnostic ideas that resulted in a Christocentric hermeneutic. This aberration is but one of hundreds of examples. Why is that important? Because Gnostic ideas create gospels that fuse justification and sanctification together. In other words, sanctification finishes justification.
That’s a disaster because we are involved in sanctification. This makes sanctification a minefield because now the same justification that saved us sanctifies us and if we are not sanctified the same way we were justified—we don’t get glorification. Therefore, in the minds of the Reformers, we have to be sanctified by faith alone; i.e., the same way we were justified. Hence, they devised a complicated formula for what is not works in sanctification, and what is works in sanctification so that our workless sanctification can finish our justification by faith alone. Many of the Reformers believed that we are elected to get into the race for salvation, but we can be disqualified from the race by running unlawfully; i.e., running by law and not grace. Bottom line: you can lose your salvation. Be sure of this: the focus is therefore on making sure that we are running the race by faith alone and not matters of aggressive sanctification. This has always been the crux of anemic Western Christianity. Worse yet, because we are saved by the Bachman-Turner-Overdrive gospel (“we work hard at doing nothing all day”), Gnosticism is really the only thing left that can be applied because supposedly meditation is not a work.
This perpetual resalvation concept is common in many protestant denominations—the continual reapplication of the same things that saved us in order to get ourselves to heaven. Calvinism is a prime example, but there are many others such as the Freewill Baptist. Based on 1John 1:9: the same repentance that saved us also sanctifies us, and gets us safely to heaven. “If” we ask forgiveness for known sin—only then are we forgiven. You can slip a playing card between this and Calvinism’s deep repentance. However, this is debunked by Christ’s lesson in John 13. Christ taught there that we are “washed” (justification) and that repentance in sanctification is a washing of the feet. He stated that believers have already been washed. Justification is a finished work and nothing we can do in sanctification can affect that. Based on this very fact in verse 29 and 30, Paul states the following:
Romans 8:31 – What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? 33 Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. 34 Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? 36 As it is written,
“For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.” 37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Our salvation is sealed. We are new creatures. This world cannot touch us. We have hope. Justification is a finished issue with us. We are to move from the cross and onward toward maturity in the Spirit’s wisdom and help. In volume 2, as kingdom citizens, we will learn how Israel should be thought of in the kingdom schema and application of God’s truth to our Christian living. This is an aggressive application to our Christian walk free from the fear that we will improperly use the law in a way that will void grace.
There can be no fear in that because our salvation is sealed and apart from the law.
The Potter’s House 2/17/2013: The Gospel According to Moses; Part 2
NOTE TO FRIENDS OF PPT:
No! I have not converted to Judaism. Church of the Messiah is a Christian movement that explores Judeo-Christian roots. Remember, the “church” was predominately Jewish for the first (approximately) fourteen years from Pentecost. I am doing three Saturday lessons there from Exodus. We are finding them to be a nice supplement to our Romans series.
LESSON PLAN
Like last week, we will observe overarching principles, and then examine details as time allows. More than likely, today will be basic principles, especially in regard to how we approach the text, and then next week will be Googleology. You will get what I mean by that later, but I am in the process of doing a lot of research on the tabernacle particulars. Though this lesson stresses approach, it is not discounting the fact that truth is often concluded in the arena of council from different perspectives. But our goal ought to be God’s goal.
Moreover, this brings up a much larger issue in our day: many pastors are not honest in regard to their approach to any given passage of Scripture, especially in regard to the Christocentic hermeneutic. Most parishioners really have no idea what they are being fed. That needs to change.
APPROACH
Well, here we are, we are at the portion of the Old Testament where God gives Moses instruction for the portable temple that the Israelites will be using for their place of worship. I will at least speak for myself and say that when you approach a body of Scripture like this, you say to yourself, “What do you do with this?”
But that question becomes a crucial starting point: What, in fact, do we do with this? And is there a right approach and a wrong approach? And does it matter? Should there be a goal in the approach? Yes, and I will interject part of my theses here: It’s based on Exodus 19:5,6:
Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; 6 and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. These are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel.
This is really the hermeneutic for what follows. Once the Israelites agree to that, God sets out to build the holy nation. It starts with a covenant, a preliminary civil law, and now the planning for the center of worship. It is also predicated on the following: the capability of his people (priests), the sufficiency of God’s wisdom (a holy nation), and the responsibility of God’s people (obedience), and His goal of holy nation. What we have here in Exodus is the beginning process for building that nation, and its collision with the milieu of life. The apostles make it clear that we are to learn how to live life from what we learn of these events (1Corinthians 10:6).
The Bible is full of symbolism and rich imagery—more so than most literature. And that presents a grave danger. We don’t have the liberty to go into the Bible with the bull of our imagination in a china shop. Imagery and ambiguous verbiage can become idols that are a god of our own making because variances of interpretations are myriad. You merely pick the one of your own imagination and preference, or the same from the musings of others. So here is the point: we can make passages like Exodus 25-27 a tool for creating truth of our own making. In fact, whole denominations are formed based on interpretations of the imagery in these chapters.
What better example than the infamous “Touchdown Jesus” that was an icon of a church in Monroe, Ohio. The statue of Jesus was 60ft. high and was merely a couple of hundred ft. from I-75. That is, until it was struck by lightning. The flames could be seen for miles in the night and the pictures thereof can be best described as apocalyptic. The next day, it was the talk of the nation. But telling was the hundreds of testimonies recorded on the news and in newspapers; i.e., “what the image meant to me.” Yikes! The hundreds of different interpretations were staggering, and the statue never spoke one word! Most interesting was a comment by an unbeliever who worked in the Monroe area: “Obviously, God did it.” Often, there is a disconnect between the secular mindset and the Christian mindset which involves the disintegration of common sense that is a natural endowment; mysticism often abandons the matter and faith becomes a license for mindlessness.
We find a starting point in this discussion. Obviously, God was teaching then and now through Exodus 25-27. But what is He teaching? I will be honest with you; this can be one of the easiest bodies of Scripture to teach in the entire Bible. All you have to do is Google “Jewish Tabernacle” and document the mass of opinions surrounding the elements of the Tabernacle. Then, you present multiple views on each, and say the magic words, “What do you think?” Note that verse ten of the first chapter concerns the Ark of the Covenant. The lesson can be over at that point just on discussion of why God wanted certain materials used and what they symbolize. Googling, “Why did God want gold used in the Tabernacle” yields 2,510,000 results in .29 seconds. That was easy.
RESPONSIBILITY
In our postmodern world, the philosophers smile knowingly and say, “See, 2,510,000 opinions, just on gold in the Tabernacle; hence, we really can’t know anything for certain.” Therefore, people in our culture make big bucks spreading the gospel of we can’t know anything for certain—it’s great work if you can get it. This must be rejected by God’s people with prejudice. Why? Let’s let Moses speak to that in Deuteronomy 29:29;
The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.
With this one sentence spoken by Moses in circa 1500 BC, postmodern thought is turned completely upside down.
So, we want to honor God in these passages. Our God is a God of love. He will never deny our desperate pleas for answers. James said to pray for wisdom, especially in the midst of trials. There is something to know right there—we can know—we can possess wisdom. But yet, that’s not the end of the story. God delights in His creation, and He created intellect. He delights in His subjects endeavoring to seek Him with their God-given intellect. He rewards those who seek Him. According to Peter, even angels desire to study and investigate the mysteries of God. God is one who colabors with His servants. Many things we will never understand, but be sure of this, we will be responsible for what we are able to know as He has gifted each person, and he will not be pleased with those who bury their brains and then give Him what is His when he returns. At least invest your brain in something that will gain a little interest for Him, but He expects much more. This is controversial, but let me slip it in. Please do not get exercised over this. I am just little ole’ Paul Dohse and my opinion will not bring the world to an end anytime soon.
The Jewish wisdom construct is completely antithetical to Protestant thought. The Jewish wisdom construct holds each person responsible for the sum and substance of the intellect that God has gifted them with. If you don’t believe that, show me one place in the New Testament where Christ didn’t respect the intellect of a person. Good luck. This is not the Reformation viewpoint. Their viewpoint was predicated on the idea of the preordained enlightened few ruling over the unenlightened masses. Like their Romish counterparts, the philosophy is grounded in spiritual caste. Remember, God gave the Book of the Covenant to Moses first—true. But it was also read to the people and made clear that they were responsible for all of it. And that is the pattern throughout the rest of God’s canon. Remember, God desires a kingdom of priests. What’s a priest? This doesn’t exclude the need for the organization of leadership, but yet the point of responsibility is made.
CONTRADICTIONS?
The first thing I would like to look at is God’s mathematical hermeneutic. You say, “Oh yes, the symbolism pertaining to the measurements of the Tabernacle!” We could start with the fact that the Tabernacle was about 40 ft. long, and I could sit back and let fate do the rest while sipping my latte. In fact, if you Google “The Jewish Tabernacle was 40 ft. long” you get 2,790,000 results in .34 seconds. That was easy. Now look, I am not discounting symbolism in these things, but let me share the safe and valuable point I would like to make. If you don’t do the logical math, God’s word can appear to have contradictions. In The Decalogue, we are commanded to not make any image on earth or in heaven for the purposes of worship. But yet, in the instructions for the Tabernacle, Moses is instructed to do exactly that. What’s the math? Don’t do this + God says to do that = don’t do that unless God specifies otherwise. In this case we can deduct that when we make images of things in heaven, bad things happen. But when we do it under God’s instruction, good things happen. In some things we have liberty, but in others, we should do it under God’s tutelage. “But Paul, according to the pastor, God told them to build the Touchdown Jesus.” No he didn’t. God’s word never contradicts itself, and it fully equips us not to be led astray. Which brings us to our next point.
GOD’S OBJECTIVE TRUTH
The whole Mt. Sinai event and the wilderness experience screams of God’s objective truth. The Israelites had been in Egyptian bondage for over 400 years. God extracts them in an act of divine intervention. We are talking about at least 200 years of Egyptian saturation. How much of the Abrahamic worldview and the customs that supported it remained? I assume very little. The Decalogue and the Book of the Covenant, when set against Egyptian culture, was probably culture shock. We may assume that God gave them the first stepping stones that they could bear. Remember, all of this must be seen through the execution of what God and His people agreed to by the covenant—that they would be a kingdom of priests and His holy nation in the world.
But what we have here is wilderness deprogramming away from the rest of civilization. God is rebuilding His people from the ground up. He first reveals His intentions, but set against the slavery they are accustomed to, He seeks their agreement regardless of the fact that He is God. It could even be argued that He displayed Himself to them in power before seeking their agreement. He is God, but yet seeks a mutual fellowship. It’s not an I’m God so it’s my way or the highway mentality. A healthy thing to remember is the fact that in the end, God and His city come down to Earth to dwell with man.
Nevertheless, when it comes to the loving principles that are the only ways that will truly heal, God is completely uncompromising. There is a way that heals, and a way that doesn’t heal. We will find God completely uncompromising when it comes to that wise. And in regard to what we read in this wilderness experience, it is the wisdom of God in action as set against the milieu of life and there is much to be learned from it.
THE SUFFICIENCY OF GOD AND HIS TRUTH
Another thing the wilderness event teaches us is that God and His wisdom are sufficient. God didn’t bring anybody in from the outside to help. To the contrary, staying clear of outside influence is continually emphasized. This takes place in the wilderness for that reason. All truth is not God’s truth—truth is what God says it is. If Egyptians happen to stumble upon something useful, God will let us know, but a clock that doesn’t work isn’t useful because it is right twice a day. If any truth in the Book of the Covenant or the prescribed ways of worship seem to parrot that of the Egyptians, God sanctifies it, not the mere similarity. And facts used in the commission of falsehood are not truth, truth has a moral aspect. We must see the wilderness event as God’s prescription for a holy nation that pleases Him. A full-orbed thinking manual for life and godliness is assumed. What was good for God’s holy nation is certainly sufficient for our lives. We are talking about a nation. This includes the full spectrum of individual thinking to the principles of civil government. Again, certainly, this is sufficient to inform our individual lives.
CONCLUSION
Therefore, the Old Testament should not be seen as culturally obscure or intellectually archaic. This would indeed be a grave miscalculation. We have in our very hands the account of God rescuing His people from what is the epitome of the world: Egypt. We have the detailed account of God’s intentions: to reeducate his people and equip them for becoming His holy nation in the world. This is rather major. Furthermore, the “experts” of the world are not invited to the seminar. Whoever they are, we don’t need them. The assumption is that they are from a nation. So are we. Does their nation have some wisdom that can aid us in being more holy? Did God forgot something? Sure, they have things we can use for practical matters; more than likely, the Tabernacle was made from materials that they brought from Egypt. But the manner of worship and how the materials are used are sanctified by God.
We are not free to interpret these passages anyway we want to. That makes the word of God a mere idol for our own device. We have a responsibility to rightly divide the word of truth. That means God has not left us without the means to do that. His word most inform the full spectrum of wisdom: metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, and politics. That is why we live by every word that comes from His mouth. And all this for one purpose, to build a holy nation for His glory. Next week, in our endeavor to understand what is behind God’s general contracting of the Tabernacle, this is what our eyes should be looking for….
how does this information make us a better and more holy nation for God’s good pleasure? Remember, the apostle Peter said that this is our specific identity (1Peter 2:2).
Paul's Passing Thoughts 
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