Yeshua exemplifies living by faith and obedience to God’s word.
Matthew 4:4 RSV – But he answered, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.'”
When Yeshua was beginning the work that the Father had sent him to do, the gospels tell us that he was led into the desert wilderness to undergo some trials.
Matthew 4:1-4 RSV – Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And he fasted forty days and forty nights, and afterward he was hungry. And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” But he answered,” It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.‘”
Many people are not aware that the response of Yeshua here is actually a quote from the Tanakh, or the Old Testament. He says, “It is written,” but where was it written?
We have it recorded for us in the early chapters of the book of Deuteronomy. As Moses was preparing the Israelites to enter the land of Canaan, he was reminding them of all of the ways God had taken care of them during their wilderness journeys.
Deuteronomy 8:2-3 RSV – And you shall remember all the way which the LORD your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not. And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know; that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but that man lives by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the LORD.
The meaning that Moses is conveying is that physical food alone may sustain physical life, but man truly lives only through obeying what God has said.
The parallels in Yeshua’s usage of this quotation are striking: the Israelites spent forty years in the wilderness; Yeshua spent forty days fasting. The Israelites had been tested in the wilderness; Yeshua was being tested during his wilderness experience. The Israelites were to trust and obey God in everything; Yeshua was demonstrating trust and obedience to God in everything.
Moses had taught the ancient Israelites that obeying God would not only help them survive in the wilderness but would bring them a measure of prosperity in the land of Canaan.
Deuteronomy 30:15-16 RSV – “See, I have set before you this day life and good, death and evil. If you obey the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you this day, by loving the LORD your God, by walking in his ways, and by keeping his commandments and his statutes and his ordinances, then you shall live and multiply, and the LORD your God will bless you in the land which you are entering to take possession of it.
What Moses taught ancient Israel about the physical blessings of obedience, Yeshua built upon to teach about a quality of life that would go far beyond temporal prosperity in a specific land. He came to elevate the teachings of Moses into an everlasting spiritual reality that, through his disciples, would spread across the world, touching people from every nation.
Matthew 28:19-20 RSV – Go therefore and make disciples of all nations…teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you….”
During his ministry and teaching, Yeshua further clarified his use of the manna/life metaphor when he was challenged by some Jewish critics:
John 6:28-35 RSV – Then they [the Jews] said to him, “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?” Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.” So they said to him, “Then what sign do you do, that we may see, and believe you? What work do you perform? Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.'” Jesus then said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven; my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven, and gives life to the world.” They said to him, “Lord, give us this bread always.” Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; he who comes to me shall not hunger, and he who believes in me shall never thirst.
The life that God gives goes far beyond the life of the flesh, which is nourished only by physical bread. The life that God provides is present within the person of his Son: his life and teaching, and his subsequent sacrificial death and resurrection. The life, teachings, death, and resurrection of Yeshua are the very representation of the Father which can bring life, but only when they are mixed with the repentant and obedient faith of the believer.
The Jews of Yeshua’s day understood how the Scriptures were intended to bring life, at least in principle, yet many of them chose not to believe that Yeshua was the Messiah. At one point, Yeshua confronts him with the following statements:
John 5:39-40, 46-47 RSV – You [Jews] search the scriptures, because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness to me; yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life. … If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote of me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words?”
The Scriptures can bring us life, but only as we recognize their fulfillment in Messiah Yeshua. Apart from him, they can only bring partial life—what we might consider temporal blessings in this world. The wisdom that God’s word provides helps us to avoid traps like hypocrisy and covetousness and to pursue things like forgiveness and compassion. These things can help us in our interactions with others, thereby providing us with a better quality of life, and that certainly is not a bad thing in and of itself. However, if we accept Yeshua as the fulfillment of God’s word, all of the Scripture is now elevated to bring us not only an excelling quality of temporal life, but life that lasts forever.
John 12:49-50 NET – For I have not spoken from my own authority, but the Father himself who sent me has commanded me what I should say and what I should speak. And I know that his commandment is eternal life. Thus the things I say, I say just as the Father has told me.”
Yeshua equates his teachings with the very words of God, and as a faithful messenger, he spoke exactly what God had instructed him to say. This is why I contend that, as believers, we should filter everything related to biblical teaching through the words of Messiah. He presented himself as the sole example and instructor of truth amidst the varied and hypocritical leadership of the Jews in his day.
Matthew 23:1-12 NET – Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, “The experts in the law and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat. Therefore pay attention to what they tell you and do it. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they teach. They tie up heavy loads, hard to carry, and put them on men’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing even to lift a finger to move them. They do all their deeds to be seen by people, for they make their phylacteries wide and their tassels long. They love the place of honor at banquets and the best seats in the synagogues and elaborate greetings in the marketplaces, and to have people call them ‘Rabbi.’ But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’ for you have one Teacher and you are all brothers. And call no one your ‘father’ on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven. Nor are you to be called ‘teacher,’ for you have one teacher, the Christ. The greatest among you will be your servant. And whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.
In his humility, ultimately exemplified in his sacrificial death and confirmed by his resurrection, Yeshua proved he was the one Teacher worthy of our attentiveness and our desire for learning about the true words of life.
This was aptly expressed by Peter when Yeshua’s teachings were challenged by the Jews.
John 6:66-69 NET – After this many of his disciples quit following him and did not accompany him any longer. So Jesus said to the twelve, “You don’t want to go away too, do you?” Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God!”
It is only our belief in and obedience to the words of God, and in the God-provided words and deeds of Yeshua, the true bread from heaven, that bring us true and everlasting life.
1 John 5:13 WEB – These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God.
The miniseries on Titles for God’s people concludes with the Bride. This image of the Bride emphasizes all believers’ spiritual unity with Messiah, a narrative metaphor fulfilled in the Book of Revelation.
Core of the Bible podcast episode 129 – Titles for God’s people: The Bride of Christ
We are currently finishing up a little miniseries on the titles for God’s people. Over these few past episodes, we have been looking at the following terms in some detail: Believer and Christian, the Remnant and the Elect, and the Church and the Body of Christ. These are all terms that by most accounts are considered synonymous and applicable to the people today who claim to believe in Messiah. However, in these studies I have been looking at scriptural reasons as to why I believe some of those terms do not apply to God’s people today, and yet how God has worked within these various aspects of his people over the ages to accomplish specific things for the good of all.
Last time, we explored the Body of Christ and how that term is meant to reference the spiritual gathering of saints of all time, and not any one, physical organization on the earth. We now come to the final installment in this series on titles for God’s people: the Bride.
THE BRIDEGROOM IMAGERY
Before we begin to discuss the texts regarding the Bride of Christ, we would do well to review the basis or underpinning of this type of bride and bridegroom imagery as spoken of in the prophets. This would be the background canvas upon which Messiah would continue to paint during his ministry.
Some of the specific bridegroom terminology begins in the Messianic portions of Isaiah:
Isaiah 54:4-8 RSV – “Fear not, for you will not be ashamed; be not confounded, for you will not be put to shame; for you will forget the shame of your youth, and the reproach of your widowhood you will remember no more. For your Maker is your husband, the LORD of hosts is his name; and the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer, the God of the whole earth he is called. For the LORD has called you like a wife forsaken and grieved in spirit, like a wife of youth when she is cast off, says your God. For a brief moment I forsook you, but with great compassion I will gather you. In overflowing wrath for a moment I hid my face from you, but with everlasting love I will have compassion on you, says the LORD, your Redeemer.
God is spoken of as having betrothed Israel to himself. While he had to forsake her due to her unfaithfulness, there remained a promise of everlasting compassion when they were to be “gathered” again.
This same theme of a renewed hope for prophetic Zion after being forsaken is carried over into Isaiah 62:
Isaiah 62:1-5 RSV – For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent, and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not rest, until her vindication goes forth as brightness, and her salvation as a burning torch. The nations shall see your vindication, and all the kings your glory; and you shall be called by a new name which the mouth of the LORD will give. You shall be a crown of beauty in the hand of the LORD, and a royal diadem in the hand of your God. You shall no more be termed Forsaken, and your land shall no more be termed Desolate; but you shall be called My delight is in her, and your land Married; for the LORD delights in you, and your land shall be married. For as a young man marries a virgin, so shall your sons marry you, and as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you.
Here, Isaiah relates how prophetic Zion will ultimately be reunited to God and he will rejoice over her, “as a bridegroom rejoices over the bride”.
Hosea also related how God had to forsake Israel because of her constant unfaithfulness through idolatry:
Hosea 2:2-4 RSV – “Plead with your mother, plead–for she is not my wife, and I am not her husband–that she put away her harlotry from her face, and her adultery from between her breasts; lest I strip her naked and make her as in the day she was born, and make her like a wilderness, and set her like a parched land, and slay her with thirst. Upon her children also I will have no pity, because they are children of harlotry.
And yet, Hosea immediately shares the vision of renewed promise and restoration:
Hosea 2:14-16, 19-20 RSV – “Therefore, behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak tenderly to her. And there I will give her her vineyards, and make the Valley of Achor a door of hope. And there she shall answer as in the days of her youth, as at the time when she came out of the land of Egypt. “And in that day, says the LORD, you will call me, ‘My husband,’ and no longer will you call me, ‘My Ba’al.’ … And I will betroth you to me for ever; I will betroth you to me in righteousness and in justice, in steadfast love, and in mercy. I will betroth you to me in faithfulness; and you shall know the LORD.
Now we have to exercise care with these passages, because God is not actually marrying Israel, but he is using that familiar imagery to describe his relationship with his people. He created them out of nothing and took them to himself AS a husband would care for his wife. Since they were unfaithful and continued to pursue their idolatry, he cast them away AS in an act of divorce. Yet, he promised to regather them and AS a betrothal, reunite with them in righteousness, faithfulness and justice.
INTO THE NEW TESTAMENT WRITINGS
Although there were hundreds of years between the prophecies of Isaiah and Hosea and the ministry of Yeshua, we see both John the baptizer and Yeshua picking up this theme as an indication of prophetic fulfillment in their day.
John 3:28-30 RSV – You yourselves bear me witness, that I said, I am not the Christ, but I have been sent before him. He who has the bride is the bridegroom; the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom’s voice; therefore this joy of mine is now full. He must increase, but I must decrease.”
John recognizes his own role as one who is the predecessor of the representative Bridegroom, Yeshua the Messiah. Yeshua also availed himself of this bridegroom motif in his teachings on the restoration of the faithful remnant.
Matthew 9:14-15 RSV – Then the disciples of John came to him, saying, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?” And Jesus said to them, “Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? The days will come, when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast.
Additionally, in his famous Kingdom parable about the wise and foolish maidens, Yeshua described the prepared and faithful remnant as being those who would be joining the bridegroom in the wedding feast, while the unprepared were locked outside when the bridegroom was to arrive unexpectedly.
Matthew 25:1-13 RSV – “Then the kingdom of heaven shall be compared to ten maidens who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them; but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps. As the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept. But at midnight there was a cry, ‘Behold, the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’ Then all those maidens rose and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ But the wise replied, ‘Perhaps there will not be enough for us and for you; go rather to the dealers and buy for yourselves.’ And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast; and the door was shut. Afterward the other maidens came also, saying, ‘Lord, lord, open to us.’ But he replied, ‘Truly, I say to you, I do not know you.’ Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.
So we have seen how both Matthew and John conveyed this bridegroom motif in their gospels, but we can also point to Paul continuing this theme in his letters, as well.
2 Corinthians 11:2 LSB – For I am jealous for you [first century Corinthians] with a godly jealousy, for I betrothed you to one husband, so that I might present you [as] a pure virgin to Christ.
Ephesians 5:23, 25-27 – because the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church. He is the Savior of the body. … Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself for her to make her holy, cleansing her with the washing of water by the word. He did this to present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or anything like that, but holy and blameless.
Paul emphasized the self-sacrificial nature of the husband relationship of Messiah to the Church/Assembly, in order to make her clean, holy, and blameless before him.
This is an archetypical construct that harkens all the way back to the opening chapters of Genesis, revealing not only the fullness of the work of Messiah, but the fulfillment of the pattern laid down thousands of years earlier.
Ephesians 5:24, 28, 31-32 RSV – As the church is subject to Christ, so let wives also be subject in everything to their husbands. … Even so husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself…For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” This mystery is a profound one, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church…
There are many parallels between the example and type exhibited by Adam and Eve with Christ and his Church or Assembly. Many of these have been brought out by John Gill, and English Baptist writer and theologian who ministered in the 1700’s. While this is an extended quote of his commentary on Ephesians 5, he lines out some of the more relevant and revealing typology parallels:
“…and indeed, the marriage of Adam and Eve was a type of Christ and his church; for in this the first Adam was a figure of him that was to come, as well as in being a federal head to his posterity:
“Adam was before Eve, so Christ was before his church;
“God thought it not proper that man should be alone, so neither Christ, but that he should have some fellows and companions with him:
“the formation of Eve from Adam was typical of the church’s production from Christ; she [Eve] was made of him while he was asleep, which sleep was from the Lord, and it was not an ordinary one; which may resemble the sufferings and death of Christ, which were from the Lord, and were not common; and which are the redemption of his church and people; and which secure their comfort and happiness, and wellbeing:
“she was taken out of his side, and built up a woman of one of his ribs; both the justification and sanctification of the church are from Christ, from the water and the blood which issued out of his side, when on the cross:
“the bringing and presentation of Eve to Adam has its mystery; it was God that brought her to him; and she was the same that was made out of him; and to the same Adam was she brought of whose rib she was made, and that not against her will: so it is God that draws souls to Christ, and espouses them to him, even the same that he has chosen in him, and Christ has redeemed by his blood; and to the same are they brought, who was wounded for their transgressions, and bruised for their sins; and they are made willing in the day of his power upon them, to come and give themselves to him.
“Adam’s consent and acknowledgment of Eve to be his wife, shadow forth Christ’s hearty reception and acknowledgment of the saints, as being of him, and his, when they are brought unto him under the influences of his grace and Spirit.”
All of these typological parallels convey the beautiful unity of God’s word from beginning to end. In a very real sense, the end was prophesied from the very beginning in the pictorial story of Adam and Eve, culminating in the marriage of the Second Adam to his virginal Bride (Christ and the purified Church Assembly). The Bride was to consist of the faithful remnant of Israel and those from among the nations who would also believe.
ABIDING BY TORAH
Now, because there are laws in torah concerning marriage and re-marriage, this concept of God restoring and re-marrying Israel (even symbolically as mentioned in the prophets) needs to be addressed, as well.
God’s own torah does not allow for a previously divorced wife to re-marry the same man:
Deuteronomy 24:1-4 RSV – “When a man takes a wife and marries her, if then she finds no favor in his eyes because he has found some indecency in her, and he writes her a bill of divorce and puts it in her hand and sends her out of his house, and she departs out of his house, and if she goes and becomes another man’s wife, and the latter husband dislikes her and writes her a bill of divorce and puts it in her hand and sends her out of his house, or if the latter husband dies, who took her to be his wife, then her former husband, who sent her away, may not take her again to be his wife, after she has been defiled; for that is an abomination before the LORD, and you shall not bring guilt upon the land which the LORD your God gives you for an inheritance.
God had made it clear through the passages that we looked at in Isaiah and Hosea that he was, in no uncertain terms, forsaking his marital relationship with Israel and “sending her away” due to their unceasing idolatry. If this was the case, then how was God to gather, have compassion, and betroth himself once again to faithful Israel? How could he remarry the woman who had been defiled, since it’s technically a violation of his own torah?
We read earlier in Deuteronomy how divorce and/or death release a woman from the marriage covenant. Now if the woman is divorced only, the original husband is forbidden to remarry her after any subsequent marriage:
Deuteronomy 24:4 RSV – then her former husband, who sent her away, may not take her again to be his wife, after she has been defiled; for that is an abomination before the LORD…
However, if a husband or a wife dies, the marriage is dissolved.
Deuteronomy 24:3 RSV – …or if the latter husband dies, who took her to be his wife…
Death, therefore, according to torah, releases one from the bonds of marriage.
1 Corinthians 7:39 RSV – A wife is bound to her husband as long as he lives. If the husband dies, she is free to be married to whom she wishes, only in the Lord.
So, here is how I believe God worked the sending away of unfaithful Israel and yet was also able to take her faithful remnant back to himself without violating torah.
When Yeshua arrived, he was announced as, and assumed the role of, God’s representative bridegroom, a man born “under the law.” Yet, his sacrificial death upon the cross released God from the original symbolic bond of marriage to unfaithful Israel.
Additionally, Yeshua had taught that anyone who believed in him must be willing to give up their own life for him.
Matthew 16:24-25 RSV – Then Jesus told his disciples, “If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.
Accordingly, further instruction provided by the apostle Paul states that the faithful remnant of Israel who believed in Messiah were to consider themselves as having died.
Romans 6:3-4 RSV – Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death…
Colossians 2:12 RSV – and you were buried with him in baptism…
Not only was the faithful remnant buried with Christ, but they were resurrected with Christ.
Romans 6:4 RSV – We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.
Colossians 2:12-13 RSV – and you were buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead. And you, who were dead in trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses…
Colossians 3:1-3 RSV – If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hid with Christ in God.
Since his representative Messiah was dead and resurrected, and the faithful remnant was also considered dead and resurrected (or, born again), God, though his Messiah, was then free to re-marry his wife (i.e., the faithful remnant of Israel). The marriage of unfaithfulness had been dissolved, and a new marriage with a renewed people could take place through God’s representative and resurrected Messiah. This resurrection marriage was to take place “above,” that is, in heaven (another indicator that the Church/Assembly is a spiritual entity, not an earthly one).
Now we know that Messiah taught in the age of the resurrection there is no longer physical marriage to one another.
Matthew 22:30 RSV – For in the resurrection they [the faithful saints] neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven.
Yeshua taught that those who are considered worthy to attain to the age of resurrection would no longer marry one another. However, this also can imply that there would be no longer marriage to one another because all are then considered married to Messiah for eternity. The second Adam is wedded to his Bride eternally, and the fruitful multiplying of the family was to be in the continued addition of believers as the Kingdom of God was to expand over the earth.
Now, of course, this is all pictorial and typological symbols. The ideas being conveyed by this imagery is that of a magnificent, royal wedding. There is great joy and celebration in a wedding. There is provision for the bride and a unity of purpose between the bridegroom and the bride. The bride and the groom now live together in blessing to “be fruitful and multiply.” These various attributes are representative of how God’s people will rejoice in his presence for eternity.
THE BRIDE OF THE APOCALYPSE
Now, of course, the fullest picture of this bride motif reaches its apex in the book of Revelation. The symbols and types employed by John in his prophetic work sharpen the contrast between the Harlot (unfaithful Israel) and the Bride (the faithful remnant).
Revelation 19:1-2, 7-9 RSV – After this I heard what seemed to be the loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, crying, “Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God, for his judgments are true and just; he has judged the great harlot who corrupted the earth with her fornication, and he has avenged on her the blood of his servants.” … Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready; it was granted her to be clothed with fine linen, bright and pure”–for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints. And the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” And he said to me, “These are true words of God.”
The judgment and vengeance upon the harlot (unfaithful Israel) took place when Jerusalem was burned and the temple completely destroyed in 68-70 AD. It was at that time that the Bride (the faithful remnant) had made herself ready through the washing of her raiment in the blood of the Lamb, through martyrdom and through her righteous actions.
Revelation 21:9-10 RSV – Then came one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues, and spoke to me, saying, “Come, I will show you the Bride, the wife of the Lamb.” And in the Spirit he carried me away to a great, high mountain, and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God…
At this point in the narrative of Revelation 21, the bride having already become the wife of the Lamb implies that the wedding already took place at the culmination of the vengeance upon the harlot (that is, unfaithful Jerusalem). This is suggested by the events of Revelation 19.
Revelation 19:7 RSV – Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready…
Revelation 19:9, 17-18 RSV – And the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” And he said to me, “These are true words of God.” … Then I saw an angel standing in the sun, and with a loud voice he called to all the birds that fly in midheaven, “Come, gather for the great supper of God, to eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of captains, the flesh of mighty men, the flesh of horses and their riders, and the flesh of all men, both free and slave, both small and great.”
I believe the melding of the “marriage supper of the Lamb” with “the great supper of God” intimate that they were simultaneous events. The destruction of the unfaithful Harlot on the earth was the signification that the marriage of the Bride was taking place in the heavens.
The vision that John was seeing in Revelation 21 now shifts from the bride motif to the New Jerusalem/prophetic Zion motif. With the destruction of the unfaithful Harlot and the earthly city of Jerusalem, the Bride has now become signified by a New Jerusalem with all of the righteous influence of God, spiritually reigning above all those on the earth. The Bride now IS the New Jerusalem, “coming down out of heaven” from God. The Church/Assembly is that spiritual community of all time which is now to be over the world with its heavenly influence.
As we have seen in recent episodes, this was also ably captured by the writer of Hebrews:
Hebrews 12:22-24, 28 RSV – But you have come [perfect aorist/past tense] to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, and to the assembly of the first-born who are enrolled in heaven, and to a judge who is God of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks more graciously than the blood of Abel. … 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…
THIS is who the Church/Assembly is, exemplified through multiple layers of typology and pictorial fulfillment: the heavenly Jerusalem, Mount Zion of prophecy, the Assembly of the Firstborn, the Kingdom which cannot be shaken. This is the imagery that John also saw in his vision in the closing chapters of the book of Revelation.
Revelation 21:24-27 RSV – By its light shall the nations walk [meaning it shall have influence over the entire earth]; and the kings of the earth shall bring their glory into it, and its gates shall never be shut by day–and there shall be no night there; they shall bring into it the glory and the honor of the nations. But nothing unclean shall enter it, nor any one who practices abomination or falsehood, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s book of life.
What’s fascinating in these closing chapters of Revelation is that even in the “new heavens and the new earth” of the restoration, there is still mention of unclean things, abominations, and falsehoods. These are further enumerated in chapter 22:
Revelation 22:14-15 RSV – Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and that they may enter the city by the gates. Outside are the dogs and sorcerers and fornicators and murderers and idolaters, and every one who loves and practices falsehood.
If the new heavens and new earth is the restoration of the entire universe, why are there still dogs, sorcerers, fornicators, murderers, idolaters and liars outside of the City? I believe this is because new heavens and the new earth are representative, not of a new physical universe, but of the New Covenant in Messiah, the new paradigm which had begun two millennia ago. This new City, the Assembly of the Firstborn, exists above the ongoing immorality of the world, and yet is accessible to those who choose to “wash their robes,” that is, repent of their evil works and to give up their own lives, coming to Messiah through the always-open gates of the City. The City is designed to be the eternal light for all generations.
Remember what Yeshua taught in the Sermon on the Mount:
Matthew 5:14, 16 RSV – “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hid. … Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.
I believe he was alluding to this state of the eternal new City: Zion.
Revelation 22:1-5 RSV – Then he showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. There shall no more be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and his servants shall worship him; they shall see his face, and his name shall be on their foreheads. And night shall be no more; they need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they shall reign for ever and ever.
Revelation 22:14 RSV – Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and that they may enter the city by the gates.
What is this talking about if not a restoration of all things to the original covenantal relationship with the archetypal Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden? The City on the Hill is the New Jerusalem, the city where the ideals of Eden are restored. Within the New City is free access to the tree of life and the river of life. The throne of God is now where he dwells among his people, and that of the Lamb: the Second Adam, who, in the image of God, reigns and has dominion with his Bride over the entire earth, just as God designed all things to be from the very beginning.
Genesis 1:27-28 RSV – So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. And God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.”
The mission of God’s people now is to “be fruitful and multiply, to fill the earth and subdue it.” However, the sea (typically representative of the gentile nations in the prophets) no longer exists, which suggests that the nations can now be blended with the faithful to participate in the City with the redeemed.
Revelation 22:17 RSV – The Spirit and the Bride say, “Come.” And let him who hears say, “Come.” And let him who is thirsty come, let him who desires take the water of life without price.
Notice, it is the Spirit who draws people to God, and the Bride is the example of God’s faithfulness as a standing invitation to all who will come to take the water of life.
At his meeting with the Samaritan woman at the well, Yeshua had stated:
John 4:10 RSV – “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.”
John 7:38 RSV – He who believes in me, as the scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart shall flow rivers of living water.'”
Revelation 7:17 RSV – For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of living water; and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”
In summary, then, the Bride of Christ is the spiritual community of the faithful saints through all ages. It is only when joined with Messiah that the Bride can bear fruit. As the New Jerusalem, the Bride is the habitation of God and the Lamb, and the gates are never shut, inviting all who will to come. The living water of the holy Spirit flows from the central heights of the City, and the tree of life provides healing for the nations.
This imagery is so vivid and compelling that it should inspire and energize us to be that faithful Bride, and to seek to bear fruit for God, faithfully representing the light of that City on a hill to all.
Well, this concludes not only our brief study of the Bride of Christ, but of our miniseries on the Titles for God’s People. Although this overall study has been wide-ranging and covered many different aspects of God’s relationship with his people, from the Hebrew qahal (congregation) through the Greek ekklesia (assembly), it is my sincere hope that you have had opportunities to explore ideas and connections that you may not have seen before. I hope those are points that you will continue to study out on your own with the goal of all of us growing closer to Messiah, and closer to one another.
The true Body of Christ represents all believers unified by faith and love, transcending physical assemblies and denominations.
Last time, I discussed the Church (or the Assembly) and concluded that the true Church, the Assembly of Messiah, is that spiritual entity which is built upon faith in him. If you have not yet read or listened to that article, I would suggest reviewing it ahead of today’s discussion, as I will be building on terminology that was explained in detail there. Today, I will continue to focus on the spiritual nature of the Assembly of God’s people as we discuss the Body of Christ, because the two terms are equated in the biblical writings.
THE BODY OF CHRIST
In his writings to the various congregations, Paul began to use the term of the body of Messiah to mean the collective group of Messianic believers that was in the process of becoming a new sect amidst the synagogues.
That the body and the church (or the Assembly) were considered synonymous by Paul can be demonstrated in these famous passages he wrote to the believers in Ephesus and Colosse:
Ephesians 1:22-23 – And he [God] subjected everything under his [Messiah’s] feet and appointed him as head over everything for the assembly, which is his body, the fullness of the one who fills all things in every way.
Colossians 1:18, 24 – He [Messiah] is also the head of the body, the assembly … Now I rejoice in my sufferings for you, and I am completing in my flesh what is lacking in Messiah’s afflictions for his body, that is, the assembly.
So we can see how Paul clearly equated the body of Messiah with Messiah’s church/assembly. When the term body was used in the context of the Assembly, Paul was using the term in that universal, overall sense that we saw previously in Acts 9:31.
Acts 9:31 ESV – So the church [that is, the Assembly] throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria had peace and was being built up. And walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it multiplied.
The body was never equated with the local assembly or gathering, as in “the body at Colosse” or “the body at Thessolonica.” It was also not used of a specific building or place of worship, but always with the generalized meaning of the ekklesia, the overall growing Assembly of “called out ones.”
The apostle Paul made ample use of the body as a metaphor for how the individual believers, when taken together as a whole group, collectively were to make up the “body” of Messiah as his representative people. These were the scattered believers among the synagogues in which he conducted his missionary activities, some of which had even begun new, Messianic-based synagogue/assemblies.
UNITY AND FUNCTION IN THE BODY
What is interesting about the term the body of Christ/Messiah as it occurred in Paul’s writings is that he always seemed to use it in the context of either defining the function of individual members within the larger group or providing a metaphor for unity among competing factions.
For example, Paul used the body metaphor as a way of describing the function of the different spiritual gifts that had been given to them, just like individual body parts, were to have been supplementing the unity they already possessed with each other, not creating further division.
Romans 12:4-6 – Now as we have many parts in one body, and all the parts do not have the same function, in the same way we who are many are one body in Messiah and individually members of one another. According to the grace given to us, we have different gifts…
1 Corinthians 12:4-7 – Now there are different gifts, but the same Spirit. There are different ministries, but the same Lord. And there are different activities, but the same God works all of them in each person. A manifestation of the Spirit is given to each person for the common good…
Notice how Paul said these gifts were individual manifestations of the spiritual unity they already possessed, by the grace of God, within the spiritual body of Messiah. The unique gifts of the Spirit had been given also for the good of the overall Assembly, the body of Messiah, and not just for the benefit of an individual or a local, earthly congregation. This is why we see gifted individuals like Paul, Barnabas, Timothy, Stephen, Mark, etc. traveling between congregations, to build up the overall Assembly, the Body of Messiah at that time.
1 Corinthians 12:12-14 – For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body–Jews or Greeks, slaves or free–and all were made to drink of one Spirit. For the body does not consist of one member but of many.
Paul says there is one Body, created by immersion into that one Body by one Spirit. This is the very definition of an eternal, spiritual entity. If it is a spiritual baptism that joins the body together, then that Body, by default, must be a spiritual bodyor collection of individuals; hence, a spiritual Assembly, not an earthly one. This is why the body of Messiah is not a single physical assembly of people on the earth, but rather a spiritual assembly of all those who have ever professed Yeshua as the Messiah. This is also why the Body, as a spiritual entity, was to have been manifested, not through physical organizations, but through spiritual gifts as signs to the non-believing Jews of the day.
Paul appeared to have been building on the foundation of spiritual baptism laid down by both John the Baptizer and Yeshua, as they had taught of the necessity of a spiritual baptism:
Mark 1:8 – I indeed have baptized you with water: but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.
Luke 3:16 – John answered, saying to [them] all, I indeed baptize you with water; but one mightier than I cometh, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to unloose: he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit, and with fire:
Acts 1:5 – [Yeshua says:] for John baptized with water, but before many days you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”
So it’s not surprising that the apostle Paul continued to build on that premise, that the believers had been spiritually baptized by one Spirit into one spiritual Body of believers.
UNITY THROUGH DIVERSITY IN STATION OF LIFE
In other instances, beyond the diversity of the spiritual gifts they had received, Paul uses the metaphor of the Body in the context of providing for spiritual unity through diversity of background or station in life: Jew or Greek, slave or free, man or woman. The radical ideal of this level of equality among believers in Paul’s day cannot be overstated. There have been no historical equivalents in antiquity. In first-century Judea and throughout the Roman world, class division, elitism, gender inequity and human rights abuses were more pervasive than in our current cultures, even with all of our current societal failings. Yet, Paul stressed the unity that should be evident among believing communities:
Galatians 3:27-28 – For those of you who were baptized into Messiah have been clothed with Messiah. There is no Jew or Greek, slave or free, male and female; since you are all one in Messiah Yeshua.
1 Corinthians 12:12-14 – For just as the body is one and has many parts, and all the parts of that body, though many, are one body — so also is Messiah. For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body — whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free — and we were all given one Spirit to drink. Indeed, the body is not one part but many.
1 Corinthians 12:23-25 – And those parts of the body that we consider less honorable, we clothe these with greater honor, and our unrespectable parts are treated with greater respect, which our respectable parts do not need. Instead, God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the less honorable, so that there would be no division in the body, but that the members would have the same concern for each other.
Paul taught that the best way to provide for the balance and overcome those divisions was not by seeking the best or most important spiritual gifts, or by emphasizing national or class supremacy, but through unified concern and love for one another, because only the love that was of God had the capacity to resolve everything and provide for lasting unity.
1 Corinthians 13:4-8 – Love is patient, love is kind. Love does not envy, is not boastful, is not arrogant, is not rude, is not self-seeking, is not irritable, and does not keep a record of wrongs. Love finds no joy in unrighteousness but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends…
If this kind of love is eternal, then it is a spiritual reality. But the beauty of the gospel message is that this type of love is a spiritual reality in heaven that can be uniquely expressed in the here and now. The entire summary of Paul’s argument over these chapters on spiritual gifts is that love is THE single spiritual ideal that ALL within the Body of Messiah were to attain to express here on earth. All of the other gifts combined are of no consequence if they were not expressing God’s love in their lives. Love is the “more excellent way” (1 Cor. 12:31).
Once again, Paul appeared to have been building on what Yeshua had previously taught about the primary importance of the expression of this spiritual love.
Mat 5:44 – But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,
Mat 22:37, 39 – 37 And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. … 39 And a second is like it, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
Luke 6:35 – But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for he is kind to the ungrateful and the selfish.
John 13:35 – By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
John 15:10, 12, 17 – 10 If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. … 12 This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. … 17 This I command you, to love one another.
The other apostolic writings agree on expressing this spiritual love, even to the point that if one does not have love for others that it is likely an indicator that one needs to evaluate the sincerity of their own faith.
James 2:8 RSV – If you really fulfil the royal law, according to the scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you do well.
1 Peter 1:22 RSV – Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere love of the brethren, love one another earnestly from the heart.
1 Peter 3:8 RSV – Finally, all of you, have unity of spirit, sympathy, love of the brethren, a tender heart and a humble mind.
1 Peter 4:8 RSV – Above all hold unfailing your love for one another, since love covers a multitude of sins.
1 John 4:7-8 RSV – Beloved, let us love one another; for love is of God, and he who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God; for God is love.
Yeshua expected that his followers would love him as their Lord, love God as their Father, love one another, and even love their enemies. This is the root of the spiritual unity that would bind his spiritual Assembly, his body, together forever, and it transcends all space and time. I believe that this is why the body of Messiah, his assembly, feels like it should be present now, even though it is not discernible in any one physical organization. There is no one physical church, denomination, or organization on the earth which currently can be identified as the place where his Body exists. And yet, every person who has encountered Yahweh God through his Spirit and his Word has been baptized by his Spirit into this eternal, unseen fellowship of the Kingdom. There is only one true church or assembly, but it is that spiritual assembly of Messiah which is eternal in the heavens. Believers today demonstrate their spiritual participation in that assembly by expressing the spiritual love that only God can provide when their hearts have been renewed. It is in this way that the Body of Christ becomes evident on the earth.
1 John 4:7-8 – Dear friends, let us love one another, because love is from God, and everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. The one who does not love does not know God, because God is love.
Faith in Yeshua as God’s Son, the Anointed Lord of his Kingdom, and love born of a repentant and renewed heart is what defines the true Body of Messiah, his Assembly.
John 3:3, 6 KJV – (Yeshua speaking)…Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. … That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
Yeshua taught that the spiritual Kingdom of God had drawn near, and it required repentance and new birth from above to experience it. We, therefore, are a Kingdom people. Yeshua said his kingdom was “not of (or from) this world.” This type of love does not emanate from this world; it comes from above.
He also said his Assembly that he would build would exist beyond the gates of the realm of death. Everything he taught was fulfilling the natural types and shadows, and elevating them into eternal, spiritual realities where they could exist for all time.
THE BODY AS A TEMPLE
Yeshua, through the revelation expressed to the apostle John, taught about a spiritual temple where believers would dwell in God’s presence:
Revelation 3:12 RSV – He who conquers, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God; never shall he go out of it, and I will write on him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem which comes down from my God out of heaven, and my own new name.
Likewise, both Peter and Paul taught that believers had come to that spiritual temple.
1 Peter 2:4-5 ESV – As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
1 Corinthians 3:16-17 RSV – Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? If any one destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him. For God’s temple is holy, and that temple you are.
1 Corinthians 6:19 RSV – Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, which you have from God? You are not your own;
2 Corinthians 6:16 RSV – What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said, “I will live in them and move among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
Ephesians 2:17-22 RSV – And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near; for through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and sojourners, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Messiah Yeshua himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure is joined together and grows into a holy temple in the Lord; in whom you also are built into it for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.
If the physical body of Messiah was a temple of God because of the indwelling holy Spirit with which he was anointed, then it follows that the spiritual body of his believers would also become a spiritual temple in which God would dwell, as he had prophesied.
The physical temple in Jerusalem was in its final days during this covenantal transition until its destruction in 70 AD. Through this event, God was making it clear that the Jewish cultic sacrifices and rituals would no longer be necessary, as the new covenant was a spiritual covenant available to all people by faith in Messiah, no longer based in a central location, but would be spread to the world. This was also a fulfillment of the prophecy of Yeshua during his discussion with the Samaritan woman at the well:
John 4:20-21 CSB – “Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews say that the place to worship is in Jerusalem.” Jesus told her, “Believe me, woman, an hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem.
All of the prophecies foretold of nations coming to Zion, the spiritual city that would supersede the physical Jerusalem. It was to be a heavenly (spiritual) Jerusalem, as described by the writer of Hebrews, and the apostle John in the book of the Revelation:
Hebrews 12:22-23 RSV – 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, and to the assembly of the first-born who are enrolled in heaven, and to a judge who is God of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect…
To further illustrate the spiritual nature of the new creation, not only is the temple shown to be the combined unity of all of those whom God has called, the temple imagery ultimately dissolves into the overall glory of the Father and the Son.
Revelation 21:22 RSV – And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb.
Paul wrote about it this way:
1 Corinthians 15:28 CSB – When everything is subject to Christ, then the Son himself will also be subject to the one who subjected everything to him, so that God may be all in all.
This is the body of believers in and among whom God and the Lamb dwell. It is the body of believers from all ages who are in God’s presence for all eternity.
UNITY THROUGH LOVE
So, my question to you is this: why do we keep looking on the earth for that which is eternal only in the heavens?
And this is the conclusion I have reached regarding the assembly, the body of Christ. It does not reside in any one group or organization here on earth. Equally, it is not a sum of all of the different Christian factions present in the world today. It cannot be the collective of all denominations, as we continue to be separated by doctrinal minutiae and creedal stances, many of which are diametrically opposed to one another. Even the members within each faction do not subscribe completely to the creeds and doctrine of their respective denomination. Each group also contains within itself its share of “tares among the wheat,” those insincere or hypocritical people who may only have a surface assent to biblical principles but who are not exhibiting the spiritual fruit of love in their lives. These facts alone demonstrate how a unified Body of Christ does not exist (in a physical sense) on the earth today.
As critical as that may make me appear, I’m beginning to believe that all of these differing theological positions are actually by way of intentional design by God, because the differing denominational beliefs among Bible believers should not be the barrier to unity among God’s people, but the means of reestablishing our true unity. True unity can only be established in love, and only love can overcome differences of opinion. When we learn to express our differences in love, we open lines of communication previously blocked by competing traditions. We may not all agree on everything, but we can be united in love in our devotion to God and to one another.
Psalm 133:1, 3 ESV – Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity! … It is like the dew of Hermon, which falls on the mountains of Zion! For there the LORD has commanded the blessing, life forevermore.
While the Bible states that it is a blessing to live in harmony and agreement with others, we must not hold out total agreement as the uniting factor. It must be love which reveals the unity we already possess in Christ, not creedal agreement. This is a difficult distinction but one that we must be mature enough to accept and to practice. If we are to love even our enemies, as Yeshua taught, we should certainly be able to love our brothers. When the rest of the world can begin to see God’s children loving one another in spite of their differences, they will be more likely to be drawn to a loving community rather than one that shoots arrows at each other.
Yeshua called us to be peace makers, not just peace lovers. We must actively work to make peace with all others, as much as it depends on us individually. This is not intuitive or natural from a fleshly perspective, but it is a godly ability that he provides when we become new creations in him.
Romans 15:1-7 NLT – We who are strong must be considerate of those who are sensitive about things like this. We must not just please ourselves. We should help others do what is right and build them up in the Lord. For even Christ didn’t live to please himself. As the Scriptures say, “The insults of those who insult you, O God, have fallen on me.” Such things were written in the Scriptures long ago to teach us. And the Scriptures give us hope and encouragement as we wait patiently for God’s promises to be fulfilled. May God, who gives this patience and encouragement, help you live in complete harmony with each other, as is fitting for followers of Christ Jesus. Then all of you can join together with one voice, giving praise and glory to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, accept each other just as Christ has accepted you so that God will be given glory.
God, therefore, receives glory when we accept each other.
I have understood that this maturity could only be accomplished when faithful believers were to pass into the next age beyond this existence, the age of the resurrection. In that age, the believers would no longer be pulled apart by competing theological doctrines. While it is true the age of the resurrection began when God redeemed his first-century people, including the saints of old, that age continues to this day. The saints were raised and given immortal bodies, and were to exist in his presence forever. From that point forward, we now live in the age that when we, as believers, die, we are brought into his presence immediately. This is how Yeshua overcame death. He was the new Adam, the firstfruit of the new creation and we are the rest of the crop that is harvested as it ripens.
I believe it is in one sense that we are living in the age of resurrection predicted by Messiah, not because we have already attained our spiritual-body resurrection, but because death no longer has its grip on those who place their faith in Messiah. He has become the life-giving Spirit who provides eternal life to those who repent of sinfulness and trust in him. This will be fulfilled when we pass from this life into his eternal presence. Unity on the earth in this day and age is complicated with Statements of Faith and creeds and doctrinal disagreements over the minutiae of Scriptural texts. However, to be “in Christ” is to have life and unity within the spiritual Body of Christ now, by the grace of God, and these petty things shall be resolved when we are in his Presence forever.
HOW WE ARE TO LEARN AND GROW
If there is no one, true “church” on the earth, how are we to learn and grow in spiritual things? Don’t we need some sort of authoritative teacher or apostolic tradition to guide us? Well, we already have both!
Even though he never personally wrote a book, we have a single faithful Teacher: Messiah.
Matthew 23:8-10 NKJV – “But you, do not be called ‘Rabbi’; for One is your Teacher, the Christ, and you are all brethren. “Do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven. “And do not be called teachers; for One is your Teacher, the Christ.
Additionally, those who were his apostles wrote down all doctrine necessary for our walk with God which has been provided to us in the Scriptures that we have.
2 Peter 1:13-15 ESV – I think it right, as long as I am in this body, to stir you up by way of reminder, since I know that the putting off of my body will be soon, as our Lord Jesus Christ made clear to me. And I will make every effort so that after my departure you may be able at any time to recall these things.
1 John 1:1-3 ESV – That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life– the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us– that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ.
While this was written to first-century believers awaiting the imminent return of Messiah, I believe the same Spirit of God helps us understand Messiah’s teachings today because we are all baptized into that one spiritual Body by one Spirit for all time. Being led by the Spirit in the way of righteousness is the fulfillment of all that God had desired to do, as prophesied numerous times throughout the Scriptures:
Isaiah 2:3 – and many peoples shall come, and say: “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths.” For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
Isaiah 54:13 – All your sons shall be taught by the LORD, and great shall be the prosperity of your sons.
Jeremiah 31:33-34 – But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it upon their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And no longer shall each man teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the LORD; for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”
Micah 4:2 – and many nations shall come, and say: “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; that he may teach us his ways and we may walk in his paths.” For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
Hebrews 8:11 – And they shall not teach every one his fellow or every one his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for all shall know me, from the least of them to the greatest.
John 6:45 – It is written in the prophets, ‘And they shall all be taught by God.’ Every one who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me.
I believe that God teaches those who are repentant, renewing their hearts and drawing them to himself through his Spirit, realized in Messiah, the Lord of his Kingdom.
In summary, I believe the Body of Christ/Messiah is synonymous with the universal Assembly/Church of Messiah. It is a spiritual collection of believers from all ages which is defined as those who have placed their faith in Yeshua as the Messiah (or Anointed One) of God, and who seek first his Kingdom by expressing God’s love from renewed hearts. We must exercise care if we look for a representative authoritative organization of his Body on the earth. If there was to be such a thing as a single, “true” Church, just like any other representative thing, it could become idolatrous because its adherents would begin to rely more on that Church than on the God of that church. This was what had happened to the Jews in Yeshua’s day; they had put their traditions above the true intent of God’s Torah and had created an idolatrous system, “the mother of all harlots” (Revelation 17:5) which God, in righteous judgment, had needed to destroy.
But out from the destruction of the idolatrous entity, a new body had been formed from the deep roots of Abraham’s faith: the Body of Christ. Therefore, by establishing his church as a spiritual assembly, Messiah placed his community outside the reach of sin and corruption in this world; a perfect Bride which would live and rule with him in God’s image for eternity.
This will be the final topic next time in our review of the titles for God’s people: the Bride of Christ.
This verse emphasizes compassion for doubters, balancing kindness with discernment in faith discussions.
“Be merciful to those who doubt.”
This verse from the NIV seems to be encouraging believers to a noble aspect of respecting those among themselves who may have doubts about certain aspects of the faith. If we bear with them in kindness and gentleness, they may be more thoroughly convinced after further consideration of the facts.
To me, this is a very appealing application of this ideal. It can be likened to Paul’s admonition to Timothy:
2 Timothy 2:24-25 RSV – And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kindly to everyone, an apt teacher, forbearing, correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant that they will repent and come to know the truth…
While this may be a pleasing and not untrue application of that sentiment, it glosses over the context and the more likely application that the author of the little epistle may have intended.
You see, this verse will give you differing interpretations based on which English translation you are using. Here are some indications of the same passage in varying English translations below:
Good News Translation – Show mercy toward those who have doubts;
International Standard Version – Show mercy to those who have doubts.
Majority Standard Bible – And indeed, have mercy on some, making a distinction;
NET Bible – And have mercy on those who waver;
New Heart English Bible – And be merciful on those who doubt,
Webster’s Bible Translation – And of some have compassion, making a difference:
Weymouth New Testament – Some, when they argue with you, you must endeavor to convince;
World English Bible – On some have compassion, making a distinction,
Notice how interpretations can vary by translation. The idea of having compassion or mercy remains constant, but is it to have compassion for those who doubt, or have compassion by making a difference (Webster) or to have compassion by making some sort of a distinction (World English Bible)?
Looking at some of the older literal versions (those English versions that try to carry word for word meaning across into the language), they carry a slightly different meaning than having compassion on those who doubt:
Young’s Literal Translation – and to some be kind, judging thoroughly,
Smith’s Literal Translation – And truly compassionate some, discriminating:
These imply there is some type of discrimination or judgment that needs to be taking place, albeit with compassion. I think these are getting closer to the real meaning of the verse. This becomes more obvious when we look at the verse in its larger surrounding context:
Jude 1:17-23: “But you, beloved, remember the words which have been spoken before by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ. They said to you that “In the last time there will be mockers, walking after their own ungodly lusts.” These are they who cause divisions, and are sensual, not having the Spirit. But you, beloved, keep building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit. Keep yourselves in God’s love, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life. On some have compassion, making a distinction, and some save, snatching them out of the fire with fear, hating even the clothing stained by the flesh.”
This larger context provides us a little more guidance in how this verse can be righty understood. The “some” upon whom the believers were to “have compassion” appear to be those among the “mockers” who were only viewing things with their senses. These people, most likely from among the Jews who did not believe in Yeshua as Messiah, were causing divisions among the believers. These were the ones upon whom the believers were to have compassion, all the while “keeping themselves in God’s love.”
So, even though we should be caring and encouraging to those among the believers who may be having difficulties with the outworking of their faith, this verse appears to be more evangelistic in nature. We should always exhibit God’s love toward others; but in another sense, we constantly need to exercise godly discernment, “making a distinction,” to ensure we are not simply casting our pearls before swine, as Yeshua taught.
The Kingdom of God, like a mustard seed, grows significantly from humble beginnings.
Core of the Bible podcast #132 – Understanding the parable of the mustard seed
Luke 13:18-19 RSV – He said therefore, “What is the kingdom of God like? And to what shall I compare it? It is like a grain of mustard seed which a man took and sowed in his garden; and it grew and became a tree, and the birds of the air made nests in its branches.”
Messiah taught about the Kingdom of God using many different parables or brief, symbolic representations. In this instance, he compares the Kingdom of God to the life cycle of a mustard seed. It is one of the smallest seeds that exist, yet mustard seeds can grow to be large enough for people to sit under for shade or for birds to come and make nests within its branches.
Parables were designed to share spiritual truths but in symbolic ways. Even in the gospel narratives, not everyone understood all of the parables, but many times in private, Messiah would reveal the meaning of the symbolism to his disciples.
I believe the imagery Messiah uses here is drawn from the prophets, specifically Daniel. In one instance, Daniel was asked to interpret the dream of Nebuchadnezzar, who, at that time, was the dominant leader of the known world. King Nebuchadnezzar had dreamt of a large tree and shared the details with Daniel. Daniel replied:
Daniel 4:20-22 RSV – The tree you saw, which grew and became strong, so that its top reached to heaven, and it was visible to the end of the whole earth; whose leaves were fair and its fruit abundant, and in which was food for all; under which beasts of the field found shade, and in whose branches the birds of the air dwelt— it is you, O king, who have grown and become strong. Your greatness has grown and reaches to heaven, and your dominion to the ends of the earth.
This great tree, i.e., Nebuchadnezzar’s kingdom, had grown to have dominion over the known world. Messiah uses almost the exact same imagery in his parable of the Kingdom of God: “it grew and became a tree,” and “the birds of the air made nests in its branches.”
One of the early church fathers (that is, one of the early Christian leaders and thinkers) had this to say regarding this parable:
“The seed of the Gospel is the least of seeds, because the disciples were weaker than the whole of mankind; yet forasmuch as there was great might in them, their preaching spread throughout the whole world…” –John Chrysostom (347-407 AD).
The original parable, while having many different interpretations assigned to various parts of the word picture, essentially explains itself when simply taken at face value. We know it is about the Kingdom of God because that is the comparison being made. It was explained as beginning as a very small seed. Consider that the movement began with Messiah and his twelve disciples. Yet, through their teaching and traveling in response to the Great Commission, they were able to spread the teaching of the Kingdom throughout the known world in less than forty years under the bitterest of persecution. As a result, the “greatness [of God’s Kingdom] has grown and reaches to heaven, and [God’s] dominion to the ends of the earth.”
Matthew 28:18-20 RSV – And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age.”
Due to their faithfulness, the parable of the mustard seed became a reality in their generation. It is now up to each successive generation, with the abilities provided by God, to continue to work to reach the farthest limits of their own generations with the truths of the Kingdom of God.
Not all of the titles we see in the Bible apply to God’s people today.
Core of the Bible podcast #125: Titles for God’s people – Believers and Christians
Over the next several weeks, I will be exploring the topic of titles used to describe God’s people throughout the Bible, but primarily titles used for his first century people in the writings of the New Testament. These terms do indeed all have significance and definitions are important, which is why I am taking the time to break down biblical terms so we can have a better grasp of how to apply them appropriately.
We will be looking at the following terms in some detail: believer and Christian, the Remnant and the Elect, the Church and the Body, and the Bride of Christ. These are all terms that by most accounts are considered synonymous and applicable to the people today who claim to believe in Messiah. However, I intend to look at scriptural reasons as to why I believe this is not the case, how most of those terms do not apply to God’s people today, and yet how God has worked within these various aspects of his people over the ages to accomplish specific things for the good of all.
As is usually the case, I began this as a single essay, but as I continued to delve into the particulars of these various designations I found that more and more details would present themselves for further study. Hopefully, breaking some of these up into smaller segments will be easier to grasp the essential points along with some relatively unusual perspectives for further study on your own.
Believers
Let’s begin with a basic term that is used to describe God’s people throughout the Bible: belief. You may notice that generally when I speak of those who follow Yahweh and Messiah Yeshua, I choose to use the term believers rather than Christians. This is the one term out of all of those previously mentioned which I believe does apply to God’s people today. This stems from the thrust of the biblical narrative and some particulars about the designation of Christian (which we will explore in a little bit).
All throughout the Bible there are people who are listed as those who believe and also those who do not believe.
Exodus 4:5 – “This will take place,” he continued, “so that they will believe that Yahweh, the God of their ancestors, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you.”
Deuteronomy 9:23 – “When Yahweh sent you from Kadesh-barnea, he said, ‘Go up and possess the land I have given you’; you rebelled against the command of Yahweh your God. You did not believe or obey him.
2 Kings 17:14 – But they would not listen. Instead they became obstinate like their ancestors who did not believe Yahweh their God.
Psalm 78:32 – Despite all this, they kept sinning and did not believe his wondrous works.
Isaiah 43:10 – “You are my witnesses” — this is Yahweh’s declaration — “and my servant whom I have chosen, so that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he. No god was formed before me, and there will be none after me.
An interesting facet to all of these belief passages in the Tanakh is that they are expressed within the context of Israel; as in, there are those who believe and who do not believe in Yahweh within the nation of Israel. It is not used as a phrase for those outside of the national identity. As we move through the discussion in the coming studies, you will see how that becomes an important understanding in terms of God’s dealings with his people, especially when we come to consider the terms “remnant” and “elect”.
In the New Testament, we find belief, especially a belief in Messiah (which is said to be an indication of receiving him) to be a core aspect of Messiah’s purpose:
John 1:11-12 – He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, he gave them the right to be children of God, to those who believe in his name,
John 6:29 – Yeshua replied, “This is the work of God – that you believe in the one he has sent.”
John 14:1 – “Don’t let your heart be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me.
Followers of Messiah even used this type of descriptive terminology:
Acts 16:15 – After she and her household were baptized, she urged us, “If you consider me to be believing in the Lord, come and stay at my house.” And she persuaded us.
Acts 16:34 – He brought them into his house, set a meal before them, and rejoiced because he had come to believe in God with his entire household.
The writer to the Hebrews makes it clear that faith is essential to pleasing God:
Hebrews 11:6 – Now without faith it is impossible to please God, since the one who draws near to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.
The apostle Paul emphasized that belief was the foundation of the collective group of those who were in Messiah:
Romans 3:22 – The righteousness of God is through faith in Yeshua Messiah to all who believe, since there is no distinction.
But then, in another passage, Paul draws a more specific distinction between those who were to be considered believers with those who were non-believers. In contrast with the Tanakh passages which seemed to focus on believers and non-believers within the nation of Israel, Paul appears to be discussing non-believers in the wider context of the general population of Corinth, known for its idolatry.
2 Corinthians 6:14-15 – Do not be yoked together with those who do not believe. For what partnership is there between righteousness and lawlessness? Or what fellowship does light have with darkness? What agreement does Messiah have with Belial? Or what does a believer have in common with an non-believer?
Now, it could be argued that Paul was addressing those who claimed to be among the scattered Israelites in Corinth who gave lip service to Yahweh and yet were just as likely to be found among the idolatrous temples of the culture around them. In this passage, Paul uses this unusual term Belial, along with lawlessness and darkness, as contrasting terms to Messiah. Since this appears to be the only place this term Belial is used in the New Testament Greek, if we pursue this term back to its Hebrew root, we find it less of a proper name and more of a description of those who were considered wicked or worthless.
Deuteronomy 13:12-14 – “If you hear it said about one of your cities Yahweh your God is giving you to live in, “that wicked men have sprung up among you, led the inhabitants of their city astray, and said, ‘Let’s go and worship other gods,’ which you have not known, “you are to inquire, investigate, and interrogate thoroughly…
1 Samuel 2:12 – Eli’s sons were wicked men; they did not respect Yahweh
2 Samuel 23:6 – But all the wicked are like thorns raked aside; they can never be picked up by hand.
2 Chronicles 13:7 – “Then worthless and wicked men gathered around him to resist Rehoboam son of Solomon when Rehoboam was young, inexperienced, and unable to assert himself against them.
Proverbs 6:12 – A worthless person, a wicked man goes around speaking dishonestly,
Nahum 1:11 – One has gone out from you, who plots evil against Yahweh, and is a wicked counselor.
Sometimes the term used in these passages is the phrase ben belial, meaning “a son of wickedness/worthlessness”. It is from this Hebraism that the term could be considered as a proper name of some wicked entity, sometimes associated with Satan. But to be a “son of” something was to be considered the offspring of, or participant in, something larger than oneself.
Exodus 19:6 – and you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you shall speak to the sons of Israel.”
These sons of Israel weren’t just Jacob’s sons particularly, because there were also some Egyptians and others who had come out of Egypt with the Hebrews at that time, but it is here speaking of participants in the nation of Israel, much like we might say “sons of America” today.
Matthew 8:12 – “But the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
Here, Yeshua uses the same type of language regarding those who were considered to be participants within the Kingdom of God, yet were being rejected for their lack of faith.
To be a son in the most basic sense of the Hebrew is to be a builder, as in the builder of the family line or family name. In this sense, to be a son of the Kingdom is to be a builder of the Kingdom. To be a son of belial is to be a builder of wickedness and worthlessness. And in the passage of 2 Corinthians where Paul is drawing a distinction between those of Messiah and those of Belial, whether these individuals were simply wicked fellow citizens of their pagan culture or if they were lawless scattered Israelites, either way, these individuals are the ones whom Paul is warning believers in Messiah to stay away from.
In the Bible, it is also clear that belief is closely aligned with and only visible through actions and lifestyle. You may recall that the Tanakh passages we reviewed earlier use this phrase as a verb describing an action, believing and obeying or not believing and remaining obstinate or disobedient. In the New Testament writings, James defines this Hebraic way of understanding faith a little further:
James 2:17-18 – In the same way faith, if it does not have works, is dead by itself. But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without works, and I will show you faith by my works.
And this is one of the places where I get on my little hobby horse about English translations (and there are many!). In the 2 Corinthians 6 passage, Paul uses the term “non-believer” as a contrast to those who are in Messiah. Many English Bibles might phrase this statement by rendering it as “unbeliever”. While this is most likely just me splitting semantic hairs (please bear with me), this term “unbeliever” in English is a phrase which I greatly dislike because it seems imprecise when discussing this biblical concept. To me it is a nonsensical term; how can you un-believe something? You either believe it or you don’t. In the original Greek, non-believers are called apistos which literally means faithless, without demonstrating faith in Yahweh.
I think the phrase “unbeliever” bothers me because it appears to describe an inherent characteristic of unbelief, like it’s just some sort of opinion one holds. But we just saw how the Bible uses the term faith as a verb describing an action, not just a static state of being or an opinion. Those who do not believe are actively not believing, and their lifestyles and their actions show it. To say someone is apistos does not just mean they are unbelieving in opinion, they are literally without faithful actions. I know that unbeliever is an acceptable use of the term in English, but for some reason it just gets under my skin and seems inaccurate. To me, those who demonstrate by their actions that they do not believe are not “unbelievers”, they are more accurately without faithful actions and are, by default (whether knowingly or unknowingly), obstinately living in disobedience to God.
So as we begin this journey on titles used to describe God’s people, I would strongly argue that the concept of faith must be included. While biblical faith is used in the verb sense throughout the Bible, I am of the opinion that to call someone a believer in the noun sense still adequately describes who they are by what they do. My definition of a biblical believer is someone whose actions and lifestyle express their faith in Yahweh as the one true God, and in Yeshua as his Messiah, or Anointed One. A non-believer’s actions demonstrate that they have no faith in Yahweh as the one true God, or in Yeshua as the Messiah, even if they claim to be associated with believers.
Christians
While the term Christian has become an acceptable description of one who follows Christ, or the Messiah, in our present day it is actually a term that has come to mean anyone who believes a specific orthodoxy about the person of Messiah and the message of the Bible as a whole. To be a Christian today, one must affirm that they agree with a framework of stated beliefs in order to qualify as a Christian. Most congregations today even have a public “statement of faith” which defines how they choose to align with the major Christian propositions, such as the trinity, virgin birth of Messiah, and perspectives on eschatology like the end times. This is understandable, for to belong to any type of specific group one must have points of agreement in order to be in fellowship.
However, in point of fact, there is a scholarly perspective that the term Christian as it is actually used in the Bible was not a statement of belief but it was initially used as a pejorative term against the believers in the first century.
The term itself is used only in three New Testament passages:
Acts 11:26 – The disciples were first called Christians at Antioch.
Acts 26:28 – Agrippa said to Paul, “Are you going to persuade me to become a Christian so quickly? “
1 Peter 4:14-16 – If you are ridiculed for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. Let none of you suffer as a murderer, a thief, an evildoer, or a meddler. But if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed but let him glorify God in having that name.
Now, most people who call themselves Christians today are not aware of the academic dispute about the actual phrase used in the Greek: was it christianoi meaning “anointed ones” or “those who follow the anointed” or was the term chrestianoi meaning “good ones” or “those who do good”? There is only one letter difference in the Greek between these two terms, and based on some convincing manuscript evidence (like the Codex Sinaiticus of the 4th century), some scholars think that chrestianoi is the original or preferred rendering. Someone who is a chrestianon is considered useful, pleasant, kind, or good. Believers living out the teachings of Messiah could certainly be classified as such, since they were instructed by Messiah not only to be kind to one another, but to extend that kindness even to their enemies. This would definitely be a distinctive characteristic worthy of some unique terminology.
The influential Biblical scholar of the last century, F.F. Bruce, wrote the following in his commentary on the book of Acts:
“Xrestus (“useful, kindly”) was a common slave-name in the Graeco-Roman world. It appears as a spelling variant for the unfamiliar Christus (Xristos). (In Greek the two words were pronounced alike.)” – F. F. Bruce, The Books of Acts, 368.
We can see how there was a close correlation between the two terms, and how the term chrestianoi could be applied to those who saw themselves as slaves to that which is good, because they would be known for always doing good to others. However, in a negative connotation, a chrestianon could also have been someone whom we might call today a “goody two-shoes”, or a “do-gooder”; as someone who is annoyingly righteous in what they say and do. And to be honest, this seems to me to be the way the term was employed in Scripture.
Notice, in the passages we just reviewed how if we substitute the negative connotation for the traditional rendering of Christian, it can apply equally as well as the positive.
Acts 11:26 – The disciples were first called Christians at Antioch.
It could just as easily be said that the disciples were first called “do-gooders” at Antioch. This would mean that this would have been the first place that believers were recognized collectively as a group with characteristics of doing good that were unique enough to have earned the name.
Acts 26:28 – Agrippa said to Paul, “Are you going to persuade me to become a Christian in so little time?”
Again, if we substitute the alternative, it could be that Agrippa said to Paul, “Are you going to persuade me to becomea ‘do-gooder’ in so little time?” Agrippa, in context, is sarcastically accusing Paul of trying to convert him to become something he is not. If this “do-gooder” tag was a name that had been applied to the movement many years before, Agrippa, as a controversial politician at best, could easily be seen as conveying his unlikely conversion to being someone who is considered “doing good”.
1 Peter 4:16 – But if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed but let him glorify God in having that name.
Peter here is contrasting the believers with those who are murderers, thieves, evildoers and those who defraud others (v. 15). “But if anyone suffers as a “doer of good”, let him not be ashamed but let him glorify God in having that name,” (v. 16). This rendering can be further substantiated by v. 19 which says, “So then, let those who suffer according to God’s will entrust themselves to a faithful Creator while doing what is good.” Peter could easily be saying the “doer of good” term was used as a way of ridiculing those who had chosen to follow the Messiah, and he is encouraging them to not be ashamed of those who would use this term in a derogatory fashion. It’s as if Peter is saying, “Don’t stop doing good just because people are making fun of you for doing so.”
To me, this does not seem to be such a difficult perspective to hold, as even today, many believers are ridiculed for having integrity and doing what is right when peer pressure or cultural dictates are otherwise. If we are truly living according to the teachings of Yeshua, then exhibiting forgiveness to others and extending compassion when it is not customary to do so can certainly be considered abrasive amidst a culture that primarily promotes self-benefit in every aspect. Some things regarding human nature don’t appear to have changed in the millennia since Messiah walked the earth, but then again, as followers of Messiah and slaves to that which is good, we are still called to be the light of the world (that which illuminates) and the salt of the earth (that which heals and preserves).
SUMMARY
Let’s summarize what we have looked at so far in this study on titles for God’s people. We saw that faith was the primary distinction of those who followed the Messiah, so using the term believers seems appropriate and right, as long as the actions of those who claim to be believers bear out their testimony. However, we noted that the term “unbeliever” seems unusual when the actual phrase used in Scripture means one who is faithless or without faithful actions, and is actively living in disobedience. We also saw how there could be both believers and faithless within the group of those considered as God’s people at any given time, based on how they demonstrated their faith (or lack of it) by their ongoing actions.
We then considered how, in today’s usage, a Christian is typically defined as one who holds to a certain set of orthodox beliefs about Christ and the Bible worldview as a whole. However, from the passages where the term may have been used in Scripture, we then saw how the term (whether meaning slave of Christ or one who does good) was likely used in a derogatory way to malign those who were known for excessive acts of kindness and charity amidst a corrupt society. As “slaves” of Christ, according to Peter, believers were to consider that term a badge of honor rather than the term of derision that it was.
Well, as we wrap up for today, I hope there are at least a couple of concepts and ideas to encourage you to meditate on and to study out further on your own. Next time, we’ll be looking at the terms “remnant and elect”, so be sure to come back and visit for more perspectives on these titles of God’s people. But remember, if you have thoughts or comments that you would like to explore further with me, feel free to email me at coreofthebible@gmail.com.
The atonement word-pictures in the Bible are best understood as Israel-centric, then flowing out to the nations.
Core of the Bible podcast #116 – Atonement, part 2
Lately we have been reviewing some of the bigger key doctrines in the Bible, and today we are continuing a study on the topic of the atonement. This is a very complex and involved concept to present, not because it is so extremely difficult to understand, but because we have had a certain view over the centuries that may not reflect what the Bible actually teaches about this critical aspect of the biblical faith.
In order to view atonement from an authoritative biblical stance, it made sense to me to consider it by identifying the following categories:
How was atonement represented in Israel’s past (the Old Testament, or Tanakh)
How did Yeshua view his role in that worldview
How were atonement themes viewed by Yeshua’s disciples and the NT writers
What does all of this mean for believers today
To quickly review, last time we examined the first two premises: how atonement was represented in the past through the biblical calendar and the Day of Atonement and also the significance of blood sacrifices in general. We also reviewed how Yeshua conveyed his role as the Good Shepherd, the Ransom, and the founder of the new covenant sealed with his own life.
Today, we are now moving into the New Testament writings and how Yeshua’s disciples interpreted his life and death. I am hoping by the end of this to be able to pull all of this information together so that we can draw some practical understanding and application for our lives today.
What atonement themes were conveyed by Yeshua’s disciples in the New Testament writings?
While there are many references to prophetic fulfillment throughout the New Testament writings, I find that there are three main ideas related to atonement that were primary understandings of those early believers, and how they interpreted the life and death of the Messiah.
Lamb of God
Paschal lamb (lamb sacrificed at Passover)
Mediator/High Priest (Day of Atonement)
Yeshua as the Lamb of God
John 1:29 – The next day John saw Yeshua coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!”
This verse comes to us as a standard understanding within Christianity. When we typically read this, we have been taught to view this as John the baptizer proclaiming that Yeshua was destined to die as a blood sacrifice for everyone who ever lived in the entire world, satisfying God’s righteous justice and wrath against the sin of all of mankind since the rebellion of Adam. That is a lot of theology packed into a single verse!
And yet, if we are to do our best to keep things in their contextual and cultural habitat where they belong, we find that John was more likely to have been referencing an aspect of Yeshua’s role that had been conveyed through a prophecy that at that time was already hundreds of years old. As the “Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world”, John appears to be referring not to Adam, but to a prophecy from Isaiah; specifically, that very famous passage in Isaiah 53.
Isaiah 53:7, 11-12 – He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth. Like a lamb led to the slaughter and like a sheep silent before her shearers, he did not open his mouth. … After his anguish, he will see light and be satisfied. By his knowledge, my righteous servant will justify many, and he will carry their iniquities. Therefore I will give him the many as a portion, and he will receive the mighty as spoil, because he willingly submitted to death, and was counted among the rebels; yet he bore the sin of many and interceded for the rebels.
This is the allegorical Lamb of God willingly carrying iniquity and bearing sin. By referencing this passage directly, John squarely assigns the role of the servant in this Isaiah passage to Yeshua as the Messiah of Israel who has rejected him.
We need to briefly discuss these “suffering servant” passages in Isaiah, because they comprise a larger section of Isaiah’s prophecies as a whole. Surprisingly, the Wikipedia entry on these Servant Songs has a decent summary of these passages for us to get our contextual bearings:
“The servant songs (also called the servant poems or the Songs of the Suffering Servant) are four songs in the Book of Isaiah in the Hebrew Bible, which include Isaiah 42:1–4; Isaiah 49:1–6; Isaiah 50:4–11; and Isaiah 52:13–53:12. The songs are four poems written about a certain “servant of YHWH” (Hebrew: עבד יהוה, ‘eḇeḏ Yahweh). Yahweh calls the servant to lead the nations, but the servant is horribly abused by them. In the end, he is rewarded.“
Most Christians likely don’t recognize this, but these servant passages have had a different meaning among the Semitic community, even into modern Judaism. Although Christians readily attribute these passages to a prophetic foreshadowing of Messiah Yeshua, the Semitic view is that the servant of Yahweh is not an individual, but is the nation of Israel as whole, suffering throughout the nations on behalf of the rest of the world.
“Rabbinic Judaism sees this passage, especially “God’s Suffering Servant” as a reference to the Jewish nation, not to the king Mashiach. Jewish teaching also takes note of the historical context in which God’s Suffering Servant appears, particularly because it speaks in the past tense. The Jewish nation has borne unspeakable injustices, under Assyria, Babylonia, Ancient Greece, ancient Rome, which are all gone, and bears persecution to this day.
“Christians traditionally see the servant as Jesus Christ. The songs are quoted to and applied to Jesus multiple times in the New Testament…
“Another Christian interpretation combines aspects of the traditional Christian and the Jewish interpretation. This position sees the servant as an example of ‘corporate personality’, where an individual can represent a group, and vice versa. Thus, in this case, the servant corresponds to Israel, yet at the same time corresponds to an individual (that is, the Messiah) who represents Israel.”
Looked at in the context of the Bible as a whole, my personal belief is that these “servant” passages do refer to both corporate Israel and the Messiah as Israel’s representative. How can both be true at once? This is because this is the pattern that emerges from the depths of the Bible narrative. For example, the Levites were the “chosen tribe” out of the twelve tribes of Israel for service of the tabernacle, and yet the High Priest alone is the one who represented the whole nation in intercession before God. In this sense, the Levites were both corporately (as a tribe) and in a single representative individual (the High Priest) the “servant” of the rest of the twelve tribes. From this perspective, this dual identity of the servant in the Isaiah passages solidifies Israel’s role in the world as the chosen people of God who were selected and tried by God on behalf of the rest of the nations, and it also substantiates the Son of God as God’s chosen representative from among that group to intercede for the whole.
To illustrate this further, the famous passage in Isaiah 53 can be viewed from both of these perspectives depending on the emphasis on the pronouns in the passage. So I’d like to read an excerpt of the passage and then substitute the object and subject emphasis of the pronouns used to show you how the passages can be viewed either way.
First, I’ll read it the way it’s generally written.
Isaiah 53:4-6 – Yet he himself bore our sicknesses, and he carried our pains; but we in turn regarded him stricken, struck down by God, and afflicted. But he was pierced because of our rebellion, crushed because of our iniquities; punishment for our peace was on him, and we are healed by his wounds. We all went astray like sheep; we all have turned to our own way; and Yahweh has punished him for the iniquity of us all.
Okay, now I’ll read it substituting the pronouns as the Jews might interpret this passage today:
Isaiah 53:4-6 – Yet Israel himself bore the world’s sicknesses, and Israel carried the world’s pains; but the world in turn regarded Israel stricken, struck down by God, and afflicted. But Israel was pierced because of the world’s rebellion, crushed because of the world’s iniquities; punishment for the world’s peace was on Israel, and we are healed by Israel’s wounds. We all went astray like sheep; we all have turned to our own way; and Yahweh has punished Israel for the iniquity of the world.
I know this type of interpretation may sound weird to Christian ears, but this is the way the servant concept is identified in Semitic thinking today. To be honest, there is a strong measure of truth to this, as Israel was indeed chosen by God to be the light to the rest of the nations, and in a very real sense, they did go through their trials and rebellion on behalf of providing that light of the Messiah to the rest of the nations.
But now let me read it in the context I believe it was originally intended for that ancient audience.
Isaiah 53:4-6 – Yet Messiah himself bore Israel’s sicknesses, and Messiah carried Israel’s pains; but Israel in turn regarded Messiah stricken, struck down by God, and afflicted. But Messiah was pierced because of Israel’s rebellion, crushed because of Israel’s iniquities; punishment for Israel’s peace was on Messiah, and Israel is healed by Messiah’s wounds. All Israel went astray like sheep; all Israel have turned to their way; and Yahweh has punished Messiah for the iniquity of all Israel.
You may be thinking, “Well, that’s closer to the right way to view it, but what are all of these references to Israel; where is the rest of the world in this passage?” That’s just it; the rest of the world isn’t in this passage, at least in the context in which it was originally intended. All of the “we” and “our” pronouns actually belong to them, the nation of Israel, not the rest of the world. Isaiah was Israel’s prophet speaking to Israel, not the rest of the world, at least, not at first. Israel was the one whose iniquities (under the first covenant) were needing to be atoned for. Israel was the people who had all gone astray like sheep from God’s torah, which had been given to them and to no other nation. This is why Messiah could say he came “only for the lost sheep of Israel.” And Messiah was the one who bore the iniquity of all Israel as their representative. Yeshua, rightly assuming his role as Israel’s king, accepted the burden of iniquity for his own people. This was the picture that John describes of the “lamb who takes away the sin of the world”: the Messiah who came to represent the collective “world” of all of the tribes of Israel.
We’ll talk more about the rest of the world in a little bit. But for now, consider how this Israel-centric view also makes sense if you simply keep reading the context into Isaiah 54:
Isaiah 54:6-7, 11-12 – “For Yahweh has called you, like a wife deserted and wounded in spirit, a wife of one’s youth when she is rejected,” says your God. “I deserted you for a brief moment, but I will take you back with abundant compassion. … “Poor Jerusalem, storm-tossed, and not comforted, I will set your stones in black mortar, and lay your foundations in lapis lazuli. I will make your fortifications out of rubies, your gates out of sparkling stones, and all your walls out of precious stones.”
This is the theme of restoration and renewal like in the book of Revelation, where Jerusalem is transformed into the heavenly Zion with allegorical pearly gates and streets of gold. This is Kingdom language that pervades the imagery of the servant’s representative sacrifice for others. The Lamb who takes away their sin would be a leader figure like King David, the one reigning in this restored Kingdom.
Isaiah 55:3-4 – “Pay attention and come to me; listen, so that you will live. I will make a permanent covenant with you on the basis of the faithful kindnesses of David. Since I have made him a witness to the peoples, a leader and commander for the peoples…”
And here is where the rest of the world comes into the picture in this telling of the good news of the Kingdom:
Isaiah 55:5-7 – “so you will summon a nation you do not know, and nations who do not know you will run to you. For Yahweh your God, even the Holy One of Israel, has glorified you [Israel].” Seek Yahweh while he may be found; call to him while he is near. Let the wicked one abandon his way and the sinful one his thoughts; let him [Israel] return to Yahweh, so he may have compassion on him, and [rest of the nations] to our God, for he will freely forgive.”
All of this tells us that the Lamb of God imagery is symbolic, representative, and allegorical, not literal. Yeshua accepted the role of fulfilling these prophetic passages by being the voluntarily obedient, symbolic or representative covenant-victim for Yahweh’s new covenant with Judah and Israel (Jer. 31:31; Matt. 26:28; Mark 14:24; Luke 22:20; 1 Cor. 11:25), and all those from among the nations who would ultimately be joined to God’s people.
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Paschal lamb
Tied up with all of this lamb imagery in our modern minds is now the concept of the Passover lamb. This is evident most notably because Yeshua was crucified at the exact same moment the Passover lambs would have been being sacrificed for the people in that year. The New Testament writings all convey that Yeshua’s crucifixion was at the start of the week of Unleavened Bread. Because our minds are primed to see sacrifices as being made for sin, we assume that Yeshua, as the symbolic Lamb, was sacrificed for the sin of the world, just as we think the Passover lamb was sacrificed for the sins of Israel.
However, the Bible teaches us that the real reason for the pesach or Passover lamb was not to be sacrificed for sin, but to redeem the firstborn son in each family and protect them from death.
Exodus 12:12-13 – “I will pass through the land of Egypt on that night and strike every firstborn male in the land of Egypt, both people and animals. I am Yahweh; I will execute judgments against all the gods of Egypt. The blood on the houses where you are staying will be a distinguishing mark for you; when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No plague will be among you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.”
By killing the pesach, the lamb-offering, and applying its blood to the doorway, the families gathered in each home were essentially protecting the firstborn male of each family; no one else was in danger of dying. This is why we reviewed the biblical concept of ransom and redemption last time, and I mentioned we would revisit it as we studied the paschal lamb.
Remember what Yeshua said about himself:
Mark 10:45 – “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
Last time I defined a ransom as “a price to be paid, a value to be given, for the changing of a foregone outcome.” In the case of the Passover lamb, the lamb was a ransom for the life of the firstborn male in each family. If the lamb’s blood (the evidence of its sacrifice) was on the doorway, the household would be spared the tragedy of losing their firstborn son, the “foregone outcome” that the rest of Egypt suffered.
And here is the critical thing for us to understand: the Passover lamb has nothing to do with forgiveness of sin; it is all and only about ransoming the firstborn from death.
Exodus 4:22-23 – “And you will say to Pharaoh: This is what Yahweh says: Israel is my firstborn son. I told you: Let my son go so that he may worship me, but you refused to let him go. Look, I am about to kill your firstborn son! “
I believe it is clear in the New Testament writings that Yeshua was identified with the paschal lamb, not only in the perfect timing of his crucifixion, but even in his followers’ teaching as explained by Paul:
1 Corinthians 5:7 – …For Messiah our Passover lamb has been sacrificed.
In this passage, Paul is using the Passover imagery here as he carries over the statement that Messiah was the ultimate Passover lamb. Since the pesach, the Passover lamb, was known to have redeemed the firstborn from death, and Israel is clearly referenced in the Bible as God’s firstborn, then the imagery has gone full circle back to the Israel-centric view we discussed earlier.
It’s been said that if God was to synchronize his Messiah’s death with the biblical holidays, it would have made way more sense to have him be crucified on the Day of Atonement rather than on Passover. This would have better corroborated his death for the sins of the people in a much more understandable way. But the reason this is not the way God actually worked it out was because he was more focused on teaching Israel that he was redeeming them, his firstborn son, as it were, and providing a way out from death and the coming wrath on their nation. Just like the Hebrew people of old in Egypt, by placing their faith in the true pesach, Yeshua Messiah, they (the firstborn) would be spared. That is the message of Passover and Yeshua as the paschal lamb.
So now we have seen Yeshua represented as the lamb who takes away Israel’s sin as the obedient servant in Isaiah’s prophecy, to his coming to redeem Israel as the paschal lamb. Now let’s see another picture that is presented by the early believers in the book of Hebrews: Yeshua as the High Priest of Israel.
Mediator/High Priest
Yeshua’s role of redemptive mediator is expressed in symbolic fashion in the book of Hebrews.
Hebrews 9:15 – Therefore, he [Yeshua] is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called might receive the promise of the eternal inheritance, because a death has taken place for redemption from the transgressions committed under the first covenant.
The writer of Hebrews tells us that the primary purpose of this mediation concerns sins that were committed under the first covenant. Who was the first covenant made with? Israel, of course; this reinforces Yeshua’s claim that he was sent to Israel.
Once again, this imagery of Yeshua as the High Priest is not literal, but figurative. In fact, the writer of Hebrews goes out of his way to explain how Yeshua could NOT be a literal priest in this world, because he was not from the priestly tribe of Levi, but he was from Judah.
Hebrews 7:14-17 – Now it is evident that our Lord [Yeshua] came from Judah, and Moses said nothing about that tribe concerning priests. And this becomes clearer if another priest like Melchizedek appears, who did not become a priest based on a legal regulation about physical descent but based on the power of an indestructible life. For it has been testified: You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.
The idea being conveyed here is that Yeshua functions as a priest, not as a physical descendant of Levi, but as a spiritual descendant of Melchizedek because he lives forever.
Who is this Melchizedek? He is a character related to us in only three spare verses in the book of Genesis as having met Abraham after Abraham won a private war with five kings in the region of the Dead Sea.
Genesis 14:18-20 – Melchizedek, king of Salem, brought out bread and wine; he was a priest to God Most High. He blessed him and said: Abram is blessed by God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth, and blessed be God Most High who has handed over your enemies to you. And Abram gave him a tenth of everything.
The mystery surrounding Melchizedek has spawned many theories, but what we do know from the text is that this individual was a king reigning in Salem (before it became Jerusalem) who was also a priest of the Most High God (before there were any Levites to be priests). This is why he becomes such an important figure for those early believers who were looking for a way to explain the relevance of Messiah in their day. Melchizedek was a Messiah-like figure, a foreshadowing of the roles that Messiah would be fulfilling: that of both king and priest. Messiah was to rule over God’s kingdom and be the one who mediates between God and men in the role of priest.
This is why the Levitical priesthood is no longer needed: it was fulfilled and ended when Messiah arrived, and the only priesthood that now exists is the spiritual High Priesthood of Melchizedek. It is a spiritual priesthood needing no successors on earth because the Messiah lives forever and does not need to be replaced. In a grand spiritual allegory, he alone is the eternal representative before Yahweh interceding, as it were, between Yahweh and believers. This is what the role of the priesthood was designed to do: provide atonement (mercy and reconciliation) between Yahweh God, the one whose instruction had been violated (that is, the offended party) and the offender (the person who had sinned). This is the atonement process which the priesthood of Levi taught us about, but was ended forever with the arrival of the Messiah and is no longer needed.
This is why a true understanding of biblical atonement is so needed today. When we see how Messiah fulfilled that spiritual priestly role of eternal mediator providing eternal reconciliation, we realize we no longer need any priests here on earth; there is no point. This is not to denigrate those who have committed their lives to God by serving as priests among the various denominations, whether Catholics, Anglicans, Eastern Orthodox and such. I’m sure those commitments are by and large sincere and made with the best intentions of helping others. But a priest’s primary function, his one job as it were, is to serve as a mediator, a go-between between God and people, and according to the Bible, that role is currently and eternally filled by Messiah Yeshua because he lives forever.
Messiah is also to serve as a king, reigning over the heavenly Jerusalem as God’s faithful representative. This is why he is recognized as “Lord” throughout the New Testament writings, because that is what he is: the authoritative ruler, like David of old, whom God has chosen to reign within his Kingdom. And if we consider ourselves to be participators in that Kingdom, then he is our authoritative ruler, as well; he is our King.
Summary
The scope of Yeshua’s impact on the world of the ancient nation of Israel and on the rest of the world now begins to come into view. The early believers recognized this and explained all of this two thousand years ago; we have just been too distracted with our own theories over the centuries, many of which became traditions, to recognize this.
Last time, we looked at the Old Testament example of the Day of Atonement as the baseline for understanding the process of reconciliation through representative sacrifice, which is what atonement is. We then looked at how Yeshua viewed himself as the Good Shepherd for Israel’s lost sheep, the representative ransom for that nation, and the institutor of the new covenant for Israel and Judah with the extreme commitment of his life, his own blood. Today we viewed how his followers connected him with the allegorical lamb of Isaiah’s servant passages, how they saw the redemption of their own people in his role as the paschal or Passover lamb, and how he fulfilled and superseded the Levitical priesthood as an eternal mediator after the pattern of Melchizedek for all who place their trust in him as Messiah. Each one of these topics could be its own study to flesh out the full ramifications of each; however, I believe we can still draw some overall conclusions to help us maintain a biblical perspective of these ancient patterns and ideas.
First of all, it becomes apparent that not one of these word pictures conveying atonement is meant to be taken literally. Yeshua is not really a lamb, he is not really a shepherd of sheep, he is not literally a priest standing at an altar, which also means he was not literally a sacrifice for sin. Yeshua could not have been a literal sacrifice for sin, because that would mean Yahweh condones human sacrifice, along with punishing the innocent for the guilty and justifying the wicked, which is all against his own Torah, or instruction.
Jeremiah 32:35 – “They [Judah] have built the high places of Baal in Ben Hinnom Valley to sacrifice their sons and daughters in the fire to Molech – something I had not commanded them. I had never entertained the thought that they do this detestable act causing Judah to sin!
Exodus 23:7 – “… Do not kill the innocent and the just, because I will not justify the wicked.
No, in all of these examples, God was teaching his people through object lessons, patterns, and foreshadowing that they would have understood from their own writings of how the fulfillment of these preparatory examples were completed and fulfilled in his Anointed One, his Messiah. We see Yeshua as coming for his people, Israel, as their Messiah; their redeemer, their priest and mediator.
So, if that’s the case, how does all of this good news for Israel mean anything to the rest of us who are not descended by flesh from Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob? How does the atonement provided by their Messiah have any relevance for us?
The apostle John sadly relates to us how their Messiah was rejected by them.
John 1:11 – He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him.
But in the very next breath, John also shares the good news of the Kingdom with all who will listen:
John 1:12-13 – But to all who did receive him, he gave them the right to be children of God, to those who believe in his name, who were born, not of natural descent, or of the will of the flesh, or of the will of man, but of God.
To receive Yeshua, to accept that he truly is the Anointed One of God who came to reveal the Kingdom of God, is to become born from above as a true child of Yahweh God. This is a status that is not bound by blood heritage from Israel; it is based on the heartfelt faith that Abraham expressed when he simply believed what God said was true.
Paul writes:
Romans 1:16 – For I am not ashamed of the good news of Messiah, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.
All of this imagery that we have been looking at is for the Jew first, which is why it is all stated in word pictures and allegories that they would have understood and been familiar with. But Paul says it is also for the Greek, that is, the Hellenists. The Hellenists were those Jews who had been scattered throughout the empire and had succumbed to the Greek culture and lifestyle. But Hellenists were also descriptive of those non-Jews among them who became “God-fearers” through their interest in, and learning the ways of, this Jewish God. We who are non-Jews are always at a disadvantage until we can begin to understand how these Semitic word pictures and allegories are to be understood. This is why our Bibles contain both the Old Testament writings or Tanakh, and the New Testament writings of the apostles: We need to fully grasp the concepts presented in the Old Testament and not just continue to re-hash New Testament principles taken out of their cultural and historical context.
Once we rise above the limiting horizon of scholarly theories, tradition, and orthodoxy, we can then begin to see the biblical picture of atonement for what it truly is. The atonement that Messiah provided was not one of literal blood sacrifice to calm the wrath of an angry deity, but a representative and allegorical atonement providing mercy and reconciliation that reaches into the very depths of each soul who trusts in him, Jew and non-Jew alike. The mercy and reconciliation of this atonement provides true freedom from sin and causes us to walk in the righteous ways of Yahweh as he always intended: from the heart, not through the traditions and rituals of men. Anyone, therefore, who exhibits faith in Messiah is therefore accepted into the Kingdom, and this is how it was always designed by God to be from the very beginning: to start like a seed from Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and then at the fulfillment of all things in Messiah, to spread and grow like a blossoming tree until it fills the earth.
Well, I hope this two-part study on the atonement brought you some concepts and ideas to meditate on and to study out further on your own. But remember, if you have thoughts or comments that you would like to explore further with me, feel free to email me at coreofthebible@gmail.com.
In atonement, blood is substituted in a representative way for the life of the one presenting the sacrifice.
Core of the Bible podcast #115 – Atonement, part 1
Lately we have been reviewing some of the bigger key doctrines in the Bible, and today we are beginning a study on the topic of the atonement. This is a very complex and involved concept to present, not because it is so extremely difficult to understand, but because we have had a certain view over the centuries that may not reflect what the Bible actually teaches about this critical aspect of the biblical faith.
So let’s begin with a basic description of the common understanding of the atonement, taken from Wikipedia’s entry on the topic:
Atonement in Christianity, in western Christian theology, describes beliefs that human beings can be reconciled to God through Christ’s sacrificial suffering and death. Atonement refers to the forgiving or pardoning of sin in general and original sin in particular through the suffering, death and resurrection of Jesus. Throughout the centuries, Christians have used different metaphors and given differing explanations of atonement to express how atonement might work. Churches and denominations may vary in which metaphor or explanation they consider most accurately fits into their theological perspective; however all Christians emphasize that Jesus is the Saviour of the world and through his death the sins of humanity have been forgiven, enabling the reconciliation between God and his creation.
As the article says, many Christians may not be aware of this, but like every other great piece of doctrine, there are widely different scholarly views of the specifics of how the atonement should be interpreted, such as:
Ransom theory: Yeshua paid a ransom to the devil to free humanity from sin and death.
Christus Victor theory: Yeshua defeated the powers of evil and liberated humanity from their bondage.
Recapitulation theory: Yeshua recapitulated or summed up the stages of human life and reversed the effects of Adam’s disobedience.
Satisfaction theory: Yeshua satisfied the honor and justice of God by offering himself as a sacrifice for human sin.
Penal substitution theory: Yeshua bore the penalty and wrath of God for human sin in their place.
Moral Influence theory: Yeshua Messiah came and died in order to bring about a positive change to humanity. This moral change comes through the teachings of Yeshua alongside His example and actions.
Depending on which church or denomination you may belong to, one of these views is likely favored. Most of these theories are ways of dealing philosophically with the concept of how Yeshua overcame original sin. However, in the previous episode 111 of Humans and Sin, we have already explored how the philosophical concept of original sin is itself a theory and is not actually biblical. This obviously takes away the importance of establishing how these theories of atonement justify a different theory of original sin.
While I would personally love to geek out and explore each of those theories in detail (something I may do in a subsequent episode if there is interest in it), I would rather spend this initial run-through of atonement by looking at the actual biblical themes that discuss what is represented by the concept of atonement. If we can start the journey on a biblical basis, then I believe the theories will sort themselves out as to how useful they may or may not be.
In order to view atonement from an authoritative biblical stance, it made sense to me to consider it by identifying the following categories:
How was atonement represented in Israel’s past (the Old Testament, or Tanakh)
How did Yeshua view his role in that worldview
How were atonement themes viewed by Yeshua’s disciples and the NT writers
What does all of this mean for believers today
And, because this is such a convoluted topic that intertwines with so many other biblical themes, I think it’s important to spend some time developing some of these pictures more fully for a better overall view. This will require more than one episode, so today I would like to cover atonement as represented in the Tanakh, and also how Yeshua viewed himself and his role in relation to that. Next time, we will look at atonement themes in the New Testament and then see how all of this information comes together for believers today, so I hope you will make the time to listen to both episodes for the full review of this topic.
Atonement in the Tanakh
The term itself is a theological word based on the Hebrew concept of covering, mercy, and reconciliation. As defined by Strong’s, the word kaphar is: “A primitive root; to cover (specifically with bitumen); figuratively, to expiate or condone, to placate or cancel — appease, make (an atonement, cleanse, disannul, forgive, be merciful, pacify, pardon, purge (away), put off, (make) reconcile(-liation).”
The most prominent example of this type of transaction in the Old Testament is captured in the ceremony of the scapegoat ritual which was to take place once a year on the Day of Atonement, or Yom Kippur.
Leviticus 16:9-10 – “[Aaron] is to present the goat chosen by lot for Yahweh and sacrifice it as a sin offering. But the goat chosen by lot for an uninhabitable place is to be presented alive before Yahweh to make atonement with it by sending it into the wilderness for an uninhabitable place.”
Without going into extreme detail, once a year on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, the high priest would present two goats to Yahweh. One was sacrificed as a national representative substitution for the sin of the community, and the other was symbolically imbued with the sins of the nation and sent off into the wilderness never to return. The entire process is fascinating symbology and can be reviewed in total in Leviticus 16. We will spend some more time reviewing this as we draw near to the actual Day of Atonement at the beginning of the fall season in a few months.
A key portion of the ritual was that the high priest would take the blood of the sacrificed goat and pour it out on the cover of the ark of the covenant, covering the lid. Since the Bible teaches that the life of the creature is in the blood, the life of the goat was substituted for the collective life of the congregation. This “life” was then poured out upon the ark of the covenant containing the ten commandments, covering the covenantal agreement. In so doing, the community was essentially committing their collective “life” before Yahweh to follow the law that he himself pronounced from Sinai to the entire assembled community that had been ransomed from Egypt. Because of the atonement offering, God extends his mercy to the community and forgives their offenses against his covenant, resulting in reconciliation. This whole ritual is a vivid illustration of themes that would have been commonly understood within that culture and that are continually built on in later biblical stories.
The life is in the blood
Leviticus 17:11 – “For the life of a creature is in the blood, and I have appointed it to you to make atonement on the altar for your lives, since it is the lifeblood that makes atonement.
This principle is one of practical understanding and symbolic representation. When an animal (or human for that matter) has the blood drained from their body, they die. All other medical considerations aside, this dying due to loss of blood demonstrates practically that blood carries the life of the creature. However, God has ordained that the the symbolic aspect of animal sacrifice in the process of atonement is that its blood is substituted in a representative way for the life of the one presenting the sacrifice. The one offering the sacrifice is essentially saying to God, “My life is now intertwined with the life of this creature which is provided completely to you.” While the offerer continues to live, they have had to provide something of great value to them as a substitute for their own life. This then would become the deterrent to future sin because of the high cost of sacrificing a perfectly good animal which would have had great value to an agrarian family, especially one that was perfectly healthy as it had to be provided without blemish.
The net result of the sacrifice would be that the offerer would have had their sinful behavior “covered” by the life of the animal so that they could be reconciled and continue to live in their relationship with God. And as mentioned, the value of the sacrificial animal would provide a deterrent against future sin.
What this whole sacrificial ritual demonstrates in a practical way is that when wrongs are committed, there are consequences, and also a God-provided mode of overcoming those consequences. Atonement as a biblical concept is a symbolic principle of substitution value, not a token of having to give God something he desires for himself. It is a principle which says, “God, I recognize I have done something you didn’t want me to do. I’m sorry and won’t do it again. Please accept this thing of value in place of my own life to demonstrate my sincerity.” God then views the value of this thing (sincerely offered) as a token of sincerity and he subsequently responds with mercy and forgiveness, resulting in reconciliation between him as the offended party, and the offerer, as the offender.
This is why atonement was able to be provided by money, as well, because money has value and requires sacrifice to offer it to God. We’ll take a look more closely at that concept as we explore how Yeshua viewed his role in atonement.
Yeshua’s view of his role
We have to always remember that Yeshua did not just arrive on the scene at the start of his ministry drawing on a blank piece of paper. To the contrary, everything he did was as a culmination of all the revelation that had come previously, to fulfill all of those things the ancients had been looking forward to. He did not come to start a new religion, but to bring the one faith in Yahweh into its fullest prophetic expression. As such, everything in his life and ministry has deep roots in his Hebraic culture and the life of the nation of Israel up to that point. The New Testament writers were constantly quoting from Old Testament passages to demonstrate how Yeshua validated the Messianic role by fulfilling all of these Old Testament types and symbols. As we spend some time on these concepts, we can gain the most wisdom as to what the meaning of his life, and his death, was all about.
As the primary indicator of atonement, I think it’s most important to see how Yeshua himself viewed his role and mission as it applies to this concept. These include the themes of the Good Shepherd, the Ransom, and as the institution of a new blood covenant.
Good Shepherd
John 10:11 – “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.”
This idea of a shepherd is not just a cool metaphor that Yeshua came up with for himself. The Shepherd was a reference to several prophecies in the Tanakh or Old Testament, most notably Jeremiah.
Jeremiah 50:6 – “My people [that is, Israel] were lost sheep; their shepherds led them astray, guiding them the wrong way in the mountains. They wandered from mountain to hill; they forgot their resting place.”
The redemptive work of Israel’s Messiah was to be their Good Shepherd; to provide a path of redemption for Israel from their sins that they and their ancestors had committed under the first covenant. Now as a good shepherd who lays down his life, it’s important to note that a shepherd can’t do anything for his sheep when he is dead, but he does have to demonstrate his commitment to his flock by being willing to die, if needed, in order to protect the sheep. This is what Yeshua was conveying; Yeshua knew that he would be killed for his teachings and taught it plainly to his disciples and also in parables to those who gathered to hear him. But he was adamant that he was going to shepherd them for as long as possible so that they could grasp how all things were being fulfilled. Now, besides this quote from Luke, there are at least four other parallel references in Matthew and Mark (Matthew 16:21, 17:22-23; Mark 9:31, 10:33-34).
Luke 18:31-33 – Then he took the Twelve aside and told them, “See, we are going up to Jerusalem. Everything that is written through the prophets about the Son of Man will be accomplished. For he will be handed over to the Gentiles, and he will be mocked, insulted, spit on; and after they flog him, they will kill him, and he will rise on the third day.”
Even though he mentions resurrection in each of these passages, a concept that the disciples didn’t yet fully grasp (and one that we will pursue more deeply in a future episode), Yeshua knew that he was going to be killed and tried to prepare them as best he could ahead of time. He even taught the Jewish leaders they would do this to him, and he conveyed this by using the parable of the tenant farmers. I am quoting here from Luke but the parable is also in Matthew and Mark:
Luke 20:14, 19 – “But when the tenant farmers saw him, they discussed it among themselves and said, ‘This is the heir. Let’s kill him, so that the inheritance will be ours.’ … Then the scribes and the chief priests looked for a way to get their hands on him that very hour, because they knew he had told this parable against them, but they feared the people.
Yeshua even confronted the Jewish leaders openly on several occasions about their plans to murder him:
John 7:19 – “Didn’t Moses give you the law? Yet none of you keeps the law. Why are you trying to kill me? “
John 8:37, 40 – “I know you are descendants of Abraham, but you are trying to kill me because my word has no place among you. … “But now you are trying to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. Abraham did not do this.”
Regardless of this known fact, Yeshua was adamant that he was the fulfillment of the role of that Good Shepherd, the one who would be willing to lay down his life for the sake of the flock.
Ransom/redemption
Mark 10:45 – “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
Yeshua also defined his own purpose as being a ransom for many. What does this mean? We know that a ransom in modern vernacular is typically an amount of money paid to a kidnapper to gain the release of a hostage. But is this what is meant in the Bible? If this is the case, and we are the kidnapped hostages, then what is the ransom and who is it being paid to? Some have suggested that this ransom, Yeshua’s life, was paid to the devil to secure our freedom from his clutches. If that is the case, then the devil won. Well, that can’t be right because the Bible teaches that Yeshua defeated the works of the devil, not cooperated with him.
Instead of going down these rabbit holes of conjecture with our wrong-headed modern cultural perspective, let’s just see what the Bible actually means by a ransom.
Exodus 21:28-30 – “When an ox gores a man or a woman to death, the ox must be stoned, and its meat may not be eaten, but the ox’s owner is innocent. However, if the ox was in the habit of goring, and its owner has been warned yet does not restrain it, and it kills a man or a woman, the ox must be stoned, and its owner must also be put to death. If instead a ransom is demanded of him, he can pay a redemption price for his life in the full amount demanded from him.
Exodus 30:11-12, 16 – The Yahweh spoke to Moses: “When you take a census of the Israelites to register them, each of the men must pay a ransom for his life to Yahweh as they are registered. Then no plague will come on them as they are registered. … “Take the atonement price from the Israelites and use it for the service of the tent of meeting. It will serve as a reminder for the Israelites before Yahweh to atone for your lives.”
In these instances, we can see the concepts of ransom, redemption and atonement are becoming equivocated. In these passages, a price of money, a ransom, is paid to Yahweh (or his representative leaders) as a means of avoiding death. In the first instance, the ox owner was sentenced to death, but the leaders could provide him a price to be paid to avoid execution, sort of like bail is today when someone is to be released from custody. In the second instance, Yahweh institutes a ransom, or life-price, for the members of the life of the community to avoid any potential plague that might come upon them for taking a census. Why would this be the case? Censuses were usually taken as a measure of the pride of the nation, showing how numerous its fighting force could be. To avoid this connection with trusting in one’s army over trusting in Yahweh, the Israelites could demonstrate their honoring of God during a census by providing an atonement price to be used for his service. This money was to be used to maintain the tabernacle and its implements. Later on, this would be corrupted by the Jewish authorities to become the justification for the temple-tax in New Testament times.
As touched on earlier, we see how the principle of redemption is closely allied with the ransom, as the ransom is equated with the redemption money. Biblical redemption is essentially the process of intervening in an established process, statute, or condition to provide something of value which then allows for a different outcome. A redemption price could be paid for a person’s life (Exodus 30-11-12); it could be paid for land or a residence in a city prior to Jubilee (Leviticus 25:24, 29); or it could be paid to provide for a ministry representative for the firstborn males (Numbers 3:44-48). These examples are all using money or land value as an acceptable substitute for some other process, statute, or condition which God had ordained. Since Yeshua considered himself a ransom, instead of money as a value, he would provide his life.
Mark 10:45 – “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
Clearly, this is an allegorical ransom on behalf of the lives of others (those who would believe in him), not a literal ransom that was demanded to be paid to either God or the devil. While he did literally gave his life, the ransom/redemption he provided is a representative one based on the biblical pattern that the Israelites would have understood, not some cosmic balancing of the scales of justice. Once again, we have to keep things in their proper perspective as much as possible within the bounds of the cultural understanding of the time. Yeshua saying that he was giving his life as a ransom would be a word picture that the Israelites would have immediately picked up on as being represented physically in these other biblical motifs, or types and foreshadows. It is only in our modern era (the last 500 years or so) that these ideas have been solidified into philosophical and legal, cosmic absolutes which were never intended by God in the first place.
We will explore this concept of the ransom and redemption a little further next time when we look at Yeshua represented as the Paschal Lamb in New Testament writings. However, for now, it is important to note that the ransom was essentially a price to be paid, a value to be given, for the changing of a foregone outcome. In the sense that Yeshua is using it, the foregone outcome is that Israel was about to be judged in that generation for their sins under the first covenant and he was offering his own life as a representative ransom on the behalf of all who would believe in him. Those who placed their faith in him would have their sins forgiven, and they would not come under God’s judgment which was about to be poured out.
Covenant in blood
Now we come to one of the most prominent themes that Yeshua considered about his own life: that he was giving it up voluntarily to seal the new covenant.
Matthew 26:28 – “For this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.
Mark 14:24 – “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many.
Luke 22:20 – “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.
Hopefully, after reviewing the Day of Atonement and how blood represented the life of the sacrificial victim, I’m hoping we can now come to these passages with a little more Hebraic perspective. Remember, we saw how on the Day of Atonement the blood of the sacrificial animal was poured out on the ark of the covenant. This was the vessel that contained the actual Ten Commandments, the original covenant between God and believers. This “life” blood being poured out symbolically represented the life of the community committing to follow the covenant in stone upon which it was based, and for them to be reconciled with God whom they had offended by disobeying that covenant agreement.
This is the way the blood of the new covenant is intended to be viewed, as well. Yeshua is capitalizing on that imagery, which would have been readily understood by his disciples, as a way of saying his blood (that represents his life) would be poured out on their behalf (that is, for any who believed in him as the Messiah) for the sake of the new covenant. The new covenant was not about a new set of instructions; it was about a new location for the existing instructions: on the heart instead of on pieces of stone in a box.
Jeremiah 31:31-33 – “Look, the days are coming” – this is Yahweh’s declaration – ”when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. This one will not be like the covenant I made with their ancestors on the day I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt – my covenant that they broke even though I am their master” – Yahweh’s declaration. “Instead, this is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after those days” – Yahweh’s declaration. “I will put my teaching within them and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.”
Interestingly, we see that in all of these views that Yeshua held about himself, they were all in relation to the nation of Israel. That new covenant was for Israel and Judah. The ransom was for Israel’s forgiveness of sin under the first covenant. The Good Shepherd was a shepherd to lead Israel faithfully.
Matthew 15:24 – He replied, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”
Yes, all of these concepts are Israel-centric, but not exclusively so. It’s important for us to keep all of these things in their original perspective as much as possible. We have to remember, if these concepts seem difficult for us to grasp today, it is because all of this was originally intended for an ancient audience halfway around the world in other languages and another culture. Yet, because the new covenant is based on the simple faith of Abraham believing God, and on the heart application of God’s eternal instruction, we, too, in this day and age can participate in the fulfillment of these things, because that was also prophesied to that ancient audience:
Romans 15:8-13 – For I say that Messiah became a servant of the circumcised on behalf of God’s truth, to confirm the promises to the fathers, and so that nations may glorify God for his mercy. As it is written, Therefore I will praise you among the nations, and I will sing praise to your name. Again it says, Rejoice, you nations, with his people! And again, Praise Yahweh, all you nations; let all the peoples praise him! And again, Isaiah says, The root of Jesse will appear, the one who rises to rule the nations; the nations will hope in him. Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you believe so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Okay, so far we have reviewed the atonement as represented in the Tanakh or Old Testament and we have looked at how Yeshua represented himself within that ideology and culture as fulfilling those types and foreshadows that were present in Old Testament prophecy. Next time, we will continue into the writings of the New Testament to see how this concept of atonement was viewed in relation to the work of Yeshua, and I will hopefully be able to provide some measure of summarizing all of this information in order to make it more applicable for us today.
Well, I hope this first part of our study on the atonement brought you some concepts and ideas to meditate on and to study out further on your own. But remember, if you have thoughts or comments that you would like to explore further with me, feel free to email me at coreofthebible@gmail.com.
According to Yeshua, the biblical concept of being considered a child of Abraham is to demonstrate the same type of faith that Abraham exhibited when he simply believed what God said.
Core of the Bible podcast #113 – Children of Abraham, children of promise
In my last post, we reviewed the concept of covenants in the Bible, and I concluded by stating how believers today can participate in the promises that God made to Abraham when we simply come to God in faith, believing in his Messiah, Yeshua.
Many people today believe the children of Abraham to be a specific race or line of descendants that can trace their lineage back to him. This was believed in the time of Yeshua, as well. However, we will see that the biblical concept of being considered a child of Abraham is to demonstrate the same type of faith that Abraham exhibited when he simply believed what God said. To understand this, we will need to begin by exploring God’s dealings with Abraham himself.
Promises made to Abram before the covenants
While most people studying the Bible recognize that God made covenants with Abraham, they misunderstand or overlook how Abraham’s relationship with God came about. To begin with, God simply made seven promises to Abraham before any covenants were enacted.
Genesis 12:1-4 Now Yahweh said to Abram, “Go forth from your country, And from your relatives And from your father’s house, To the land which I will show you;
And I will make you a great nation,
And I will bless you,
And make your name great;
And so you shall be a blessing;
And I will bless those who bless you,
And the one who curses you I will curse.
And in you all the families of the earth [ha’adamah] will be blessed.”
So Abram went forth as Yahweh had spoken to him; and Lot went with him. Now Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran.
At this point, no covenant was in place; God simply promised that all of these things would come about.
Next in the narrative, we find God reaffirming the promise to Abram that he would have numberless descendants, and now he adds the promise that they would also inherit the land of Canaan.
Genesis 13:14-17 Yahweh said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him, “Now lift up your eyes and look from the place where you are, northward and southward and eastward and westward; for all the land which you see, I will give it to you and to your descendants forever. I will make your descendants as the dust of the earth, so that if anyone can number the dust of the earth, then your descendants can also be numbered. Arise, walk about the land through its length and breadth; for I will give it to you.”
God then also promises that a very specific individual, one of his direct descendants, would be receiving the fulfillment of these promises that God was making to Abraham.
Genesis 15:1-4 After these things the word of Yahweh came to Abram in a vision, saying, “Do not fear, Abram, I am a shield to you; Your reward shall be very great.” Abram said, “O Lord Yahweh, what will You give me, since I am childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” And Abram said, “Since You have given no offspring to me, one born in my house is my heir.” Then behold, the word of Yahweh came to him, saying, “This man will not be your heir; but one who will come forth from your own body, he shall be your heir.“
Then, once again, God reaffirms his promise of many, numerous descendants that Abraham would have.
Genesis 15:5-6 And He took him outside and said, “Now look toward the heavens, and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” And He said to him, “So shall your descendants be.” Then he believed in Yahweh; and He reckoned it to him as righteousness.
So far, no covenants have been enacted; these are all promises that God made with Abraham. At this point, the Bible tells us that Abraham simply believed in these promises of the one true God. This is the exhibition of faith that Abraham is primarily remembered for. Understanding this principle is key to how the apostle Paul would use this simple faithfulness of Abraham later on in his letters to illustrate faith in Messiah.
The first covenant with Abraham
As the narrative now moves from promises to covenants, the focus shifts from the spiritual aspect of God’s promises to the concrete realities of what, to a middle eastern person living in ancient times, would be the realization of the spiritual realities coming to pass. The first covenant God made with Abraham was to guarantee him and his descendants the physical land of Canaan in a way that he would recognize and understand its reality. God was simply using the covenant process as a way of guaranteeing to Abraham that it would come to pass. It is important to also note that this was an unconditional covenant; there was nothing Abraham needed to do to bring it about.
Genesis 15:7-21 And He said to him, “I am Yahweh who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans, to give you this land to possess it.” He said, “O Lord Yahweh, how may I know that I will possess it?” So He said to him, “Bring Me a three year old heifer, and a three year old female goat, and a three year old ram, and a turtledove, and a young pigeon.” Then he brought all these to Him and cut them in two, and laid each half opposite the other; but he did not cut the birds. The birds of prey came down upon the carcasses, and Abram drove them away. Now when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and behold, terror and great darkness fell upon him. God said to Abram, “Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, where they will be enslaved and oppressed four hundred years. But I will also judge the nation whom they will serve, and afterward they will come out with many possessions. As for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you will be buried at a good old age. Then in the fourth generation they will return here, for the iniquity of the Amorite is not yet complete.” It came about when the sun had set, that it was very dark, and behold, there appeared a smoking oven and a flaming torch which passed between these pieces. On that day Yahweh made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your descendants I have given this land, From the river of Egypt as far as the great river, the river Euphrates: the Kenite and the Kenizzite and the Kadmonite and the Hittite and the Perizzite and the Rephaim and the Amorite and the Canaanite and the Girgashite and the Jebusite.”
The first covenant with Abraham was a guarantee of the promise that God had previously made to Abraham, granting him and his descendants the physical land of Canaan, from river to river. There was nothing Abraham needed to do for this to come about; God alone passed between the animal pieces in the vision Abraham saw. This was an illustration that it was assured God would accomplish this, and Abraham was not a participant to bring it about in any way.
God faithfully delivered on his covenant agreement to give them all of the land by the end of the book of Joshua:
Joshua 21:43-45 – “So the Lord gave Israel all the land which He had sworn to give to their fathers, and they possessed it and lived in it. And the Lord gave them rest on every side, according to all that He had sworn to their fathers, and no one of all their enemies stood before them; the Lord gave all their enemies into their hand. Not one of the good promises which the Lord had made to the house of Israel failed; all came to pass.”
The second covenant with Abraham
The second covenant God made with Abraham was a conditional covenant that would establish Yahweh as the God of Abraham’s descendants. However, it would require a practice for Abraham and any participants in the covenant; circumcision. Participants in this covenant would have to abide by the condition or they would not be included within the parameters of the covenant. This would be the distinguishing mark of the people that God was setting apart for his own purposes, to be their God and for them to be his people.
Genesis 17:1-14 Now when Abram was ninety-nine years old, Yahweh appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am God Almighty; Walk before Me, and be blameless. I will establish My covenant between Me and you, And I will multiply you exceedingly.” Abram fell on his face, and God talked with him, saying, “As for Me, behold, My covenant is with you, And you will be the father of a multitude of nations. No longer shall your name be called Abram, But your name shall be Abraham; For I have made you the father of a multitude of nations. I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make nations of you, and kings will come forth from you. I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your descendants after you. I will give to you and to your descendants after you, the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.”
God said further to Abraham, “Now as for you, you shall keep My covenant, you and your descendants after you throughout their generations. This is My covenant, which you shall keep, between Me and you and your descendants after you: every male among you shall be circumcised. And you shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskin, and it shall be the sign of the covenant between Me and you. And every male among you who is eight days old shall be circumcised throughout your generations, a servant who is born in the house or who is bought with money from any foreigner, who is not of your descendants. A servant who is born in your house or who is bought with your money shall surely be circumcised; thus shall My covenant be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant. But an uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, that person shall be cut off from his people; he has broken My covenant.”
Twenty-four years after the original promises made to Abraham, God asks Abraham and all of his physical descendants to participate in a covenant of circumcision. This was a fleshly covenant, to participate in a physical community with Yahweh as their God. The land had already been covenanted unconditionally; however, this conditional covenant would regulate the descendant community of Abraham as believers in Yahweh to distinguish them from the current possessors of Canaan.
It would also serve to confirm the original promise God made with him in Genesis 15 that “one who will come forth from your own body [that is, a physical descendant], he shall be your heir.” Thinking that God was primarily speaking of his immediate heirs, Abraham pleads for his son Ishmael to receive God’s favor.
Genesis 17:19-21 – But God said, “No. Your wife Sarah will bear you a son, and you will name him Isaac. I will confirm my covenant with him as a permanent covenant for his future offspring. As for Ishmael, I have heard you. I will certainly bless him; I will make him fruitful and will multiply him greatly. He will father twelve tribal leaders, and I will make him into a great nation. But I will confirm my covenant with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you at this time next year.”
Isaac, the miraculous child through Abraham’s wife Sarah, a child of promise, would be the immediate heir that Abraham was looking for. However, the covenantal practice of ongoing circumcisions in the community would ensure that a future descendant, another child of promise who would be the ultimate recipient of the spiritual promises made previously to Abraham, would be able to be recognized as coming from Abraham’s line.
Since we read in the book of Joshua how the promise to Abraham that his descendants would receive the land was fulfilled, it then makes sense the Bible would also record the fulfilled promise of how a physical descendant beyond the immediate family of Abraham would become his ultimate spiritual heir, the heir of the promises that were originally made to Abraham.
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Yeshua as the seed of Abraham
Now we fast-forward almost two thousand years to the time of Yeshua. Abraham’s descendants, through Isaac and then Jacob and his twelve sons, have been faithfully circumcising their male infants and keeping genealogical records throughout their history. There were a few exceptions, such as Israel’s time in the wilderness and some of their captivity, but those were accounted for and rectified upon their return to their land. Based on these records and the faithful practice of circumcision within the community, we know, therefore, that Yeshua was a fleshly descendant of Abraham from these genealogies as recorded in the accounts of Matthew and Luke.
Matthew 1:1 The record of the genealogy of Yeshua the Messiah, the son of David, the son of Abraham:
Luke 3:23, 34 When He began His ministry, Yeshua Himself was about thirty years of age, being, as was supposed, the son of Joseph, the son of Eli, … the son of Jacob, the son of Isaac, the son of Abraham…
This lineage is critical to recognizing Yeshua as the rightful heir of the promise that was made to Abraham.
Genesis 15:2-4 Abram said, “O Lord Yahweh, what will You give me, since I am childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” And Abram said, “Since You have given no offspring to me, one born in my house is my heir.” Then behold, the word of Yahweh came to him, saying, “This man will not be your heir; but one who will come forth from your own body, he shall be your heir.”
The apostle Paul confirms that this promise of God to Abraham, while immediately fulfilled through Isaac, was ultimately fulfilled in Messiah, the descendant or seed of Abraham.
Galatians 3:16 – Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. He does not say, “And to seeds,” as referring to many, but rather to one, “And to your seed,” that is, Messiah.
Yeshua defines who the true children of Abraham are
As the genealogical and covenantal end-stop of the promise made to Abraham, Yeshua is fully qualified to define who the true children of Abraham are. Several times in his teachings, Yeshua equates being a son or daughter of Abraham with being a person of faith in the working of God, NOT just a product of a physical lineage.
Luke 19:1-10 [Yeshua] entered Jericho and was passing through. And there was a man called by the name of Zaccheus; he was a chief tax collector and he was rich. Zaccheus was trying to see who Yeshua was, and was unable because of the crowd, for he was small in stature. So he ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree in order to see Him, for He was about to pass through that way. When Yeshua came to the place, He looked up and said to him, “Zaccheus, hurry and come down, for today I must stay at your house.” And he hurried and came down and received Him gladly. When they saw it, they all began to grumble, saying, “He has gone to be the guest of a man who is a sinner.” Zaccheus stopped and said to the Lord, “Behold, Lord, half of my possessions I will give to the poor, and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will give back four times as much.” And Yeshua said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he, too, is a son of Abraham. “For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”
Zaccheus may have been a natural descendant of Abraham, but the context demonstrates Yeshua was speaking about his faith which resulted in action. This is what truly qualified him as a son of Abraham. When Yeshua used this phrase, as shown above, it was in the context of someone exhibiting great faith, especially faith in him as the Messiah.
Conversely, when confronted by the Jewish leaders who were clearly physical descendants of Abraham and had the genealogies to prove it, Yeshua contradicts their fleshly ideas that just because of their physical lineage they were entitled to the blessings of Abraham.
John 8:39-40, 47 – They [the Jewish leaders] answered and said to Him, “Abraham is our father.” Yeshua said to them, “If you are Abraham’s children, do the deeds of Abraham. But as it is, you are seeking to kill Me, a man who has told you the truth, which I heard from God; this Abraham did not do. … “He who is of God hears the words of God; for this reason you do not hear them, because you are not of God.”
This shows how the “works of Abraham” are once again equated with faith in Messiah. Since the Jewish leaders did not believe, Yeshua did not consider them in the category of children of Abraham, even though they were Abraham’s physical descendants.
In a similar style, John the baptizer had held nothing back when it came to confronting the religious leaders as he was paving the way for the work of Messiah to follow. Concerning Abraham’s fleshly lineage, he said the following:
Matthew 3:7-9 But when he [John] saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? “Therefore bear fruit in keeping with repentance; and do not suppose that you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham for our father’; for I say to you that from these stones God is able to raise up children to Abraham.”
Once again, the Jewish leaders were not believing in the work that God was doing at that time in preparing people for the coming Messiah. So John dramatically states that God can create a child of Abraham out of anything, even stones!
Yeshua expands the term to non-Israelites
Matthew 8:5-12 And when Yeshua entered Capernaum, a centurion came to Him, imploring Him, and saying, “Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, fearfully tormented.” Yeshua said to him, “I will come and heal him.” But the centurion said, “Lord, I am not worthy for You to come under my roof, but just say the word, and my servant will be healed. “For I also am a man under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to this one, ‘Go!’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come!’ and he comes, and to my slave, ‘Do this!’ and he does it.” Now when Yeshua heard this, He marveled and said to those who were following, “Truly I say to you, I have not found such great faith with anyone in Israel. “I say to you that many will come from east and west, and recline at the table with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven; but the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
This passage shows that a centurion, a non-Israelite who expressed faith in Yeshua, was qualified by him to be in the kingdom of God with Abraham. This was due to his faith in the Messiah. However, the “sons of the kingdom,” those Israelites in the physical descendant lineage of Abraham, but not of the faith of Abraham, would be cast out.
From these passages, I believe both John the baptizer and Yeshua defined a child of Abraham, or someone who would be blessed along with Abraham, as someone who exhibited faith in God, just like Abraham did.
The apostle Paul continues the teaching of John and Yeshua
Paul also confirms this is an appropriate view of the term when he writes:
Galatians 3:6-9 Even so Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness. Therefore, be sure that it is those who are of faith who are sons of Abraham. The Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the [nations] by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “All the nations will be blessed in you.” So then those who are of faith are blessed with Abraham, the believer.
Galatians 3:26-29 For you are all sons of God through faith in Messiah Yeshua. For all of you who were baptized into Messiah have clothed yourselves with Messiah. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Messiah Yeshua. And if you belong to Messiah, then you are Abraham’s descendants, heirs according to promise.
Paul equates the promise that was made to Abraham as being effective for all who exhibit faith in Messiah, just as Abraham exhibited faith in Yahweh.
Romans 4:13-14, 16 For the promise to Abraham or to his descendants that he would be heir of the world was not through the Law, but through the righteousness of faith. For if those who are of the Law are heirs, faith is made void and the promise is nullified; … For this reason it is by faith, in order that it may be in accordance with grace, so that the promise will be guaranteed to all the descendants, not only to those who are of the Law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all…
We have to remember that Abraham had two prominent sons: Ishmael (born through a slave woman, Hagar) and Isaac (born miraculously through Sara). Isaac was the child of promise through whom God chose to continue the preferred line of Abraham’s descendants.
Genesis 21:12 – But God said to Abraham, “Do not be distressed because of the lad and your maid; whatever Sarah tells you, listen to her, for through Isaac your descendants shall be named.
Isaac then had two twin sons: Jacob and Esau. Jacob gained the name Israel (Genesis 32:28) and was the child through whom God chose to continue Abraham’s fleshly lineage all the way down to his Messiah, almost two thousand years later. So, while both Isaac and Jacob were “children” (that is, descendants) of Abraham, one was the miraculous child of promise chosen by God, and the other was the physical descendant chosen by God.
The apostle Paul capitalizes on this distinction by quoting that Genesis passage in his argument as to why those who believe in Messiah are counted above the physical descendants of Abraham:
Romans 9:6-8 – Now it is not as though the word of God has failed, because not all who are descended from Israel [Jacob] are Israel. Neither is it the case that all of Abraham’s children are his descendants. On the contrary, [the Bible says,] “your offspring will be traced through Isaac.” That is, it is not the children by physical descent who are God’s children, but the children of the promise are considered to be the offspring.
Therefore, while the physical covenants belonged to the physical descendants, the spiritual promises and blessings belong to the miraculous descendants: those who exhibit faith in the promises of God, just like Abraham did. Isaac was the miraculous result of Abraham’s faith, therefore, in like fashion, those who exhibit faith in God receive a miraculous adoption into Abraham’s line of spiritual descendants through Isaac. It can be said that Jews were physically Abraham’s descendants through Jacob, but anyone believing in the Messiah became Abraham’s spiritual descendants through Isaac.
Using the analogy of the long history of Israel as a cultivated olive tree, the apostle Paul wrote about how it was not just the connection to the physical tree that mattered, but belief in the Messiah that allowed the branches to prosper.
Romans 11:17, 24 – Now if some of the branches were broken off, and you, though a wild olive branch, were grafted in among them and have come to share in the root and richness of the cultivated olive tree, … For if you were cut off from your native wild olive tree and against nature were grafted into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these – the natural branches – be grafted into their own olive tree?
According to the Bible, it is the natural thing for Jews to believe in their own Messiah, and they can flourish when they do so. But because of their unbelief, God had chosen to break off some of the natural branches and miraculously graft in believers from among the nations into that same olive tree. But all of the remaining branches stand by faith in Messiah, so technically, all of the remaining branches are branches of promise, according to faith.
For those of us who believe in Yeshua today, we are counted as Abraham’s children (that is, we are considered as descended from the patriarchal olive tree root that Paul mentions) but only because of our faith in God by believing in his Messiah. This is the same type of faith that Abraham exhibited, and we are considered heirs only because we believe in the promised seed of Abraham, the Messiah. We are heirs according to the promise of God to Abraham, NOT by seeking God’s favor through fleshly rule-following (like the Jews of Yeshua’s day), NOT directly by covenant (since God’s New Covenant was made with Israel and Judah), and NOT by genealogy (since we are not direct descendants of Abraham), but strictly by faith in God’s promise, just like Abraham.
As I mentioned in our last study, in the book of Hebrews, quoting from Jeremiah, it is clear that the new covenant was not about starting a new religion with a new group of people, but it was about fulfilling the promises made to Abraham on behalf of Israel and Judah, and it described where God’s eternal law or torah was to be placed.
Heb 8:8-10 For finding fault with them, he saith, Behold, the days come, saith Yahweh, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah: Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they continued not in my covenant, and I regarded them not, saith Yahweh. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith Yahweh; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people…
While the law originally written on stone was placed inside the ark of the covenant within the holiest of places in the tabernacle and then the temple, the new covenant provided for the law to be written on the heart so it could be lived out in practice through his eternal temple, the body of Messiah believers in each generation.
1 Corinthians 3:16 – Don’t you yourselves know that you [plurally] are God’s temple and that the Spirit of God lives in you?
This new covenant was made specifically with and for Judah and Israel, yet it is available to all who would believe in Abraham’s descendant, the Messiah. Though the covenant was not made with believers in this generation directly, we have the privilege of participating in it since we, by faith, are considered to be IN Messiah who was the goal and end of the promise made to Abraham.
Galatians 3:16, 29 Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. He does not say, “And to seeds,” as referring to many, but rather to one, “And to your seed,” that is, Messiah … for you are all one in Messiah Yeshua. And if you belong to Messiah, then you are Abraham’s descendants, heirs according to promise.
The physical covenants and genealogies were for physical blessings for Abraham’s fleshly descendants through Jacob. They were necessary and proper until the fulfillment of the promises and covenants in Messiah. From Yeshua’s time on, genealogies would no longer be necessary, since they had served their purpose of identifying Abraham’s ultimate “seed,” Messiah. Physical covenants related to blessings of the land would also no longer be necessary, as the children of Abraham would be defined by their simple faith in God’s Messiah. And this would not be to gain or prosper in a specific, physical land but to live in an eternal, universal Kingdom covering the entire earth.
However, just because the covenants were fulfilled in Messiah, it does not mean that the instruction of God contained within the covenant language has been completely abandoned. It has not been abolished, but fulfilled! Even better, it is my belief that the torah instruction of God has been simplified and elevated into the moral and spiritual principles taught by Yeshua which are summarized in the Sermon on the Mount. These include primarily the principles of the Kingdom (a Kingdom which has been forever established by God upon the Ten Commandments), integrity, vigilance, holiness, trust, forgiveness, and compassion. These are the core Bible principles allowing believers to truly love God and to love others from the heart which is the fulfillment of having the law or torah of the Kingdom placed within the heart. The new covenant is genuinely fulfilled in us when we abide by these principles, and the Kingdom of God then has potential to continue to expand further in each generation!
Those who exhibit this faith in God by believing in his Messiah, just like Abraham’s elementary faith, will be counted within the idiomatic expression of believers spanning many ages, known collectively as “children of Abraham.” These are the ones whom, like Yeshua taught, will “come from east and west, and recline at the table with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven,” (Matthew 8:11).
Well, I hope this deeper dive into the promises made with Abraham brought you some concepts and ideas to meditate on and to study out further on your own. But remember, if you have thoughts or comments that you would like to explore further with me, feel free to email me at coreofthebible@gmail.com.
We exhibit the ultimate trust in God when we pray for God’s will to be done in our lives according to the needs of his Kingdom.
Core of the Bible podcast #97 – Experiencing peace through trusting God and his will for his Kingdom
Today we will be looking at the core Bible principle of trust, and how we exhibit the ultimate trust in God when we sincerely pray for his will to be done in our lives according to the needs of his Kingdom. This alone provides a peace that passes understanding. In our study today, we will be reviewing how the teachings of both Yeshua and Paul can provide detailed actions that can help us to pattern our lives after the faithful lives of the early believers.
Let’s begin with understanding how Yeshua taught about priorities in the believer’s life. In the Sermon on the Mount, Yeshua taught two ways that anxiety in life, caused by focusing on worldly needs, can be overcome.
The first way is to recognize spiritual priorities.
Matthew 6:31-33 – “Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the nations seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”
Here we see that Yeshua is explaining how anxiety is the result of over-focus on self and selfish needs. By contrast, when becoming engaged with the things of God, personal problems and concerns tend to fade into the background. A commitment to the Kingdom of God helps to keep the correct perspective that allows balance in daily living. Recognizing that the needs of the Kingdom outweigh self-directed problems helps believers to remain productive and fruitful in walking with God. Looked at from the opposite perspective, when believers focus on their own problems to the exclusion of all other things, they are likely being unproductive and unfruitful in their spiritual walk. In this condition, they have allowed themselves to become self-absorbed and overly consumed with personal worry.
It’s been said that the smallest of pebbles when held at arm’s length is of no consequence, but when brought to within inches of the eye can block all of our vision. If we view our personal problems as that pebble, then it is in our best interest to keep them at arm’s length by focusing on the Kingdom first, rather than keeping our problems close to the eye to the exclusion of everything else around us. The perspective Yeshua provides us can free us from self-absorption with our own issues.
The second way Yeshua teaches about overcoming anxiety, in addition to his teaching for us to stay focused on the Kingdom, is to focus on one day at a time. Each day has its own challenges, so just take the challenges you face one day at a time.
Matthew 6:34 – “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.”
By maintaining a focus on the Kingdom, and taking one day at a time, Yeshua provides a practical two-step plan for overcoming anxieties that the rest of the world may be experiencing.
Further, Yeshua provides a demonstration of the outworking of this teaching from his experience in the Garden of Gethsemane. In his prayer to God regarding the trial and crucifixion he was about to undergo, he simply prays, “Not my will, but yours be done.” This is the prayer that demonstrates ultimate trust in God. When believers can fully consign themselves to God’s will, then their personal needs or situations become of little or no consequence. This is the outworking of his teaching in the Sermon on the Mount about seeking first the Kingdom of God. Here, Yeshua is putting the needs of God’s Kingdom above his own.
People always say they want to know what God’s will is for their lives. Well, God’s will and the activities surrounding his Kingdom are one and the same. His will is that his Kingdom becomes visible through the faithful actions of his people living out his standards in their lives. When believers start praying in this way for God’s will to be done, they must remain open to seeking and recognizing what the needs are of his Kingdom in any given situation. This comes through consistently being in his word, receptive to his Torah, or instruction, in all things.
This is a solemn teaching for the mature believer. This is no surface admonition, but a commitment that can only come from the deepest recesses of spiritual insight and understanding. This teaching separates God’s true children from those who are only loosely affiliated with him. Only a true child of God can put aside all personal connections to remain devoted primarily to God and to his Messiah as Lord. Yeshua stated it this way:
Matthew 10:37-39 – Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.
Matthew 16:24-25 – Then Yeshua told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.
Mark 10:29-30 – Yeshua said, “Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life.
This is what is required to walk in the way of God, and to follow the Messiah. This is putting God’s Kingdom first. In this state, there is no opportunity for selfish worry or anxiety. Worry is selfish; seeking the Kingdom and following Messiah is selfless.
In a moment, we will examine a famous teaching of the apostle Paul, and how he expands on this theme of selflessness with specific actions that he encouraged believers to follow in order to remain steadfast and experience the peace that comes from trusting in God.
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Philippians 4:6-7 – Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Messiah Yeshua.
Before we dive in to an application of these words for believers today, we must always remember to keep the words we read in the original context as much as possible for us to receive the full benefit and understanding of what is being discussed. So, let’s look at the overall point of what Paul is trying to convey and who he his audience is.
First of all, this was a letter intended for a specific group of believers for a specific purpose.
Philippians 1:1, 9-11 …To all the saints in Messiah Yeshua who are at Philippi…it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Messiah, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Yeshua Messiah, to the glory and praise of God.
Paul is writing to encourage these believers who were residing in Philippi in the first century to excel in love, knowledge and discernment, that they would be pure and blameless for the day of Messiah, to God’s glory. The rest of his epistle is primarily focused on this encouragement toward fruitful actions of righteousness so they would be counted worthy of attaining the Kingdom of God at the appearing of the Messiah.
Continuing throughout the epistle, we can see there is this constant theme of holding fast, standing firm, not allowing themselves to fall from the faith that they had received.
3:16 – Only let us hold true to what we have attained.
4:1 – Therefore, my brothers, whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm thus in the Lord, my beloved.
This standing firm was to be based upon the hope of the immanent return of Messiah who would transform them into the heavenly Kingdom. If they could hold true to what they had already attained, then they would be able to remain steadfast in the faith until the day of Messiah. He then reiterates the immanence of this day of the Messiah, and how their focus on heavenly things (the Kingdom of God) would allow them to patiently await the Messiah when he was to come and transform them.
Philippians 3:20-21; 4:1 – But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Yeshua Messiah, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself. Therefore, my brothers, whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm thus in the Lord, my beloved.
So, against this backdrop of hope and standing firm comes the famous passage about the peace of God which passes all understanding. How we all would love to experience such peace! Here is where we find the source of that peace that Paul was teaching those Philippian believers about.
Philippians 4:6-7 – Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Messiah Yeshua.
Paul says to remove anxiety by prayer and thanksgiving in everything. This is the pattern of behaviors that instills peace that only God can provide. Paul’s instruction to the Philippian congregation is to pray and be grateful for everything. When we express ourselves and our thanks to God, we are recognizing him as the one who is ultimately in control of all things. This recognition is the basic foundation of our trust and faith in God to begin with. We are deferring to him as the ultimate authority in all aspects of life. We are allowing God to be God.
However, where we sometimes err is in thinking that if we pray about a situation, God will control the outcome to make us happy and content, fulfilling all of our desires. When we think this way, we are lapsing back into a selfish focus on worldly challenges we may be facing. But in this recognition of God’s ultimate authority in all things, we should ensure that our desires always fall under the category of trusting in his judgment for the outcome that is best for him and his Kingdom, not necessarily what we think we desire. Remember, Yeshua taught about seeking first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness, not selfish needs or ambitions. Our practical focus should remain on others. Paul reiterates this to the Philippian believers as well:
Philippians 2:2-5 – …complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which was also in Messiah Yeshua…
And this is the crux of the issue that can plague us: separating our selfish desires from those things that fall in line with accomplishing God’s purpose for the continued growth of his Kingdom. As our spiritual maturity level grows, we can learn to focus on this “mind of Messiah” by thinking, praying, and acting more on the needs of others, or at least as much as our own needs.
And when we can learn to sincerely pray, as Yeshua did, “Not my will but yours be done” in everything we pray about, we then move into a place of faith and trust that God knows what’s best for us, regardless of what we may want for ourselves. Paul says that our hearts and minds can have peace “in Messiah Yeshua.” To be “in” the Messiah is to follow his ways, his teachings, and his example. When we do so by seeking first the Kingdom of God and his will, our lives will bear the fruit of righteous actions that he desires for his people.
Yeshua taught the two most important things are to love God with heart, soul, and strength, and to love others as yourself. When our concerns for others become as natural as the care that we have for our own needs, then we are moving into a place of truly following the example of the Messiah, and the incomprehensible peace of God will stand guard over our hearts and minds.
If you enjoy these articles, be sure to visit the growing archive of the Core of the Bible podcast. Each week we take a more in-depth look at one of the various topics presented in the daily blog. You can view the podcast archive on our Podcast Page, at Core of the Bible on Simplecast, or your favorite podcast streaming service.
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