revelation – The Core of the Bible

Titles for God’s People: The Bride

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.

Salvation and the Kingdom of God

The ‘good news of the kingdom of God’ is not so much a universal message about personal salvation as the prophetic assurance that a renewed people of God would emerge through the fires of persecution and judgment.

Core of the Bible podcast #114 – Salvation and the Kingdom of God

Up to this point in our journey of doctrinal issues, we have established some understanding of promises and covenants that God has made with Abraham and ultimately with his people, Israel. Last time, I mentioned how these were “necessary and proper until the fulfillment of the promises and covenants in Messiah.” We explored how becoming a “child of Abraham” was to be defined by the believer’s simple faith in God’s Messiah, and how those believers, according to Yeshua, would “come from east and west, and recline at the table with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven,” (Matthew 8:11). What this teaching did was to then equate Abraham’s children (i.e., Messiah believers) with those who participate in the Kingdom of God. Further, we see how Yeshua connected the idea of salvation with being a child of Abraham. In the story of Zacchaeus’ repentance, Yeshua also sees this Abrahamic ideal as an indicator of salvation.

Luke 19:9 – “Today salvation has come to this house,” Yeshua told him, “because he too [Zacchaeus] is a son of Abraham.”

It appears that Yeshua understood and taught a concept of salvation that was tied both to the Abrahamic faith model and the establishment of the Kingdom of God. So for us to understand salvation, we will need to understand it in the context of both the Abrahamic sense and the Kingdom sense. Since we have explored the Abrahamic sense (that is, the simple faith of Abraham expressed by faith in Yeshua as the Messiah), we can now turn to gaining a better understanding of the core Bible principle of the Kingdom message that was presented to that first century generation.

To explore this further, I would like to quote several times today from an article titled “The Kingdom of God” that I found a few years ago at a now-defunct website called opensourcetheology.net. The author is not named so I don’t have the ability to credit anyone specific with these ideas. Additionally, I won’t be quoting the whole article because it is quite lengthy, but I was able to find a back-link to the entire article which I have linked here if you are interested in exploring it further.

The New Testament picture of the Kingdom of God has not been painted on to a blank canvas; rather, we watch it emerge from the historical and religious circumstances of first century Judaism. Israel had failed to realize the potential inherent in its religious institutions and traditions, in its national identity and in its calling, to be a righteous, God-centred people and an authentic and effective ‘light’ to the peoples of the earth. This failure was apparent in various ways: creeping Hellenization, Roman occupation, the fragmentation of religious leadership and community, the loss of any prophetic voice, and the awareness that the return from exile in Babylon remained tragically incomplete.

John the Baptist, the last of the prophets, first articulated the belief that this state of religious failure was bound to culminate in national disaster: ‘Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire’ (Matt.3:10; Lk.3:9). At the same time, however, he is interpreted by the Gospel tradition as the messenger who cries in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight’ (Mk.1:2-3; Matt.3:3; Lk.3:4-6). The quotation from Isaiah 40:3 invokes a declaration of ‘good news’ to Jerusalem that the punishment of the exile is coming to an end, that her sins have been forgiven, and that the Lord God is about to return to Zion. The forgiveness of sins in the Gospels is not a matter of purely personal benefit: each instance is a sign of national restoration. Central to the prophecy is the description of a righteous ‘servant’, who is both an individual and Israel, who will suffer, but who will be ‘a covenant to the people, a light to the nations’ (Is.42:6). This is the context in which Jesus begins his ministry.

When Yeshua arrived on the scene in the years of his public ministry, he was proclaiming the good news of the Kingdom of God and how God was establishing it among those who would believe in that generation. Yeshua’s salvation was all about the Jews and forming a remnant of faithful believers (i.e., children of Abraham) from among the non-belief of the wider Jewish community to carry the message of the Kingdom of God to that generation and beyond. He came primarily for the lost sheep of Israel, to reconcile them to the God of their ancestors from the condition of apostasy that they had descended to. His focus was that they would be saved from the wrath of God about to be poured out on that generation by repenting of their sinful ways.

Jesus did not invent the idea of the ‘kingdom of God’. Behind the use of the phrase in the Gospels lie two distinct Old Testament motifs. Together they account for the eschatological narrative structure that gives shape to the New Testament concept of the kingdom of God.

The first entails the coming of the Lord to dwell once more amongst his people as king, which draws on prophetic themes of the restoration of Israel following exile in Babylon. It is acted out most powerfully in the carefully staged, and of course ironic, pageant of Jesus’ final entry into Jerusalem in the guise of the prophesied king of peace: ‘Tell the daughter of Zion, Behold your king is coming to you, humble, and mounted on an ass…’ (Matt.21:5; Jn.12:15; cf. Zech.9:9). It is invoked in the numerous parables of a master who returns to his house after a long journey (eg. Matt.25:14-30; 12:35-40; 19:11-27). It speaks of the renewed and decisive presence (parousia) of God within Israel, which is a presence inevitably both for judgment and salvation. Jesus’ warning to the disciples that they must be ready for the return of the master (eg. Lk.12:35) has a particular historical frame of reference: the great crisis of judgment and salvation at the end of Israel’s age. If the disciples do not remain faithful to their calling, they will be put ‘with the unfaithful’ (Lk.12:46), ‘with the hypocrites’ (Matt.24:51), cast ‘into outer darkness’ where ‘men will weep and gnash their teeth’ (Matt.25:30) – in other words, they too will suffer the judgment that was coming upon Israel.

Here we can begin to see some historical boundaries coming into view in regards to how the New Testament writers describe the unfolding events that were occurring in real time as they were being written. Notice how the impending judgment was coming upon Israel at the “end of Israel’s age,” not the end of all things. The nearness of this judgment for Israel’s failure to recognize God’s sovereignty and their Messiah in the person of Yeshua was to suffer the judgment reaching back to the very beginnings of their history. This was the very point that Yeshua hinged his prophetic warnings on in heated arguments with the religious elite:

Matthew 23:32, 34-36 – “Fill up, then, the measure of your ancestors’ sins! … “This is why I am sending you prophets, sages, and scribes. Some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will flog in your synagogues and pursue from town to town. So all the righteous blood shed on the earth will be charged to you, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar. Truly I tell you, all these things will come on this generation.”

That was the generation upon whom all of these things had come! The Kingdom was being advanced but through their unfaithfulness they had counted themselves not only not worthy of participating in it, but in being wiped out in the process. This was the clear teaching of Yeshua’s parable of the vineyard owner, explaining how the tenants of the vineyard had rejected their responsibilities:

Matthew 21:40-43 – “Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those farmers?” “He will completely destroy those terrible men,” they told him, “and lease his vineyard to other farmers who will give him his fruit at the harvest.” Yeshua said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures: The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. This is what the Lord has done and it is wonderful in our eyes? Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruit.”

In this context, Yeshua is equating the Kingdom of God with salvation from the righteous wrath of the vineyard owner. This provides the foundation for many other famous “salvation” passages from the New Testament writings:

Matthew 10:22 “You will be hated by all because of My name, but it is the one who has endured to the end who will be saved.

Acts 2:40 And with many other words he solemnly testified and kept on exhorting them, saying, “Be saved from this perverse generation!”

Romans 5:9 Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath [of God] through Him.

Romans 9:27 Isaiah cries out concerning Israel, “Though the number of the sons of Israel be like the sand of the sea, it is the remnant that will be saved…

1 Corinthians 1:18 For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

2 Corinthians 2:15 For we are a fragrance of Messiah to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing…

2 Thessalonians 2:8-10 Then that lawless one will be revealed whom the Lord will slay with the breath of His mouth and bring to an end by the appearance of His coming; [that is,] the one whose coming is in accord with the activity of Satan, with all power and signs and false wonders, and with all the deception of wickedness for those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved.

Even as I shared those passages above, you may have been taught to understand some of those as applying to personal salvation rather than a national type of salvation and deliverance. However, to accomplish this feat of collective repentance of the remnant, this would mean individuals would need to repent of their sinful actions. This is why salvation many times appears to be personal and spiritual. For national repentance to take place, individuals must repent of individual disobedience. The article also clearly states this:

The forgiveness of sins in the Gospels is not a matter of purely personal benefit: each instance is a sign of national restoration…The announcement that the kingdom of God is at hand in the Gospels has to do primarily with the fate of first century Israel. Jesus warned the people of impending national disaster but also offered a way of salvation for the nation if people would walk with him on the path that he was following. This salvation is depicted in the first place in terms of the Old Testament hope of a final end to exile and the return of YHWH to a Zion set free from oppression. It becomes possible because Jesus suffered judgment in the place of others: the community which identified itself in faith with him, therefore, would not be destroyed but would survive to be the renewed people of God.

If this is the case, then this puts forgiveness of sins and salvation in a new light for modern eyes and ears: that perhaps the thrust of these New Testament passages are speaking about a collective, national salvation and restoration much more than a personal and private one. However, a personal and private repentance and experience of salvation would result in growing the overall restoration of the nation. This is the logic behind the Kingdom of God language.

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To briefly review, the article I have been discussing mentioned how the Kingdom model was not a new concept but was built on two Old Testament prophetic motifs. We have just explored the first motif of the presence of God returning among his regathered people, a presence bringing both judgment and salvation. Now the second motif comes into view:

The second motif relates to the overthrow of Israel’s enemies and the vindication of the righteous – the saints of the Most High – in the aftermath of persecution. It emerges from the complex and dramatic prophecy in Daniel 7 concerning ‘one like a son of man’ who, as a representative, or better a representation, of the persecuted saints of the Most High, receives ‘dominion and glory and kingdom’ (Dan.7:14). This story may appear obscure and irrelevant (suffering is not one of the great post-modern aspirations), but it pervades much of the New Testament and must be made central to our attempt to understand the person of Jesus and the community that takes its identity from him.

The ‘good news of the kingdom of God’ as it is announced in the Gospels is not so much a universal message about personal salvation as the prophetic assurance that a renewed people of God would emerge through the fires of persecution and judgment. The basis of this hope is not found in the institutions of Jewish religion but in the willingness of the Son of man to take upon himself the suffering that would befall the nation as a consequence of its ‘sin’. Resurrection becomes important primarily as the means by which God will vindicate those who remain faithful in the face of extreme opposition. The Gentiles hardly enter into the picture here: it is the salvation of Israel that is at stake (eg. Matt.10:5-6).

Yeshua demonstrated he was authorized to provide this salvation through the acts that God performed through him: healing the sick, raising the dead, and confronting the corrupt Jewish authorities. Like Jonah and Nineveh of old he was earnest that their collective repentance would spare the city (representative of the nation as a whole). His death and resurrection, following the pattern of Jonah in the fish, was to be the confirmation to them that their repentance would be effective, like it was for Nineveh. Also, like Noah of old, their acceptance of his message would allow them to board the ark of salvation to be spared the flood of God’s wrath about to be poured out on that generation. Interestingly, Yeshua used both of these examples during his public ministry to the nation.

Luke 11:30 – “For just as Jonah became a sign to the people of Nineveh, so also the Son of Man will be to this generation.

Luke 17:26 – “Just as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be in the days of the Son of Man…

The preaching of the good news of the kingdom throughout the world (Mk.14:9; 16:15; Acts 15:7) is the announcement that Jesus has been vindicated and that those who believe in him will be vindicated in the same manner; it is the announcement that not even the most virulent persecution will overcome the community of those who experience the power of the Spirit of God in the name of Jesus (cf. Rom.8:33-39). But that message is accompanied by a new possibility, emerging from a different set of prophetic texts – one that arises unexpectedly and almost despite the best intentions of the early Jewish believers. It is that non-Jews may also become part of the renewed, forgiven covenant people in the Spirit (cf. Acts 13:46-48; Rom.11:11-32; Eph.2:11-22).

Let’s look a little closer at a couple of these passages:

Acts 13:46-48 – Paul and Barnabas boldly replied, “It was necessary that the word of God be spoken to you first. Since you reject it and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, we are turning to the nations. “For this is what Yahweh has commanded us: ‘I have made you a light for the nations to bring salvation to the ends of the earth.'” When those of the nations heard this, they rejoiced and honored the word of Yahweh, and all who had been appointed to eternal life believed.

Ephesians 2:11-22 – So, then, remember that at one time you were of the nations in regard to the flesh – called “the uncircumcised” by those called “the circumcised,” which is done in the flesh by human hands. At that time you were without Messiah, excluded from the citizenship of Israel, and foreigners to the covenants of promise, without hope and without God in the world. But now in Messiah Yeshua, you who were far away have been brought near by the blood of Messiah. For he is our peace, who made both groups one and tore down the dividing wall of hostility. In his flesh, he made of no effect the law consisting of commands and expressed in regulations, so that he might create in himself one new man from the two, resulting in peace. He did this so that he might reconcile both to God in one body through the cross by which he put the hostility to death. He came and proclaimed the good news of peace to you who were far away 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 foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with the saints, and members of God’s household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Messiah Yeshua himself as the cornerstone. In him the whole building, being put together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you are also being built together for God’s dwelling in the Spirit.

While I believe this Ephesians passage was aimed at those former Israelites who had been scattered among the nations (i.e., the “lost sheep of Israel”), its words were just as meaningful and effective for those known as “God fearers” who were present among those congregations, non-Jews who joined with the God of the Bible and participated within synagogues in various places. Through this message of faith in Messiah, all people, Jews, Greeks, barbarians, slaves, and free, had been granted the same opportunity to be saved from that evil generation, the generation that was incurring the final wrath of God upon the nation of Israel as the prophets had predicted.

But to be saved from that evil generation was also to be joined to “God’s household” exhibited by the more expansive and universal term of the Kingdom of God. If these Old Testament motifs of restoration and persecution were validated as being played out in the closing years of national Israel in the first century, then it follows the prophetic foresight embedded within those motifs was also to be taking place at that time: this Kingdom would be eternal and would ultimately grow to fill the earth.

Daniel 2:44 – “In the days of those kings [i.e., the Romans], the God of the heavens will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, and this kingdom will not be left to another people. It will crush all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, but will itself endure forever.

Daniel 7:27 – “The kingdom, dominion, and greatness of the kingdoms under all of heaven will be given to the people, the holy ones of the Most High. His kingdom will be an everlasting kingdom, and all rulers will serve and obey him.’

In summary, when the Bible speaks of salvation, it is almost always in the context of Israel’s national unity and restoration. It is this context in which the Kingdom of God is preached by John the baptizer and Yeshua, a warning of impending judgment upon Israel’s unfaithfulness and yet a promise of a new and everlasting hope for all who would repent and accept their Messiah. As the national phase of Israel in that first century was disappearing, that is, the “[then] present Jerusalem” (Galatians 4:25), it was simultaneously ushering in the “Jerusalem [from] above” (Galatians 4:26), an eternal city whose architect and builder is God (Hebrews 11:10, 16), the prophetic city of Zion (Hebrews 12:22) whose gates would never be shut (Revelation 21:25) and where the presence of God would always remain with his people for all time (Revelation 22:3-5). This, then, is what I consider to be the good news of salvation and participation in the Kingdom of God!

Well, I hope this broad overview of salvation and the Kingdom of God 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.

The Bible: A Divine Revelation

What is the Bible and what does it say about itself?

Core of the Bible podcast #104 – The Bible: A Divine Revelation

Today, we will be looking at the Bible itself and what some of the historic creeds have stated about the nature of the Scriptures. I will also be sharing some of my own views on the Bible and aspects of these creedal positions. Before we end today, I would also like to discuss how these positions influence the core Bible principles we discuss here each week.

So I’d like to begin by describing my view of the Bible and its purpose.

The word Bible comes from the Greek “ta biblia” meaning “the books”. It is a collection of books that have been written over a period of one and a half millennia. They were written by a variety of Hebrew people primarily to and about the Hebrew people during various stages of their history as a nation, from approximately 1,500 BC to the 60’s AD.

The Hebrew Bible is generally what would be called by Christians the “Old Testament”. In Hebraic communities, it is known by the acronym TNK, or Tanakh. TNK stands for the Hebrew words Torah (Instruction), Nevi’im (Prophets) and Ketuvim (Writings).

Here is a broad outline of the categories of books contained within the whole Bible:

Beginning with the Tanakh, the Torah (Law or Instruction) is considered to include primarily the first five books of the Bible, and they are attributed to Moses. They describe the beginnings and the establishment of the nation of Israel and its religious system of worship. These books provide a foundation for the rest of the Bible story to be contextually understood and built upon.

The Nevi’im or prophetic books were largely written as urgings to God’s people to return to the right ways of God when they had gone astray, and described the hope for future reconciliation.

The Ketuvim or Writings include the historical books explaining the origins and out-workings of the physical kingdom of Israel, and the rise and fall of various Hebrew leaders. Through these stories we learn of God’s faithfulness and justice with his people and with those of the nations surrounding them. The Ketuvim also include other poetic writings which describe God’s wisdom and care for his people through elaborate word pictures, hymns of praise and worship, and proverbs.

Now as we move from the Tanakh into the “New Testament” writings, we also move from Hebrew documents into Greek. The New Testament or Apostolic Writings is a collection of books written in Greek in the early first century by the followers of Yeshua. Some believe these also may have been originally written in Hebrew or Aramaic. These books relate stories and instruction regarding the life of Yeshua (the Gospels) and the lives and experiences of those who would form new communities based on his teachings (Acts and the letters to the various congregations). They include historical narratives, correspondence between communities, and a form of Hebrew literature known as apocalyptic prophecy (the book of Revelation). They are all filled with references to and quotes from the Tanakh and its stories.

Different groups today will categorize the books of the Bible in different ways, and some will include different books here and there. The important thing to remember, however, is that within these pages, I believe God has revealed his mind and purposes for the benefit of his creation.

Okay, so that’s my perspective on what the Bible is. As we consider the writings in the Bible, it is important to keep in mind that these books are a collection of ancient middle-eastern writings that cover a wide variety of literary styles and are not all literal “newspaper accounts” of God’s dealings with men. They were not written specifically to us in our present day. They were written to the Hebrew people in a context appropriate for their moment in the history and culture of that nation. However, even though they were not written to us, we can say they were written for us, that is, for our benefit. Through these writings we are privileged to see how God has chosen to express himself and work with and among those whom he has chosen to do so. Understanding this distinction is one of the most important aspects of coming to know what the Bible narrative is really all about.

With that background, if we take all of these books as collectively telling a cohesive story, let’s see what the Bible books have to say about themselves.

2 Peter 1:20-21 But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation, for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.

This statement, attributed to the apostle Peter, demonstrates how the books of the Bible, and here specifically speaking primarily about the Tanakh, claims to be divinely inspired. Believers in Messiah will typically include the New Testament writings within this category of divinely inspired writings, since they are completing the narrative of the Tanakh.

Besides considering the writings to be inspired, the Bible also teaches God has chosen to reveal himself through nature, the people of Israel, and most significantly through his Son, Yeshua.

In regard to the natural revelation of God in nature, the psalmist writes:

Psalm19:1-4 The heavens are telling of the glory of God; And their expanse is declaring the work of His hands. Day to day pours forth speech, And night to night reveals knowledge. There is no speech, nor are there words; Their voice is not heard. Their line has gone out through all the earth, And their utterances to the end of the world…

The apostle Paul also used the creation as a basis of his speech to the Greeks assembled in Athens:

Acts 17:22-27 So Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus and said, “Men of Athens, I observe that you are very religious in all respects. “For while I was passing through and examining the objects of your worship, I also found an altar with this inscription, ‘TO AN UNKNOWN GOD.’ Therefore what you worship in ignorance, this I proclaim to you. “The God who made the world and all things in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands; nor is He served by human hands, as though He needed anything, since He Himself gives to all [people] life and breath and all things; and He made from one every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined [their] appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation, that they would seek God, if perhaps they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us…

The Scriptures also portray God specifically revealing himself and His will for men to and through the ancient Hebrew people of Israel.

1 Kings 8:53 “For You have separated them [Israel] from all the peoples of the earth as Your inheritance, as You spoke through Moses Your servant, when You brought our fathers forth from Egypt, O Lord Yawheh.”
2 Kings 17:13-14 Yet the Lord warned Israel and Judah through all His prophets and every seer, saying, “Turn from your evil ways and keep My commandments, My statutes according to all the law which I commanded your fathers, and which I sent to you through My servants the prophets.” However, they did not listen, but stiffened their neck like their fathers, who did not believe in Yahweh their God.
Nehemiah 9:30 “However, You bore with them [Israel] for many years, And admonished them by Your Spirit through Your prophets, Yet they would not give ear. Therefore You gave them into the hand of the peoples of the lands.

Finally, the Bible claims that the ultimate revelation of God has been through his Son, Yeshua:

Hebrews 1:1-2 God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things…
John 1:17 For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth were realized through Yeshua, Messiah.
John 14:6 Yeshua said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.
1 John 4:9 By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him.

The Bible therefore claims to reveal God in nature, Israel, and most significantly, through his Messiah, Yeshua. It is in this sense that I believe the Bible to be a divine revelation.

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Now let’s take a look at some of the creedal descriptions of various organizations and denominations. All denominations and faith traditions within the Christian tradition understand that if we desire to have a biblical worldview, then we need to recognize some basics about these documents that shape our faith.

Here are a few examples of some random organizations that I pulled up in a quick search for “Statements of Faith”:

National Association of Evangelicals: “We believe the Bible to be the inspired, the only infallible, authoritative Word of God.”
BasicChristian.org: “We believe the Holy Bible is God’s word Personally spoken by God for mankind for the purpose of revealing who He is and it is without error in all issues to which it speaks.”
Chicago Statement on Biblical Application: “We affirm that this God can be known through His revelation of Himself in His inerrant written Word.”
Church of God in Christ: “We believe the Bible to be the inspired and only infallible written Word of God.”
Torchbearers International: “The Bible is, in its entirety, the revelation of God for mankind, inspired by the Holy Spirit.”
Simplyscripture.org: “We believe the Bible to be the only revealed, pure, complete and preserved Word of God throughout all the ages. Scripture is solely contained within the 66 books of the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation. We believe the Scriptures to be the inerrant, infallible, unchangeable Word of God and is the final authority for all matters of faith and practice.”

Okay, so you get the idea. Among the list of qualities about the Bible, it is considered by churches and para-church organizations to be revelatory, inspired, inerrant, infallible. So let’s define some of these qualities for a better understanding of what they are saying, and then I will add some comments about my own perspective on each of these qualities.

First of all is the idea that the Bible is REVELATORY: God has revealed himself in the Bible and he can be known through his workings as related within its pages.

I don’t disagree with this, other than different groups may define what God has revealed about himself differently from one another. I would simply say that God, who is unknowable outside of his own revelation of himself, desires his people to honor and represent him, living according to the principles his kingdom. I would also include the fact that nature itself is a form of God’s revelation of his power and majesty. And while general principles about God can be deduced from nature, it is only in the written revelation of the Bible where the specifics of God’s desires for mankind are revealed.

Secondly, these creeds say that the Bible is INSPIRED: The writers of the Bible were inspired by God or the spirit of God to convey what he wanted to communicate.

Based on my previous statement about God being unknowable, then it follows that those who would write about the nature and workings of God would necessarily have to be inspired to do so. This type of inspiration is typically recognized as God working through the various authors of the Bible to communicate. Again, many different groups define this inspiration differently, whether being immersed in God‘s spirit, or receiving ideas and wisdom from God and writing it out in their own way. Even Jewish thinkers throughout the centuries have had varying opinions about levels of inspiration for the various writings. In my mind, I am simply content to recognize God‘s influence over those who wrote the actual texts to ensure his will would be made known.

Thirdly, these creeds assert that the Bible is INERRANT. Now the specifics of inerrancy are typically defined further by the organization, but in general, it means the Bible is 100% without error. However, this is usually qualified by saying inerrancy was only in the original written documents, not necessarily the many manuscripts we have today. This qualifier is necessary because, quite honestly, there are errors in the manuscripts that we use for Bible versions that we have today. There are spelling differentials, numerical differences in some generations or years of a king’s reign, and some insertions into the text from later hands.

However, for me, this makes for a more robust understanding of the reality of just how old these documents really are. If we had perfectly preserved autograph documents from the original authors there would be more questions as to how something could be so perfectly preserved when everything else in the natural world of antiquity has been diminished. Therefore, they would more likely be considered forgeries of some type. In reality, the Bible can’t win with this type of logic. Either it’s too perfect, or not perfect enough.

The reason these minor grammatical areas do not pose a problem for me is that through tireless research they have been identified, and we know where they are and how little they impact the overall message of the Bible as a whole. So stating that the Bible is inerrant is kind of not true unless it is defined further. For me, to say the Bible is inerrant is difficult to do. Even to say that the original written documents had no errors is a stretch, because they no longer exist anywhere. Therefore that is a statement that cannot be validated.

Lastly, we come to the topic of the Bible being INFALLIBLE. This theological term simply means the Bible is considered unable to be wrong on the topics it covers.

Again, I don’t necessarily have a problem with this concept in theory, because I do believe the Bible contains the word of God, but infallibility isn’t something practical and readily understandable to the general person. Infallibility is a theological term that for me connotes a high religious supremacy of some type. This is not untrue about the Bible. But with the concept of infallibility comes judgments of infallibility about practice based on fallible interpretations of these ancient texts, and this is why I try to avoid this type of terminology.

I believe it is simpler to say I believe the Bible is true primarily because Yeshua believed in what the Scriptures said. Since I am a follower of Yeshua, then it makes sense that I would also place the same level of regard on the Scriptures as being God’s word as he did. He repeatedly referred to the authority of Scripture by saying “it is written” and then quoting it, and by using the argument that “Scripture cannot be broken” when making an argument with the religious leaders. Since he trusted the writings as authoritative and reliable, then I also do. To me, this is the crux of the issue: not inerrancy and infallibility but reliability. I want to know the textual basis of my worldview and belief system is reliable.

Now as for the New Testament writings which were penned after Messiah, a primary reason I believe these books are also trustworthy as inspired records is due to the evidence of recurring patterns and consistent themes throughout all of the writings. Many of the patterns and themes begun in the Tanakh are carried over to fulfillment in the writings of the New Testament.

Tanakh	New Testament
Paradise lost	Paradise regained
Scattering of God’s people due to disobedience	Reconciliation and return provided for
Seeking of God’s Anointed leader (Messiah)	Messiah realized in Yeshua
Natural principles of instruction	Spiritual principles based on the natural
Hope for God’s future kingdom	God’s kingdom a present reality

These types of parallels is what makes the Bible such a cohesive whole, and is the joy of those who study it deeply.

I believe it was God‘s good design to entrust the bulk of his communication with the Jewish people who were extremely faithful in maintaining his revealed word. Even in the past one hundred years, this has been evidenced by documents discovered among the dead sea scrolls which were much earlier than previous manuscripts texts available to us. These earlier documents showed remarkable consistency with manuscripts generated centuries later.

So for my own creedal position on this issue, I want to make it clear that I do believe the Bible, as a repository of the witness of God about himself to mankind, is a reliable collection of books in which the truth of God is found. I have come to recognize that even though there are legitimate textual questions about specific biblical passages, the Bible is still trustworthy, and maybe even more authentic because of them.

So if I was to make a declaratory statement regarding the Bible, it would be something like this:

I believe that complete message of the Bible points to the faithfulness of God with his people Israel, culminating in the person and ministry of the Lord Yeshua.
Through God’s holy Spirit and his Word, the Bible, God desires to lead people to faith in Yeshua and to guide them in a life of faithful obedience to his will.
I accept the entire Bible as authoritatively testifying to the nature, work, and wisdom of God. These are the Scriptures or sacred writings concerning God’s revelation of himself to mankind.
God’s purpose in these revelations has been an exhibition of his own glory and the establishment of his Kingdom on the earth.

In summary, the broad statements of my own understanding and faith concerning the Bible are:

The Bible is the authoritative revelation of God for us, for the purpose of establishing his Kingdom on the earth.
It was not written to us in this 21st century, but it was written for us, for our benefit.
I believe it’s a stretch to say the Bible is inerrant, and it’s equally vague to claim infallibility where poor interpretive principles are usually apparent; however, I also believe the intent behind those claims of inerrancy and infallibility are made with the intent to honor God.
I do believe the Bible is absolutely reliable and contains the Word of God for people today. Indications of its reliability are found in its recurring themes and patterns.

It is because of the Bible’s reliability we can see the broad basis for the importance of understanding its core principles which I believe God has revealed through the Ten Commandments and the principles of the Sermon on the Mount:

Separate yourself to seek first the Kingdom with vigilance.
Love God with all of your heart, mind, and strength, trusting him for everything.
And love others as yourself with integrity, forgiveness, and compassion.

Next week, closely aligned with this topic of the Bible, we will take on the concept of the Eternal Torah.

Remember, if you are interested in joining the Core of the Bible virtual Bible study, simply download the free Marco Polo app and email me a request to join the group at coreofthebible@gmail.com. I will be happy to send you a link to join the virtual Bible study group.

Isaiah’s outline of the steps to forgiveness

The Word of God comes to life through our obedient thoughts and ways.

Core of the Bible podcast #98 – Isaiah’s outline of the steps to forgiveness

Today we will be looking at the core Bible principle of forgiveness, and how we have the ability, through faith in Messiah, to gain the privilege of being reconciled with our Maker when we recognize that our lives are not in alignment with his purposes. To accomplish this, we must repent of those things that are outside of his will for us.

Isaiah 55:7 – Let wicked people abandon their ways. Let evil people abandon their thoughts. Let them return to Yahweh, and he will show compassion to them. Let them return to our God, because he will freely forgive them.

Throughout the Bible, forgiveness from God for wayward actions has always been graciously available for those who seek it.

2 Chronicles 7:14 – if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.

Notice this forgiveness is conditional on his people’s conviction to humble themselves, seek God, and turn from their wicked ways. The Bible also has examples of those whom God would not forgive, not because he is arbitrary, but because the individual or group of people demonstrates non-repentance.

Deuteronomy 29:18-20 – Beware lest there be among you a man or woman or clan or tribe whose heart is turning away today from Yahweh our God to go and serve the gods of those nations. Beware lest there be among you a root bearing poisonous and bitter fruit, one who, when he hears the words of this sworn covenant, blesses himself in his heart, saying, ‘I shall be safe, though I walk in the stubbornness of my heart.‘ This will lead to the sweeping away of moist and dry alike. Yahweh will not be willing to forgive him, but rather the anger of Yahweh and his jealousy will smoke against that man, and the curses written in this book will settle upon him, and Yahweh will blot out his name from under heaven.

Joshua 24:19-20 – But Joshua said to the people, “You are not able to serve Yahweh, for he is a holy God. He is a jealous God; he will not forgive your transgressions or your sins. If you forsake Yahweh and serve foreign gods, then he will turn and do you harm and consume you, after having done you good.”

These examples show that forgiveness is possible only after a recognition of having done something against God’s revealed instruction. However, many people today don’t seek God’s forgiveness because they are not aware of having violated any of God’s commands. So perhaps in our discussion of forgiveness, we need to start there. One can’t ask for forgiveness if one is not aware of how some revealed instruction of God has been violated.

The revelation of God’s instruction to an assembled group of people has happened in two primary and distinctive portions of the Bible: the giving of the Ten Commandments at Mt. Sinai, and the Sermon on the Mount. One was transmitted directly to the people from God himself, the other was related to an assembled group of followers through God’s Anointed One, Yeshua. One provides the basis for all godly and human interaction in concrete commands, the other provides the basis for the spiritual emphasis of God’s concrete commands. Taken together, these two great passages form the core of the Bible message, and God’s expectations of human interaction with himself and others.

If a person seeking God recognizes that their life is outside the bounds of these very basic parameters that God has provided to all people, then they may feel the need to change the pattern of their life in those areas. When this occurs, they sense a real and urgent need to be forgiven. Whether it’s from wrongs they have committed with other individuals or whether it’s for seemingly irreconcilable errors committed in life, humans will typically reach a point within their lives where forgiveness becomes a real need. It may not be something obvious to others or sometimes even themselves, but the need exists and persists until a crisis point is reached. Once that happens, something must be done to meet this need.

In the passage today, Isaiah outlines three things necessary to accomplish this with God when confronted with the basic expectations God has for people in the Ten Commandments and the Sermon on the Mount: abandoning wicked ways; abandoning wicked thoughts, and returning to Yahweh.

Isaiah 55:7 – Let wicked people abandon their ways. Let evil people abandon their thoughts. Let them return to Yahweh, and he will show compassion to them. Let them return to our God, because he will freely forgive them.

First, Isaiah says that the people must abandon their rebellious ways. This individual is named with the adjective “wicked.” The Hebrew word implies the idea of someone who is guilty of doing wrong, or worthy of condemnation because of moral depravity. This is typically used throughout the Bible for an individual with bitter and hostile intent toward God or others, or just a bad person.

The problem that arises in our modern context is that most people, even bad people, do not consider themselves as bad people. They justify themselves in their actions based on their own rationale stemming from comparing themselves with those around them who may do even worse things, thinking themselves better and therefore not guilty of wrongdoing.

However, God’s standards are uncompromising. As mentioned previously, even at the most basic level, the Ten Commandments exhibit a baseline standard for people to evaluate themselves in any culture and in any time in history. The universality of the commandments stand as a testimony against every individual as a performance standard that God expects of people who would consider themselves as his own people. That was the purpose of delivering them to the assembled congregation at Sinai, as God was laying out the constitution or charter of his Kingdom to be evidenced among his people for all time. The commandments lay out the appropriate actions toward God and toward others, and all other instruction from God’s Word stems from this blueprint.

Yeshua taught this as well.

Matthew 22:37-40 – And he said to him, “You shall love Yahweh your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”

These two commandments are the summary of two tablets of the Ten Commandments: the first half of the instruction relates how to love God, and the second half relates how to love others. When people compare themselves to these standards and not to the corrupt culture around them, they can reach no other conclusion except that they are guilty of morally wrong actions, and therefore by the Bible definition, bad or wicked.

Yeshua expanded on the spiritual motivations behind the Ten Commandments with his Sermon on the Mount. This teaching appears in both the gospels of Matthew and Luke in slightly different settings, highlighting the likelihood this was a basic teaching of Yeshua’s which he shared wherever he went.

Back to Isaiah’s instruction for the wicked to abandon their ways, the word for abandon implies leaving, forsaking, loosing and letting go. The way of a person is their manner, habit, course of life and intentions. When a person’s plans and purposes are against the plans and purposes of Yahweh, then God is not able to accomplish his purpose through that individual. The cycles and patterns of personal behavior have to be changed with a commitment to move beyond them.

Yeshua relates a similar purpose when he states, “But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you,” (Matthew 6:33). When the individual can lay down their purpose at the feet of God and the purposes of his kingdom, then God has the ability to direct and provide what is needed for an obedient life. When this conclusion is reached, it is a huge step towards the fulfillment of completing the other steps Isaiah lays out in our subject verse.

The next step Isaiah mentions is that of not just abandoning wicked ways, but of abandoning evil thoughts. This is not an injunction to mindless obedience, but a directive to change the habits of thinking that can keep individuals trapped in the loop of non-productive or harmful behaviors. Nothing changes in the actions until thought patterns are revised.

The Ten Commandments and the Sermon on the Mount are not just about actions, but about intentions. By putting God first, not worshiping images, respecting his Name and set apart time, we demonstrate to him how much we love him in our thinking. When we desire to abide by the rest of the commandments in our thinking, we tend to act out those thoughts through honoring others created in his image. These intentions and thoughts then keep us focused on him and his Kingdom, and not our own ways.

The methods of seeking God’s Kingdom first are laid out in the Sermon on the Mount, as I have covered in detail throughout the various teachings presented on this site. These methods and intentions involve integrity, vigilance, holiness, trust, forgiveness and compassion. When people truly evaluate their actions in view of the standards God has provided to us in these teachings of Moses and Yeshua, and not the standards of society, then there is a more complete picture of their standing before God.

The third aspect is what Isaiah describes as returning to God. While this admonition was originally spoken to those in Israel who were familiar with God but had rejected him, the same encouragement exists for us who have been confronted with God’s standards and are seeking for a measure of spiritual peace that comes from reconciling with the Creator of all things. Isaiah confirms this in the context of this passage when he writes:

Isaiah 55:3-5 – Open your ears, and come to me! Listen so that you may live! I will make an everlasting promise to you – the blessings I promised to David. I made him a witness to people, a leader and a commander for people. You will summon a nation that you don’t know, and a nation that doesn’t know you will run to you because of Yahweh your God, because of the Holy One of Israel. He has honored you.

Isaiah alludes to the fact that foreign nations would be drawn to the God of Israel because of the example of God’s faithfulness with David, and with his people. What was future to Isaiah is the present age we are living in. Because of the faithfulness of David’s “son,” Yeshua the Messiah, we have the ability, through faith in him, to gain the privilege of being reconciled with our Maker when we realize that our lives are not in alignment with his purposes.

John 1:12-13 – …he gave the right to become God’s children to everyone who believed in him. These people didn’t become God’s children in a physical way-from a human impulse or from a husband’s desire to have a child. They were born from God.
Isaiah 55:6 – Seek Yahweh while he may be found. Call on him while he is near.

He is near even today and able to accept and forgive all who come to him with sincere motives and a willingness to abandon their past wicked ways and past disobedient ways of thinking. That need for forgiveness can be met today.

Romans 8:5-7, 13-14 – For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. … For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.

For all those who recognize they have transgressed the commands and intentions God has provided in his Word, forgiveness is always available, along with strength through his holy Spirit which can enlighten and guide in the correct ways. Repentance of wicked ways and thoughts paves the way for God to expand his influence in the life of not only those who have not yet experienced spiritual regeneration, but in the life of the believer, as well. The Word of God comes to life through our obedient thoughts and ways, and God is glorified when we lay down anything that offends or transgresses his instruction for us. This is how the Kingdom of God continues to expand and grow, and we become privileged to become his co-laborers in the fulfillment of these things.

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.

Now also on YouTube, find us at: Core of the Bible on YouTube.

Questions or comments? Feel free to email me at coreofthebible@gmail.com.

Becoming set apart in private fellowship with God

Personal holiness is a discipline that can provide deeper insights into the wisdom of God.

For many different reasons, believers in Messiah have a unique calling among religious traditions of the world. However, one of the most interesting facets of a life of faith and becoming set apart for God’s use is how many aspects are practiced privately, out of the glare of daily interactions.

For example, Yeshua taught the disciples to pray to God in private.

Matthew 6:6 – “But when you pray, go into your private room, shut your door, and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.”

If they had a disagreement with a friend or relation, they were not to publicly call them out as a first reaction, but to meet with them privately to see if a solution could be reached.

Matthew 18:15 – “If your brother sins against you, go and rebuke him in private. If he listens to you, you have won your brother.”

Most significantly, Yeshua produced disciples who were set apart by revealing deep truths and teaching them privately.

Mark 4:34 – He did not speak to them without a parable. Privately, however, he explained everything to his own disciples.
Mark 13:3-4 – While he was sitting on the Mount of Olives across from the temple, Peter, James, John, and Andrew asked him privately, “Tell us, when will these things happen? And what will be the sign when all these things are about to be accomplished? “

The process of becoming holy is one of being set apart as distinct for God’s use and for his glory. Perhaps one of the reasons this process is not as well-known is for the very reason that it typically occurs in private, out of the glare of public scrutiny, in quiet sessions of meditation or only between individuals who are submitting to God’s instruction.

In our American culture, it is not uncommon to see big, brash displays in congregations hoping to draw more people to God. However, the discipline of personal holiness that God desires typically comes to light only in the most intimate of settings. It is forged in the deepest recesses of personal reflection and private actions that spring from close communion with our Maker. The revelation that is sought in the public assembly is in actuality born and bred most regularly within the quiet corners of personal repentance and accountability.

But, as is the nature with all things of great value, the benefits that are received far outweigh any personal sacrifice that must be endured to achieve them.

Luke 10:23-24 – Then turning to his disciples he said privately, “Blessed are the eyes that see the things you see! For I tell you that many prophets and kings wanted to see the things you see but didn’t see them; to hear the things you hear but didn’t hear them.”

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You become like what you worship

This principle applies to people of all nations.

Within the revelation provided to the apostle John, we get a glimpse of a scene in heaven with the saints extolling the majesty and holiness of the one true God.

Revelation 15:2-4 – And I saw what appeared to be a sea of glass mixed with fire, and those who had conquered the beast and its image and the number of its name, standing beside the sea of glass with harps of God in their hands. And they sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb: “Great and amazing are your deeds, Lord God the Almighty! Just and true are your ways, King of the nations! Lord, who will not fear and glorify your name? For you alone are holy. All nations will come and worship before you, for your judgments have been revealed.”

In this scene, those who had been brought through the trials of the tribulation predicted by Messiah now stand before the throne of God, worshiping him. They describe him as the one who alone is holy because of his “amazing deeds” and “judgments” which had been revealed.

The outworking of these judgments within the Revelation are a demonstration of God’s holiness, his set-apartness from all other gods. He alone could rightfully carry out the actions that are represented there because it had all come to pass due to the failure of his people to honor him.

There is a principle revealed throughout the Bible that ties the holiness of believers to their worship of the one true God. Just like the saying that relates “you are what you eat,” the biblical principle is “you become like the one you worship.”

1 Kings 11:2 – “Of the nations concerning which the Lord said unto the children of Israel, You shall not go in to them, neither shall they come in unto you: for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods…”

The apostle John admonishes his audience to reject the false gods of this world.

1 John 2:16 – For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.

If we worship the false gods of this world, the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, and the pride of life, we will become consumed with them in our daily lives. This is why the Bible in so many different ways condemns these things, from the Ten Commandments through the Sermon on the Mount. This is why this song in Revelation can be titled “the song of Moses and the song of the Lamb.”

However, if we worship the one true God, since he is holy and set apart, we become holy and set apart. This is not only the result of our worship, but is a commandment which becomes a statement of fact of the reality of our lives:

Leviticus 20:26 – And you shall be holy unto me: for I, Yahweh, am holy, and have severed you from other people, that ye should be mine.

Romans 11:16 – For if the first-fruit is holy, the lump is also holy: and if the root is holy, so are the branches.

Our holiness is a derived holiness from God, it is not something we manufacture or invent within ourselves as if it were some sort of way that we could make up to try to please him. Our holiness becomes evident only when we produce fruit in keeping with his commandments because we are single-mindedly focused on pleasing him. Our devotion to him drives the holiness in our lives.

And the holiness in our lives drives the nations to worship him, also. As they see the separateness of our lives that are devoted to him, they learn of his deeds that he has performed on behalf of his people. We can then say with the saints in heaven, “Just and true are your ways, King of the nations! Lord, who will not fear and glorify your name?”

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If you enjoy these daily blog posts, 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.
Now also on YouTube, find us at: Core of the Bible on YouTube.
Questions or comments? Feel free to email me directly at coreofthebible@gmail.com.

Contemplating the majesty of God sets believers apart

Be holy, because he is holy.

Core of the Bible podcast #61 – Contemplating the majesty of God sets believers apart

Today we will be looking at the topic of holiness, and how our holiness or being set apart is derived from our contemplation of the One who is uniquely holy and set apart.

In Psalm 29, David provides a poetic allegory of a thunderstorm in order to consider the holiness and majesty of God.

Psalm 29:2 – “Give to Yahweh the glory his name deserves. Worship Yahweh in his holy splendor.”

Within this psalm is a description of God’s awe-inspiring power displayed in the majestic outworking of a tempest. He is extolled in the demonstration of the power of a mighty storm. In this psalm, David uses a repeated phrase which is typically translated as “the voice of Yahweh.”

Psalm 29:4 – “the voice of Yahweh in power, the voice of Yahweh in splendor.”

However, the word that is brought out in English as voice (the Hebrew word qol) can mean sound or noise, as well. Here’s an example from Exodus:

Exodus 19:16 – On the third day, when morning came, there was thunder [qol] and lightning, a thick cloud on the mountain, and a very loud trumpet sound [qol], so that all the people in the camp shuddered.

Albert Barnes in his Notes on the Bible relates the following regarding the voice of Yahweh as used in this psalm:

“The voice of the Lord – The voice of Yahweh. There can be no doubt that the expression here, which is seven times repeated in the psalm, “the voice of Jehovah,” refers to thunder; and no one can fail to see the appropriateness of the expression. In heavy thunder it seems as if God spake. It comes from above. It fills us with awe. We know, indeed, that thunder as well as the other phenomena in the world, is produced by what are called “natural causes;” that there is no miracle in thunder; and that really God does not “speak” anymore in the thunder than he does in the sighing of the breeze or in the gurgling of the rivulet; but:

(a) He seems more impressively to speak to people in the thunder; and

(b) He may not improperly be regarded as speaking alike in the thunder, in the sighing of the breeze, and in the gurgling stream.

In each and all of these ways God is addressing men; in each and all there are lessons of great value conveyed, as if by His own voice, respecting His own existence and character.”

The idea that the voice of Yahweh described in this psalm is a thunderous sound has to do with its depiction throughout each of the various verses:

The voice of Yahweh breaks the cedars; Yahweh shatters the cedars of Lebanon.

The voice of Yahweh flashes flames of fire.

The voice of Yahweh shakes the wilderness; Yahweh shakes the wilderness of Kadesh.

The voice of Yahweh makes the deer give birth and strips the woodlands bare.

All of these things can be said to be the result of a powerful thunder and lightning storm: shattering of trees; flashing light and fire; shaking of the wilderness; stripping the woodlands bare. Making the deer give birth can imply that the frightened deer goes into labor, but it also implies that the thunderous voice of God rumbles through the deserted wilderness places where deer prefer to separate themselves when giving birth.

If you’ve ever been through a close violent thunderstorm, I’m sure you can recall how terrifyingly loud and unnerving the noise and commotion of the wind and rain can be. If you were in an open and unprotected area when experiencing a large storm, I’m certain you can recall how vulnerable and frail you may have felt. The Psalmist here is using this type of imagery as a way of illustrating the power and majesty of God, and how incredibly small and unshielded we are from the elements of this world; how much more does that apply to us spiritually.

Barnes concludes:

“In each and all of these ways God is addressing men; in each and all there are lessons of great value conveyed, as if by His own voice, respecting His own existence and character. Those which are addressed to us particularly in thunder, pertain to His power, His majesty, His greatness; to our own weakness, feebleness, dependence; to the ease with which He could take us away, and to the importance of being prepared to stand before such a God.”

To wander into the realm of God is to be vulnerable and exposed to the power and majesty of the One who is beyond all comprehension. If the power of a single storm on earth can instill fear into the stoutest of hearts, how much more the all-powerful presence of the Almighty God?

These things are not necessarily meant to say that God is purposefully causing these individual occurrences to happen; he certainly could if he chose to. But the emphasis in this psalm is that those wonders and powers of nature demonstrate how all-powerful God really is simply because he created them in the first place. Because of this, it is easy for people to get God mixed up with his Creation.

For example, pantheism says that God is in everything, and therefore everything is God. Wikipedia has a reasonable working definition of pantheism that states:

“Pantheism is the view that everything is part of an all-encompassing, immanent God. All forms of reality may then be considered either modes of that Being, or identical with it. Some hold that pantheism is a non-religious philosophical position. To them, pantheism is the view that the Universe (in the sense of the totality of all existence) and God are identical.”

A common popular trope today is to assign “the universe” as an all-present, all-knowing force that influences the lives of people. This is typically used in kind of an ironic rather than serious fashion. However, there are some who believe that speaking something into the universe will bring an echo of meaning or direction back into their lives. Others believe when some notable event occurs, that the universe has pointed them in a direction or made a choice for them. Most people today engage with this type of thinking not realizing that this is really a form of pantheism.

By contrast, in Hebrew thought, God is not equated with the Creation, but is evidenced in and through his Creation. He can do with it as he wills, using it to accomplish his purposes as he sees fit. For example, he can cause a flood or he can create a drought; he can make a storm appear out of nowhere or he can calm the storm.

But beyond just manipulating the natural order, the God of the Bible is not limited by his Creation; he can cause non-linear things (according to the parameters of our understanding of physics) to occur. He can cause the sun and moon to stand still for a whole day (Joshua 10), or the sun to appear to go backwards (2 Kings 20). He can create a dry path through the depths of a sea in one night (Exodus 14), or cause someone who has died to live again (1 Kings 17, Luke 7, John 11). These are things that go against the natural order of things, and therefore demonstrate that God’s nature is transcendent to this Creation; he is greater than just the sum totality of all of its parts. Therefore the God of the Bible is greater and more powerful than whatever god is assigned to the pantheistic philosophy of the created universe.

To consider the vastness of God’s power and ability, one needs only to look beyond the created order of even this world. In some psalms attributed to David, he meditates on the expanse of the heavens and the heavenly bodies that are evident there. He explains how this universality of God’s handiwork is evident in all nations under the heavens.

Psalm 19:1-4 – “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the expanse proclaims the work of his hands. Day after day they pour out speech; night after night they communicate knowledge. There is no speech; there are no words; their voice is not heard. Their message has gone out to the whole earth, and their words to the ends of the world.”

Because this aspect of God’s nature is evident everywhere, David ponders man’s role in light of his transcendent nature.

Psalm 8:3-4 – “When I observe your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you set in place, what is a human being that you remember him, a son of man that you look after him?”

David’s conclusion is that viewing the vastness of God’s creation should cause us to be humbled in view of our limited existence and scope of influence.

Our modern astronomical telescopes have transformed how we look at the universe outside of the environs of the earth. We now have space telescopes that can image the farthest reaches of the visible universe. I am fascinated with these types of pictures, and I even have a computer wallpaper that is an image of a spiral galaxy. When I look at such an image depicting a self-contained galaxy with its millions of stars and planets, and knowing that the earth is only one tiny speck in our own galaxy, my mind is immediately humbled to whatever my personal circumstances might be, as this perspective reminds me of how small and finite my view of reality typically is.

In a similar way, when I come to the Bible and explore its depths, I am likewise placed in a position of humility when I consider the magnitude of spiritual revelation that God has provided us in his Word. That God has revealed himself as a being greater than the universe itself is boggling to the mind, and yet necessary for him to demonstrate who he is. His being is so high above all that exists, he is set apart from his Creation; yet he has chosen to maintain a dynamic and ongoing relationship with those whom he has created within that order of Creation that we call the universe.

Our own holiness, or separation from the world, is derived from our perspective and meditation of God as the Creator of all. In our current generation, amidst a people who have no recognition of any god, or who are self-absorbed in the creations of their own making, believers stand apart in our honoring of the one true God of the universe. In so doing, we ourselves become set apart.

1 Peter 1:15-16 – But just as He who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do, for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.”

We must recognize that our holiness is derived from his holiness and majesty. If we lose sight of who he is, we become less set apart. Conversely, as we honor him and ascribe to him the glory that his name deserves, then we are elevated into a position of strength and purpose that rises far above our mundane existence.

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Zion, the eternal monument

The transformation of an earthly icon into a spiritual witness for all eternity.

When we encounter the name Zion in the Bible, we are immediately drawn to the city of David, Jerusalem.

2 Samuel 5:7 – “Yet David did capture the stronghold of Zion, that is, the city of David.”

Throughout the historical pages of Scripture, Zion is equated with the city of Jerusalem, and the sacred place where God dwells within his temple. The name itself appears to be derived from a form of a Hebrew word meaning a conspicuous sign, or a monument like a pillar or signpost. Certainly, Jerusalem has been that throughout the pages of history.

However, as we move into the writings of the prophets, the picture of Zion becomes a bit more ethereal, more hazy in time and space, and becomes transformed into an ideal. Zion becomes equated with concepts like Eden and eternity; it comes to represent the source of God’s presence on the earth throughout time.

Isaiah 51:3, 11 – “For Yahweh will comfort Zion; he will comfort all her waste places, and he will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of Yahweh. Joy and gladness will be found in her, thanksgiving and melodious song. … And the redeemed of Yahweh will return and come to Zion with singing, crowned with unending joy. Joy and gladness will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee.”
Micah 4:5-7 – “Though all the peoples each walk in the name of their gods, we will walk in the name of Yahweh our God forever and ever. On that day — this is Yahweh’s declaration — I will assemble the lame and gather the scattered, those I have injured. I will make the lame into a remnant, those far removed into a strong nation. Then Yahweh will reign over them in Mount Zion from this time on and forever.”

We find that this prophetic Zion becomes defined more clearly as we move to the culmination of God’s revelation in the New Testament. The writer of Hebrews pulls the prophetic Zion imagery into the present reality of the work that God was doing among his people at that time.

Hebrews 12:22-23 – “Instead, you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God (the heavenly Jerusalem), to myriads of angels, a festive gathering, to the assembly of the firstborn whose names have been written in heaven, to a Judge, who is God of all, to the spirits of righteous people made perfect…”

This imagery of the heavenly Jerusalem, a spiritual Mount Zion, is further expressed in the closing pages of the book of Revelation.

Revelation 21:2, 10 – “I also saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared like a bride adorned for her husband. … He then carried me away in the Spirit to a great, high mountain and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God…”

Here, the New Jerusalem is identified with a high mountain like Zion, and is named Jerusalem like Zion. However, it is NEW, it is no longer the earthly mountain or city; it is something different, something that had become an eternal, iconic representation of God and his people.

It is possible that Yeshua was even referencing this imagery when he defined the “city on a hill” that could not be hidden, whose light would be visible everywhere by its conspicuousness.

Matthew 5:14 – “You are the light of the world. A city situated on a hill cannot be hidden.”

In the fullness of the revelation of God’s word, we find Zion, the monument and signpost city, represents the presence of the heavenly kingdom, the Kingdom of God on this earth, now and for eternity. It is the “kingdom which cannot be shaken,” (Hebrews 12:28), and it will never fade nor diminish in its power or influence (i.e., its light), but only continue to grow until it covers the earth.

Revelation 21:23-26 – The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, because the glory of God illuminates it, and its lamp is the Lamb. The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it. Its gates will never close by day because it will never be night there. They will bring the glory and honor of the nations into it.

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The holiness of marriage

Why the representation of intimacy between a man and a woman is regarded so highly by God.

Matthew 5:32 – “But I tell you, everyone who divorces his wife, except in a case of sexual immorality, causes her to commit adultery. And whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.”

According to Yeshua, the holiness of the marriage union is essential. In fact, it is so critical, that he provides heart-insight on the command against adultery by saying:

Matthew 5:28 – “But I tell you, everyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”

The sanctity of marriage is fueled and kept in check by the man and the woman continually setting apart their spouse from all others, so much so that to even lust after anyone else can be considered an emotional violation of the marriage vow.

The reason this is so is because the marriage union of a man and a women is symbolic of our faithful relationship to God. Anything else outside the singular and faithful union of a man and a woman is considered a form of idolatry to God. This is illustrated by the fact that, throughout the Bible, whenever Israel began to go after other gods, they were accused of spiritual adultery.

In the book of Judges, when Israel was newly settling in the land of Canaan, they demonstrated their unfaithfulness by almost immediately “prostituting themselves” by following other gods.

Judges 2:11-12, 16-17 – “The Israelites did what was evil in Yahweh’s sight. They worshiped the Baals and abandoned Yahweh, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of Egypt. They followed other gods from the surrounding peoples and bowed down to them. They angered Yahweh, … Yahweh raised up judges, who saved them from the power of their marauders, but they did not listen to their judges. Instead, they prostituted themselves with other gods, bowing down to them. They quickly turned from the way of their fathers, who had walked in obedience to Yahweh’s commands. They did not do as their fathers did.”

Hundreds of years later, after the reigns of David and Solomon and many other kings who continued to rebel against God, he raised up firebrand prophets like Jeremiah and Ezekiel to declare their judgment for their unfaithfulness. In a scathing commentary by the prophet Ezekiel throughout the entire chapter of Ezekiel 16, he confronts the religious elite of Jerusalem with the following accusation:

Ezekiel 16:2-3, 32-33 – “Son of man, confront Jerusalem with her detestable practices. “You are to say, ‘This is what Yahweh GOD says to Jerusalem: … “You adulterous wife, who receives strangers instead of her husband! “Men give gifts to all prostitutes, but you gave gifts to all your lovers. You bribed them to come to you from all around for your sexual favors.”

In like fashion, Jeremiah recounts the list of Israel’s rebellious and wayward prophets, likening them to acts of adultery.

Jeremiah 23:14 – “Among the prophets of Jerusalem also I saw a horrible thing: They commit adultery and walk in lies. They strengthen the hands of evildoers, and none turns his back on evil. They are all like Sodom to me; Jerusalem’s residents are like Gomorrah.”

The sanctity of the nation that God had set apart from all others was gone. They had compromised their unique marriage relationship with the one true God by succumbing to the allure of the gods of the competing cultures.

Even after their captivity and up until the time of Yeshua, they never regained their relationship with God. This is blatantly recognized within the imagery of the Revelation, as religious Israel of the first century is represented as the whore, the adulteress, who rides the political beast of Rome.

Revelation 17:3-4 – Then he carried me away in the Spirit to a wilderness. I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was covered with blasphemous names and had seven heads and ten horns. The woman was dressed in purple and scarlet, adorned with gold, jewels, and pearls. She had a golden cup in her hand filled with everything detestable and with the impurities of her prostitution.

Because of her continual and unrelenting rebellion against God’s marriage union with Israel as his own bride, Jerusalem was destroyed and her temple worship, the unique system of worship that set her apart from all other nations, was abolished.

However, there was a faithful remnant who had come out of the nation: those who believed in the Messiah God had sent to rescue them. The true marriage and spiritual worship was established with the faithful remnant, with the New Jerusalem, the kingdom of God, becoming the new and eternally faithful bride.

Revelation 21:2, 9-10 – I also saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared like a bride adorned for her husband. … Then one of the seven angels, who had held the seven bowls filled with the seven last plagues, came and spoke with me: “Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.” He then carried me away in the Spirit to a great, high mountain and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God,

This should be a clear message about how seriously God views the marriage bond between a man and a woman. From God’s perspective, true intimacy, whether between a man and a woman or the representative spiritual union between a person and himself, is valued so highly that it is represented as a sparkling kingdom utopia of his blessing and mercy. This is where God dwells with his faithful and set apart people, and where we dwell with him. This is the holiest of all marriage relationships.

Revelation 21:3 – Then I heard a loud voice from the throne: Look, God’s dwelling is with humanity, and he will live with them. They will be his peoples, and God himself will be with them and will be their God.

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Hope that comes from faith in God

His commands are sure and faithful, leading to his kingdom.

Proverbs 23:17-18 – Let not your heart envy sinners: but be in the fear of Yahweh all the day. For if you should keep these things, you shall have a future; and your hope shall not be removed.

In this passage of Proverbs, Solomon conveys that when it comes to trusting in Yahweh, there is a promise of continuance, a future where posterity thrives and hope lives.

by contrast, the wicked will not maintain hope in any recognizable future.

Proverbs 24: 19-20 Rejoice not in evil-doers, neither be envious of sinners. For the evil man shall have no future: and the light of the wicked shall be put out.

Hope is a rare and precious commodity, especially in our current day. People are longing for any thread of optimism to cling to. Many are convinced that things are only getting worse and that society as a whole is headed toward some sort of climactic shift or end where a renewal will take place. For the secular among us, crises of all proportions loom on the horizon, from global warming to over-population to mutual nuclear destruction. From the religious camps are touted apocalyptic endings within this generation, with the destruction of the wicked and the establishment of a reign of subsequent peace.

Yet God’s Word remains steadfast in its declaration of faithful continuance. The kingdom of God that was established with the coming of the Messiah two millennia ago will continue to increase, ebbing and expanding in synchronous harmony with the faithfulness of each generation until it fills the earth. There will be good times, and there will be bad times, but all times are moving steadily toward its fulfillment in reality.

As individuals, when we faithfully trust God and enact his principles in our lives, we shine a light within our circles of influence. As these lights grow and move, they can overlap and spread, increasing with luminosity as hope and truth spread.

In the proverb above, the simple admonition of Solomon captures the essence of all of the ten commandments by stating its first command and its last: “Let not your heart envy sinners: but be in the fear of Yahweh all the day.” The tenth commandment is not to covet or “envy sinners”; the first is to not have any other gods but Yahweh, to “be in fear of Yahweh all the day.”

By following these commands personally, we can have a future and a hope. This hope and future can be communicated to those around us, thereby carrying the light of truth a little further out into our world. When other hearts become committed to Yahweh and his principles contained within his commandments, the kingdom grows, and we grow steadfastly toward the ultimate reality of his kingdom together. When we share faith and trust in Yahweh, we share hope.

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