The Torah is hugely important in understanding the New Testament, and we could spend the rest of 2011 and much of 2012 just sorting through that truth. We’ve already seen that much of God’s covenant with Abraham is repeated and expanded in the Law of Moses.
This won’t be nearly adequate to cover the ground, but let’s reflect on a couple of key points —
First, the Exodus is repeated referenced by Jesus and the New Testament writers as a “type” of Christianity. That is, we are told over and over that Christianity is very much like the Exodus. We see this, for example, in the vocabulary of the New Testament —
* “Redeem” means to free from slavery.
(Exo 6:6 ESV) Say therefore to the people of Israel, ‘I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from slavery to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great acts of judgment.
(Luk 1:68 ESV) “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has visited and redeemed his people …”
God frees us from sin and Satan’s realm just as God freed the Israelites from Egyptian slavery.
* God “saved” Israel.
(Exo 14:30 ESV) Thus the LORD saved Israel that day from the hand of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore.
(Act 2:47b ESV) And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.
(Exo 14:13 ESV) And Moses said to the people, “Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will work for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again.
(Luk 3:6 ESV) 6 “and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.'”
The Israelites were saved from slavery to the Egyptians and idolatry; we are saved from slavery to our own sins.
* The Promised Land is the “inheritance” of Israel.
(Exo 32:13 ESV) 13 “Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, to whom you swore by your own self, and said to them, ‘I will multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have promised I will give to your offspring, and they shall inherit it forever.'”
(Mat 5:5 ESV) 5 “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.”
(1Co 6:9-10 ESV) 9 Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, 10 nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.
In the New Testament, Christians “inherit” the earth and the Kingdom.
* Israelites were first called “sons of … God” in Deuteronomy.
(Deu 14:1 ESV) “You are the sons of the LORD your God. You shall not cut yourselves or make any baldness on your foreheads for the dead.”
(Mat 5:9 ESV) 9 “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.”
But that term now applies to the followers of Jesus.
* God’s “glory” appeared in the tabernacle when it was dedicated.
(Exo 40:34-1 ESV) 34 Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. 35 And Moses was not able to enter the tent of meeting because the cloud settled on it, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. 36 Throughout all their journeys, whenever the cloud was taken up from over the tabernacle, the people of Israel would set out. 37 But if the cloud was not taken up, then they did not set out till the day that it was taken up. 38 For the cloud of the LORD was on the tabernacle by day, and fire was in it by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel throughout all their journeys.
And God’s glory traveled with the people throughout their journey, guiding them to the Promised Land.
Today, the Spirit dwells within us, as God’s Glory dwelled among the Israelites, and guides us.
(2Co 3:18-1 ESV) 18 And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.
* The ekklesia in the Old Testament is —
(Deu 4:9-10 ESV) 9 “Only take care, and keep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things that your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life. Make them known to your children and your children’s children — 10 how on the day that you stood before the LORD your God at Horeb, the LORD said to me, ‘Gather the people to me, that I may let them hear my words, so that they may learn to fear me all the days that they live on the earth, and that they may teach their children so.'”
(Deu 9:10 ESV) And the LORD gave me the two tablets of stone written with the finger of God, and on them were all the words that the LORD had spoken with you on the mountain out of the midst of the fire on the day of the assembly [ = ekklesia].
When God called the Israelites together to hear the word of God, they formed the “church.” Thus, when God refers to Christians as the “church,” there’s an allusion to the Israelites, in the desert, gathered to hear the word of God.
I could go on. It’s clear that God wants us to see life in Christ as a journey out of slavery and toward the Promised Land, with God as our protector and guide. As the author of Hebrews warns us in chapter 3, we can rebel and die in the desert, or we can persevere to the end.
(Heb 3:12-19 ESV) 12 Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. 13 But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. 14 For we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end. 15 As it is said, “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.” 16 For who were those who heard and yet rebelled? Was it not all those who left Egypt led by Moses? 17 And with whom was he provoked for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness? 18 And to whom did he swear that they would not enter his rest, but to those who were disobedient? 19 So we see that they were unable to enter because of unbelief.
But we also know that God redeemed us and saved us so that we’d be with him in the Promised Land.
God’s purpose in Israel
Now, as cool as all that is (and I happen to think it’s really cool), it doesn’t quite explain why God bothered with 1,500 years of Israelite history. Why not send Jesus immediately after Abraham? What was his purpose in creating a chosen and elect people (and, of course, “chosen” and “elect” are Exodus words, too — the two are the same word in the Greek and appear in Deu 7:6)?
I don’t know. Really. But I can still observe some things.
God’s redemptive plan called for him to form an elect community. He formed the Israelites into a single nation, traveling together through the desert under the leadership of God. He did not select individuals to be saved from Egypt, but a nation. The nation is also a family, with God as Father. They were formed into relationship with one another and with God. Indeed, their horizontal relationship is based on their vertical relationship with God. They were formed by God into a God-centered people.
God gave them his Law, but he also gave them himself. God dwelt among his people, first in the Tabernacle and then in the Temple. And God spoke to his people, first through Moses, and then through judges and prophets. God did not leave them orphans.
And God appointed them to bless the surrounding nations —
(Isa 42:6-7 ESV) “I am the LORD; I have called you in righteousness; I will take you by the hand and keep you; I will give you as a covenant for the people, a light for the nations, 7 to open the eyes that are blind, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, from the prison those who sit in darkness.”
(Isa 51:4 ESV) 4 “Give attention to me, my people, and give ear to me, my nation; for a law will go out from me, and I will set my justice for a light to the peoples.
Paul argues in Romans that the Jews failed in their task —
(Rom 2:17-23 ESV) 17 But if you call yourself a Jew and rely on the law and boast in God 18 and know his will and approve what is excellent, because you are instructed from the law; 19 and if you are sure that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, 20 an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of children, having in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth — 21 you then who teach others, do you not teach yourself? While you preach against stealing, do you steal? 22 You who say that one must not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? 23 You who boast in the law dishonor God by breaking the law.
Therefore, Jesus would accomplish the role God had assigned to Israel —
(John 8:12 ESV) 12 Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
Now, the Isaiah passages come centuries after the Exodus, but God told Abraham that he would bless the nations through Israel. Isaiah is simply explaining that the blessing Israel was to offer the nations was knowledge of God — of course.
So … think about it. If Christianity is parallel to the Exodus, and if God elected Israel and saved them out of Egypt so they’d be a light to the nations, what is God’s purpose for the church?
It fits.
In the post above we find the following two sentences:
"God frees us from sin and Satan’s realm just as God freed the Israelites from Egyptian slavery."
and
"The Israelites were saved from slavery to the Egyptians and idolatry; we are saved from slavery to our own sins."
These comments seem to suggest we do not accomplish this by exercising our "free" will. After all, a slave is many things, but he is not free. But those who have been granted faith have been redeemed – it is a gift and not the result of human effort.
John 1:13 – who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.
Romans 9:16 – So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy.
Hesed,
Randall
Randall,It’s both true and not true that the Israelites were saved despite free will. God elected them because of his covenant with Abraham. God sent Moses.God sent plagues.God persuaded Pharaoh to let them go.The Israelites did nothing to earn their redemption.But only Joshua and Caleb made it to the Promised Land, which the point of the first few chapters of Hebrews.The reading of Law recorded in Deuteronomy ends with —(Deu 30:19-20 ESV) 19 “I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live, 20 loving the LORD your God, obeying his voice and holding fast to him, for he is your life and length of days, that you may dwell in the land that the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.”Even the second generation had to make a choice: Participate in the covenant blessings by choosing to love God and obey his covenant — or die. They had already wandered for 40 years. They were at the edge of the Jordan, ready to cross over, and God gave them a choice. Nearly 40 years earlier, their fathers had had a choice and they refused to enter the Land, lacking faith, and they died in the desert. This generation made another choice, and they entered the Land of Milk and Honey.They were all people of the covenant, all Israelites, all called, and all elect, but not all entered the Promised Land.(Heb 3:14-19 ESV) 14 For we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end. 15 As it is said, “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.” 16 For who were those who heard and yet rebelled? Was it not all those who left Egypt led by Moses? 17 And with whom was he provoked for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness? 18 And to whom did he swear that they would not enter his rest, but to those who were disobedient? 19 So we see that they were unable to enter because of unbelief.
Oh you are good.
Jay,
Are you suggesting that only Joshua and Caleb were saved and all those that did not enter the promised land were lost? If not, then what is your point.
More to my original point. No one denies (neither Calvinist, Arminian nor semi-Pelagian) that we make choices and are responsible for our choices. The differences lies in the reason behind the choices we make. Did we choose God b/c He first chose us (or Israel); or did God choose us b/c we chose Him?
Did God choose Israel b/c of his covenant with Abraham (whom God called while he was most likely worshiping the moon like his ancestors in Ur) or was God's choice of Israel part of His plan from before the beginning? Did God kind of work it out as things developed or has He always known just what he was doing and how He was going to accomplish it. Is God frustrated by man's poor choices and is He always having to come up with an alternative plan? Surely not!
And the whole slavery thing. Is the natural man a slave to sin and in need of redemption which he can not accomplish himself. Surely you don't contend that John and Paul were just employing a bit of hyperbole.
I've said it before and I'll say it again – Many people talk just like Calvinists until that is pointed out to them, and then they back off of it.
Hesed.
Randall