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Tag: deuteronomy

A River of Redemption Flowing from Eden – Redeemer
For I know that my Redeemer lives,
and at the last he will stand upon the earth. – Job 19:25 ESV

Redeemed from what?

Scripture records that Job is a righteous man. Can you say that? Most assuredly, I cannot.

A great and powerful leader loves God and does everything right, yet the Lord permits Satan to test him. He has everything a man could ever want, but then the Lord takes it away. Job loses everything except his life.

And how does he respond?

Job cries out to the Lord to be saved from miseries which have come to him in the flesh of this life (and his miseries are many). Yet hear Job’s assurance of judgement by a just God.

19:25 וַאֲנִי יָדַעְתִּי גֹּאֲלִי חָי וְאַחֲרֹון עַל־עָפָר יָקֽוּם׃
19:26 וְאַחַר עֹורִֽי נִקְּפוּ־זֹאת וּמִבְּשָׂרִי אֶֽחֱזֶה אֱלֹֽוהַּ׃
And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God: – Job 19:26 KJV

Though he dies he will see God his Redeemer, face to face. In a word: resurrection. Judgment, face to face judgment by God!

Our return to dust

The Lord’s original curse against man does not dissuade Job from hope of seeing his Redeemer on the day of his judgment. Job repents before God acknowledging that he knows that he is dust.

Do you? Have you acknowledged before God that you are only dust?

By the sweat of your face
you shall eat bread,
till you return to the ground,
for out of it you were taken;
for you are dust,
and to dust you shall return.” – Genesis 3:19

Redeemers

What is a Redeemer? (It’s certainly another important concept this world has relegated to triteness, as in ‘redeeming coupons.’)

Redeem – to buy or pay off, buy back, recover, exchange or convert (as in the blood of an animal for sin or money for a sacrificial animal), to discharge or fulfill a promise or a debt, to make amends for (some wrong), obtain release by a payment, restoration; theology: to deliver from sin and its consequences by means of a sacrifice offered for the sinner.

Job was a righteous man, yet he knew he would face his redeemer after his death. Have you had enough to have cried out to your Redeemer?

Earlier in this series I referred to Joseph as a redeemer not only Israel, but also of Egypt by saving them from famine. Joseph was purchased and no ransom was paid for his release. With God’s help Joseph paid for his own redemption.

Many look to Moses as a redeemer of the Hebrews, saving them from slavery. Moses had been born into slavery under imminent threat of death, but the Lord rescued the Hebrew boy into the household of Pharaoh. He escaped when discovered buy returned when called by the Lord. Moses freed the Hebrews from slavery under Pharaoh. The Lord used Moses to save His covenant people, but Moses did not pay a ransom for their return.

The Lord saves David and other later kings of Israel and Judah. In fact, it is always the LORD who intervenes in these and other rescues of mankind. Even Noah had been rescued by God.

From Noah, Abraham, Jacob and Joseph before the Law, to Moses, David and kings after the Law you will read of sacrifices made to the Lord. All of these faithful men recognized their own need for a Redeemer for their sins.

If you have never considered your own need for a Redeemer, you may want to weigh the significance of its antonym as it could apply to your soul at the Judgment without a Redeemer:

Antonyms
1. abandon.
Strong currents of these last days

Have you plead to the Lord for mercy? ‘Oh Lord, do not abandon me.’

Though requirements of the Law placed severe penalties upon those disobedient to the Lord, Moses assured the faithful:

“Be strong and courageous; don’t be terrified or afraid of them. For the LORD your God is the one who will go with you; he will not leave you or abandon you.” – Deuteronomy 31:6

In Psalm 16, David offers an assurance similar to to that of Job:

10 For you will not abandon me to Sheol;
you will not allow your faithful one to see decay.

God warned Adam and Eve that on the day they ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil that they would surely die. Adam died. So did Eve and their sons, daughters and descendants, except the family of Noah.

So did Eve and their sons, daughters and descendants, except the family of Noah. And all mankind from Adam until now has sinned, every one of us.

Surely we will also die; then as Job said, we will be resurrected to the Judgment.

LORD, the hope of Israel,
all who abandon you
will be put to shame.
All who turn away from me
will be written in the dirt,
for they have abandoned
the LORD, the fountain of living water. – Jeremiah 17:13

A Redeemer and Judge

Our Redeemer was before Eden and was in Eden. He IS a river of righteousness, pure waters springing forth which refresh the soul and give life to dust.

John 1:2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 All things were created through him… 3:5 Jesus answered, “Truly I tell you, unless someone is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 Whatever is born of the flesh is flesh, and whatever is born of the Spirit is spirit.

John 4:13 Jesus said, “Everyone who drinks from this water will get thirsty again. 14 But whoever drinks from the water that I will give him will never get thirsty again. In fact, the water I will give him will become a well of water springing up in him for eternal life.”

John 5:24 “Truly I tell you, anyone who hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not come under judgment but has passed from death to life.

25 “Truly I tell you, an hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live… a time is coming when all who are in the graves will hear his voice 29 and come out—those who have done good things, to the resurrection of life, but those who have done wicked things, to the resurrection of condemnation.

Christ Jesus! He IS our Redemption, for He has sacrificed His own blood as payment for our sins. Jesus the Son of Man sacrificed His life as payment for mine. He IS the river of life, springing forth from before Eden and cleansing our sins.

Beloved brother of dust and sister of sin, will you plea to our Redeemer for His great mercy?

Then he showed me the river of the water of life, clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the city’s main street. The tree of life was on each side of the river…
Revelation 22:
August 21, 2018
A River of Redemption Flowing from Eden – Justice
Contemplation of Justice by James Earle Fraser – US Supreme Court building

Justice

At the beginning of this series I outlined topics which included justice. Here we will explore their linked applications.
- Commandment
- Law
- Justice
- Judgment
- Penalty and Sentence
- Redemption
Justice – n. 1) fairness. 2) moral rightness. 3) a scheme or system of law in which every person receives his/ her/its due from the system, including all rights, both natural and legal. – source: dictionary.law.com

The multi-branched tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

“but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for on the day you eat from it, you will certainly die.” – Genesis 2:17 CSB

Paradise by Lucas Cranach the Elder – painter, draughtsman, printmaker and court painter – 1530

We move now from relatively calm waters of Adam knowing the difference between good and evil to a more tumultuous current of original sin flowing through the generations.

Justice, and only justice, you shall follow, that you may live and inherit the land that the LORD your God is giving you. – Deuteronomy 16:20

Justice in the Egypt of Joseph and Moses

Recent research from Yale Law, The Representation of Justice in Ancient Egypt, confirms concepts of justice learned by the Hebrews. I have quoted it extensively below.

The concept of “law” and “justice” are intimately associated with the proper behavior of kings and were embedded in every royal ritual.

Ma’at Ancient Egyptian goddess of justice

Could common citizens expect an example of morality from their leaders? Even the Pharaoh and King?

In a word, ‘yes.’ According to research of ancient civilizations predating Rome and Greece, a natural ‘connective justice’ was presumed in law.

The imperfect branches of connective justice

Again, the research of J.G. Manning in the Yale Journal of Law & the Humanities:

Ma’at (“connective justice,”) governed personal moral behavior, as can be seen in religious texts, as well as the proper relationships between gods and men, between kings and society, and between individuals. Thus it literally connected everyone from the gods, through the king, down to the lowliest farmer. It was the mirror of the divine order of the world and also the foundation of private ethical behavior. Ma’at was the most persistent and pervasive idea in ancient Egyptian society.

Importantly, the most visible and the longest lasting image of Ma’at in
a private context, at least to the modem observer, is the famous “last
judgment scene,” in which an individual faced his or her mortality by
having his or her life deeds weighed in the balance against the symbol of justice, the ostrich feather, in front of all of the gods in Egypt.

If found wanting, the person’s soul was devoured and his or her existence was extinguished. On the other hand, if found “true of voice,” one gained eternal bliss in the afterlife. This was not the public representation of state justice, but, rather a more intimate depiction of the expectations of private moral behavior.

Do you recognize this universal connection to the truth in the Law given to Moses on Sinai by the Lord God?

Delegated authority of the Law

Application of law ultimately leads back to the same question Adam would have to judge after gaining ‘knowledge of good and evil.’

What is right? Is this good or evil in the eyes of the Lord?

Basic precedents of law include English Common Law and other fundamental documents.

Sir William Blackstone
- US Constitutional Law
- of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, … and secure the Blessings of Liberty … ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.
  - The Bill of Rights & evolving societal amendments
- Religious Law
Hammurabi a Babylonian code of law

The contemporary legal systems of the world are generally based on one of four basic systems: civil law, common law, statutory law, religious law or combinations of these. However, the legal system of each country is shaped by its unique history and so incorporates individual variations.[1]

A Stream Towards Justice

We have examined the role of authority in the law. It is here that the roles of God, government, family and community all come into play.

The basis of all law is the authority by which it is given. Justice requires effective application and fair administration of remedies by a righteous and impartial judge. – Roger Harned

A commandment comes directly from Almighty God. Call it ‘religious law,’ but an absolute over-riding Authority connects God’s word to man’s actions.

Hebrew followers of Moses heard the Lord speak directly and were afraid. Even so, they disobeyed the direct command of God even before Moses later descended Sinai with the stone tablets – the Law, carved by the finger of God in stone.

This inviolable Law would be carried in the Ark of the Covenant; not as reference, but as witness to their own promises to God. Yet many would violate (trespass) their solemn covenant promises to God many times and in many places throughout the long history of Israel.

Penalty of the Law

Even though prescribed specifically for certain violations in specific contexts of the Law, ‘penalty’ is not mentioned by name in the King James Version of the Bible. The overriding issue, simply, is innocence or guilt and not particularly the punishment.

A divine sentence is in the lips of the king: his mouth transgresseth not in judgment. – Proverbs 16:10 KJV

Have you ever considered that the ‘sentence’ of the court is the spoken judgement against the convicted violator of the law?

Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil. – Ecclesiastes 8:11 KJV

Perhaps you have even noted the legal principle of a right to a speedy trial in the wise advise above.

Now note the usage of the Hebrew root for the consequence of guilt:

דָּם – dam
- blood (342x),
- bloody (15x),
- person (with H5315) (1x),
- bloodguiltiness (1x)
- bloodthirsty (with H582) (1x),
- vr blood (1x)
Again, this goes to the higher authority of Almighty God. Perhaps a good Biblical example of commanded penalty would be ‘capital punishment.’

“Whoever sheds human blood,
by humans his blood will be shed,
for God made humans in his image.
Genesis 9:6 CSB

“But you, be fruitful and multiply; spread out over the earth and multiply on it,”[Gen. 9:7] God commanded Noah and his family who were spared by the judgement of the earth.

Looking upstream through the generational sins even in the time of Moses, redemption from bloodguilt against God hardly seems attainable.

Kings and Nations under God

And what cause soever shall come to you of your brethren that dwell in their cities, between blood and blood, between law and commandment, statutes and judgments, ye shall even warn them that they trespass not against the LORD, and so wrath come upon you, and upon your brethren: this do, and ye shall not trespass. – 2 Chronicles 19:10 KJV

reign of Jehoshaphat ~873–849 BC

From later records of Israel (and Judah after David), we learn of the continued importance of the Law or Commandment of God to this ‘chosen’ nation. The above quote from 2 Chronicles is recorded in the time of Jehoshaphat, in the 9th century Before Christ.

Note the distribution of authority given by King Jehoshaphat to others from 2 Chronicles 19:

A King’s delegation of justice

4 Jehoshaphat lived in Jerusalem, and once again he went out among the people from Beer-sheba to the hill country of Ephraim and brought them back to the Lord, the God of their ancestors. 5 He appointed judges in all the fortified cities of the land of Judah, city by city.

6 Then he said to the judges, “Consider what you are doing, for you do not judge for a mere mortal, but for the Lord, who is with you in the matter of judgment. 7 And now, may the terror of the Lord be on you. Watch what you do, for there is no injustice or partiality or taking bribes with the Lord our God.”

8 Jehoshaphat also appointed in Jerusalem…
- some of the Levites and priests
- and some of the Israelite family heads…
Delegated authority from the Lord to the King, then to officials responsible for religion, for community and for family. Even warning of how to manage outsiders (foreigners and servants), all under delegated authority of the Lord through others. Not freedom, as we know it. Certainly not license to choose whether to obey or defy any law or regulation.

10 For every dispute that comes to you from your brothers who dwell in their cities—whether it regards differences of bloodguilt, law, commandment, statutes, or judgments—you are to warn them, so they will not incur guilt before the Lord and wrath will not come on you and your brothers. Do this, and you will not incur guilt.

11 “Note that Amariah, the chief priest, is over you in all matters related to the Lord, and Zebadiah son of Ishmael, the ruler of the house of Judah, in all matters related to the king, and the Levites are officers in your presence. Be strong; may the Lord be with those who do what is good.”

God will judge

God is a righteous judge
and a God who shows his wrath every day. – Psalm 7:11
He will judge your people with righteousness
and your afflicted ones with justice. – Psalm 72:2

Psalm 111:9 Christian Standard Bible (CSB)
⁹He has sent redemption to his people.
He has ordained his covenant forever.
His name is holy and awe-inspiring.

To be continued…
August 17, 2018
That you may have Certainty – 6 – Gentiles
“I, the LORD, have called You in righteousness,
And will hold Your hand;
I will keep You and give You as a covenant to the people,
As a light to the Gentiles…

Behold, the former things have come to pass,
And new things I declare;
Before they spring forth I tell you of them.”

Isaiah 42:6,9 NKJV

What is a Gentile?

The NLT Study Bible’s introduction to the Gospel of Luke summarizes the perspective of Gentiles to the Jewish mind in this way:

“The ultimate outsiders were Gentiles, and Luke emphasizes that God’s salvation extends even to them.”

Jewish daily practices had been refined into an exclusionary culture of separation from Gentiles who observed worship from a distance. Have you ever entered a worship service and felt like an outsider? I have.
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We'll address a first century meaning in our next post, but first Isaiah's context from seven centuries before Christ.
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What makes Gentiles different from Jews?

גּוֹי – gowy from the Hebrew – nation or people, usually of non-Hebrew people

Although used generically as description of people from any nation, Gentile may be used as an insult to a foreigner. (Of course, no one today would do that, would we?)

Hear Isaiah’s tone with this word (גּוֹי) here translated, ‘nations.’

Ah, sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, offspring of evildoers, children who deal corruptly! They have forsaken the LORD, they have despised the Holy One of Israel, they are utterly estranged. Isaiah 1:4

Which one of the Nations does Isaiah address, which people to which the LORD is foreign to their lives?

Isaiah speaks specifically to Judah and Jerusalem!

Faithfulness to the LORD is what is supposed to separate Jews from Gentiles. The Prophet of God warns that because of their sin (iniquity), these Jews are no different than other nations.

Does any of this have a contemporary ring?

Like ‘sin,’ ‘iniquity’ is accusation too intolerant for ears of leaders unwilling to obey the Lord God.

Iniquity – עָוֹן – `avon – perversity, depravity, guilt or punishment of iniquity

Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth;
for the LORD has spoken:
“Children have I reared and brought up,
but they have rebelled against me. – Isaiah 1:2

By the time of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, Isaiah’s rebuke from the LORD fell on deaf ears of a broken Israel. But God’s warnings had been constant for Israel, then neglected by generations even back to Moses.

Deuteronomy 8:

“The whole commandment that I command you today you shall be careful to do, that you may live and multiply, and go in and possess the land that the Lord swore to give to your fathers…

3 And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna… that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord… 19 And if you forget the Lord…

20 Like the nations that the Lord makes to perish before you, so shall you perish, because you would not obey the voice of the Lord your God.

Nations, Gentiles (the same word): make yourself like them by turning from the Lord and you shall perish. As Isaiah concluded more than six centuries later: they are utterly estranged.

Why does a Jewish Messiah matter to the Nations (Gentiles)?

Zechariah 2:
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[circa 5th Century Before Christ]
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10 Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion, for behold, I come and I will dwell in your midst, declares the Lord.

Were these the songs of Palm Sunday, praise from Jews and the Gentiles?

11 And many nations shall join themselves to the Lord in that day, and shall be my people. And I will dwell in your midst, and you shall know that the Lord of hosts has sent me to you.

The Messiah, Jesus, Emmanuel, God With Us; here entering Zion (Jerusalem) and joining Himself also to the Gentiles. How will He do that? How will the Nations know that Jesus is sent also to them?

¹²And the Lord will inherit Judah as his portion in the holy land, and will again choose Jerusalem.”

Here gathered the Jews for a Passover festival in a Zion ruled by Gentiles. Romans, Greeks, people of the Nations all present for an event of witness. Yet the witness would be of a New Covenant of Blood on a Cross. Their witness would be of a resurrection and a new hope. The Gentiles were now joined to God in the Blood of the Messiah!

13 Be silent, all flesh, before the Lord, for he has roused himself from his holy dwelling.

To be continued…

That you may have Certainty – 7 – An outsider’s view from a Gentile
May 5, 2018