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  • A River of Redemption Flowing from Eden – Redeemer

    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: 
  • A River of Redemption Flowing from Eden – 7 – Upstream in History

    A River of Redemption Flowing from Eden – 7 – Upstream in History

    Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” – John 1:45 ESV

    What does it mean to look upstream in history? Those seeking eternal truth look back through the eyes of scripture.

    A Basis of Law and Justice

    Looking back on the source of law somewhat resembles our search for Eden and the basis of life. We move from the still waters of a river with visible bottom to swim upstream against torrents of the unseen. How can we see justice and redemption, so distant to our own existence? 

    The answers of justice rest not in the law, but in the Lawgiver and relationship of the redeemed.

    Before the incarnation of the Messiah, yet long after the fall of Jerusalem  the Prophet Isaiah [יְשַׁעְיָה] had proclaimed: 1:27 צִיֹּון בְּמִשְׁפָּט תִּפָּדֶה וְשָׁבֶיהָ בִּצְדָקָֽה׃

    Zion shall be redeemed by justice, and those in her who repent, by righteousness. But rebels and sinners shall be broken together,
    and those who forsake the LORD shall be consumed. – Isaiah 1:27-28

    Even Isaiah had looked back upstream through the torrent of sin, just as Moses had warned in Genesis.

    9 If the Lord of hosts
    had not left us a few survivors,
    we should have been like Sodom,
    and become like Gomorrah.

    10 Hear the word of the Lord,
    you rulers of Sodom!
    Give ear to the teaching of our God,
    you people of Gomorrah!

    These warnings to obedience refer not to the law, but a broken relationship with the Lord and sinful relationships with other men. Law has basis in the relationships of men and women to each other; but above all, law requires a relationship to the commands of the Living God.

    Do godless men and evil women desire judgment?

    Their contempt for authority reflects the darkness of a mortal life lacking fear of The Almighty God. They neglect, trespass and try to circumvent the law. 

    Evil men and godless women rebel against righteousness, without regard of consequence for others or their own inevitable punishment when convicted. Do you rebel against righteousness?

    Justice fails when licentiousness claims all sin as freedom.    

    Though we tend towards lawlessness, we are free to choose obedience to the Lord. A humble sinner desires mercy and the repentant law-breaker wants restoration of relationship with the Lord. And this in addition to redemption with a community of loved-ones.

    Returning to Joseph, further upstream

    Moses, giver of the Law, was educated in Egypt and instructed by the Lord. In our previous look at these two men we learned  that Joseph was educated by Israel in Canaan, but also apprenticed under Potiphar and Pharaoh in Egypt.

    GENESIS 41:

    28 “It is just as I told Pharaoh: God has shown Pharaoh what he is about to do…

    … all the abundance in the land of Egypt will be forgotten. The famine will devastate the land… the matter has been determined by God, and he will carry it out soon.

    34 Let Pharaoh do this: Let him appoint overseers over the land and take a fifth of the harvest of the land of Egypt during the seven years of abundance.

    Does anyone note the 20% tax here? It allows the administration of government to help its citizens in the seven years of struggle ahead. Of course, the tithe (tenth) to the Lord was long established.

    Even in Egypt the King may have just required a double-portion to balance the years ahead when major markets would fail. No crops, therefore no income for the country. In addition, the people would need help or they would perish.

    We cannot think of law separate of its authority, intent and righteousness.

    Joseph, with God’s help, redeems not only Egypt, but also its struggling neighbors (for a small price). These would include his own brothers and father.

    Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he. – Proverbs 29:18 KJV

    Prince Zaphenath-paneah

    41 Pharaoh also said to Joseph, “See, I am placing you over all the land of Egypt.” 

    … 45 Pharaoh gave Joseph the name Zaphenath-paneah and gave him a wife, Asenath daughter of Potiphera, priest at On. [Heliopolis] And Joseph went throughout [Joseph gained authority over] the land of Egypt…

    50 Two sons were born to Joseph before the years of famine arrived. Asenath daughter of Potiphera, priest at On, bore them to him.

    53 Then the seven years of abundance in the land of Egypt came to an end, 54 and the seven years of famine began, just as Joseph had said. There was famine in every land, but in the whole land of Egypt there was food.

    55 When the whole land of Egypt was stricken with famine, the people cried out to Pharaoh for food. Pharaoh told all Egypt, “Go to Joseph and do whatever he tells you.”

    Moses and Pharaoh would have both spoken Egyptian (the language that became Coptic, not modern Egyptian Arabic). Moses would have almost certainly spoken Hebrew too. – source 

    As Moses looks upstream toward this time he reminds the Hebrew people, who have not yet entered the promised land of Joseph. It would be accurate in Hebrew to say this. 

    41:55 וַתִּרְעַב כָּל־אֶרֶץ מִצְרַיִם וַיִּצְעַק הָעָם אֶל־פַּרְעֹה לַלָּחֶם וַיֹּאמֶר פַּרְעֹה לְכָל־מִצְרַיִם לְכוּ אֶל־יֹוסֵף אֲשֶׁר־יֹאמַר לָכֶם תַּעֲשֽׂוּ׃

    Yet in their native Egyptian language, now the fluent first language of Joseph, these God-spoken words through Pharaoh would have been heard and later told in all the land:

    Pharaoh told all Egypt, “Go to Zaphenath-paneah and do whatever he tells you.”

    A familiar Redeemer we do not understand

    Later, Israel will send his other sons to Pharaoh to buy the grain they must have for survival of their animals and for food.

    The ruler of Egypt they hear (actually, Joseph) speaks a different language. He looks different than these poor men who humbly raise sheep and trade for those things they require. This redeemer they hear speaks through others in a foreign language.

    Genesis 42:

    “Where do you come from?” he asked.

    “From the land of Canaan to buy food,” they replied.

    “You are spies. You have come to see the weakness of the land.”

    “No, my lord. Your servants have come to buy food,” they said.

    17 So Joseph imprisoned them together for three days.

    18 On the third day Joseph said to them, “I fear God—do this and you will live.

    Moses’ hearers knew the outcome of redemption as we do; but Israel’s other sons did not.

    Read this reunion story again, as experienced from the fear of these men now humbled, hungry and imprisoned by a rich foreign ruler. 

    Their Redeemer Revealed

    Time passes as Israel’s sons return to him in Canaan, but the famine continues and they again run out of food. No alternative but to return to Egypt, ruled by Zaphenath-paneah, whose word is law of the land.

    Genesis 43:

    But the men were afraid because they were taken to the house of Zaphenath-paneah. (Of course, Moses tells us his true identity even before this redeemer of Israel reveals the Lord’s purpose.)

    … they brought him the gift they had carried into the house, and they bowed to the ground before him.

    27 He asked if they were well, and he said, “How is your elderly father that you told me about? Is he still alive?”

    28 They answered, “Your servant our father is well. He is still alive.” And they knelt low and paid homage to him.

    32 They served him by himself, his brothers by themselves, and the Egyptians who were eating with him by themselves, because Egyptians could not eat with Hebrews, since that is detestable to them.

    Are you, poor sinner, detestable to the rich? Would they choose to disavow you because they do not know the God we serve?

    Everyone leaves and they depart the next morning. Then yet another deceptive plot to bring them back once more.

    Judah pleads: “My lord, please let your servant speak personally to my lord. Do not be angry with your servant, for you are like Pharaoh. [44:18]

    Genesis 45:

    Joseph could no longer keep his composure in front of all his attendants, so he called out, “Send everyone away from me!”

    No one was with him when he revealed his identity to his brothers. 2 But he wept so loudly that the Egyptians heard it, and also Pharaoh’s household heard it.

    You know the rest, but have you weighed justice by the measure of the Lord’s purposes?

    Do you truly believe that God provides a redeemer not only through your own sufferings, but through suffering and injustice to another?

    ‘Why does God allow evil?’ we ask.

    The Redeemer of Israel gives us the Lord’s answer.

    Moses tells a people who have endured forty years in the wilderness after the passing of a generation who turned against the Law, which they both heard from the Lord and read on tablets of stone from the finger of God:

    Listen to Joseph’s words to his brothers of why this evil has happened.

    4 Then Joseph said to his brothers, “Please, come near me,” and they came near. “I am Joseph, your brother,” he said, “the one you sold into Egypt.

    7 God sent me ahead of you to establish you as a remnant within the land and to keep you alive by a great deliverance. 8 Therefore it was not you who sent me here, but God.

    And consider the weight and Authority in Joseph’s next words about Providence:

    He has made me a father to Pharaoh, lord of his entire household, and ruler over all the land of Egypt.

    A ‘father‘ to Pharaoh; not only as Jacob is their father but also in authority, even loving authority, as God IS our Father.

    Later Joseph will give the reason for their redemption:

    As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people[fn] should be kept alive, as they are today. – Genesis 50:20 ESV

    22 Joseph and his father’s family remained in Egypt. Joseph lived 110 years.

    To be continued…

     

     

  • A River of Redemption Flowing from Eden – Commandment

    Master, which is the great commandment in the law? – Matthew 22:36 KJV

    Commandment

    צָוָה tsä·vä’ 

    • – to command, charge, give orders, lay charge, give charge to, order

    The King James Version of the Bible uses ‘Master,’ rather than teacher in this most important question. Our contemporary culture dilutes both the teaching component of leadership and the degree of its authoritarian necessity.

    A teacher, father, president or king may give a command, but obedience depends on a relationship between the master and one receiving the command.

    Commandment implies both authority and relationship.

    From before creation and man, God was and IS in charge. The Lord commanded Adam not to desire to know of good and evil; but now obedience to God requires discernment between good and evil. 

    Now command comes to man less directly through other men and women. Though implicit authority of command requires obedience, mortal men command those with whom we have relationship and assume responsibility. Ultimately, our authority relates to God, even when spoken through the command of others.

    Law and Scripture also imply the Authority of the Lord God. Obedience, however, will follow only out of our love of  God. Respect, honor and obedience to a ‘commander’ of mortals ultimately reflects their relationship with Almighty God.

    Although we will not examine it here, the Authority of God the Holy Spirit also commands those who accept the Lord as our loving Master.

    “Which is the greatest commandment…?”

    Christ Jesus answers quoting the law of Moses, who was given authority by God Almighty

    Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. – Deuteronomy 6:5

    Command: Love the Lord your God. What an appropriate answer for all of us. So simple.

    Jesus answers our question about obedience at the most personal level. Not a specific detail of law, but a relationship with God as our Lord. 

    Moses states God’s commandment reminding faithful servants to love THE EXISTING ONE, THE LORD.

    Returning to the LORD יְהֹוָה

    DEUTERONOMY 30:

    “When all these things happen to you—the blessings and curses I have set before you—and you come to your senses…

    Look back before the Law and you will discover that command was simple, specific, relational and purposeful. The LORD is our Maker and our Master.

    Yet Moses reminds the Lord’s followers:

    11 “This command that I give you today is certainly not too difficult or beyond your reach.

    12 It is not in heaven so that you have to ask, ‘Who will go up to heaven, get it for us, and proclaim it to us so that we may follow it?’ 13 And it is not across the sea so that you have to ask, ‘Who will cross the sea, get it for us, and proclaim it to us so that we may follow it?’

    14 But the message is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart, so that you may follow it.

    The Relationship of Command to Obedience

    The Father-Son relationship provides a good illustration of the loving advocacy for the commanded son. The Hebrew followers of Moses viewed him as a father like Abraham, with the authority of God the Father.

    ‘Obey me: to be blessed, or safe, or that you (my children) might prosper.’

    Moses continues: 15 See, today I have set before you life and prosperity, death and adversity.

    16 For I am commanding you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in His ways, and to keep His commands, statutes, and ordinances, so that you may live and multiply, and the Lord your God may bless you in the land you are entering to possess.

    17 But if your heart turns away and you do not listen and you are led astray to bow down to other gods and worship them, 18 I tell you today that you will certainly perish and will not live long in the land you are entering to possess across the Jordan.

    19 I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you today that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse.

    Choose life so that you and your descendants may live, 20 love the Lord your God, obey Him, and remain faithful to Him.

    For He is your life, and He will prolong your life in the land the Lord swore to give to your fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”

    The Command of the LORD includes Commandments of the Law

    Moses had led the Hebrew people out of slavery in Egypt. Many credit him for saving Israel, but the Nations witnessed that their Savior IS the LORD.

    God gave this new nation a Commandment and Law through Moses. The LORD gave rules and regulations to be judged and administered by leaders; initially Moses, Aaron and God’s anointed elders. 

    Next, we will briefly examine the Commandments and the Law of Moses. 

    To be continued…