“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.”
The NLT Study Bible’sintroduction 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.
We'll address a first century meaning in our next post, but first Isaiah's context from seven centuries before Christ.
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.
“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)?
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?
12 And 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
That you may have Certainty in these Uncertain Times
Recall the guiding theme of our post-resurrection series is witness from the introduction of Luke-Acts and Jesus’ assurances to followers. We continue with the uncertain entry into Canaan after the death of Joshua. Our further focus looks at the consequences of those who had not obeyed the instruction of the Lord.
We know well Moses’ struggle with those who refused to obey the Law, but once again obedience comes into question. The lasting consequence from those those who had not obeyed the Lord became generational struggles for Israel. Obedience to the Law and Commandments became the foundation of righteousness for this people of God, but did not bring complete certainty.
The Hebrew people who complained as slaves saved from Egypt, who challenged Moses and then Joshua now enter another uncertain time of transition.
10 And all that generation also were gathered to their fathers. And there arose another generation after them who did not know the Lord or the work that he had done for Israel.
11 And the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and served the Baals. 12 And they abandoned the Lord, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt. They went after other gods, from among the gods of the peoples who were around them, and bowed down to them. And they provoked the Lord to anger.
23 A long time afterward, when the Lord had given rest to Israel from all their surrounding enemies, and Joshua was old and well advanced in years,2 Joshua summoned all Israel, its elders and heads, its judges and officers, and said to them, “I am now old and well advanced in years.3 And you have seen all that the Lord your God has done to all these nations for your sake, for it is the Lord your God who has fought for you.
Like Moses and other fathers of the faith Joshua calls the congregation of the people together and witnesses faith. “… you have seen all that the Lord your God has done…” Once again, a call to future generations for ongoing faithfulness. Yet will certainty in the Lord prevail over doubts of mankind?
Promises unfold, along with covenant to be obeyed.
5 The Lord your God will push them back before you and drive them out of your sight. And you shall possess their land, just as the Lord your God promised you.
6 Therefore, be very strong to keep and to do all that is written in the Book of the Law of Moses, turning aside from it neither to the right hand nor to the left, 7 that you may not mix with these nations remaining among you or make mention of the names of their gods or swear by them or serve them or bow down to them, 8 but you shall cling to the Lord your God just as you have done to this day. 9 For the Lord has driven out before you great and strong nations. And as for you, no man has been able to stand before you to this day…
Sounds good to us. Therefore we will just let the Lord take care of everything for us.
11 Be very careful, therefore, to love the Lord your God.
Why of course we love the Lord when He is doing everything for us. In their place we probably would have thought, ‘no need to listen further.’
For If You Turn Back
12 For if you turn back and cling to the remnant of these nations remaining among you and make marriages with them, so that you associate with them and they with you, 13 know for certain that the Lord your God will no longer drive out these nations before you…
Clear choices. Serve the Lord and He will lead them to victory. Or turn back to doing whatever you like and you will be on your own.
Here we recognize something we see easy enough in others, that they obeyed only their own hearts. But let’s observe how it happened, so that we might not turn back in the same way.
“Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘Long ago, your fathers lived beyond the Euphrates, Terah, the father of Abraham and of Nahor;
and they served other gods.
3 Then I took your father Abraham from beyond the River and led him through all the land of Canaan, and made his offspring many…
Why did the Lord lead Abraham away from the lands where men worshiped idols? Do we see the caution here?
6 “‘Then I brought your fathers out of Egypt, and you came to the sea. And the Egyptians pursued your fathers with chariots and horsemen to the Red Sea. 7 And when they cried to the Lord, he put darkness between you and the Egyptians and made the sea come upon them and cover them; and your eyes saw what I did in Egypt. And you lived in the wilderness a long time…
More reminders follow of the faithfulness of the Lord, who blessed Israel through Joshua.
13 I gave you a land on which you had not labored and cities that you had not built, and you dwell in them. You eat the fruit of vineyards and olive orchards that you did not plant.’
Choose This Day Whom You Will Serve
It’s a choice we have every day, isn’t it? Choose the Lord or choose sin.
… Put away the gods that your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord…
Joshua challenges the congregation:
15 And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”
Joshua even takes authority to speak for his descendants, who will soon succeed him. Think of it as Joshua’s will and testament.
An inspired congregation will all agree.
… “Far be it from us that we should forsake the Lord to serve other gods…”
If only Israel had obeyed the Lord. But they did not obey. We continue to suffer the consequences to this very day.
Joshua’s Warning
19 But Joshua said to the people,
“You are not able to serve the Lord, for he is a holy God. He is a jealous God; he will not forgive your transgressions or your sins.
20 If you forsake the Lord and serve foreign gods, then he will turn and do you harm and consume you, after having done you good.”
Is Joshua a Prophet; for he accurately foresees what Israel will do next? Moses had issued such warnings as well, in the Lord. Though the people pledge their loyalty to God, Israel will once again turn back in their hearts.
Judges 1:
17 And Judah went with Simeon his brother, and they defeated the Canaanites who inhabited Zephath and devoted it to destruction… 18 Judah also captured Gaza with its territory, … but he could not drive out the inhabitants of the plain… 21 But the people of Benjamin did not drive out the Jebusites who lived in Jerusalem…
Failure to Complete the Conquest
27 Manasseh did not drive out the inhabitants of Beth-shean and its villages, or Taanach and its villages, or the inhabitants of Dor and its villages, or the inhabitants of Ibleam and its villages, or the inhabitants of Megiddo and its villages, for the Canaanites persisted in dwelling in that land.28 When Israel grew strong, they put the Canaanites to forced labor, but did not drive them out completely.
29 And Ephraim did not drive out the Canaanites who lived in Gezer, so the Canaanites lived in Gezer among them.
30 Zebulun did not drive out the inhabitants of Kitron, or the inhabitants of Nahalol, so the Canaanites lived among them, but became subject to forced labor.
31 Asher did not drive out the inhabitants of Acco, or the inhabitants of Sidon or of Ahlab or of Achzib or of Helbah or of Aphik or of Rehob,32 so the Asherites lived among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land, for they did not drive them out.
33 Naphtali did not drive out the inhabitants of Beth-shemesh, or the inhabitants of Beth-anath, so they lived among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land. Nevertheless, the inhabitants of Beth-shemesh and of Beth-anath became subject to forced labor for them.
34 The Amorites pressed the people of Dan back into the hill country, for they did not allow them to come down to the plain.35 The Amorites persisted in dwelling in Mount Heres, in Aijalon, and in Shaalbim, but the hand of the house of Joseph rested heavily on them, and they became subject to forced labor.
You get the idea. Israel did not live in the promised land by themselves as they do not today. The twelve tribes turned to other gods, as we easily do today.
Israel had neither heeded Joshua’s warning nor obeyed the Lord.
Yet have you obeyed the Lord completely? Do you consider the consequences of your transgressions and for your sins?
Following Joshua; following Jesus
יְהוֹשׁוּעַ from: יְהֹוָה Yĕhovah and יָשַׁע yasha`
This is the meaning of Joshua: The Existing One IS our Savior.
A mortal man cannot save, only the Lord.
Centuries later, even after several defeats of Israel, Jesus walks up to amazed disciples. He appears and teaches His followers for forty days after His Resurrection from the Cross!
That you may have Certainty in these Uncertain Times
Can you think of any transitions of our years more difficult than dealing with death? Any death of a loved one brings uncertainty for times ahead.
Luke and the other Gospel writers must have had second thoughts after the Cross, transitions of faith challenging the teachings of Jesus. “Did you know Him,” those who had witnessed His triumphant entrance into Jerusalem for the Passover festival would have asked?
The Messiah of God: humiliated, tortured and executed as a spectacle on a Roman cross!
How those leaving Jerusalem must have hung their heads during the transitions of these three days until certainty of the Resurrection. But then a risen Christ appears.
I have always wondered what stories from scripture Jesus must have told his disciples on the road to Emmaus.
Luke 24: 27 And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.
In Hebrew,-יָדַע yâdaʻ, yaw-dah’; a primitive root; to know (properly, to ascertain by seeing); used in a great variety of senses, figuratively, literally, euphemistically and inferentially (including observation, care, recognition; and causatively, instruction, designation, punishment..
This is the certainty of which Luke, the gentile, speaks of in detailing the record of Jesus’ life. For a Hebrew people conquered by Rome and accustomed to a Greek culture, Jesus assures them of God’s unrelenting faithfulness.
So what might Jesus have told these defeated Jews after His death and resurrection about Joshua? We might conjecture the inclusion of certainty [yâdaʻ], used roughly 900 times in Hebrew scripture
The Certainty of the Jews
The impact of the resurrection of Jesus surpasses all transitions of history. Yet Jesus speaks first to followers of a past of promise, rather than this new transition for believers. Jesus had spoken often of Moses, but among transitions between Hebrewleaders few surpass the journey of Joshua.
Moses, David and the Prophets had predicted a Messiah King. The LORD affirms the certainty of His covenant with Abraham through Moses. Yet Moses dies before crossing into the promised land. Transitions from a forty year leadership of the 120 year Moses to following his assistant,Joshua. He would command this untested Hebrew army crossing the Jordan into enemy lands.
If ever a people journeyed into uncertain times, transitions from the wilderness into lands beyond the Jordan lay before the Hebrew people. Yet here rests faith in the certainty of God’s promise.
נָגַד More Certainty
Another Hebrew root word translated as certainty is nagad. Without getting into Hebrew and English parts of speech we find an additional 370 uses of this word for certainty.
נָגַד – nagad – to be conspicuous, tell, make known, to tell, declare, announce, report, expound, to inform of, to publish, proclaim, to avow, acknowledge, confess, to be told, be announced, be reported.. plus a few additional definitions and ‘to bring to the light.’
Luke 24:27 And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.
Just a reminder that Moses is synonymous with the Law, Torah and five Books of Moses, from which we will begin.
7 Then Moses summoned Joshua and said to him in the sight of all Israel, “Be strong and courageous, for you shall go with this people into the land that the Lord has sworn to their fathers to give them, and you shall put them in possession of it. 8 It is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.”
Do you know the meaning of Joshua’s name? יְהוֹשׁוּעַ The transliteration is: Yĕhowshuwa` from: יְהֹוָה Yĕhovah – The Existing One and יָשַׁע yasha` – savior.
The LORD told Moses I AM THAT I AM! He IS The Existing One from whom the Savior is sent.
14 And the Lord said to Moses, “Behold, the days approach when you must die. Call Joshua and present yourselves in the tent of meeting, that I may commission him.” And Moses and Joshua went and presented themselves in the tent of meeting. 15 And the Lord appeared in the tent in a pillar of cloud. And the pillar of cloud stood over the entrance of the tent.
16 And the Lord said to Moses, “Behold, you are about to lie down with your fathers. Then this people will rise and whore after the foreign gods among them in the land that they are entering, and they will forsake me and break my covenant that I have made with them.
After the death of Moses the servant of the Lord, the Lord said to Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ assistant, 2 “Moses my servant is dead. Now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, you and all this people, into the land that I am giving to them, to the people of Israel. 3 Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given to you, just as I promised to Moses.
The LORD’s promise is a promise of certainty.
… Just as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you or forsake you. 6 Be strong and courageous, for you shall cause this people to inherit the land that I swore to their fathers to give them. 7 Only be strong and very courageous, being careful to do according to all the law that Moses my servant commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may have good success[a] wherever you go.
Yet as with Moses and later, Jesus, the followers of God fail in their faith. We love to sing of our victories in the Lord [Joshua 6 video], but in these transitions of faith watch what happens next.
But the people of Israel broke faith… 2 Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai…
5 and the men of Ai killed about thirty-six of their men and chased them before the gate as far as Shebarim and struck them at the descent. And the hearts of the people melted and became as water.
6 Then Joshua tore his clothes and fell to the earth on his face before the ark of the Lord until the evening, he and the elders of Israel. And they put dust on their heads. 7 And Joshua said, “Alas, O Lord God, why have you brought this people over the Jordan at all, to give us into the hands of the Amorites, to destroy us?
Uncertain times, then Certainty from the Lord
And so it goes in difficult transitions. Men (and women) will sin. The Lord must draw us back to faith.
Jesus, Savior of sinners, tells His faithful why the Messiah must die. He is resurrected and becomes our resurrection and our life!
Joshua, Jehovah is Salvation, appeals to Jehovah God for mercy and the Lord speaks certainty of deliverance.
3 But when the inhabitants of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and to Ai, 4 they on their part acted with cunning… 8 They said to Joshua, “We are your servants.” And Joshua said to them, “Who are you? … because of the name of the Lord your God. For we have heard a report of him, and all that he did in Egypt, 10 and all that he did to the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan…
They go on with their deception of Joshua, but they praise the Lord.
15 And Joshua made peace with them and made a covenant with them, to let them live, and the leaders of the congregation swore to them.
16 At the end of three days after they had made a covenant with them, they heard that they were their neighbors and that they lived among them.
Now comes the assurance of certainty from the Lord. נָגַד
24 They answered Joshua,
“Because it was told to your servants for a certainty that the Lord your God had commanded his servant Moses to give you all the land and to destroy all the inhabitants of the land from before you—
so we feared greatly for our lives because of you and did this thing. 25 And now, behold, we are in your hand. Whatever seems good and right in your sight to do to us, do it.”
Are you a King?
What did these kings, destined to fail before the Lord think of Joshua? Surely they feared the anointed of the Lord (though at that time they were not named king).
Pilate, Governor of Judea had asked the accused Jesus, “Are you the King of the Jews?” For the Jews had accused Jesus of blasphemy, for He had said: “Before Abraham was, I AM.” Then they crucified Jesus on a Cross and buried our Lord in a grave. Now, in the greatest of transitions ever, the risen Christ tells His followers why He had to be crucified for our sins. He IS and was and is to be, the Lord! He is the redeemer of those facing certain death and inevitable judgement.
For fifty days a risen Jesus will once again lead disciples into the uncertainty of a new and everlasting covenant. Like followers of Joshua, these disciples must have had times of uncertainty turn into a certain faith in the Lord.
Whether forty years, fifty days, two millennia or a few moments of transitions of this life, certainty remains in Christ the Lord.
To be continued…
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Centuries later, even after several defeats of Israel, Jesus walks up to amazed disciples. He appears and teaches His followers for forty days after His Resurrection from the Cross!