2015-01-21
Good Morning Dear Ones,
As you already know, the Abrahamic Covenant promised us land, people, and a King. But a review of this remarkable two-way promise between God and believers in Him is in order. GN 12: 1-3, “The Lord said to Abram, ‘Leave your country, your people, and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you and whoever curses you will I curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.” With perfect faith, every believer, whether from a Jewish or a Gentile background, would know that this is the eventual outcome for our world. Let’s look first at why Abram was asked to leave his country, his people, and his father’s household. Abram’s compliance was not perfect. He loved his father, Terah, enough to take him with his entourage. That delayed God’s will being carried out. We see this in GN 11: 31-32 that they first went to Haran in Syria and were there until Terah’s death at the age of 205 years. Once Abram and his wife, Sarai, were in Egypt, they lied to the Pharaoh’s officials about Sarai being Abram’s sister [GN 12: 13] to prevent her from being taken into the Pharaoh’s court. This is a picture of the imperfections even the most faithful humans have.
We might ask: How can liars and disobeyers be a blessing to the world, an ever increasingly evil world? But our God is compassionate, and He takes degrees of imperfection into account. IS 46: 9-10 tells us God’s will shall be accomplished. While we can’t see the details on how, God doesn’t lie, because He has no evil in Him [1 JN 1: 5]. Because Abram later became Abraham [father of nations], and Sarai later became Sarah [mother of nations and kings], the Jewish people were created through Isaac, their son of the promise, born when Sarah was 90 years old. God can do anything He wants, and His will shall stand. The Jewish people were set apart from all others by the practice of monotheism, the belief in one God. DT 6: 4-5, The Shema, “Hear O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is One. Love the Lord your God with all your all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might.” At that time every other nation, including the ones surrounding Canaan and the Gentile Canaanites themselves, believed in many gods and practiced Baal worship—a very violent and, to God, detestable religion.
I’ve made the point recently that God chose us first, and not the other way around [see JN 15: 13-17]. Even in the case of Abam, God began with doing all the work of the consummation of His covenant with this first man to be justified [deemed acceptable in His sight-GN 15: 6]. Abram was put in a deep sleep, while God walked between the pieces of animal sacrifice flesh. GN 15: 17, “When the sun had set and darkness has fallen, a smoking fire pot with a blazing torch appeared and passed between the pieces.” The smoking fire pot and blazing torch symbolized God’s presence. This promise made by God also assured Abram that land would be set aside for his family. When we read GN 15: 18-21, we can, even today, be surprised at how much territory God intended. That is why as a North American Messianic Jew, I have such trouble with past Israeli practices of trading land for peace, that has gone on in my lifetime. Modern Jewish disobedience to God has led to Israel being only the size of New Jersey.
We know from the Biblical recounting Joshua’s expeditions in the Holy Land that God gave his army amazing and sometimes miraculous victories over the groups of polytheists living there. The story of the crumbling walls of Jericho [JS 5: 13-6: 20] is just one out of a whole account of victories over the Canaanites etc. Read PS 107: 1-9 to really see where the Lord’s heart is for His people and their need for land. After encouraging Joshua [JS 1: 5-6], God went through with His promise to remain with him [JS 1: 8-9]. The story of Achan, a disobedient Army leader, found in JS 7: 1-26, reminds us of our need to keep up our end of the Covenant of Grace, which we are in with God today. Yes, there are negative consequences to us personally and those around us of making poor choices. To God, forever really means forever. There is no alteration of His teaching to suit changing social mores. Philosophies are nothing more than ideas that are human-crafted and thus crafted with faults. What God intends is perfect, what God promises is fulfilled. This leaves us to keep our end of the covenant. HE 13: 8, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.”
JAS 2: 17, 21-24, “In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead…Was not our ancestor Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the alter? You see that His faith and His actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. And the Scriptures was fulfilled that says, ‘Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,’ and he was called God’s friend.’ You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone.”
PRAYER: O Lord, there is so much for us to understand. Sin separates us from you; the more we sin, the further apart we and You are. We come before Your throne in reverence and awe to offer You praise and thanks for the patience You are having with us, as we learn how not to sin. 2 PET 3: 9 gives us hope. “The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanted anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” We know that offering You praise and thanks is rightful and shows that we begin to understand what the great sacrifice of Your Son on the cross really signifies. There are so many reasons that propel us to praise and thank You. PS 14: 1-2, “I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul shall make its boast in the Lord; the humble shall hear it and rejoice.” 2 COR 2: 14, “ But thanks to God Who always leads us in triumph in Messiah, and manifests through us the knowledge of Him in every place.” No matter what our imperfections are, if we come to Your Son, Jesus, in genuine faith and contrition, we can be forgiven. We know that we must confess our sins and stop the thoughts and behavior that is offensive to You. Today, we are doing this with hearts open to the Holy Spirit. There are times, Lord, when we don’t know how to express our bad behavior and sorrow for it. That is when the Holy Spirit takes over for us and goes to You for us [RO 8: 26-27]. We know we are blessed to have Your constant presence and intervention. We take Your outstretched hand when we can’t be righteous alone. You will guide us and strengthen us, so that we can enjoy strength, peace, and sweet forgiveness from You. Thank You, praise to You, and glory, honor, and our loyalty to You, in Christ’s holy/mighty name, we pray. Amen.
NEXT WEEK: As we can see, I have not yet completed all that needs to be written here about the Abrahamic Covenant. I’ve only dealt with a people and land. The other element of this important covenant is a King, and we’ll see how that fits into this God-forged construct. The issue of freedom for the Jews will come up, as they wade through their tough relationship with Egypt. And circumcision will be discussed. Accepting divine guidance isn’t easy for sinners. We must first be willing to yield up control over our lives to the Lord Jesus. This means obeying His commands, even if they take us outside of our comfort zones. But when we submit to the Lord this way, some great things, real blessings, can happen in our lives. PS 31: 3-5, “Your are my Refuge and defense; guide me and lead me as You have promised. Keep me safe from the snare that has been set for me; shelter me from danger. I place myself in Your care, You will save me, Lord; You are a faithful God.” If God can forgive a person like me with a background of doing property damage out of anger and refusing to see His existence in my life for almost 25 years, then He will justify and forgive you too. God calls even the most unexpected people to serve Him. Saul of Tarsus was short, bald, and lacked a powerful speaking voice. His job on the Sanhedrin [Jewish Ruling Council] had been to persecute Jews who had come to accept Christ as their personal Savior. Yet God changed His name to Paul, provided him with a brilliant mind, and had given him self-discipline. Paul knew what it took to surround himself with people who would help him spread the Gospel as never before. We are left with this important command, found in COL 3: 17, “And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.” This is the way God’s Kingdom will grow around us, and His will (which is always in our best eternal interests) will be done. Praise and thanks be to Him forever!
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn
JS 24: 15
© Lynn Johnson 2015. All Rights Reserved.
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