"INCARNATION AND ISRAEL"
I said at the beginning of our first class that we would see how God was not just "treading water" during the long time between the fall of Adam and Eve and the birth of Jesus. His goal was to redeem fallen humans and restore the bright and clear image of God that they originally represented.Some Christians have the mistaken view that the great investment that God made in the Jewish people—beginning with Abraham and continuing through Moses, Joshua, Samuel, and the centuries of the kingdoms of Israel and Judah—was a big failure, and that with Jesus and the Church he just declared the whole enterprise a waste and started over with a clean slate.
If so, why did God do it in the first place? Do we not believe that God knows the future as well as the past and present? If so, there is no wasted effort with God.
You may not wish to describe the fall of Adam and Eve as a "failure" or "defeat" for God. I understand. But surely on the surface it appears that way. The human beings he created on the 6th day as the managers of his creation—in his very "image" almost like his own son and daughter—did not believe his warning, did not obey his command, and preferred the lie of the serpent (Satan) to his truthful words. They rejected God.
Nevertheless, God chose not to simply destroy them and start over. Instead, he chose to begin a very long process in history, which intended to roll back the apparent control of humanity and the earth enjoyed by Satan. I use the word "apparent," because like you I believe firmly in God's omnipotence. He is always in control. But also like you I believe we must not water down the words of scripture, which describes Satan as being "the god of this world" (2 Cor. 4:4), and which contrasts God's control of believers with that of the whole rest of the world: “We know that we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.” (1 John 5:19). Jesus himself said that by means of his death and resurrection he "cast out" (ekballō John 12:31) and "judged" (krinō John 12:31 and 16:11) the "prince/ruler (archōn) of this world" (see also John 14:30).
God was doing much more than just revealing more about himself in this process: he was also taking measures that affected Satan's apparent control over humanity and the earth.
Do you remember how in the opening of the Book of Job (1:8-12; 2:3-6) Satan asked God's permission to test Job's faithfulness and devotion? God gave him permission to do so. Evil exists in this world at the permission of God. God can allow it to increase or can curb it at his will. When seen in terms of certain short periods of history or in certain parts of the globe, Satan's power and influence may appear to ebb and flow over time. But seen in the wide panorama of the Bible's view of history we can see stages in the advance of God's program to roll it back and ultimately eliminate it at Christ's Second Coming.
The biggest changes occurred in connection with the First Coming of Christ and the formation of the Church at Pentecost. We will document them in more detail in future weeks. But briefly they included believers for the first time in history enjoying (1) a new birth and a new nature ("new creation")—Nicodemus who was well-versed in the Old Testament knew nothing about it), (2) the indwelling of the Holy Spirit accompanied by his many ministries to us, (Jesus said to his disciples that the HS "dwells [now] with you and will be in you", John 14:17) and (3) the assurance not only of forgiveness of sins and being in God's presence when we die, but the future resurrection of our bodies and reigning with Christ in a New Heavens and Earth. These new developments clearly constituted much more than an enlarged revelation.
What in this class we are adding to the consideration are much smaller but no less significant advances during the OT period, leading up to the First Coming of Christ: ways in which God increased the equipping of his saints to do battle with Satan and to witness in the surrounding world.
Certainly, the saints of God—and even the world around them—were better off and better equipped after the giving of the law at Sinai and by the founding of the nation of Israel. The net effect upon the surrounding pagan nations was to see in Israel's institutions and system of justice the wise, just, righteous and merciful character of Israel's God, who claimed to be the only God and the Creator. That indeed was increased revelation.
But the effect of these events on the believing Israelites themselves was much more than just additional knowledge about God: it was a vastly expanded capacity to experience, worship, serve, and testify to God through corporate worship in sacrifice and song at tabernacle and temple, through festivals (Passover, Pentecost, Tabernacles) commemorating God's redemptive acts for the nation, and through laws and prophecy focused upon righteous living in community. These things "means of grace" were simply not available to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob or Joseph. Their sacrifices were either individual or at best family, not national. And they had no laws or religious festivals.
These innovations came because God was turning up the pressure on Satan and evil. Because these resources cannot equal what we have today in Christ should not lead us to minimize their importance and effect in their era! A rich spiritual life was possible for—and enjoyed by—many in ancient Israel. We have seen only the tip of the iceberg in Dan Block's sermons about Naomi, Boaz and Ruth.
The Birth of a Nation & Its Institutions
In our first session we omitted considering the key figure of Abraham and the nature of the promises made to him.
These were solemn promises, covenantal promises. As such, they were enforced by an oath taken by God. Usually treaties and covenants were concluded with oaths by both sides. Each king involved swore by his own nation's gods to abide by the treaty's terms. Within the Bible itself you can see examples in the oaths of Laban and Jacob at Mizpeh (at the heap of stones called Hebrew gal ʿēd and Aramaic yĕgar sahădûtā: Gen 31:44-54) and in the Sinai covenant between God and the nation of Israel (Exodus 19:3-8). But in the case of Abraham, it was only God who took the oath (cf. Gen. 24:7; 26:3; Josh. 1:6; also dramatized by God passing between the sacrificial cuts of meat in Gen. 15:8-21). Abraham had already shown himself faithful to believe all that God said to him and do all that God commanded him. But it was God's intention to stress to Abraham the certainty of the fulfillment of what he was promising. Thus, the oath.
In God's covenant with Abraham and his seed, renewed to his son Isaac and his grandson Jacob, to make his offspring a great nation and to give to them the land in which Abraham was living at the time as a resident alien (i.e., not a landholder). The first part of this twofold promise was fulfilled in the exodus, the giving of the law at Sinai, and the desert wanderings. The second part began to be fulfilled under Joshua, although the borders promised to Abraham were not actually attained until the reign of King David.
In the interval between the end of Genesis and the beginning of Exodus the offspring of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob went from being the extended family of the twelve sons of Jacob to a populous people in slavery in Egypt. Since they were not a self-ruling unit, we can't yet call them a "nation." But by the time that the Book of Exodus ends, they have become a nation under the direct rule of God through a chosen mediator named Moses.
As was the case in the Genesis narratives, God continued to project his "image" in his Creation in three ways: (1) through spectacular direct actions (creation, flood, exodus [Passover, Red Sea], Sinai, conquest of the Promised Land), (2) through further direct revelation of his Word (Mosaic law, Prophets, wisdom literature), and (3) through both the corporate life of Israel (law, temple worship, sacrifices, festivals) and the conspicuous lives of individual saints who showed the image of God (Moses, Joshua, David, Elijah).
In the miraculous exodus event, God chose to reveal himself in a unique way to the world.
Like Adam and Eve, like Noah and Abraham, the newborn nation of Israel "imaged" God to the fallen world in a way that single individuals never could. In the national institutions of Israel and in her corporate life she exhibited the character of God and his saving and judging intentions to a fallen world in a unique and powerful manner.
Let us look at the individual ways.
But before we commence, let me backtrack a bit to explain the key role in our thinking played by the Hebrew name "Immanel" = "God (is) with us". As Christians we rightly see this fulfilled ultimately in Jesus. He epitomized the truth of this name. If the word "us" in this name refers to all humanity—only one possibility—Jesus was both (1) God on our side (a perfectly normal interpretation of the word "with"), and (2) God living among us as a mortal man (another perfectly normal interpretation of "with"). As applied to Jesus, it attests among other things his deity: he was "true God," as the creed affirms.
But when we back up seven centuries to the time of Isaiah, did God expect the people Isaiah addressed to understand the word "us" in this way? Surely there was a purpose for the prophecy in Isaiah's day. I think we would have to admit that "us" in Isaiah's context was "Israel." The royal figure born of a virgin would be a sign that God was on Israel's side: to defend and care for her, as well as to prosper every aspect of her individual and communal life.
This is surely the force of God's being "with" his people (Hebrew preposition ʿim as in Immanuel) throughout the Bible. When at Kadesh-barnea, Israel refused God's command to attack the Promised Land from the south, after he had promised to "be with them" in battle [promised through the words of Joshua and Caleb in Numbers 14:8-9], he warned them of the consequences. When in fear they then "repented" too late, and set out on their own to do what he first asked them to do, Moses warned them:
“Do not go up, for Yahweh is not with you; do not let yourselves be struck down before your enemies. For the Amalekites and the Canaanites will confront you there, and you shall fall by the sword; because you have turned back from following Yahweh, [he] will not be with you”” (Numbers 14:42-43 NRSV).The same is true for God being with individuals. In Genesis 21:22f, the Philistine king Abimelech acknowledges to Abraham "God is with you in everything you do." In the Book of Ruth, the Bethlehemite land-owner Boaz greets his harvesters in the field with the words (Ruth 2:4) "May Yahweh be with you", and they reply "May Yahweh bless you." The different wording of their reply cannot mask the obvious identical force of the prayer/wish. — God abandoned Saul, when he consistently disobeyed God's commands, and was "with" David.
And that is exactly what happened.
What we are seeking to trace in these weeks is the way in which God expanded the methods and manners in which he could be "with" his people ("Immanuel: God with us"), empowering them in work and witness—with believing Israel in the OT, with believing Jews and Gentiles in the NT.
The Exodus: God Imaged as Redeemer-Deliverer
Question 1. How was God "with” believing Israel in his dramatic miraculous acts in Egypt and the Wilderness? And how can we apply the same principle to show how he is "with" believers today? Reflect on any ONE of the miracles, and tell us how it illustrates this to you?
There is no denying the fact that, in addition to being a real event in history, the exodus event served in OT times, as well as today, as a typology. The historical Egyptian king, whose name—significantly—is not given, represents something on a cosmic and a moral scale. He is the archetypical opponent of God's redemptive plan. Not quite a figure of Satan himself, but very close to it.
Even in the very period of Moses we learn from incidental passages in the narratives that the nations surrounding Israel were drawing conclusions about God from what happened to Israel in Egypt and the subsequent desert wanderings.
For example, Rahab's words to the two Israelite spies in Joshua 2: “I know that the LORD has given you the land, and that dread of you has fallen on us, and that all the inhabitants of the land melt in fear before you. For we have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red Sea before you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites that were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon and Og, whom you utterly destroyed. As soon as we heard it, our hearts melted, and there was no courage left in any of us because of you. Yahweh your God is indeed God in heaven above and on earth below” (Joshua 2:9-12).
Moses himself uses as a basis for his pleading with God not to abandon sinful Israel in the deserts the negative effect that would have on God's reputation among the nations. As Numbers 14:15-19 makes clear, the "greatness" and the "power" of the LORD, which was to impress the nations, lay not just in judgment, but in forgiveness of the repentant, and in faithfulness to his vows and promises. In the Wilderness years, helped by Moses' prayers of intercession, the nation of Israel was imaging to the world the righteous and merciful character of God as that image of God had been seen also in Adam and Noah.
- Plagues, Death of Firstborn, Red Sea, Sinai, Pillars of smoke and fire [God as righteous]
- Deliverances from Egyptians and Amalekites [righteous]
- Provision of Water, Manna and Quails [caring for needs, answering prayer]
- Judgment for Idolatry with Gold Calf [righteous]
- Repeated granting of forgiveness [merciful]
The institution of the Tabernacle was in order for God to be "with" Israel, literally in their very midst, as they encamped during the journey to the Promised Land.
The Word of God at Mt. Sinai: God Imaged in Justice and Mercy
Question 4: How did the codification in writing of God's verbal communication in the Hebrew scriptures—especially the law, the prophets, the wisdom literature, and the psalms—enable him to be "with us" in a particularly vivid and effective way? What advantages did this form of conveying truth have over the previous three forms? Name ONE way in which you try to internalize God's Word for daily living?
As Adam was God's "son" and his "image" in the created world, so now the new nation of Israel was God's "son" (Exodus 4:22) and his "image" to the world. In a way, the Promised Land as portrayed to the Israelites in the Wilderness was a new Garden of Eden, flowing with milk and honey (Exodus 3:8, 17; 13:5; Num. 13:27; 14:8; 16:13). And just as God gave to Adam his command and his instructions how to carry out his mandate to fill the earth and subdue it, so now at Sinai God gave his commandments and his instructions how to fill the Promised Land and subdue it.
The commandment and the instructions given to Adam in the garden are nowhere called a "covenant." But God made covenants (Hebrew bĕrît) with Noah and Abraham, and here at Sinai he made one with Israel. The terms of this covenant involve expressing in the national life of the people God's holiness, his justice, and his merciful forgiveness.
- Holiness by means of the purity laws and the limited accessibility to the Ark which symbolized the physical presence of a holy God among his people (Immanuel).
- Justice by means of obeying and punishing infractions of his laws concerning righteous behavior.
- Merciful forgiveness by means of the provisions in the sacrificial system for rites signifying repentance and atonement.
“See, I have taught you decrees and laws as the LORD my God commanded me, so that you may follow them in the land you are entering to take possession of it. Observe them carefully, for this will show your wisdom and understanding to the nations, who will hear about all these decrees and say, “Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.” What other nation is so great as to have their gods near them the way the LORD our God is near us whenever we pray to him? And what other nation is so great as to have such righteous decrees and laws as this body of laws I am setting before you today?” (Deuteronomy 4:5-8 NIV)When the apostle Paul was asked what advantage ancient Israel had over the other peoples, he singled out both the scriptures (Romans 3:1-2), and then "the adoption as [God's] son; … the divine glory, the covenants, the receiving of the law, the temple worship and the promises. 5 … the patriarchs, and … the human ancestry of Christ, who is God over all, forever praised!" (Rom. 9:4-5).
The Emergence of a Holy Kingship
Question 3: How was he "with" his people in the individual faithful saints of the OT? Select one of those mentioned in the assigned texts as an example. What did you learn from ONE example that helps you in your walk as a believer?
If any of you chose David as the OT saint whose example helped you most (question 3), he represents a further institution through which God mediated his presence and holy power in ancient Israel. Kingship—both God's (Psalms 5, 10, 24, 29) and that of the Davidic line (Psalms 2, 18, 20, 21)—figures very prominently in the Psalms. Many would say that it is one of the dominant themes of the Psalter.
Many Bible scholars assume that—since Israel's request for a king in the days of Samuel (1 Sam. 8:4-9) was denounced by God, saying "they have rejected me from ruling over them" (verse 7)—a human king was not in God's original ideal plan for Israel. Yet several factors show this to be untrue.
- Adam himself is treated as a king who imaged the God whose viceroy he was (Gen. 1:28 "rule over (rādâ bĕ …) the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground").
- The promises to Abraham include the statement that "kings will come forth from you" (Gen. 17:6).
- The predictions included in the final words of the patriarch Jacob include designating the tribe of Judah as possessing the "scepter" (shēveṭ) and "ruler's staff" (mĕḥôqēq, Gen. 49:10).
- And Moses in Deuteronomy already lays down rules for future Israelite kings with regard to the Torah (Deut. 17:18-19).
The Davidic Line, and the Dynastic Covenant
Israel's first king, Saul, even though God chose him for Samuel to anoint (1 Sam. 9:15-17), was a perfect example of the truth that good intentions in a political leader do not translate into success unless he has the wisdom, judgment and determination to obey God instead of what appears to be the best human wisdom. Saul repeatedly let his reason justify disobedience to direct commands from God. As such Saul typifies what an Israelite king should not be.
David, on the other hand, also deliberately disobeyed God and heartlessly the innocent husband of the woman he had committed adultery with! But—because unlike Saul, who at times resorted to witchcraft, David never compromised with Canaanite witchcraft or idolatry—David typified what an Israelite king should be: he had no other God but Yahweh. Later Davidic kings compromised with polytheism, which made David the paragon: the "man after God's own heart", meaning the man whom God picked out.
And just as God rewarded Abraham's faithful and sacrificial obedience in Genesis 22 with a great promise, so in 2 Samuel 7, God rewarded David's faithfulness with a remarkable Dynastic Covenant. By the terms of this covenant, God promised that David's descendants who sat on the throne would prosper as they obeyed God and would suffer discipline when they did not, and that his royal line would never end.
Read 2 Sam. 7:1-17. Terms of the Davidic Covenant (2 Sam 7)
- Personal fame (“a name” v. 9)
- Victory over enemies; freedom from attack and outside oppression (10-11)
- An unending dynasty of kings (11-16)
- Father-son relationship to each king (14)
- Disciplining for disobedience (14)
- Never giving up on Davidic kings (15-16)
Exile and Return as Integral in the Dynastic Covenant
In v. 14 God promises to discipline or punish future Davidic kings when they prove disobedient, using "the rod of men." (bĕšēveṭ ʾănāšîm). This is in full harmony with the promise to relate to each king as a father does to a son. "Spare the rod, and spoil the child" is in mind here ("He who spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is careful to discipline him" Prov. 13:24; 22:15; 23:13-14; 29:15). And indeed during the centuries that followed, when Israel's disobedience reached intolerable levels, God promised to bring upon them the armies of Assyria, which he called "the rod of my anger" (šēveṭ ʾappî Isa. 10:5).
The theme of exile as God's discipline on a disobedient Israel and return as the consequence, since he would never give up on Israel, is integral to the Book of Deuteronomy (see 28:36-37, 64-68). Exile and return are not mentioned specifically in the Dynastic Covenant with David in 2 Samuel 7. But they are implied, inasmuch as fates of king and people were inextricably bound together. The subsequent history of Israel and Judah in the books of Kings and Chronicles offer abundant evidence that kings could lead the people into idolatry, sin and judgment, as they also could lead them to repentance, cleansing of the land from idolatry, and blessing. Exile is also clearly alluded to in the phrase "I will punish him with the rod of men" in 2 Samuel 7:14.
But because God pledged himself never to ultimately reject the Davidic line of kings, so every warning of exile —from Deuteronomy 28 to the Latter Prophets—was accompanied by a promise of returning repentant people from exile (Hosea 11 and 14; Joel 3; Amos 9; Micah 4-5 and 7; Zephaniah 3; and Zechariah 8, 13 and 14). There was never to be an exile that was final. There was never envisaged a Davidic king ruling over anyone other than God's people Israel. To use Paul's image in Romans 11:11-24, Jewish branches might be broken off of their olive tree for a time because of unbelief, and Gentile branches grafted in. But the prospect remains of Jewish branches being grafted back into their own stock and Gentile ones broken off (Romans 11:21-24).
In the promise to David God is imaged as determined to bless those who love and obey him. In Israel's repeated experiences of exile and return, he is imaged as the loving Father who disciplines and restores a son. The promise to David was anticipated by the promises to Abraham and Noah. But the exile and return experiences of Israel are unprecedented in previous history. They represent a new way in which God "incarnated" and "imaged" himself in the world.
In exiling Israel from their land in AD 70, an exile that physically has lasted until this past century, and which spiritually continues as long as Jesus is not recognized as their Messiah, God and Savior, God exposed them to many sufferings. But as in ancient times, he holds anyone who inflicts suffering upon them accountable to himself. So he has held accountable and has punished any group—professing Christian or not—that proposed to annihilate these so-called "Christ killers." Even as unbelieving, Israel has a special place in the heart of God, just as it did in the heart of the Apostle Paul (Romans 9:1-4; 10:1).
How does God advance his being "with us" through the covenant to David and his descendants? We must first define who the "us" is! If "us" is Davidic kings and Israelites, as in the first analysis the text says, it means that God committed himself to these kings and this people as never previously, and did so by a formal treaty or covenant and solemn promises that he cannot break, because he always keeps his word.
If the Davidic king is seen as the final and ultimate one, Jesus of Nazareth, whose reign spiritually began at the cross and empty tomb over Jews and Gentiles who believe in him, and physically and literally will occur at his second coming, when he will rule upon a New Earth, then it means that God is "with" an "us" defined by the believing community which he redeemed by his sacrifice. He is "with" that community both in the sense of being "on our side", standing with us and defending us from Satan and the just deserts of our sins, and in the sense of being "in" us by the Holy Spirit, to reveal God's truth, convict of sin, reassure of forgiveness and salvation, mark us as sons of God, and empower our witness.
Jesus is the ultimate "son" of David, who inherited David's throne. And as a Davidic king, he relates to God as son to Father. but in Jesus' case the sonship is also ontological: he is the true Son of God and God the Son.
Closing Prayer
• thank you for your son our Savior Jesus
• thank you for guidance and learning today and the opportunity to worship you within the family of believers
• help us to know how to use the lessons of your passover salvation and the giving of your law
• help us to understand that Jesus is our king, just as David was the king you gave to Israel
• give us discipline to keep opur daily appointments with you for prayer and meditation on your Word
• give us alertness to the needs around us
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