A Survey of the Old Testament Law--Deuteronomy 13 (Part 3)

So, do we Gentiles need to be circumcised in order to be included in the people of God? God forbid! Acts 15:1, 28-29—1 And certain men came down from Judea and taught the brethren, “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved” … 28 “It seemed good to the Holy Spirit, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things: 29 that you abstain from things offered to idols, from blood, from things strangled, and from sexual immorality. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well. Farewell.” Circumcision of the flesh has been done away with as a sign of a covenant. We are now no longer circumcised in the flesh, but of the heart. Romans 2:29—But he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the Spirit, not in the letter. The signs of the New Covenant are Baptism and the Lord’s Table.  These are not things which save us (as circumcision brought the Old Covenant believers into that first covenant) but rather show the world that we are in a saving covenant with God. Baptism shows that we have been declared dead to sin and alive to God (see Romans 6:4), and the Lord’s Table (instituted by Jesus Himself in Matthew 26:26-28; Luke 22:17-20; Mark 14:22-25, and reiterated by Paul in 1st Corinthians 11:24-25) is what we do to proclaim His sacrifice on our behalf, that we do belong to Him and His body and His blood were given for us. As Jesus said, “Do this in remembrance of Me.” We are not literally eating the literal flesh or literally drinking the literal blood of Christ (after all, He said, “this wine is My blood”, not “My blood is this wine” before He went to the cross) but rather we are proclaiming to the world that we are tasting the heavenly gift, and we believe that what He did on the cross was real. This is the New Covenant that Jeremiah wrote to us about. 

And this New Covenant has caused the Old Covenant to be done away with. Hebrews 8:13—In that He says, "A new covenant," He has made the first obsolete. Now what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away. The word translated “obsolete” is the Greek πεπαλαίωκεν (pepalaioken, from the root word παλαιόω [palaioo, “to make (passively, become) worn out, or declare obsolete”]). The Old Covenant is no more. It is done, finished, completed, finito, fin, no mas. Whereas under the Old Covenant bulls and goats and turtledoves had to be killed for the sins of a person every time that person sinned to make atonement for that person, this New Covenant was different: when a person sins, the blood that has been spilled but once by the Lamb of God is what makes atonement for those sins! Hebrews 8:12—Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. ONCE! The spotless Lamb of God shed His blood ONCE. Then He took that blood into the Tabernacle in Heaven, offered it up to the Father as the payment for all the sins that would ever be committed by God’s elect, and that blood bought our atonement for all eternity! Whereas under the Old Covenant the high priest had to go into the Holy of Holies once every year with the blood of goats to ask for forgiveness for the sins of the people, our new High Priest has already done that. And He only had to do it ONCE. Hebrews 8:25-26—25 not that He should offer Himself often, as the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood of another—26 He then would have had to suffer often since the foundation of the world; but now, once at the end of the ages, He has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. Morgan G. Campbell tells us

 

The pre-eminent thought in this section is that now in the priesthood of Christ a place of worship, unlocalized and unlimited, is provided. Wherever is found the soul who will come to God through Him, there He is as Priest, with the value of His own sacrifice, providing redemption and acceptance; and, moreover, having exhausted judgment in the process of His death, He hides from coming judgment all who trust in Him, changing the dread of that awful assize into the glorious hope of His own second appearing. 

The last and final prophet God sent us is the Man we have been speaking of, our Lord Jesus Christ, who is our King, our High Priest, and our final Prophet. Hebrews 1:1-2—1 God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, 2 has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds. Everything the prophets spoke and wrote in the Old Testament pointed forward to Christ, and Christ pointed backward to them to indicate to His hearers that He was the One of whom they spoke. One of the first prophecies He gave was about how He would, in His body, replace the temple that Herod had spent decades building. John 2:19—Jesus answered and said to them, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up." The reactions of those who heard Him say this are a good example of why we need to read Jesus’ words carefully and to not always take them at face value. Many times He spoke to the people in parables, especially to those who stood against Him (see Matthew 13:35). Why did He speak in parables? He did so to separate those who believed in Him and who were careful in understanding what He was saying in His role as Prophet from those who simply heard what He said and counted Him a madman. But they all thought He was saying that He would destroy Herod’s temple and rebuild it three days later. This saying followed Him all the way to the cross, when it was used by His opponents to blaspheme Him (see Matthew 27:40; Mark 15:29). But He was speaking of the temple of His body (John 2:21). He was saying to them that once they put Him to death, He would rise from the grave three days later. Which He did. 

Another early prophecy He gave was about the gathering of Gentiles with the physical sons of Isaac in the Kingdom of God, while those who depended on their familial lineage would be cast out. Matthew 8:11-12—11 "And I say to you that many will come from east and west, and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. 12 But the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth."  We have already seen from Romans that we Gentiles are now counted as being among the people of God. And here, Jesus was saying this after He healed from afar the servant of a Roman centurion. And this would happen again in Acts 10, when Peter was sent to the house of another Romans centurion. He feared entering the man’s house, with Cornelius being a Gentile. Acts 10:28—“You know how unlawful it is for a Jewish man to keep company with or go to one of another nation.” It was not considered lawful for a Jew to enter the home of a Gentile. “Where does it say that?” Well, it doesn’t. There is no Scriptural prohibition against this. Peter had still not learned the words of our Master when He said to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees (see Matthew 16:6; Mark 8:15; Luke 12:1). For He said to His disciples about these Pharisees, “'These people draw near to Me with their mouth, and honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me. And in vain they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men'” (Matthew 15:8-9; Mark 7:6-7). This was another place where they substituted their own thoughts for the commands of God. They despised the Gentiles and forbade them from entering the house of a Gentile. And Peter, a devout Jew, got carried away in this hypocrisy (see Galatians 2:11-13). But this episode with Cornelius was an early fulfillment of Jesus’ prophecy about Gentiles entering the Kingdom of God. 

Now, think about it. With all these prophecies, from Moses and from Isaiah and Jeremiah, and others given by Haggai and Obadiah and Nahum and Agabus (Acts 21:10-11) and so many others including Jesus—prophecies which foretold the judgement of God on the people for their insolence and disobedience—how can anyone stand on a stage today and simply proclaim good things and health and wealth and peace and safety? It is because there is no fear of God in them. They do not fear the wrath of God because they do not believe in the wrath of God. They don’t care. All they want is to see the money rolling in from giving people some treacly, watered-down, easy-on-the-ears feel-good story about how God will do for them if they command Him to do so. They don’t see God as God, they see Him as an ATM. He does not exist for His glory; He exists to give them handouts and morsels. These self-appointed “prophets” will not speak out against injustice and oppression; they will not decry immorality; they will not cry and moan against those who mock God, because they would be crying out against themselves. In short, we do not have prophets as the ones we read about in the Old Testament. “But what about Ephesians 4:11 and 1st Corinthians 12:28? Where it says that God gave some to be prophets for equipping the church?” That is true. God gave some to be prophets in the Church. But what does this mean? That there are some who speak from God only good, smooth things? That they only speak peace and safety? No friend, the true prophets today do not speak words that those hearing will rejoice over (although they may). They speak forth (the meaning of the Greek προφήτης [prophetes]) the word given to us in Scripture. Now, if there be one who speaks harsh words things that are hard for the hearer to hear, and if they speak things that line up with the word and character of God, then that one is speaking by the gift of prophecy. But telling people that if they send the “prophet” money and God will rain down wealth into their lives? That is not prophecy, that is borderline blasphemy. 

God…has in these last days spoken to us by His Son. Jesus was our last true prophet (see Deuteronomy 18:15-19), although the gift of prophecy still exists today. But one should be careful in exercising this gift. Deuteronomy 18:20—20 “‘But the prophet who presumes to speak a word in My name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods, that prophet shall die.’” The one who presumes to speak a word from God—a word which God has not commanded him to speak—that one was to be put to death. Today God does not put these “prophets” to death immediately; He allows them to store up their sin for the Day of Judgment. For those who speak words not given to them by God as if they were given to them by God, and which do not come to pass, impugn the righteousness of God. For if they presume to speak from God, and that word does not come to pass, then they make God a liar, and who will trust Him? 2nd Peter 2:1-2—1 But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction. 2 And many will follow their destructive ways, because of whom the way of truth will be blasphemed. But if one speaks a word which aligns with the character of God, and they do so through the gift of prophecy given to them by God, then they will speak true words and they will glorify God and edify the Church. 1st Corinthians 14:3—But he who prophesies speaks edification and exhortation and comfort to men. Why is this? Because true edification and true exhortation and true comfort are found in Jesus Christ our Lord. Do we have eternal life? We do if we know and follow Him. Will we be able to endure persecution? Yes, because He ascended to the Father and sent the Holy Spirit to lead us. Can we be sure that we are saved? Of course! Jesus told us that none can snatch us out of His hand and no one can snatch us out of the Father’s hand (John 10:28-29). Speaking forth these truths and others found in the very words spoken to the writers of Scripture by God, and warning others to listen to these words and teaching them to follow Christ and His commands to love God and love our neighbor—that is true prophecy. 

The Church will always need the gift of prophecy, and those who speak as prophets. That is what keeps the Church on the narrow way. But if one takes the mantle upon themselves and speaks presumptuously words not given to them by God, they risk destruction for bringing shame to the name of God. If we do prophesy, let us do so carefully and tread lightly when we do so. Let us not be as the false prophets that Peter warned us about and bring swift destruction upon ourselves. Let us speak those words which will bring to mind the love and grace of our Lord, keep the church focused on Him, and bring glory to God.

Jesus Christ is Lord.

Amen.

A ssurvey of the Old Testament Law--Deuteronomy 13 (Part 2)

Now, let us consider the first of the “major prophets”, Isaiah. In Hebrew his name is יְשַׁעְיָה (yᵊšaʿyâh, “Yah has saved”). He was sent to prophesy to the Southern Kingdom of Judah, during the time of the kings Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, probably beginning in 740BC with his vision recorded in Isaiah 6:1-13 and extending at least as far as the siege of Jerusalem by Sennacherib in 701BC. There is a theory that the book of Isaiah was written by three different authors, chapters 1-39 being attributed to the prophet himself, chapters 40-55 is said to be written by a second author (Deutero-Isaiah), and chapters 56-66 by a third author (Trito-Isaiah) . Whether this is true or not does not take away from the fact that this entire book was spoken by God, whoever the authors may be. Besides, this theory only came about in the 1700s (like the “Documentary Hypothesis” about the book of Deuteronomy), and is not accepted by most conservative Bible scholars:

 

Most reputable Bible scholars reject the “Deutero-Isaiah” theory. Their conclusions include the similarity of writing styles in both sections, the consistent use of the same words throughout, and the familiarity of the author with Israel, but not Babylon. Furthermore, Jewish tradition uniformly ascribes the entire book to Isaiah. The Dead Sea Scrolls contain a complete scroll of Isaiah dated from the second century BC. The book is one unit with the end of chapter 39 and the beginning of chapter 40 in one continuous column of text. This demonstrates that the scribes who copied this scroll never doubted the singular unity of the book. Neither did the New Testament authors, nor the early church, as quotations from both sections are attributed only to Isaiah.

(https://www.gotquestions.org/Deutero-Isaiah.html) 

Isaiah’s prophetic office was one of dire warnings, not only to the nation of Judah, but to the pagan nations surrounding them. One of Isaiah’s earliest prophecies is the Messianic prophecy found in Isaiah 7:14—(repeated in Matthew 1:23)—“Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel.” This is the first of Isaiah’s Messianic prophecies. The word translated “virgin” is the Hebrew עַלְמָה (almah, “virgin, young woman; of marriageable age; maid or newly married”). In the Septuagint this word is rendered in the Greek as παρθένος (parthenos, “a virgin; a marriageable maiden; a woman who has never had sexual intercourse with a man; one's marriageable daughter”), as it is in Matthew 1:23. The fact that the Holy Spirit led Matthew to use this word παρθένος rather than a word which would insinuate a woman who had had sexual relations with a man should be enough to quell any thoughts that Mary was not a chaste virgin when the Holy Spirit came upon her. “Well, hold on now! In Genesis 34:3, the LXX uses the Greek word παρθένος to describe Dinah after she was raped! So how can you say that this word only means a chaste virgin??” Simple. Because Dinah was taken in rape, and it is probable that at the time she was still chaste. Genesis 34:3—His soul was strongly attracted to Dinah the daughter of Jacob, and he loved the young woman and spoke kindly to the young woman (LXX, παρθένος). But in the very next verse (Genesis 34:4) the LXX uses the word παιδισκην (paidisken, “a young girl, damsel; a maid-servant, a young female slave”) for “young woman.” Genesis 34:4—So Shechem spoke to his father Hamor, saying, "Get me this young woman (LXX, παιδισκην) as a wife." So why did the translators of the LXX use two different words for “young woman” (KJV, “damsel”)? Here’s why: because before Shechem took her, she was a virgin. After he took her, she was now simply a “young woman”, no longer chaste. So let’s put these verses together. Genesis 34:3-4—His soul was strongly attracted to Dinah the daughter of Jacob, and he loved the young woman and spoke kindly to the young woman (Hebrew נַעֲרָה, [naʿărâ, “young woman”]; LXX, παρθένος). So Shechem spoke to his father Hamor, saying, "Get me this young woman (Hebrew יַלְדָּה [yaldâ, “marriageable girl”]; LXX, παιδισκην) as a wife." It is also possible that Shechem spoke kindly to her to get on her good side and seduce her and that when this didn’t work he took her by force. I found this at the website for Summit Theological Seminary (which appears to be affiliated with the Church of Christ. I do not agree with many of the doctrines of the Church of Christ, but that does not negate the fact that the following is most likely a correct exegesis of the text in Genesis 34):

 

Notice that the narrative in verses 1-3 are presented as a single event in time. That is, he saw her, he took her, he lay with her, he violated her, was attracted to her, loved her, and spoke kindly to her all at the same time. To read this as a progression of events each happening after the other is likely a mistake. Was he only attracted to her after he violated her? That is absurd. Why would he take her, lay with her, and violate her if he was not attracted to her? When exactly did he love her and speak kindly to her? Was it only after he had violated her? It is possible that the account is telling us that he loved her and spoke kindly to her before, during, and after he violated her. That in no way minimizes his guilt. In fact, it makes it that much worse. He raped a girl that he loved, spoke kindly to, and later wanted to marry. That is very twisted behavior. The original Hebrew structure of these verses also indicates that the events of verses 2 and 3 happened simultaneously. These verses contain a series of what is called vav-consecutives. Essentially, that is a list of actions strung together by conjunctions to indicate a quick series of events or events occurring simultaneously. It can be illustrated in English as follows:

And he saw her…

And he took her…

And he lay with her...

And he violated her…

And he was attracted to her…

And he loved her…

And he spoke kindly to her…

The Septuagint translators evidently recognized this Hebrew construction as they used the Greek conjunction “kai” meaning “and” to begin each of the phrases in these verses. This is as close as you can come to mimicking the Hebrew vav-consecutives in Greek. This indicates that the translators were not saying that she was a virgin after he raped her, but when he raped her.

(Summit Theological Seminary, “Was Dinah a Virgin After She Was Raped?”, from “The Gospel Unashamed”, vol. 37 no. 1, found at https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://summit1.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/GUN_Vol_37_1_-_Jan_2024_-_Was_Dinah_a_Virgin_After_She_was_Raped_by_Terry_Carter.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwjTlozYotCLAxXaRTABHf0gC7AQFnoECCkQAQ&usg=AOvVaw2RtlDL2KZWYVH_ssRu-s9k)

Whatever the case may be, Matthew was well within his rights to use παρθένος to describe Mary, as Mary was still a chaste virgin at the time of Jesus’ conception. Luke 1:34—Then Mary said to the angel, "How can this be, since I do not know a man?" Luke’s words give still more evidence that this she was pure at the time of this miraculous event. 

The next words of Isaiah we will look at are the words he wrote of the “Suffering Servant”. Keep in mind these words were written some 700 years before Jesus came and fulfilled them. When Messiah came, the people were looking for a military leader like David (as they knew Messiah would be the son of David) and throw off the yoke of the Romans as Judas Maccabee had done about 200 years prior. They were not looking for a Messiah who was coming to save the people from their sins, to die for those sins and unite Jew and Gentile into one body. They probably also expected him to be a handsome man like David was. They expected him to be popular, to be adored by all the people. But that was not the picture Isaiah drew of Him. Isaiah 53:3-10—3 He is despised and rejected by men, a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. 4 Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. 5 But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed. 6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, every one, to his own way; and the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. 7 He was oppressed and He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth; He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so He opened not His mouth. 8 He was taken from prison and from judgment, and who will declare His generation? For He was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgressions of My people He was stricken. 9 And they made His grave with the wicked—but with the rich at His death, because He had done no violence, nor was any deceit in His mouth. 10 Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise Him; He has put Him to grief. When You make His soul an offering for sin, He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in His hand. So many prophecies just in these verses that were fulfilled by Christ: 

1.       He is despised and rejected by men (see Matthew 27:39)

2.       And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him (see Matthew 26:56)

3.       Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows (see 1st Corinthians 15:3)

4.       Yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted (see Matthew 27:46)

5.       But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed (see 2nd Peter 2:24)

6.       All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, every one, to his own way (see Romans 5:12),and the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all (see Romans 5:15)

7.       He was oppressed and He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth (see Luke 23:9)

8.       And they made His grave with the wicked (see Luke 23:33)

9.       But with the rich at His death (see John 19:38-41)

10.   When You make His soul an offering for sin, He shall see His seed (see Matthew 28:16-17; Mark 16:7; Luke 24:36; John 20:19) 

Ten prophecies in eight verses. And they all were fulfilled. No “Prophet” today could give even one prophecy that would come true. But what do we do with that phrase in verse 10, the one that says Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise Him? Was the Father really looking forward to watching His Son beaten and crucified to death? Was He really that vindictive? Do we Christians serve, as we have been accused by many, of belonging to a “blood cult” that vicariously derives some sick and twisted pleasure from the Father watching with unbridled glee as the murder of His Son is carried out? God forbid! God did not take delight in the death of Jesus, but that what He willed from before the foundation of the world (Revelation 13:8) was coming true. Why? Why did God ordain that His Son should suffer and die? The answer is simple: He did it for us. And in all actuality, He did it for His glory. He would not wipe out Israel for their groanings in the desert for one reason: His glory. And He would not allow the crown of his creation to all go to eternal destruction for one reason: His glory. 

When he comes, our glorious King,/all his ransomed home to bring,
Then anew this song we'll sing:/Hallelujah, what a Savior! 

Jesus ransomed us from eternal death in the depths of Hell so that He might bring many sons to glory (Hebrews 2:10), and by so doing He brought glory to the Father (John 17:1). We could talk about so many more prophecies we find in the book of Isaiah, but I think that will suffice for now. 

Let us move on then to the prophet Jeremiah. He was called as a prophet before he was born, before he was even conceived in the womb. Jeremiah 1:4-5—4 Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying: 5 "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; before you were born I sanctified you; I ordained you a prophet to the nations." His was a sad calling, as he was called during the reign of Josiah and Josiah’s wicked son Jehoakim, all the way through until the captivity of Judah under King Zedekiah (Jeremiah 1:1-3). He was to prophesy to the people about their coming exile into Babylon. Not a very happy message to be delivering to the people. Not one you would hear on TBN these days. Not gonna fill a stadium for Jesse Duplantis. But such was the lot in Jeremiah’s life; such was the burden he carried for Judah. They had seen the Northern Kingdom of Israel taken into captivity 135 years prior, and now the same fate was going to befall them. And Jeremiah had seen it all in his prophecies, and was going to live it out in flesh and blood. 

And why did they go into captivity? Jeremiah 2:1-5—1 Moreover the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 2 “Go and cry in the hearing of Jerusalem, saying, 'Thus says the LORD: "I remember you, the kindness of your youth, the love of your betrothal, when you went after Me in the wilderness, in a land not sown. 3 Israel was holiness to the LORD, the firstfruits of His increase. All that devour him will offend; disaster will come upon them," says the LORD.'” 4 Hear the word of the LORD, O house of Jacob and all the families of the house of Israel. 5 Thus says the LORD: “What injustice have your fathers found in Me, that they have gone far from Me, have followed idols, and have become idolaters?” Jehoiakim, Jehoachin and Zedekiah were the final kings in Judah, and they all did wicked before the LORD. Jehoiakim’s name was Eliakim before Pharaoh Necoh changed it to Jehoiakim (2nd Kings 23:34). It was during his reign that Nebuchadnezzar came up to Judah to take it into captivity (2nd Kings 24:1). Jeremiah had had his scribe Baruch write a letter, a prophecy he had received from God in Jeremiah 36 to warn Jehoiakim of the captivity that was to come upon Judah. And much like many things that God said to rebellious people, this was not taken well. In fact, Jehoiakim was so outraged that this prophet dare say that Jehoiakim’s reign would come to an end that he burned the scroll that Jeremiah had dictated to Baruch (Jeremiah 36:23). And he thought this would be the end of the thing God said He would do. But God is God, and His plans will not be foiled by men, so He ordered Jeremiah to take another scroll and write on it the very same words He had given the prophet in the previous scroll (Jeremiah 36:28-32). 

In Jeremiah 37:1 we read these words, Now King Zedekiah the son of Josiah reigned instead of Coniah the son of Jehoiakim, whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon made king in the land of Judah. Coniah was the name given to Jehoiachin (also rendered as Jeconiah in 1st Chronicles 3:17), who was cursed by God in Jeremiah 22:24, 30—24 “As I live,” says the LORD, “though Coniah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, were the signet on My right hand, yet I would pluck you off…30 Thus says the LORD: 'Write this man down as childless, a man who shall not prosper in his days; for none of his descendants shall prosper, sitting on the throne of David, and ruling anymore in Judah.'” The words 'Write this man down as childless' present us with a problem, however. For Coniah—along with his son Shealtiel—is mentioned in the genealogy of Christ in Matthew 1:11-12. If he were childless, how could he beget Shealtiel and be listed in this genealogy? In fact, 1st Chronicles 3:17-18 list the sons of Jehoiachin. So how do we answer when this is brought up as a challenge to the inerrancy of Scripture? Here is where a deeper study of Scripture is warranted. In 2nd Kings 7:12-13, God says to David, 12 “When your days are fulfilled and you rest with your fathers, I will set up your seed after you, who will come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. 13 He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.” So God had promised to David that a king would sit on the throne of Israel forever (see also Jeremiah 33:17, which says “‘David shall never lack a man to sit on the throne of the house of Israel’”). Yet Coniah (Jehoachin), who was descended from David, was to be “written as childless” and is yet included in the genealogy of Christ. 

And here is where we come to our solution: The genealogy found in Matthew is the descent of Joseph (the one found in Luke is the descent of Mary). Was Joseph the natural father of Jesus? No. Matthew 1:18—Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: After His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit. Joseph could not have fathered Jesus, as (1) Joseph was a man—a decent man, but one tainted by the curse of sin, and would have passed his sinful nature to his son; and (2) Joseph was naturally descended from Jeconiah. The answer lies in Luke’s genealogy. Luke 3:27-28—27…the son of Joannas, the son of Rhesa, the son of Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, the son of Neri, 28 the son of Melchi, the son of Addi, the son of Cosam, the son of Elmodam, the son of Er… In 1st Chronicles 3:16-17 we read that Jeconiah was the son of Jehoiakim. 1st Chronicles 3:16-17—16 The sons of Jehoiakim were Jeconiah his son and Zedekiah his son. 17 And the sons of Jeconiah were Assir, Shealtiel his son... So Jeconiah and Neri were two different people, having different fathers. The best explanation for Luke listing Neri as the father of Shealtiel (that I have found) is that Shealtiel was the product of a Levirate marriage and was born to Jeconiah’s wife after Jeconiah went into captivity to Babylon, thus not a natural son of Jeconiah. Luke was a meticulous historian and would not have overlooked something as simple as the parents of Shealtiel. And if he was indeed the product of a Levirate marriage (and not Jeconiah’s natural son), this would fit even better into Luke’s genealogy. Keep in mind, Luke listed Jesus’ lineage as “X, the son of Y, the son of Z”. Thus, it would be very probable that this would be the case. “So why does Matthew say that Jeconiah begat Shealtiel?” Because Matthew is not listing Jesus’ credentials as king, whereas Luke is. Remember the words of God, 'Write this man (Jeconiah) down as childless'. Thus, the theory that a Levirate marriage produced Shealtiel is further undergirded. More evidence is provided by this rather lengthy passage from Keil and Delitzsch:

 

The omission of Assir in the genealogies in Matthew and the Seder olam also proves nothing, for in the genealogies intermediate members are often passed over. Against the appellative interpretation of the word, on the contrary, the want of the article is decisive; as apposition to יְכָנִיָה, it should have the article. But besides this, according to the genealogy of Jesus in Luke 3:27, Shealtiel is a son of Neri, a descendant of David, of the lineage of Nathan, not of Solomon; and according to Haggai 1:1, 12; Ezra 3:2. 5:2; and Matthew 1:12, Zerubbabel is son of Shealtiel; while, according to 1st Chronicles 3:18-19, he is a son of Pedaiah, a brother of Shealtiel. These divergent statements may be reconciled by the following combination. The discrepancy in regard to the enumeration of Shealtiel among the sons of Jeconiah, a descendant of Solomon, and the statement that he was descended from Neri, a descendant of Nathan, Solomon's brother, is removed by the supposition that Jeconiah, besides the Zedekiah mentioned in 1st Chronicles 3:16, who died childless, had another son, viz., Assir, who left only a daughter, who then, according to the law as to heiresses (Numbers 27:8, 36:8), married a man belonging to a family of her paternal tribe, viz., Neri, of the family of David, in the line of Nathan, and that from this marriage sprang Shealtiel, Malchiram, and the other sons (properly grandsons) of Jeconiah mentioned in 1st Chronicles 3:18. If we suppose the eldest of these, Shealtiel, to come into the inheritance of his maternal grandfather, he would be legally regarded as his legitimate son. In our genealogy, therefore, along with the childless Assir, Shealtiel is introduced as a descendant of Jeconiah, while in Luke he is called, according to his actual descent, a son of Neri. 

I know that whole explanation may have been a bit long, but sometimes you must go around the whole block to make a left-hand turn. So, in stating that Jehoiachin would be written down as childless, Jeremiah was saying that he would have no natural sons. 

The next prophecy of Jeremiah we will look at is the word that came to him from God that God would establish a New Covenant. Jeremiah 31:31-34—31 “Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah—32 not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them, says the LORD. 33 But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. 34 No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, 'Know the LORD,' for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.” We are no longer under the Old Covenant. Nobody is. That was done away with at the Cross. When Christ died, was buried, and rose from the grave, a New Covenant came into effect, doing away with the regulations found in the Law, and ushering in a new era of grace (not that the Old Covenant was without grace). 

So “Now”, you may ask, “Who and what is Israel?” It is not the physical descendants of Jacob that are Israel, but rather those who are of faith in Christ who are Israel. Do not be mistaken, however, there are some who are physical descendants of the Patriarchs who are of faith in Christ and who are, therefore, Israel. Romans 11:1-2—1 I say then, has God cast away His people? Certainly not! For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. 2 God has not cast away His people whom He foreknew. But we Gentiles who also believe in Christ are Israel. Romans 11:11—I say then, have they (the Jews) stumbled that they should fall? Certainly not! But through their fall, to provoke them to jealousy, salvation has come to the Gentiles. God has always accepted Gentiles into the congregation of His people. But they had to go through certain rites (e.g., circumcision) to be accepted into that people. They had to become like the Jews. But now, there are no special things we need to do to be counted among the people of God. He has grafted us wild branches into the natural olive tree. Romans 11:17-21—17 And if some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a wild olive tree, were grafted in among them, and with them became a partaker of the root and fatness of the olive tree, 18 do not boast against the branches. But if you do boast, remember that you do not support the root, but the root supports you. 19 You will say then, "Branches were broken off that I might be grafted in." 20 Well said. Because of unbelief they were broken off, and you stand by faith. Do not be haughty, but fear. 21 For if God did not spare the natural branches, He may not spare you either. God broke off some of the natural branches of the natural olive tree and has grafted in us Gentiles—wild branches—that we may be one people with the natural Jews. In other words, He has made the two—Jew and Gentile—one, through the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Ephesians 2:11-14—11 Therefore remember that you, once Gentiles in the flesh—who are called Uncircumcision by what is called the Circumcision made in the flesh by hands—12 that at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. 14 For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation.

 Part 3 next week

 

Jesus Christ is Lord.

Amen 

A Survey of the Old Testament Law--Deuteronomy 13 (Part 1)

Deuteronomy 13:1-18—1 “If there arises among you a prophet or a dreamer of dreams, and he gives you a sign or a wonder, 2 and the sign or the wonder comes to pass, of which he spoke to you, saying, 'Let us go after other gods'—which you have not known—'and let us serve them,' 3 you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams, for the LORD your God is testing you to know whether you love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul. 4 You shall walk after the LORD your God and fear Him, and keep His commandments and obey His voice; you shall serve Him and hold fast to Him. 5 But that prophet or that dreamer of dreams shall be put to death, because he has spoken in order to turn you away from the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the house of bondage, to entice you from the way in which the LORD your God commanded you to walk. So you shall put away the evil from your midst. 6 If your brother, the son of your mother, your son or your daughter, the wife of your bosom, or your friend who is as your own soul, secretly entices you, saying, 'Let us go and serve other gods,' which you have not known, neither you nor your fathers, 7 of the gods of the people which are all around you, near to you or far off from you, from one end of the earth to the other end of the earth, 8 you shall not consent to him or listen to him, nor shall your eye pity him, nor shall you spare him or conceal him; 9 but you shall surely kill him; your hand shall be first against him to put him to death, and afterward the hand of all the people. 10 And you shall stone him with stones until he dies, because he sought to entice you away from the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage. 11 So all Israel shall hear and fear, and not again do such wickedness as this among you. 12 If you hear someone in one of your cities, which the LORD your God gives you to dwell in, saying, 13 'Corrupt men have gone out from among you and enticed the inhabitants of their city, saying, "Let us go and serve other gods"'—which you have not known—14 then you shall inquire, search out, and ask diligently. And if it is indeed true and certain that such an abomination was committed among you, 15 you shall surely strike the inhabitants of that city with the edge of the sword, utterly destroying it, all that is in it and its livestock—with the edge of the sword. 16 And you shall gather all its plunder into the middle of the street, and completely burn with fire the city and all its plunder, for the LORD your God. It shall be a heap forever; it shall not be built again. 17 So none of the accursed things shall remain in your hand, that the LORD may turn from the fierceness of His anger and show you mercy, have compassion on you and multiply you, just as He swore to your fathers, 18 because you have listened to the voice of the LORD your God, to keep all His commandments which I command you today, to do what is right in the eyes of the LORD your God.” 

Let’s talk a little about prophets. When God speaks to a people, especially His people, He does so through prophets. The prophets did not speak their own words, or whatever came into their mind, but they spoke the words given to them by God. 2nd Peter 1:21 (George Williams New Testament)—No prophecy has ever yet originated in man's will, but men who were led by the Holy Spirit spoke from God. When Ezekiel lay on his left side for three years (Ezekiel 4:5), it wasn’t because of some weird idea he had. That was what God commanded him to do.  When Isaiah spoke against Moab (Isaiah 15:1-9), it wasn’t a speech he prepared the night before and carefully proofread. The words he spoke were the words given to him by God. These things that were done and spoken by the prophets seemed strange to the people at the time, but we now see that these things were done and said because God gave them the words and the actions to perform.

Today, men (and women) set themselves up as prophets, and claim to speak all kinds of things, claiming they are from God, and that the people hearing them ought to obey because they are speaking for and from God. I shared some of the “prophecies” of Benny Hinn that were blatantly false here. The fact that these prophecies did not come to pass automatically disqualifies him from being a prophet and would have caused him to be stoned to death under the Old Testament Law (Deuteronomy 18:22). But these self-appointed “prophets” include two things in their “prophecies”. The first thing they do is to make sure that they are telling the people something they want to hear—how God is going to rain down material blessings on them, that they are going to be rich and healthy and that everything they will do will succeed. So they thus grab the favor of the people. The second thing they do is to warn the people not to judge them or second-guess them or compare their “prophecies” to Scripture, or they will suffer greatly by God. The warning they give most of the time is from 1st Chronicles 16:22—"Do not touch My anointed ones, and do My prophets no harm." By setting themselves up as prophets, and by claiming to be anointed by God, they can use this verse to try to silence their critics and keep their followers in line. Whether it’s Creflo Dollar or Kenneth Copeland or TD Jakes, they all use this verse to deflect criticism of their false teachings and warn those speaking against them that they are enemies of God. 

But let’s talk about the true prophets of God. The ISBE says this about true prophets:

 

According to the uniform teaching of the Bible the prophet is a speaker of or for God. His words are not the production of his own spirit, but come from a higher source. For he is at the same time, also, a seer, who sees things that do not lie in the domain of natural sight, or who hears things which human ears do not ordinarily receive; compare 1st Samuel 9:9, where נָבִיא (nābhı̄', “speaker, spokesman, prophet”) and  רֹאֶה (rō'eh, “seer”) are used as synonymous terms. Jeremiah 23:16 and Ezekiel 13:2 are particularly instructive in this regard. In these passages a sharp distinction is made between those persons who only claim to be prophets but who prophesy “out of their own heart,” and the true prophets who declare the word which the Lord has spoken to them. In the latter case the contents of the prophecy have not originated in their own reflection or calculation; and just as little is this prophecy the product of their own feelings, fears or hopes, but, as something extraneous to man and independent of him, it has with a divine certainty entered the soul of the prophet. The prophet has seen that which he prophesies, although he need not have seen it in the form of a real vision. He can also “see” words with his inner eyes (Isaiah 2:1, and often). It is only another expression for this when it is frequently said that God has spoken to the prophet. In this case too it is not necessary that there must have been a voice which he could hear phonetically through his natural ear. The main thing is that he must have been able sharply to distinguish the contents of this voice from his own heart, i.e. from his personal consciousness. Only in this way is he capable of speaking to the people in the name of God and able to publish his word as that of Yahweh. In this case he is the speaker of Yahweh (נָבִיא, nābhı̄'), or the mouth of the Lord (compare Ezekiel 7:1 with Ezekiel 4:16). 

Long story short, those gifted with the gift of prophecy can distinguish between what they simply feel in their heart or mind and words spoken to them by God. 

Many think of Samuel as the first prophet, but this is not the case. For before him, Moses spoke with God “face-to-face” (or rather, “Mouth-to-mouth”, as Moses was not allowed to see God) and even Noah could be considered a prophet and his building of the Ark a sign to the people. We are seeing the prophetic office of Moses as we study the Law, so let’s talk about Noah. Genesis 6:6, 8—6 And the LORD was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart…8 But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD. The world had become altogether corrupt, save for one man and his sons. Did God give a warning to the corrupt people? Yes, He did. He had Noah build an ark as a sign to the people and to save them from the flood. Hebrews 11:7—By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith. In all the days of building the Ark, he must have been laughed at and scoffed at by the wicked. “What is he building? Why is he building it? He must be a madman!” They thought nothing of the wickedness they were doing. They were just going about their daily lives, doing whatever they thought in their hearts, drinking and carousing and carrying on, not thinking about how this may have been grieving the heart of God, if they even thought of God. It was as Jesus said in Matthew 24:38-39a (repeated in Luke 17:26-27)—38 “For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, 39 and did not know until the flood came and took them all away.” Noah was giving them a sign, and they ignored it. It was not only a sign to the people then, but Jesus even used it to warn us to be careful to watch for His second coming. Matthew 24:37, 39b—37 But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be…39 so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. We see today many who ignore God, who ignore the pleas to come to Christ that they may be saved from the wrath to come. But they don’t listen, they don’t care, they don’t know God and don’t want to know Him. They go about their daily lives, doing whatever they think in their hearts, drinking and carousing and carrying on, not thinking about how this may be grieving the heart of God, if they even think of God.

 Samuel was set apart to God as a boy. 1st Samuel 1:24, 28—24 Now when she had weaned him, she took him up with her, with three bulls, one ephah of flour, and a skin of wine, and brought him to the house of the LORD in Shiloh. And the child was young…28 “Therefore I also have lent him to the LORD; as long as he lives he shall be lent to the LORD.” We have already talked about how Samuel was a Nazirite all his life. And we see in this same book that God began speaking to him at a young age (1^st Samuel 3:4). The first prophecy he heard from God was not a pleasant one, for it foretold of the end of Eli (the second-to-last judge in Israel), and he had to tell it to Eli. But such was the lot of a true prophet of God—they do not always have feel-good stories to tell the people, tales of health and wealth and prosperity. Many times when God speaks through a prophet, it is to warn of impending doom. 1st Samuel 2:16-19—16 Then Eli called Samuel and said, "Samuel, my son!" He answered, "Here I am." 17 And he said, "What is the word that the LORD spoke to you? Please do not hide it from me. God do so to you, and more also, if you hide anything from me of all the things that He said to you." 18 Then Samuel told him everything, and hid nothing from him. And he said, "It is the LORD. Let Him do what seems good to Him." 19 So Samuel grew, and the LORD was with him and let none of his words fall to the ground. Samuel was a true prophet of God, and what he told the people to do or to not do was to be obeyed, as the words he spoke came from none other than God Himself. 

This applied not only to the lay people, but even to the king Himself. In 1^st Samuel 15, he gives a command to King Saul to wipe out the Amalekites—everything living among them was to be destroyed. 1st Samuel 15:2-3—2 “Thus says the LORD of hosts: 'I will punish Amalek for what he did to Israel, how he ambushed him on the way when he came up from Egypt. 3     Now go and attack Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and do not spare them. But kill both man and woman, infant and nursing child, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.'” Pretty clear and straight forward, no ambiguity there. The command was simple: Saul was to have his army wipe out every living thing of the Amalekites, including the women and children and livestock. But Saul had a better idea. 1st Samuel 15:9—But Saul and the people spared Agag and the best of the sheep, the oxen, the fatlings, the lambs, and all that was good, and were unwilling to utterly destroy them. But everything despised and worthless, that they utterly destroyed. “Let’s destroy the bad stuff but keep the best things alive and sacrifice them to God! What’s the worst that can happen?” Well… 1st Samuel 15:10-11—10 Now the word of the LORD came to Samuel, saying, 11 "I greatly regret that I have set up Saul as king, for he has turned back from following Me, and has not performed My commandments." And it grieved Samuel, and he cried out to the LORD all night. Not only did Saul’s disobedience grieve God, it grieved His prophet as well. That is how close the relationship is between God and His prophets. His heart is their heart and their heart is His heart. It is as if they were one and the same. Not only that, but the heart of the prophet is with the people his words come against. I’m sure he felt no joy about telling Eli that he and his sons were about to die. And it obviously did not tickle him to tell Saul the words that God was about to speak against him. Here, Saul thought he was doing a great thing by keeping King Agag and the best of the livestock alive. He thought he knew what God wanted better than the prophet to whom God Himself spoke. 1st Samuel 15:13, 15—13 Then Samuel went to Saul, and Saul said to him, "Blessed are you of the LORD! I have performed the commandment of the LORD…15 They have brought them from the Amalekites; for the people spared the best of the sheep and the oxen, to sacrifice to the LORD your God; and the rest we have utterly destroyed.” But Samuel had told him what God had told Samuel—everything and everyone of the Amalekites was to be destroyed. “Everyone?” 

 

 

Yes, everyone. Saul did not give obedience to the command of God—he gave partial obedience, which is disobedience. “I have performed the commandment of the LORD!” 1st Samuel 15:14, 18-19, 22-23—14 But Samuel said, "What then is this bleating of the sheep in my ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear?…18 Now the LORD sent you on a mission, and said, 'Go, and utterly destroy the sinners, the Amalekites, and fight against them until they are consumed.' 19 Why then did you not obey the voice of the LORD? Why did you swoop down on the spoil, and do evil in the sight of the LORD?"…22 Has the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, And to heed than the fat of rams. 23 For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, And stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, He also has rejected you from being king." Because Saul did not harken to the words of the prophet, and did what was right in his own eyes, God took the kingdom away from him and gave it to David. 

Interestingly, Samuel’s final prophecy came after he died. King Saul had banished all necromancers and mediums (1st Samuel 28:3, as well he should have). But the Philistines were coming to attack Israel, and when Saul went to inquire of God, He would not answer him either by dreams or by Urim or by the prophets (1st Samuel 28:6). God had taken His spirit way from Saul, and had cut him off as king, and this attack from the Philistines was to be his final downfall. And because God did not answer him, Saul had another brilliant idea. “I’ll go to a necromancer and medium, even though I have put them out of Israel!” In other words, he did what was right in his own eyes. He went to the Witch of En Dor to have her bring up the spirit of Samuel (1st Samuel 28:8-11). Necromancers and mediums are another class of false prophets. None can speak with the dead (see Isaiah 8:19-20), and anyone who says they can are in danger of destruction. But Saul was so bent on holding on to his kingdom that he went against the word of God that he used this as his last resort, hoping that Samuel would give him a word from God that would allow him to keep it. But, alas! God did bring up Samuel, by His own hand and not by the hand of the witch. 1st Samuel 28:12—When the woman saw Samuel, she cried out with a loud voice. And the woman spoke to Saul, saying, "Why have you deceived me? For you are Saul!" She knew that her necromancy was false, and when Samuel appeared she knew that this was of God. Many use this as an excuse to use psychics to tell them things they want to hear. When actually, this is a warning against such practices. G. Campbell Morgan:

 

It is strange how this story has been made to serve in defense of things occult, which, as a matter of fact, it condemns. Let it be carefully read, and it becomes perfectly patent that this woman had nothing to do with bringing up Samuel…When in response to her incantations, as it seemed, Samuel actually appeared, she was startled beyond measure. That Samuel actually did appear to Saul there can be no doubt. However, he was sent of God for the express purpose of delivering the terrible message to Saul, to which the king listened in amazement. It was the pronouncement of his doom, and the call from the other side to the spirit of the man who had so utterly and disastrously failed to fulfil his opportunity. 

1st Samuel 28:16-19—16 Then Samuel said: "So why do you ask me, seeing the LORD has departed from you and has become your enemy? 17 And the LORD has done for Himself as He spoke by me. For the LORD has torn the kingdom out of your hand and given it to your neighbor, David. 18 Because you did not obey the voice of the LORD nor execute His fierce wrath upon Amalek, therefore the LORD has done this thing to you this day. 19 Moreover the LORD will also deliver Israel with you into the hand of the Philistines. And tomorrow you and your sons will be with me. The LORD will also deliver the army of Israel into the hand of the Philistines." Even in death, the prophet of God was speaking to Saul, and not good things, but rather reinforcing what he had already told him, and that this was going to happen the very next day!

Part 2 next week

 

Je4sus Christ is Lord.

Amen.