From Creation to the Cross
By
Bob Deffinbaugh
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P
2 |
Lesson
1 |
The
Creation |
Genesis 1:1—2:3 |
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P
25 |
Lesson
2 |
The Fall of Man |
Genesis 3:1—5:32 |
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P
47 |
Lesson
3 |
The
Flood |
Genesis 5:28—10:32 |
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P
67 |
Lesson
4 |
The Confusion of Languages at |
Genesis 10:1—11:25 |
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P
82 |
Lesson
5 |
Abraham’s Call and God’s Covenant |
Genesis 11:26—17:27 |
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P
99 |
Lesson
6 |
Abraham’s Finest Hour |
Genesis 18:1—26:35 |
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P
119 |
Lesson
7 |
Jacob |
Genesis 27:1—35:29 |
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P
139 |
Lesson
8 |
Joseph |
Genesis 37:1—50:26 |
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P
168 |
Lesson
9 |
Moses and the Exodus |
Exodus 1-15 |
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P
197 |
Lesson
10 |
The Giving of the Law, Part I * The
Evangelistic Purpose of the Law |
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P
212 |
Lesson
11 |
The Giving of the Law, Part II
* Principles From the Law |
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P
226 |
Lesson
14 |
Israel’s Failure at Kadesh Barnea |
Numbers 10:11—14:45 |
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Lesson 16 — The Book of Joshua |
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Lesson 1 — The Creation[3][1]
Genesis 1:1—2:3
Introduction
In
a recent on-line article, Timothy George writes these words,
In
her book Mystery on the Desert, Maria Reiche describes a series of
strange lines made by the Nazea in the plains of
In
a similar way, people often think of the Bible as a series of individual,
unconnected stories. But if we survey the Scriptures as a whole, we discover
that they form one great story of redemption—from the opening scenes of Genesis
to the final chapter of Revelation. Weaving through all the diverse strands of
the Bible is a divine storyline, the overarching story of what God has been up
to in the rescue and restoration of fallen human beings, from the first
nanosecond of creation through the final cry of victory at the end of time.[4][2]
These
two paragraphs sum up what we are attempting to accomplish in this new series
that we have entitled, “From Creation to the Cross.” Others have done some very
fine work in this same venture. We find these words in the introduction of J.
Sidlow Baxter’s fine work, Explore the Book:
The
method which we adopt in this present series is that which we may call interpretive.
We shall study the books of the Bible interpretatively; that is, we shall seek
to get hold of the controlling thought, the outstanding meaning and message of
each book, and then see it in relation to the other books of Scripture.[5][3]
W.
Graham Scroggie says virtually the same thing in his introduction:
It
is not enough that we be familiar with great texts, or great chapters; we should
know the Bible as a whole; for here is a Divine progressive revelation,
in which every part is organically related to every other part; and,
consequently, only by knowing the whole Bible can we worthily appreciate its
greatness and experience its power.[6][4]
Scroggie goes on to contrast synthetic Bible study (the kind we are
attempting here, and which he facilitates in his book) with analytical Bible
study: By synthetic Bible study is meant, that method whereby the various parts
are viewed together, are seen in their relation to one another, and are
regarded as constituting a whole. It is, as we have said, the opposite of the
analytic method.
In
analysis details are separately regarded, but in synthesis these details melt
into the picture of the whole… . The analytic is the
microscopic method; the synthetic is the telescopic method. Analysis
concentrates on the infinitesimal, but synthesis concentrates on the infinite.[7][5]
While our study seeks to be synthetic, and to achieve the results sought
by Baxter and Scroggie, we will employ a slightly different method. These
authors study the Bible by dealing with each book in the order in which it is
found in our Bibles.[8][6]
The books of the Bible are not arranged in chronological order; if we would
study it chronologically, we must deal with each book of the Bible as it fits
into a chronological scheme. Excellent study Bibles such as The Narrated Bible[9][7]
have sought to facilitate a chronological study by arranging the Scriptures in
their chronological order.
Also
unlike Baxter and Scroggie, we will not attempt to study every book of the
Bible. I am strongly committed to a thorough and systematic exposition of the
Word of God. This has been the thrust of most of my teaching for the past 30
years. (My study in the Gospel of Luke, for example, was 77 lessons long!)[10][8]
In this series, however, in order to get the big picture, we dare not go into
as much detail.
You
will note by the title to this series that we have restricted our study to the
time from creation to the cross. It is my intention to follow up with a second
series that will deal with the period from the cross to the consummation of
history (Acts through Revelation). This later series will not, as I currently
envision it, be as chronologically oriented, which is why I have chosen to end
the first series with the gospel writers’ accounts of the death, burial, and
resurrection of our Lord.
Let
me point out one final distinction of this series. One must have certain
criteria for determining what to include and what to exclude in a selective
series. We will endeavor to focus our attention on what might be called the
“turning points” in the “unfolding drama of redemption”[11][9]
– those great watershed events by which God moved from one phase of His eternal
plan to the next. This may not always be evident, but it is one of my guiding
principles. With these things having been said, let me attempt to sum up the
goal of this study:
We purpose to gain an overall understanding of
the “unfolding drama of redemption” by focusing on the major turning points in
the history of redemption, beginning with creation and culminating at the cross
of Christ.
Resources
A
friend once told me the story of a fellow who was hiking in the mountains and
came to the realization that he was lost. Fortunately, this man had a cell
phone with him. He was able to call for help, and they were able to pinpoint
his position and tell him how he could arrive at his destination. This series
is intended to help you navigate your way through the books of the Bible. Our
primary text is the Word of God itself. It is our hope that this series will
encourage and equip you to read through the Bible in a little more than a year.
Even though our teaching will not cover every book or chapter of the Bible,
your reading of the Bible will be greatly enhanced by a sense of knowing where
you are in the “unfolding drama of redemption.”
There
are a number of excellent resources available that we would encourage you to
use. Ligonier Ministries has an excellent tape series (both audio and video) by
R. C. Sproul[12][10]
entitled, “From Dust to Glory.” There are also a number of expositional Bible
studies available on the Internet. Ray Stedman and other teachers at
One
very excellent book, which we highly recommend to you for your preparation, is Explore
the Book, by J. Sidlow Baxter (see footnote 2). This book contains six
volumes in one, and it has a wealth of information, including a very insightful
overview of each book. We encourage you to buy this excellent reference book.
It is one of my “must have” books, which I have kept near at hand for many
years.
Thanks
to the generosity of Irving Jensen’s family, our church has been granted
permission to reprint 250 copies of Irving Jensen’s classic little book, Enjoy
Your Bible. It is now out of print, but we are hoping that it will be soon be available on the Biblical Studies Foundation Website,
along with some of Jensen’s other works (www.bible.org).
It is an excellent book that gives you an orientation to the Bible as a whole.
Your
Preparation and Participation is Essential
We
do not want this series to be one in which you approach this study unprepared,
attend or listen to a sermon, and then go your way. We hope that you will use
the preparatory study materials we have provided and the reference and resource
materials we have recommended to facilitate your own study of the Bible. We
hope that you will take the opportunity to discuss the biblical texts both
before and after the teaching. We believe this will be of great benefit for
family Bible study and personal devotions.
These Written Messages
In
our church, we have changed our curriculum and our schedule to facilitate this
new series. I, along with others, teach the children and the adults for 45
minutes, and then we have our worship time, centered around
the Lord’s Table. After a break, classes then assemble to further discuss the
content of the study. Much of this teaching involves material that I have not
attempted to cover in my instruction. These printed messages are an attempt to
capture the essence of my teaching and the follow-up teaching.
Introduction to
Lesson One: The Creation
Genesis 1:1—2:3
A
couple of days ago, a friend forwarded this e-mail request to me:
“Can
you cite a biblical scripture that says that, to be a Christian, you have to
believe the Bible is the inerrant word of God? I accept Jesus as my personal
Savior, but I can’t accept things like the Genesis creation myth. Maybe if I
had a quote from Jesus telling me to believe every word of the Bible (or even
just Genesis), then I could bring myself to accept the events of Genesis.”
I
sent this fellow an answer to his question and have already received an
encouraging response. As I thought about this man’s question I realized that,
once again, God had providentially orchestrated the events in my life to
prepare me for this lesson. Is the biblical account of creation true? It most
definitely is! Is the account of creation in the Bible important to us as
Christians? It most certainly is! I would challenge you to sharpen your own
thinking on this matter by attempting to formulate and articulate an answer to
this fellow’s question. I think it would be a profitable exercise.
As
we approach this text, we will work very hard to avoid being sidetracked by
questions that were not the primary concern of the author. Much of current
study in Genesis 1 and 2 seems to be dominated by the debate between
creationists and evolutionists. One of the great dangers here is that
Christians tend to view this text primarily in terms of what it says to others,
rather than in terms of what it says to them. Let us remind ourselves that
Moses is the author of the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Bible), and
that this is the first written revelation regarding the origins of the world,
of mankind, and of the nation
Two Creation Accounts
The
reader can see that there are really two creation accounts, not exactly
represented by the chapter divisions. The first creation account is found in
our text, Genesis 1:1—2:3. The second is found in Genesis 2:4-25. The first
account begins at the first day of creation and ends with the seventh day. The
second account commences in about the middle of the creation week. While the
first account describes how God turned chaos into creation (days 1-4, verses
1-20), making it possible to create life (days 5-6, verses 21-31), the second
account takes up at the point of God creating life. The first account describes
creation by a formula, which is repeated through the account. The second
account takes a more problem-solving approach; something is missing or needed
that God supplies.
As
I have studied this text, I have become convinced that Genesis 2:4-25 is
written as a preface to the account of the fall of man, and so in our next
lesson we shall study the second creation account in relation to the fall.
A Bird’s Eye View of Creation
General
Observations
My
intention is to gain an overview of the creation account by making a number of
observations.
(1) The focus of Genesis 1:1—2:3 is not on the “ultimate
beginning” of all things, but rather on the beginning of the world as we know
it, and especially on man’s beginning – the origins of the human race. Scholars attempt
to explain this in a variety of ways, but the end result is that Genesis
doesn’t really start at the absolute beginning. For one thing, there is no
absolute beginning for God, Who is eternal. For another, we know that certain
beings were already in existence at the time God created the heavens and the
earth. At the beginning of Genesis 3, Satan appears, and at the end, we find
angels (
(2)
The creation account does not describe the creation of the world in terms of
being made out of nothing, but in terms of beauty and order being created out
of a chaotic mess. Many scholars stress the fact that the Hebrew word that
is used in Genesis 1:1 is one that means to create ex nihilo, that is to create
something out of nothing. Now I don’t doubt that the original creation was
brought into existence out of nothing, because that is what the writer to the
Hebrews tells us:
1.
Now faith is being sure of what we hope for, being convinced of what we do not
see.
2.
For by it the people of old received God’s commendation.
3.
By faith we understand that the worlds were set in order at God’s command, so
that the visible has its origin in the invisible (Hebrews 11:1-3).[14][12]
Having
said this, we must also take into account Peter’s words:
For
they deliberately suppress this fact, that by the word of God heavens existed
long ago and an earth was formed out of water and by means of water (2
Peter 3:5, emphasis mine).
Genesis
1 begins with something already in existence, which is formless, dark, watery,
and chaotic. To say this is nothing seems to defy the language of the text. I
believe this is a chaotic mess that was the result of the earlier fall of Satan
(Isaiah
The
best illustration I can think of is found a little too close to home – my
garage. It is literally filled with automobile engines, transmissions, and
parts (let’s not talk about my attic – I once had a car filed away up there). I
have to confess that I have the essence of several cars tucked away in my
garage. But wait, there’s more! In addition to automobile parts, there is an
abundant supply of plumbing and electrical parts. And then there are the tools
– lots of tools. In my garage (I have a shed also), you would find many
mechanical tools (an engine hoist and stand, jacks, jack stands, compressor,
welding equipment – both gas and electric, etc.), and also my table saw and
woodworking tools.
The
other day my granddaughter, Taylor, said it as nicely as I’ve ever heard. After
having carefully negotiated her way through the chaos in the garage without
getting greasy she said, “Grandpa, I think your garage needs a little tidying
up.” It does. And so, the best illustration I can think of to compare with the
“watery mess” that we read of in Genesis 1:2 is my garage, at night, with the
lights out. And I must tell you that it would probably take more than six days
to turn that chaos into cosmos (order).
Now
someone might protest that if God created our world out of something that
already existed (the leftovers of a previous creation that had fallen), this
would have made creation a lesser miracle than one that creates something out
of nothing. In the first place, there was an original creation, brought into
existence out of nothing. But a creation out of a chaotic mess is not easy
task, either. Think about it for a moment. Suppose that you wanted to prepare a
gourmet dinner. You may choose between a refrigerator full of leftovers to work
with, or the freedom to purchase whatever foods and spices you want. Which
would you choose? Would you rather make a dress out of new material that you
have selected especially for this dress, or from some old and tattered clothing
left behind by someone in the closet? Creating order out of chaos is not as
easy as it sounds.
(3)
The creation account of Genesis 1 and 2 is the description of a process that
took place over a period of time. Now don’t get nervous. I did not say that
creation took place over a period of millions of years (though there are surely
those who believe this); I said that creation took place through a process that
occurred over a period of time – six days, according to Moses.
I
fear that Christians are so defensive about the subject of evolution (which
speaks in terms of a process over millions of years) that they fail to
recognize what the Bible says. God did transform chaos into cosmos by means of
a process that lasted six days.
I
suspect that many of us have a picture of creation in our minds that is not
quite accurate. We may tend to think of the act of creation more as magic than
as the divine work of a skilled Creator. God did not wrinkle his nose or wave a
wand to create an instant world. God worked in a progressive, sequential way to
turn chaos to beauty and order.
Could
God have instantly created a beautiful world in a moment? Of course He could.
Then why didn’t He do so? Why did God employ a process that took a week to
accomplish? The first answer is that God, unlike man, is eternal, and He is not
in any hurry. He has “all the time in the world.” More accurately, He is not
bound by time at all.
The
second answer is that I believe God took great pleasure in the work of
creation. In know that in our church there are many wonderful cooks, both women
and men. I have never been to the home of any excellent cook who served a T.V.
dinner. Now I have nothing against T.V. dinners, but they are not and will
never be a gourmet meal, no matter what the television commercials tell us. A
gourmet cook not only cooks slowly because the flavor is better, but because
they enjoy the process of cooking. If I could take a little poetic license, I
believe that if you and I were observers at the creation we would see a master craftsman
at work, with a smile of satisfaction on His face. I think this is part of what
we are to conclude from the repeated expression, “God saw that it was good.”
(4)
The process of creation involved separation and joining. Repeatedly the
term “separate” occurs in Genesis 1 (see verses 3, 6-7, 14, 17). The
waters in the heavens above are separated from the waters beneath (verses 6-7),
and then God separated day from night (verses 1-15). God also caused things to
assemble or join together. The waters on earth were gathered to one place
(verse 9). This is the way my garage would have to be “tidied up.” First, I
would have to gather like things together, and then put them in a separate
place of their own. I would have to put my table saw out of the way, rather
than to use it as a workbench when doing automotive repairs. Order comes when
we gather like things together and when we separate them from things that are
unlike.
(5)
The creation account describes a work of God that comes about at the command
of God. Creation results from the mere speaking of a word by God. The
formula here, with slight variations[16][14]
is, “God said… and it was so” (see verses 6-7, 9, 11, 14-15).
By
faith we understand that the worlds were set in order at God’s command,
so that the visible has its origin in the invisible (Hebrews
11:3, emphasis mine). For they deliberately suppress this fact, that by the
word of God heavens existed long ago and an earth was formed out of water
and by means of water (2 Peter 3:5, emphasis mine). God is so powerful He need
only speak a word, even to create a universe. Notice this understated comment
in verse 16: He made the stars also.
In
verses 14-16, we see the process by which God created the universe. God created
the luminaries, the most prominent of which are the sun and the moon. After
summarizing the creation of a mind-bending, seemingly infinite universe, Moses
speaks of the creation of the stars as almost an afterthought. It is as though
he said, “God created the entire expanse of the universe, along with the sun
and moon; and, oh, by the way, He also created the stars.” What an amazing God
He is!
(6)
The creation account suggests to us that just as God was intimately involved
in creating the world and mankind, He remains infinitely involved with them.
I will admit that this is somewhat inferential, but I believe it is one that we
are expected to see. Because God created the world through a process, He was
much more involved with it. The Spirit of God hovered[17][15]
over the face of the waters, even before the first day of creation (verse 2).
God did not create the world from a distance and then leave it to itself. God
created man in His own image and then created a garden where He communed with
the couple He created (Genesis 3:8). God is not distant from His creation but
remains very much involved with it. He is both the Creator and the Sustainer of
the world (see Colossians 1:15-17).
(7)
The creation account informs us that God designed man to have a
relationship with Him. Closely related to the last observation is the
inference that God created man to live in relationship with Him. We must be
very careful, however, as to how we view this. God did not create man to meet
His own unmet needs. God is totally sufficient within Himself. The Bible does not
say, “And God said, ‘It is not good for us to be alone; we will create man to
fill our need.’” God created man for His own glory, but the glory of God is
also for our good and our pleasure. If we see man’s origins as being rooted in
God’s need for us, then we are on a long and very slippery slope indeed. God
does not exist to serve us and to satisfy our needs; God created man to worship
Him, and to glorify Him in the world, as those created in His image. Having
said this, we should see that in His grace, God created us to enjoy and to
worship Him. Man was no more intended to live alone spiritually than Adam was
intended to live out his life alone, without a mate.
(8)
The Genesis account describes the creation of man as the crowning event
of the creation process. Man is not only the last living thing to be
created; his creation is presented as the climactic conclusion of the entire
process. God not only creates man last, He creates him in a very special way –
He breathes into his nostrils the breath of life (2:7). The woman, too, was
created in a very unique way, distinct from all other living creatures
(3:18-25). Man alone was uniquely created in God’s image and was given the
command to rule over the creation (Genesis 1:26-28). Far more space is devoted to
the creation of man than of any other creature.
The
fact that man is created last should teach us at least two lessons. The first
is that God has bestowed upon man a great and marvelous privilege, to be
created in His image, the crown of His creative work. No wonder the psalmist
writes,
3.
When I look up at the heavens, which your fingers made, and see the moon and
the stars, which you set in place,
4.
I think, “Of what importance is the human race, that you should notice them? Of
what importance is mankind, that you should pay attention to them,
5.
and make them almost like the heavenly beings?” You
grant mankind honor and majesty;
6.
you allow them to rule over your creation; you have
placed everything under their authority,
7.
including all the sheep and cattle, as well as the
wild animals,
8 the birds in the sky, the fish in the sea
and everything that moves through the channels of the seas.
9.
O LORD, our sovereign Master, how magnificent is your reputation throughout the
earth! (Psalm 8:3-9)
There
is a second, more humbling, lesson to be learned. The fact that man was created
last of all should humble us. If man was created last, then he was not there at
the beginning. Man had no part in the creation of the world. Creation was God’s
work, without any help from man. I believe that this is the point God is
driving home with Job in Job 38 and 39. Job never ceased to trust God, but he
did begin to question God, as though He had some explaining to do regarding his
suffering. God’s answer was very forceful. It can be roughly paraphrased in
this way: “Now let’s see, Job, as I hear what you are saying, you are
questioning the way I am working in your life. That reminds me, where were you
when I created the earth? Were you standing by, giving advice – “Why don’t you
hang the sun just a little lower, and make it a little bigger…”? Creation shows
that I am the Creator, and you are the creature. Creation shows My love, My wisdom, My power … so just why is it that you
are now so bold to question Me?”
I
might as well go ahead and paraphrase Job’s response: “Well, shut my mouth!”
The world in which we live reveals His glory, His wisdom, His power. Let us
never forget that. Being reminded of our role in creation (or rather the lack
of it) should humble us before God.
(9)
The creation account provides a pattern for man to imitate in the keeping of
the Sabbath. In Genesis 2:1-3, we read that on the seventh day God
rested and made it holy by doing so. Later on in the Pentateuch, keeping the
Sabbath will become a sign of the Mosaic Covenant, which must be observed,
under penalty of death.
(10)
The creation account reveals God’s sovereignty over all creation.
God named the things that He created. Later on, God gave Adam the task of
naming the living creatures and his wife. The word “called” (see 1:5, 8,
10, 19) is the same word that is used for Adam’s naming of the creatures
(2:19-20), and his wife (2:23; 3:20). It was (and still is) generally
understood that the one who is named is subordinate to the one giving the
names. By naming what He created, God declared His sovereignty. By having Adam
name some of the creation, God declared Adam’s authority (not sovereignty) over
nature. God delegated to man the responsibility of ruling over His creation.
(11)
The creation account reveals the fact that God built morality into His
creation. God’s creation was good because He made it, and because He
pronounced it good. On the one hand, the declaration “good” may indicate
God’s pleasure and satisfaction in creating the cosmos. On the other hand, I
believe “good” is a moral assessment as well. Atheistic materialism does
not see anything moral about material things; rather, it sees morality as
external and imposed upon material things by men (particularly religion). It
looks to me as though the creation account declares the material world God made
to be morally good.
(12)
There is a second moral element suggested in this account. When God
created the living creatures, He blessed them and commanded them to be fruitful
and to multiply, filling the earth (1:22, 28). God, the Giver of life,
commanded the living creatures to reproduce, and thus to value and promote
life. I wonder, therefore, if the creation account should not make those who
perform, or who undergo, abortions very uneasy. God, the life-giver, commands
that we extend life, not extinguish it. Incidentally, it is quite evident that
both man and beast lived on plants initially (1:29-30). It was not until after
the flood that meat eating was allowed (Genesis 9:3).
God
also created life as male and female. This is the way that reproduction was to
occur. If man was commanded to be fruitful and to multiply, and if God gave
Adam a woman to be his wife, how is it that our society is willing to accept
“same sex” marriages? I believe that at creation and before the fall, what was
natural was moral and good. No wonder Paul calls homosexuality unnatural
(Romans 1:26-27). When men depart from the way it was “in the beginning,”
they depart from what is natural and good (see Mark 10:2-9).
From Observations
to Applications
Before
we move on, let me suggest some implications and applications that flow from
the observations above.
(1)
We suggested that the “beginning” of Genesis 1 is not the ultimate beginning.
Let’s think about the implications of this for a moment. Man would like to
think that everything revolves around him, just as man once thought that the
sun revolved about the earth. The point is that there is a much bigger picture,
and man is but a small part of it, not the whole of it. Man was created by God,
and for God’s glory. Man was not created before the angels. Man has a place of
honor and responsibility in God’s creation, but man is still a creature.
(2)
We noted that God brought cosmos (order) out of chaos at the creation.
What a wonderful truth that is. God is able to take confusion and chaos and
make something beautiful and useful of it. God is not a God of disorder, but of
order (see 1 Corinthians 14:33, 40). Thus, when a Christian acts in a
disorderly way, or when the church is chaotic, that is not the result of God’s
work, but of our sin.
Let me ask you as kindly as I can, my friend, “Is your life in chaos?” If it is, then there is
really only one solution: God. Only God can make a new creation of your life,
turning your chaos into order. He does this through His Son, Jesus Christ. It
is He who came to the earth, adding perfect humanity to His undiminished deity,
to live a perfect life, to expose man’s sin, and to provide the payment for our
sins by dying on the cross of
17.
So then, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; what is old has passed
away—look, what is new has come!
18.
And all these things are from God who reconciled us to himself through Christ,
and who has given us the ministry of reconciliation.
19.
In other words, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not
counting people’s trespasses against them, and he has given us the message of
reconciliation.
20.
Therefore we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making His plea
through us. We plead with you on Christ’s behalf, “Be reconciled to God!”
21.
God made the one who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that in him we would
become the righteousness of God (2 Corinthians 5:17-21).
(3)
We pointed out that God created this world through a process, which took
place over time (six days). God works by means of processes, and He does
not do His work instantly. Think about Abraham for a moment. God promised
Abraham that he would be a father of a multitude, through a son He would give
to him and to Sarah. But this son was not born for 25 years.[18][16]
Think about the salvation of men. How many years passed between God’s promise
of a Savior to Adam and Eve (Genesis 3:15) and the coming of our Lord? God had
a plan and a process, and He took His time bringing it to pass. Nicodemus came
to our Lord in John 3, but it does not seem that he came to faith until some
time later.[19][17]
It certainly took our Lord’s disciples some time to understand what the gospel
was all about. They did not really grasp the gospel until after our Lord’s
death and resurrection. How many times I have asked someone, “Tell me how you
became a Christian.” Almost without exception, the response is something like
this: “Well, its kind of a long story… .”
God
also takes His time in accomplishing the process of sanctification. I think of
Jacob and am amazed by the fact that it took this man almost his entire
lifetime to forsake his scheming and simply trust God. And yet Christians today
want to be instantly spiritual and mature. God even employs a time-consuming
process in dealing with the wicked. Judgment is a process that often involves
warnings, then attention-getting action, and then final judgment. We keep
asking God, “How long?” because we don’t want to wait, but here, too, God works
through a process which takes time
(4)
We saw that the creation came into being by the Word of God. God merely
spoke a word and whatever He commanded happened. We now have the written
Word of God in our hands. I wonder how quick we are to respond to His commands.
I wonder how much confidence we have in His Word.
7.
The wicked need to abandon their lifestyle and sinful people their plans. They
should return to the LORD, and he will show mercy to them,
and to their God, for he will freely forgive them.
8.
“Indeed, my plans are not like your plans, and my deeds are not like your
deeds,
9.
for just as the sky is higher than the earth, so my
deeds are superior to your deeds and my plans superior to your plans.
10.
The rain and snow fall from the sky and do not return, but instead water the
earth and make it produce and yield crops, and provide seed for the planter and
food for those who must eat.
11.
In the same way, the promise that I make does not return to me, having
accomplished nothing. No, it is realized as I desire and is fulfilled as I
intend” (Isaiah 55:7-11).
1. This is what the
LORD says: “The heavens are my throne and the earth is my footstool. Where then
is the house you will build for me? Where is the place where I will rest?
2. My hand made them;
that is how they came to be,” says the LORD. I show special favor to the humble
and contrite, who respect what I have to say (Isaiah 66:1-2).
(5)
We saw that the process of creation was one that involved both separation
and joining together. My friend, Joe Baird, pointed out to me that
in chapter 2, God joined Adam and Eve together in marriage. Jesus later said
that whatever God had joined together, man should not separate (Matthew
19:4-6). Moses indicates that when a man and woman marry, they are to leave
their parents (separate) and to be joined together (Genesis 2:24-25). In the
creation of a people, God worked to join together or unify the sons of Jacob (
(6)
We have observed that God created a world with which He is intimately
involved. God is no distant “watcher,” who is either disinterested or
powerless to intervene in the affairs of this world. Indeed, the Scriptures
speak of God as constantly superintending and caring for His creation,
supplying rain and harvests and food for all His creatures.
(7)
We have seen that God desires for man to live in relationship with Him.
Can you image going on daily walks with God in the Garden of Eden? That’s what
Adam and Eve seemed to do (see Genesis 3:8-10). God provided the Garden, not
only as a place of residence and of service, but as a place of communion with
Him. Later on, God will provide other places where men may encounter Him: (1)
the land of
(8)
Finally, man was made in the image of God and commissioned by God to rule
over all creation. Surely this has environmental implications. We are to
care for the earth and not to abuse or pollute it. It is God’s creation, and we
have been placed on earth as His stewards to care for it. The earth (nature) is
not god, as some seem to think, but it is God’s creation. We dare not worship
it, but we should take good care of it.
What the Creation Account Should Have Taught the
Ancient Israelites
We
look back, not only on creation, but also on the experiences of
Let’s
pause for a moment, then, to see how the creation event shaped the thinking and
the conduct of some of the saints of old. The first incident that relates to
the creation account is the flood. God had created the world and all that was
in it, and yet very quickly after the fall it became corrupt and God destroyed
it. As the Creator, God owned all creation and could do with it as He pleased.
As the one who transformed a formless watery mass into a beautiful cosmos, God
was certainly able to “turn on the water” and bring about a worldwide flood.
The flood testifies to the fact that God was the creator, who was both able and
free to deal with His creation as He pleased.
The second informative incident is found in Genesis
14, where Abraham (Abram at this early point – see Genesis 17:5) encounters
that very fascinating fellow Melchizedek, the king of
Creator of heaven and earth.
20 Worthy of praise is the Most High God, who delivered your enemies into your
hand”(Genesis 14:19b-20a, emphasis mine). Shortly after this, the king of
What
a difference we see between Melchizedek, king of
It
was not just Abram who understood that his God was the Creator of heaven and
earth. Rahab, the harlot of
Rahab
knew that the God of Israel was God alone, and that her gods were no-gods. She
understood that as the Creator God was Lord over heaven and earth. Her faith in
God included her firm belief that God had created the heavens and the earth.
The
exodus of
Moses
sought to excuse himself from his God-given duty by claiming to be unskilled in
speaking. God reminded Moses that He had created his mouth. In a similar way,
in Psalm 139, David spoke of God as his Creator in the womb:13
Certainly you made my mind and heart; you wove me together in my mother’s womb.
14 I will give you thanks, because your deeds are awesome and amazing. You knew
me thoroughly; 15 my bones were not hidden from you, when I was made in secret and
sewed together in the depths of the earth. 16 Your eyes saw me when I was an
unborn fetus.
All the days ordained for me were recorded in your scroll before one of them
came into existence (Psalm 139:13-16).
The
exodus of the Israelites from
The
plagues were God’s answer to Pharaoh’s question. The plagues had to do with
nature (the
Who
is the God of Israel, that Pharaoh should obey His commands? He is the Creator
of heaven and earth; He is the one who speaks and the forces of nature obey.
The parting of the
This
was a very important series of miracles because it was verification of the
Creation account in Genesis 1 and 2. The first generation of Israelites to
leave
God As Creator in the Bible
There
are many, many texts of Scripture that refer to God as the Creator. Let me list
some of the significant texts I found:
Genesis 1-2; 14:19-22; 15:4-6; 24:2-4
Exodus 4:10-12; 20:8-11; 31:12-17
Deuteronomy 10:12-18; 11:11-17; 28:12, 23-24
Joshua 2:6-13
2 Samuel 22:6-18
2 Kings 19:14-19
1 Chronicles 16:26
Nehemiah 9:6
Job 38-39
Psalm 8; 19:1-6; 33:6-9; 89:11-12; 96:5; 102:23-28; 104:1-35[22][20]
107:23-31 (compare verse 29 with Matthew 8:26)
Psalm 121; 124:8; 134:3; 135:5-7; 136:1-9; 146:1-7; 147:7-9
Proverbs 3:19-20; 8:22-31; 30:1-4
Isaiah 37:14-20; 40:12-31; 42:5-9; 44:24-28; 45:8-12, 18; 48:12-16; 51:12-16;
54:5; 65:17-25
Jeremiah 4:23-28;[23][21]
10:6-16; 32:16-19; 51:14-17
Jonah 1:9
Zechariah 12:1
Acts 4:24; 14:14-18; 17:24
Romans 1:18-25; 9:20-21
1 Corinthians 8:4-6
Colossians 1:15-17
Hebrews 1:10; 11:3
Revelation 4:11; 10:6; 14:7
I
have summarized the lessons emphasized in these texts by means of the following
categories. This is far from complete, but it does demonstrate how important
the truth that God created the heavens and the earth is in the entire Bible:
(1)
The God of the Bible, the God of
Abraham
confessed this: Genesis 14:19, 22; 24:2-4
Rahab confessed it as well: Joshua 2:9-13
Jonah confessed it also: Jonah 1:9
See Romans 1:18-25
(2)
God is the center of all creation. As such, He alone is to be worshipped as
the Creator. Because the God of Israel is the Creator, and He has created
everything that has been created, there can be no other gods (for if there
were, God would have created them, and God says there is no other God beside
Him – Deuteronomy 6:4; Isaiah 45:14, 21). Idols, then, are merely the creation
of man’s hands. How tragic; God creates man, but heathen men think they can
create their own gods.
1
Chronicles 16:26
Psalm 96:5
Isaiah 40:12-31
Jeremiah 23:6-16; 51:14-17
Acts 14:14-18; 17:24
Romans 1:18-25
1 Corinthians 8:4-6
(3)
God, the Creator of heaven and earth, owns what He has created (Deuteronomy
10:14), and is therefore free to do with His creation as He pleases, which
includes showing mercy or executing judgment (election).
The
heavens and earth belong to God (Psalm 89:11-12).
He owns mankind and all living creatures – and thus the flood (Genesis 6-9). He
owns the land,
(4)
Because God has revealed His infinite wisdom and power in His creation
(Proverbs 3:19-20; Proverbs 8:22-31), and man is a mere creature, man should
not question the wisdom of God in what He is doing.
Job
38-39
Isaiah 45:9-13
(5)
Creation displays the attributes of God – He is powerful, all wise, eternal,
glorious and majestic. Men should therefore fear and worship God.
Psalm
8; 19:1-6
Psalm 33:6-8
Psalm 102:23-28
Psalm 134:3
Psalm 135:5-7
Psalm 136:1-9
Isaiah 51:12-16
Romans 1:19-20
Revelation 4:11; 14:7
(6)
As the Creator, God is in full and complete control over His creation.
He
sends and withholds the rains (Deuteronomy 11:11-17; 28:12, 24; 1 Kings 17-18;
James 5:17-18).
Psalm 96:5, 10
Zechariah 12:1
Colossians 1:15-17
(7)
As the Creator, God employs nature to do His will, which includes delivering
His people from their enemies.
In
battle – 2 Samuel 22:6-18
At the exodus – Exodus 6-15
Hezekiah’s prayer to God for protection from Sennacherib (2 Kings 19:14-19)
Psalm 121; 124:8; 146:1-7
Isaiah 37:14-20
Acts 4:24
(8) As the Creator, God has revealed His
infinite power, which serves as assurance that He will fulfill His future
promises (some of which are described as a “new creation”).
Isaiah
42:5-9
Isaiah 44:24-28
Isaiah 45:8-19
Isaiah 48:12-16
(9)
God’s method of Creation was intended as a pattern for man’s actions. Just
as God rested on the seventh day, after creating the world, so man should rest
on the Sabbath (Exodus 20:8-11; 31:15-17). Observing the Sabbath is one of
the ways
Conclusion
We
have only begun to scratch the surface, but I believe we have shown that
throughout the Bible it is demonstrated that God created the heavens and the
earth. The Creator of this earth is God, and He alone is God. Those who reject
nature’s testimony are guilty before God (Romans 1:18-27). If God is the
Creator, then His claims must be true.
The
New Testament makes a very amazing claim — that Jesus Christ was God, and that
He existed in eternity past, and was the Creator of this world:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God,
and the Word was God. 2 The Word was with God in the beginning. 3 All things
were created by him, and apart from him not one thing was created that has been
created. 4 In him was life, and the life was the light of mankind. 5 And
the light shines on in the darkness, but the darkness has not mastered it (John
1:1-5). 15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all
creation, 16 for all things in heaven and on earth were created by him—all
things, whether visible or invisible, whether thrones or dominions, whether
principalities or powers—all things were created through him and for him. 17 He
himself is before all things and all things are held together in him
(Colossians 1:15-17).
This
is a remarkable claim, which Jesus demonstrated to be true in His earthly life
and ministry, especially by His miracles. In John’s Gospel, the very first
miracle that Jesus performed is recorded in chapter 2. Attending a wedding with
his family and disciples, Jesus created wine from ceremonial cleansing water.
Jesus did not even touch the water; He simply spoke a command to the servants
(which His mother strongly urged them to obey), and the transformation took
place as they obeyed. In Mark 4:35-41, we see the stilling of the storm, once
again by His command. (Notice that in stilling the storm, our Lord seems to
fulfill the words of Psalm 89:9.) In John 11,
Jesus
raised Lazarus from the dead, proving He was the Giver of life.
It
is Jesus alone who can bring those who are dead in their trespasses and sins to
life (Ephesians 2:1-10). It is He alone who can make of us a new creation (2
Corinthians 5:17). It is He alone who can take this sin-torn world and replace
it with an eternal kingdom, where sin and death are no more. It is in Him that
you must place your trust for the forgiveness of sins and the assurance of
eternal life. There will come a day when this heaven and this earth will pass
away, and God will create a new heaven and a new earth. If you think that the
first creation was great, you haven’t seen anything yet. The new creation is
far superior (Revelation 21:1ff.). Are you ready for that day?
For
those who have trusted in Jesus Christ, not only as their Creator, but also as
their Savior, the fact that He is the Creator answers many questions and solves
many problems. It should encourage us to be patient when we fear that God is
not acting quickly enough. After all, He is eternal and is not in a hurry, and
He works through time-consuming processes. When we face obstacles or opposition
that cause us to fear, we need to remember that our
Lord is both the Creator and the Sustainer of His universe. He can employ any
and every part of His creation to come to our aid.[24][22]
When we are suffering in one form or another and we begin to doubt God’s
wisdom, let us remember that our God is the all-wise Creator of heaven and
earth. And when we wish to challenge God for His sovereign work of election,
let us remember that He is the Potter, and we are the clay; He is the Creator,
and we are the work of His hands. God can do as He wills with that which He has
made (see Romans 9:19-22).
Is
it any wonder that the creation account of Genesis is under attack? The
implications of the fact that God is the Creator of the heavens and the earth
are astounding. For the Christian, they are a source of comfort and joy. For
the unbeliever, they are terrifying. What a wonderful truth it is that God is
the Creator. And to think that we have been invited to enter into intimate fellowship
with Him through His Son.
Lesson 2 — The Fall of Man[25][23]
Genesis 3:1—5:32
Introduction
On
July 20, 1969, our family arrived at my parents’ home in
I
should begin by pointing out that the Bible consistently looks upon Adam and
Eve as real people, the first humans to inhabit this earth. The account of
their sin is not a fable, but a fact of history. Jesus spoke of Adam and Eve as
real people (Matthew 19:3-6), just as He did of Noah (Matthew 12:38-41). Paul
made much of Adam and Eve, and of his sin (Romans 5:12-21; 1 Corinthians
11:2-12; 2 Corinthians 11:3; 1 Timothy 2:8-15). When we read Moses’ account of
the fall, we are reading the story of two people, whose sin affected the whole
human race. The account of the fall is foundational to the rest of the Bible
and to the “unfolding drama of redemption.” Let us listen carefully, and heed
the lessons that are here for us.
The Setting
Genesis 2:4-25
While
our focus will be on Genesis 2:4—5:27, I must call your attention to the first
chapter of Genesis. Here, Moses informs us that God called the creation into
being through His own Word: “God said[26][24]
… and it was so.”[27][25]
By
faith we understand that the worlds were set in order at God’s command,
so that the visible has its origin in the invisible (Hebrews
11:3, emphasis mine). My friend, Randy Zeller, summed it up this way: “In
Genesis 1, the Word of God is the means by which the world was called into
existence; in chapter 2, it takes the form of God’s command to Adam, to rule
and to refrain from eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil; in
chapter 3, the Word of God is challenged by Satan and disobeyed by Adam and
Eve.” If the Word of God could call creation into being, surely it could be
trusted, and should be obeyed. Thus, chapter 1 sets the stage for the fall in
chapter 3.
Genesis
2 takes up the theme of creation, but from a different point of view. In
chapter 1, everything that God created was declared “good” or “very
good.” Beginning at verse 4 of chapter 2, we find the creation account
retold, but from a different perspective. This creation narrative does not
begin at the beginning, on the first day, but on the third day, when plant life
was created. In chapter 1, creation (or cosmos – order) came from chaos. In chapter
2, creation comes out of need. Notice the things that are lacking in chapter 2:
No shrubs or plants
(verse 5)
No rain (verse 5)
No man (verse 5)
No mate for Adam (verses 18-25)
Genesis
2 describes how God provided for the needs of His creation. As I understand it,
there could not be any plant life without water. At that time, it seems as
though there was no such thing as rain. How, then, would plant life survive?
God provided through the “mist” (some translations) or “springs”
(NET Bible). Technically, we could not say, “a river ran through
There
was yet one great need, and that need was for a mate for Adam. When God created
animal life, He created them male and female, so that they could reproduce and
fill the earth (1:22, 24). The way I read Genesis 2, God very purposefully led
Adam to an awareness of his need of a mate. To do this, God brought each of the
living creatures to Adam to be named. This naming was an expression of Adam’s
rule over creation, since he was made in God’s image and commanded to rule over
creation. But the naming accomplished another purpose – it highlighted the fact
that Adam was incomplete without a mate of his own.
I
can imagine how it happened. God brought the various animals to Adam to name,
two-by-two. Adam could see the male lion, with his larger body and impressive
mane, and he could see the female lion with him. If they had already begun to “be
fruitful and multiply,” Adam saw how it was that they reproduced. Sooner
than later, Adam would have to realize that these creatures all came in two’s –
a male and a female. The connection had to be made, and Adam must have realized
that he was a male. He realized that he needed a female, if he was to be “fruitful
and multiply.” And looking about him, he saw many “matched pairs,” but no
single creature that corresponded to him. How would he be able to fulfill his
mandate without a mate? The need was now evident.
In
stark contrast to chapter 1, God said of Adam’s situation: “It is not good
…” (2:18). Adam could not carry out his calling alone. He must have a mate
that corresponded to him (physically and otherwise). God provided for man’s
need in a most amazing way. He did not create a wife for Adam from the dust of
the earth; God created a wife for Adam from his own flesh. He anesthetized Adam
and took one of his ribs, making a woman from that flesh and bone. They were,
at the outset, “one flesh.” It is for this reason that Moses goes on to
say, 23 And the man said, “This is now bone of my
bones, and flesh of my flesh; She shall be called Woman, Because she was taken out of
In
the original creation, Adam and Eve had no parents, and they shared the same
flesh. They were truly “one flesh.” This was to serve as a pattern for
all future marriages, just as God resting on the Sabbath was to be a pattern
for mankind (see Genesis 2:1-3). When a man and a woman married, they would
become “one flesh” by means of their physical union. But they were to
exhibit a deeper unity as well, one that began with the first marriage. As Adam
and Eve had no parents, and became one flesh, so each husband and wife are to
become one flesh by leaving and by cleaving. They[29][27]
are to leave their parents, not by avoiding them, or by neglecting them (see
Mark 7:9-13), but by not living under the authority of their parents as they
once did. Since God joins a man and a woman together in marriage, no one should
dare to contribute to the breakup of that union.
The
point of chapter 2 is that God will provide for every true need of His
creation. The shrubs and plants needed water, and God provided springs and a
man to irrigate the garden. Adam needed a mate, and God wonderfully provided
for his need. We should learn from chapter 2 that God provides for the needs of
His creation, in His way, in His time, and in a manner that we would not have
expected. Surely we can see that if man needed the “knowledge of good and
evil,” God would also provide that. We also see that it was not to be
obtained through eating the forbidden fruit.
Chapter
2 sets the stage for the account of the fall in chapter 3 in yet another way.
It is in chapter 2 that God’s commandments concerning the trees of the garden
are given. God created a garden, and in this garden He provided every good
tree. In this garden was every tree that was “pleasing to look at and good
for food.” This must mean that the forbidden tree was also pleasing to the
sight and pleasant to the taste. It, too, would have been “pleasing to look
at and good for food.” God did not forbid Adam to eat of the fruit of this
tree because it was a bad tree, with bad fruit, but because He did not want him
to obtain the knowledge of good and evil by eating from its fruit.
God’s
instructions to Adam are concise and clear. Adam was to care for and maintain
the garden. He could freely eat from any tree of the garden, except from the
tree of the knowledge of good and evil. God said that if he ate of the fruit of
this tree, he would surely die the day he ate of it.[30][28]
The tree of the knowledge of good and evil was in the very center of the
garden, in addition to the tree of life. Adam was therefore faced with a
choice, the choice between life and death. We know that at the time this
command was given, Adam was alone, because Eve had not yet been created. (This
is further indicated by the fact that the “you” in verse 17 is singular,
not plural.) This simply means that it will be Adam’s responsibility to
communicate God’s commandment to Eve.
The Temptation and the Fall
Genesis 3:1-7
1
Now the serpent was more shrewd than any of the wild
animals that the Lord God had
made. He said to the woman, “Is it really true that God said, ‘You must not eat
from any tree of the orchard’?” 2 The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of
the fruit from the trees of the orchard; 3 but concerning the fruit of the tree
that is in the middle of the orchard God said, ‘You
must not eat from it, and you must not touch it, or else you will die.’” 4 The
serpent said to the woman, “Surely you will not die, 5
for God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will open and you will be
like divine beings who know good and evil.” 6 When the woman saw that the tree
produced fruit that was good for food, was attractive to the eye, and was
desirable for making one wise, she took some of its fruit and ate it. She also
gave some of it to her husband who was with her, and he ate it. 7 Then the eyes
of both of them opened, and they knew they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves
together and made coverings for themselves.
The
thing that strikes me is that we are not fully three chapters into the Bible
before we encounter the account of the fall, and the description of the actual
fall is only seven verses long. More than this, Adam is held responsible for
the fall, but most of the actual fall is described in terms of what Eve did. It
happens so quickly and so easily, and seemingly without resistance or
hesitation. How can this be? No one ever had it better than Adam and Eve. They
have no sin nature, inclining them toward evil. They have everything they could
possibly need, and they live in a perfect world. So how is it
that Adam and Eve can be persuaded to disobey God and spoil it all?
There
are several parts to the answer. We can see from our text that Satan is
incredibly shrewd.[31][29]
We have not been introduced to Satan before this, but the serpent was certainly
a created being, and thus Adam would have previously named him. Satan himself
is a created being (Ezekiel 28:13, 15). Satan’s fall is described in Isaiah
14:12-15 and Ezekiel 28:12-15. In our text, he reveals his shrewdness in
several ways. First, Satan determines to wage his attack against man through
his “helper,” Eve. I believe he does this because he feels that if he can
persuade Eve to disobey God, Adam will be inclined to follow her. He also may
know that God did not give the commandment concerning the forbidden fruit to
Eve directly, but rather to Adam. Her information was therefore second hand.
Neither was Eve involved in naming the animals, which would have reinforced the
fact that man was to rule over creation (and thus over the serpent). Adam would
have been more sensitive to the insubordination of the serpent, who dared to deceive
the woman and to promote disobedience to God’s command.
Furthermore,
the serpent approaches Eve as though he were a seeker or learner. He came to
her with what appeared to be an innocent question. He seemed willing to be
corrected if he happened to be wrong. It was not a direct, frontal attack
against God’s command, but a deceptive scheme.
In
addition to this, the serpent appeared to come as a friend, who had Eve’s best
interests at heart.
Satan does not disclose his agenda. He does not come as a liar and a murderer,
though he is just that (John 8:44). He comes as a friend, a disinterested third
party who is merely looking out for Eve’s best interest, supplying her with
knowledge she lacks.
His
great shrewdness is seen by the way he is able to completely change Eve’s
perspective, so that she chooses to disobey God rather than to obey Him. I think it is
safe to say that Satan is so skillful in his deception that he persuaded Eve to
place her faith in him, and in his word, rather than in God, and in His Word.
Here, in brief, is how he did so: Initially, Satan appears humble and
“teachable,” but soon he takes on an air of confidence and authority. He seems
like someone who knows what he’s talking about, someone she can trust. Satan
appeals to Eve’s sensual desires. She should have viewed the fruit of the tree
as beautiful and tasty, but forbidden. She came to see it as desirable, period.
Satan subtly creates a distrust of God by minimizing His grace, and by
encouraging Eve to view God as miserly, withholding from her something truly
good. Satan causes Eve to doubt God’s Word, while believing his assurances (“You
shall surely not die!”).
Satan
persuades Eve to seek her own interests first of all, and to act independently
of her husband and God, in order to achieve what she perceives as her highest
good. Satan uses Eve to lead her husband into sin.
Adam’s
actions are even more baffling than those of his wife. We know from
Paul’s words in the New Testament that there was a fundamental difference
between Adam’s sin and that of his wife: Eve was deceived, but Adam was not (2
Corinthians 11:3; 1 Timothy 2:14). If Adam was not
deceived, then why did he disobey God? And why does his eating the forbidden
fruit appear as almost a footnote to the account of Eve’s sin?
We
do know from Genesis 3:17 that God found Adam guilty for obeying Eve. Adam did
not lead; he followed. He did what his wife urged him to do, rather than to do
as God had commanded him to do. As distressing as it is to admit, it appears
from verse 6 that Adam was with Eve all the time, as well as at the time she
offered him some of the forbidden fruit.
When
the woman saw that the tree produced fruit that was good for food, was
attractive to the eye, and was desirable for making one wise, she took some of
its fruit and ate it. She also gave some of it to her husband who was
with her, and he ate it (Genesis 3:6, emphasis mine). No wonder Adam so
quickly ate of the forbidden fruit! He was there all the time. Adam was to rule
over creation. Adam was to lead his wife (whose authority over her was evident
by his priority in being created, by his being the source of her life, and by
his naming her),[32][30]
and with her, to rule over creation. And yet we see Adam standing silently by
as this creature deceives his wife and blasphemes God. How could he do so? Was
he so awe struck by her beauty that he obeyed her, thus knowingly disobeying
God? We may not know why Adam obeyed
his wife, but we do know that he
obeyed her, and for this he was guilty of sin.
Confrontation and Curses
Genesis 3:8-19
8
And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of
the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD
God among the trees of the garden. 9 Then the LORD God called to the man, and
said to him, “Where are you?” 10 He said, “I heard the sound of You in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so
I hid myself.” 11 And He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you
eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” 12 And the man said,
“The woman whom You gave to be with me, she
gave me from the tree, and I ate.” 13 Then the LORD God said to the woman,
“What is this you have done?” And the woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and
I ate.”
14 And the LORD God said to the serpent, “Because you
have done this,
Cursed are you more than all cattle, And more than every beast of the field;
On your belly shall you go, And dust you shall eat All the days of your life;
15 And I will put enmity Between
you and the woman, And between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on
the head, And you shall bruise him on the heel.”
16 To the woman he said, “I will greatly multiply Your
pain in childbirth,
In pain you shall bring forth children; Yet your desire shall be for your
husband, And he shall rule over you.”
17 Then to Adam He said, “Because you have listened to the
voice of your wife and have eaten from the true about which I commanded you,
saying, ‘You shall not eat from it’, Cursed is the ground because of you; In toil you shall eat of it All the days of your life.
18
“Both thorns and thistles it shall grow for you, And
you shall eat the plants of the field;
19
By the sweat of your face You shall eat bread, Till you return to the ground, Because
from it you were taken;For you are dust, And to dust
you shall return.”[33][31]
Notice
the order of God’s confrontation and of the curses pronounced. The
chain-of-command was God – Adam – Eve – serpent. The order of the fall was
serpent – Eve – Adam. When God confronted this sin, He first confronted Adam
(3:9-12), then Eve (3:13). While God questioned Adam and Eve, He did not
question the serpent. God was not in any way attempting to redeem the serpent.
The order of the curses comes according to the order of the fall, so that the
serpent is cursed first, then Eve, and finally Adam.
Notice
also that Adam and his wife were not seeking God but were seeking to hide from
Him. They covered their nakedness with fig leaves, and sought to hide
themselves in the trees of the garden. It was God who sought out these first
sinners. And so it has been ever since. No one seeks God; God seeks out sinners
in order to save them:
“There
is no one righteous, not even one,
11 there is no one who understands,
there is no one who seeks God” (Romans 3:10b-11).
9
Then Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this household, since he
too is a son of Abraham. 10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the
lost” (Luke 19:9-10).
The
serpent’s curse was two-fold. In the first place, he was going to “bite the
dust” as we would put it. The serpent must have originally carried himself in
an upright position, because his curse is to crawl about in the dust as the
most cursed[34][32]
of all creatures. The ultimate curse is the prophecy of his total destruction
in verse 15b:“He shall bruise you on the head, And
you shall bruise him on the heel.”[35][33]
Christians
have understood this to be the first prophecy of the coming of the Messiah, who
was the last Adam (Romans 5:12-21; 1 Corinthians 15:45). The Messiah will be of
the “seed of the woman:” He will be human (and, of course, divine). One of Eve’s descendants will “crush the head” of the serpent,
while at the same time “bruising His heel.” The blow of Messiah’s heel
to the serpent’s head will destroy the serpent, but it will also bruise the
heel of the Savior. Here is the first prophecy of the cross of our Lord, where
Satan’s defeat is accomplished (see John 12:31).
The
curse of Eve and of Adam falls in the area of their primary focus or
contribution.[36][34]
While it is not precisely stated in our text, we know that the curse on Adam
fell upon all his male descendants, just as the curse on Eve fell upon all her
female descendants. Both Eve and Adam will suffer painful labor. Eve will
suffer pain in the labor of childbearing; Adam will suffer painful labor in
raising food. In addition, Eve will have the desire to rule over her husband,
but she must endure the leadership of her husband (3:16). The final words of
Genesis 4:7 are strikingly similar to those of 3:16:[37][35]
“You
will want to control your husband,
but he will dominate you” (3:16).
“It desires to dominate you,
but you must suppress it” (4:7).
There
are those who interpret Genesis 3:16 differently, but it seems to me that God
has made Eve’s curse appropriate to her sin, which was leading her husband,
rather than following him.Adam’s curse came in relation to the soil that he was
instructed to cultivate. Because he obeyed the voice of his wife, Adam would
find the soil less productive. Now, the growing of food would require hard
labor. I think we could say that from this point on he had to contend with
diseases, with insects, and with weeds – all of the things gardeners have to
deal with today. In addition to this, Adam himself would return to the ground (as
would Eve). This was part of the penalty of death, about which God had earlier
spoken to Adam.
I
sometimes hear men speak of their work in very idealistic terms. I think that
they desire for their work to be, for them, as work was for Adam, before the fall.
Is your job less than fulfilling? Does your work require some things of you
that you don’t enjoy? Do you have to put in long hours and hard labor? That’s
all part of the curse. That’s normal. To expect too much of one’s work is to
hope that Adam’s curse might somehow bypass you. It doesn’t. This is not to say
that there should be no measure of enjoyment in your work, but it does mean
that work is much more “work” than it would have been before the fall of man.
Consequences of the Fall
Genesis 3:22—5:27[38][36]
The
consequences of the fall quickly begin to appear. Some were “unseen” in the
sense that God’s command to Adam in 2:16-17 did not spell out all of the
repercussions of disobedience. Some of these were the direct outworking of the
curses God pronounced, and some are not. For example, in Genesis 2:25 we were
told that before the fall, Adam and Eve were both naked and yet they felt no
sense of shame. After the fall, Adam and Eve are immediately aware of their
nakedness and are quick to try to cover it. They sew fig leaves together for
coverings (Genesis 3:7), and they attempt to hide from God among the trees of
the garden (3:8). Their sin produced a sense of guilt and shame, which they
could not cover.
In
addition to their shame, Adam and Eve also experienced separation from God.
They withdrew themselves, seeking to hide from God as we mentioned above. But
in addition to this, God cast them out of the garden, stationing angels to
guard the entrance, so that they would not be able to return to it to eat of
the fruit of the tree of life (3:23-24).
God
did warn Adam that death would result from eating the forbidden fruit, and we
surely begin to see that in 3:19 – 5:27. God announces to Adam that he will die
(3:19). Death will go far beyond Adam, however. Death has now entered the world
for all living creatures. 19 For the creation eagerly waits for the revelation
of the sons of God. 20 For the creation was subjected to futility—not willingly
but because of God who subjected it—in hope 21 that the creation itself will
also be set free from the bondage of decay into the glorious freedom of God’s
children. 22 For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers together
until now. 23 Not only this, but we ourselves also, who have the first fruits
of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we eagerly await our adoption, the redemption
of our bodies (Romans 8:19-23).
The
animals from which God made coverings of skin for Adam and Eve would have had
to die (3:21). In Genesis 4, things go from bad to worse. Adam’s rebellion
against God is reflected and amplified in Cain’s rebellion against God, and in
the murder of his brother, Abel. Cain’s response to God’s gracious rebuke
reveals insolence on Cain’s part. God did not find Cain or his sacrifice
acceptable, but He told him what he could do to rectify the situation. Cain’s
response is anger, and he takes that anger out on his righteous brother,
killing him, and then denying any responsibility for his brother’s well being.
Cain is therefore cursed to live the life of a wanderer.
The
line of Cain’s descendants shows how the sin of Adam, and then of Cain,
compounded itself. Moses briefly passes over Cain’s son Enoch,
and his son Mehujael, and Mehujael’s son Methushael. The genealogy of the line
of Cain ends at Genesis 4:18-24 with the account of Lamech, Methushael’s son.
Notice that Lamech takes two wives, rather than just one (4:19), and that he
boasts to them:23 Lamech said to his wives, “Adah and
Zillah! Listen to me! You wives of Lamech, hear my words! I have killed a man
for wounding me, a young man for hurting me. 24 If Cain is to be avenged seven
times as much, then Lamech seventy-seven times” (Genesis 4:23-24) Lamech does
not look upon the sin of Cain as something evil, but as a kind of standard that
he wishes to surpass. Did Cain kill his brother in anger? Lamech killed a man
for wounding him, in fact, he was a young man who had
in some way injured him (accidentally?). His reaction was out of proportion to
the offense. Due to his fear of being harmed as a vagabond, God pronounced a
curse upon anyone who harmed Cain. Lamech dared anyone to give him any trouble
or he would do much more! The line of Cain went downhill very quickly.
In
contrast to the line of Cain, we are introduced to another line – the line of
Seth. Think about Adam and Eve for a moment. They had two sons, one of whom
(Abel) was a godly fellow; the other (Cain) was not. Can’t you imagine Adam and
Eve thinking to themselves, “This must be the ‘seed’
through whom God will accomplish our salvation, and the destruction of Satan?”
How their hopes must have been dashed with the murder of Abel. Many years seem
to have passed, because Adam is 130 years old when their son Seth was born
(5:3). Adam and his wife must have felt that Seth was Abel’s replacement and
hoped that he was the promised “seed” of the woman (Genesis 3:15). Seth
had a son name Enosh, and Enosh had a son named Kenan. Kenan’s son was named
Mahalalel. Mahalalel became the father of Jared, and Jared was the father of
Enoch. Enoch later became the father of Methuselah. Methuselah became the
father of Lamech, and Lamech was the father of Noah.
All
these men lived very long lives by today’s standards. Adam lived 930 years, for
example, and Methuselah 969 years. But Moses does not just wish for us to learn
that these men lived long lives; Moses tells us that the fate of each man (save
one) was the same – death. Over and over again we read, “And he died.”
Surely Moses is repeating this to demonstrate that God’s words to Adam were
true. The wages of sin is death. Not only did Adam die because of his sin, but
all of his descendants died as well.
The
bright light in all of this darkness is Enoch. Enoch “walked with God”
we are told (Genesis 5:24). He did not die, but was somehow raptured up into
heaven. Literally, “he was no more” – he just vanished one day. This is
God’s way of informing us that He is faithful to save. The sin of Adam and Eve
did bring death upon all, but God’s grace also brought about deliverance from
death. Enoch is the firstfruits of those who will not taste death. He did not
follow a system of rules, nor did he have the law to keep. He simply “walked
with God” and “was no more.” Enoch is strategically placed in
chapter 5 to remind us that while “the wages of sin is death,” the “gift
of God is eternal life.” In the midst of man’s sin and God’s judgment,
there is hope for our deliverance from the penalty of death.
The Cure
The
sin of Adam and Eve brought consequences and curses, not only upon Adam and his
wife, but also upon all of their offspring. Is there any hope for Adam and his
offspring? Is there any hope for us? There certainly is. Ironically, the cure
is closely related to the curse. God cast Adam and Eve out of the garden, and
while this is a punishment for their sin, it was also a gracious action on
God’s part. Had God allowed them to live in the garden, they would have eaten
of the fruit of the tree of life. The problem is that having done so they would
have lived forever, as fallen creatures. What a terrible fate! God also
pronounced death as a part of the curse, but this too was a part of the cure.
The only way out of this life and the consequences of sin is death. The death
of animal sacrifices was a way of putting off judgment, until God provided a
permanent solution. Ultimately it would be the death of the Messiah that would
deliver men from their sins. Further, His resurrection assures the believer of
their deliverance from death. As part of the curse, Eve would experience great
pain in bearing children, but the really good news was that it was through the
birth of a child that the Savior would come, Who would
bruise His own heel while crushing the head of Satan.
And
so it is that in the midst of a text dealing with sin and its consequences,
there is hope in these early chapters of Genesis. Adam expressed hope when he
named his wife Eve, “because she was the mother of all the living”
(3:20). It seems to me that Adam has already begun to find hope in the promise
of Genesis 3:15. As the “mother of all the living” Eve was also the
mother of the promised Savior. While Cain and his seed must have been a source
of sorrow and disappointment to Adam and Eve, Seth was certainly a source of
hope. It was through his offspring that the deliverer would come. This was
underscored by the rapture of Enoch, who walked with God and “was no more.”
Here was a godly man on whom death did not have a grip. He was a symbol of hope
for all who would walk with God. And finally, there was Noah, concerning whom
we read:28 When Lamech had lived one hundred and
eighty-two years, he had a son. 29 He named him Noah, saying, “This one will
bring us comfort from our labor and from the painful toil of our hands, because
of the ground that the LORD has cursed” (Genesis 5:28-29).He was a deliverer,
but the deliverer had yet to come, and would not come for some time.
God’s unfolding drama of redemption contains many more chapters. Nevertheless,
the hope of a deliverer is here.
What Does This Story Teach
The
first question we must ask is, “What were the first readers of this account to
learn from it?” What was God saying to the second generation of Israelites who
had left
First,
the ancient Israelites would be reminded of the fact that they were “prone to wander”
from the path of obedience. If unfallen Adam and Eve fell this quickly and easily
into sin, those who now have inherited a fallen nature from them can all too
easily fall into sin. God did not choose the Israelites because of their piety,
but because of His grace. Let every Israelite be on guard, knowing how easy it
is to fall into sin.
Second,
the Israelites should be warned of the danger of being led astray by foreign
women.
God gave very strict orders concerning the Canaanites, whose sexual practices
were exceedingly corrupt. You will recall that when the Moabites could not
overcome the Israelites by hiring Balaam to pronounce a curse on them (see
Numbers 22-24), they did succeed somewhat through seduction (Numbers 25).
Solomon, wise as he was, had his heart turned away from God by his foreign
wives (1 Kings 11:1ff.). Let the Israelite men learn that women can lead them
astray, particularly those foreign women who worship other gods. If Adam could
be led astray by his wife, who was created as his helper, think of what would
happen if they married heathen women.
Third,
the Israelites should learn that following God requires denying one’s sensual
desires, rather than striving to satisfy them. When Paul writes to the Corinthian
saints, he informs them that they need to learn self-control and self-denial.
It was because of their determination to satisfy their fleshly appetites that
they chose to eat meats offered to idols, even though this might cause a weaker
brother to stumble (see 1 Corinthians 8:1-13). Paul cited his own self-denial
as an example for the Corinthians to follow (see
1 Corinthians 9). Then, in the closing verses of chapter 9, he appeals to them
to practice self-discipline. Following this, he reminds them that the failure
of the Israelites in the wilderness was due to their preoccupation with
satisfying their fleshly desires: 24 Do you not know that all the runners in a
stadium compete, but only one receives the prize? So run to win. 25 Each
competitor must exercise self-control in everything. They do it to receive a
perishable crown, but we an imperishable one. 26 So I do not run uncertainly or
box like one who hits only air. 27 Instead I subdue my
body and make it my slave, so that after preaching to others I myself will not
be disqualified (1 Corinthians 9:24-27).
1
For I do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters, that our fathers
were all under the cloud and all passed through the sea, 2 and all were
baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, 3 and all ate the same spiritual
food, 4 and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they were all drinking from
the spiritual rock that followed them, and the rock was Christ. 5 But God was
not pleased with most of them, for they were cut down in the wilderness. 6
These things happened as examples for us, so that we will not crave evil things
as they did. 7 So do not be idolaters, as some of them were. As it is written, “The
people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play.” 8 And let us not
be immoral, as some of them were, and twenty-three thousand died in a single
day. 9 And let us not put Christ to the test, as some of them did, and were
destroyed by snakes. 10 And do not complain, as some of them did, and were
killed by the destroyer. 11 These things happened to them as examples and were
written for our instruction, on whom the ends of the
ages have come. 12 So let the one who thinks he is standing be careful that he
does not fall. 13 No trial has overtaken you that is
not faced by others. And God is faithful: he will not let you be tried too
much, but with the trial will also provide a way through it so that you may be
able to endure (1 Corinthians 10:1-13).
Eve
was deceived into believing that seeking the satisfaction of her own desires
was more important than obedience to God’s commands. I believe that Adam was
not deceived, but that he, too, chose to satisfy his desires rather than to
obey. The Israelites would be tempted in the same way, and the account of the
fall served as a warning.
Fourth,
the Israelites should be impressed with the importance of obeying God’s
commands, and with the painful consequences of disobedience. God had
essentially given Adam a single commandment, which he failed to obey. The
Israelites were given much more extensive instruction in the Law of Moses. Let
the Israelites learn from Adam and Eve that disobedience to God’s commands
brings judgment.
Fifth,
the Israelites, like Adam and Eve of old, were faced with one of two choices. In the
center of that garden were two trees: the tree of life and the tree of the
knowledge of good and evil. Essentially, we could say that before Adam and Eve
was the necessity to choose between life or death.
Exactly the same choices faced the Israelites of Moses’ day:
1
“Now when all these things happen to you—the blessing and the curse I
have set before you—and you remember them in all the nations where the Lord your God has exiled you, 2 if you
turn to the Lord your God and
listen to him just as I am commanding you today—you and your descendants—with
your whole mind and being, 3 then the Lord
your God will reverse your captivity and have pity on you. He will turn and
gather you from all the peoples among whom he has scattered you. 4 Even if any
of your dispersed are under the most distant skies, from there the Lord your God will gather and bring you
back. 5 Then he will bring you to the land your ancestors possessed and you
also will possess it; he will do better for you and multiply you more than he
did your ancestors. 6 The Lord
your God will also cleanse your heart and the hearts of your descendants so
that you may love him with all your mind and being, in order to live. 7 Then
the Lord your God will put all
these curses on your enemies, on those who hate you and persecute you. 8 You
will return and pay attention to the Lord,
keeping all his commandments I am giving you today. 9 The Lord your God will make the labor of
your hands abundantly successful—in your offspring, the offspring of your
cattle, and the crops of your fields. For the Lord
your God will once more rejoice over you for good just as he rejoiced over your
ancestors, 10 if you obey the Lord
your God and keep his commandments and statutes that are written in this book
of the law, that is, if you turn to him with your whole mind and being. 11 “For
this commandment that I am giving you today is not too awesome
for you, nor is it too remote. 12 It is not in heaven, as though one must say,
“Who will go up to heaven to get it for us so that we may hear and obey it?” 13
And it is not across the sea, as though one must say, “Who will cross over to
the other side of the sea and get it for us so that we may hear and keep it?”
14 For the thing is very near you—it is in your mouth
and mind so that you can do it. 15 “Look! I have set
before you today life and prosperity on the one hand, and death and disaster on
the other. 16 What I am commanding you today is to love the Lord your God, to walk in his
ways, and to obey his commandments, his statutes, and his ordinances. Then you
will live and become numerous and the Lord your God will bless you in the land
where you are going to take possession of it. 17 However, if you turn aside and
do not obey, but are lured away to worship and serve other gods, 18 I declare
to you this very day that you will certainly perish! You will not extend your
time in the land you are crossing the
39 “See now that I, indeed I, am he!” says the Lord,
“and there is no other god besides me.
I am the one who kills and brings to life.
I smash and I heal,
and none can deliver from my power.
40 For I raise up my hand to heaven,
and say, ‘As I live forever,
41 I will sharpen my
lightning-like sword,
and my hand will grasp hold of judgment;
I will execute vengeance on my foes,
and repay those who hate me!
42 I will satisfy my arrows
fully with blood,
and my sword will eat flesh;
with the blood of the slaughtered and captured,
from the chief of the enemy’s leaders!’”
43 Cry out, O nations, with his
people,
for he will avenge his servants’ blood;
he will direct vengeance against his enemies,
and make atonement for his land and people.
44
Then Moses went with Joshua son of Nun and recited all the words of this song
to the people. 45 When Moses finished reciting all these words to all
Simply
put, if the Israelites were to live, they must keep God’s commandment;[39][37]
If they disobey, they will die. It is just as simple as that. And so the
Israelites of old had the same decision to make as did Adam and Eve. Would they
choose life, or would they choose death?
Lessons For Men and Women
Today
There
are many lessons for us to learn, and I will only be able to touch on these.
First,
our text explains the reason for suffering, sorrow, and injustice in this world. There are some
who foolishly say, “I refuse to believe in a God who is both good and
all-powerful, but who allows suffering and injustice.” God did not create a
world that was unjust, or filled with sorrow. He created a perfect world. He
also created a world in which man was given the choice of whether to obey or
disobey God’s command. It is man’s sin that has brought about sickness,
suffering, death, and injustice. The fact that God punishes sin demonstrates
that He is righteous, and it is we who are sinners, deserving His wrath. When
you and I look around and see so much that is wrong, we should acknowledge that
the cause of all this is sin – man’s disobedience to God’s Word. Sin and
suffering tells us that there is something desperately wrong with us, not with
God.
Second,
the fall of man in the garden is the reason for some of God’s commands to us
today.
Why is it that women are commanded to keep silent
in the churches or instructed that they must not lead men? Paul tells us that
it is because of the fall of Adam and Eve in the garden: 9 Likewise the women
are to dress in suitable apparel, with modesty and self-control. Their
adornment must not be with braided hair and gold or pearls or expensive
clothing, 10 but with good deeds, as is proper for women who profess reverence
for God. 11 A woman must learn quietly with all submissiveness. 12 But I do not
allow a woman to teach or have authority over a man. She must remain quiet. 13
For Adam was formed first and then Eve. 14 And Adam was not deceived, but the
woman, because she was fully deceived, fell into transgression. 15 But she will
be delivered through childbearing, if she continues in faith and love and
holiness with self-control (1 Timothy 2:9-15).
As
in all the churches of the saints, 34 the women should be silent in the churches,
for they are not permitted to speak. Rather, let them be in submission, as in
fact the law says. 35 If they want to find out about something they should ask
their husbands at home, because it is disgraceful for a woman to speak in
church. 36 Did the word of God begin with you, or did it come to you alone? (1
Corinthians 14:33b-36).
I
know that there are many non-Christians (and some Christians as well) who will
say, “That’s just nonsense! Paul has no right to demand such conduct. It makes
no sense to me, and I’m not going to do it!” Let me simply point out that this
is precisely the same attitude and response that we see in Eve. The commands
given to women are not based on any inferiority so far as women are concerned.
These commands are rooted in the fall, and in the curse. Our response to them
reveals either our submission to God or our disobedience. It is really as
simple as that.
Third,
we now know the cure for the curse. Someone may very well ask, “Why
did God allow the consequences of Adam’s sin to fall on the entire human race?”
“Why is it fair for me to suffer for what Adam did?” In the first place, I
would say that most of my suffering is because of my sin, not Adam’s. But
having said this, God was gracious to allow the action of this one man to affect
me. It was gracious because He also purposed for the actions of another Man, a
last Adam, to reverse the consequences of the first Adam’s sin:
12
So then, just as sin entered the world through one man and death through sin,
and so death spread to all people because all sinned — 13 for before the law
was given, sin was in the world, but there is no accounting for sin when there
is no law. 14 Yet death reigned from Adam until Moses even over those who did
not sin in the same way that Adam (who is a type of the coming one)
transgressed. 15 But the gracious gift is not like the transgression. For if
the many died through the transgression of the one man, how much more did the
grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one man Jesus Christ multiply to the
many! 16 And the gift is not like the one who sinned. For judgment, resulting
from the one transgression, led to condemnation, but the gracious gift from the
many failures led to justification. 17 For if, by the transgression of the one
man, death reigned through the one, how much more will those who receive the
abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the
one, Jesus Christ! 18 Consequently, just as condemnation for all people came
through one transgression, so too through the one righteous act came righteousness leading to life for all people. 19 For
just as through the disobedience of the one man many were made sinners, so also
through the obedience of one man many will be made righteous. 20 Now the law
came in so that the transgression may increase, but where sin increased, grace
multiplied all the more, 21 so that just as sin reigned in death, so also grace
will reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord
(Romans 5:12-21).
42
It is the same with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable,
what is raised is imperishable. 43 It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in
glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; 44 it is sown a natural
body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also
a spiritual body. 45 So also it is written, “The first man, Adam, became a
living person; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit.” 46 However, the
spiritual did not come first, but the natural, then the spiritual. 47 The first
man is from the earth, made of dust, the second man is from heaven. 48 Like the
one made of dust, so too are those made of dust, and like the one from heaven,
so too those who are heavenly. 49 And just as we have borne the image of the
man of dust, let us also bear the image of the man of heaven (1 Corinthians
15:42-49).
Adam
was the first Adam, whose sin made all mankind sinners. Jesus Christ is the “last
Adam.” He was tempted in every area, but unlike Adam, our Lord never failed
(Hebrews 2:18; 4:15). His handling of Satan’s temptation (Matthew 4:1-11; Luke
4:1-12) was the opposite of Adam, and it provides us with much insight
concerning dealing with temptation. He was tempted, yet without sin. He who was
without sin became sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in
Him (2 Corinthians 5:22). Adam’s
sin brought all those in him (all mankind) into condemnation; Christ’s
righteousness makes all who are found in Him righteous. We have a choice before
us: whether we will remain in Adam, and thus under divine condemnation, or
whether we will be found in Christ by trusting in Him, resulting in eternal
life.
The
message of our text could probably be summarized by five terms:
Faith. The outcome of the
temptation of Adam and Eve was determined on the basis of who they chose to
trust. The things that they were dealing with were, to them, unseen. They had
never seen death, and did not really know what life was. They did not know what
“the knowledge of good and evil” was, either. When man fell in the
garden, it was due to misplaced faith. Eve trusted Satan, rather than God.
The Word of God. It was God’s Word
vs. Satan’s, and Eve chose to believe Satan. God’s Word was sufficient to call
creation into existence. The question was whether or not it was sufficient for
Adam and Eve to live by.
Obedience. The test that God
gave Adam and Eve was one of obedience. Would they obey His command?
Grace. God was
gracious to create the perfect world that He did, and to place man in the
garden. God was gracious to forbid Adam and Eve to eat of the forbidden fruit.
He was gracious to seek out Adam and Eve, and to point out their sin. He was
gracious to promise the coming of a Savior, who would once and for all destroy
the evil one. In the Old Testament, as the New, grace is to be found on every
page.
Leadership. The fall took
place because Adam failed to lead, as God had commanded him. He listened to his
wife, rather than to lead her, and to exercise authority over the serpent.
In
conclusion, I would like to point out what I feel is a vitally important lesson
that we were intended to learn from the account of man’s fall. Adam and Eve
fell because they did not trust God to meet their needs. They felt that they
had to act independently of God, and in disobedience to His Word, in order to
have their desires satisfied. Eve saw the forbidden fruit as desirable, and she
was willing to disobey God (even though He threatened death) to satisfy her
needs (as she defined them). Seemingly, Adam was willing to disobey God because
he felt he needed Eve more than God. Why else would he knowingly disobey God to
obey her?
I
believe Genesis 2 was written to demonstrate that God is both willing and able
to meet our legitimate needs, in His way, and in His time. The shrubs and
plants needed water, and God provided it. They needed cultivation and
irrigation, and God provided for that need. Adam needed a helpmate, and God
wonderfully provided Eve. God provided for every true need in His creation.
When
our Lord was tempted by Satan, He was led into the wilderness where he had no
food or water (much as the Israelites were led into the desert by Moses). Satan
sought to employ the same kind of temptation he used in the garden, seeking to
entice Jesus to act independently of the Father in order to meet His own needs.
Our Lord answered that man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that
comes from the mouth of the Father. He knew that obeying God was more important
than eating a meal. He knew that His ultimate need was to obey the Father’s will. He knew that if He entrusted Himself to God, and
obeyed His Word, God would supply His needs.
Satan
tempted Eve, convincing her that she really needed the fruit of the forbidden
tree. She needed it, she thought, because it was desirable to make her wise, to
make her like God. She needed to know good and evil. I am inclined to think
that God fully intended to meet this need, but in His own way, and in His own
time. I wonder if God did not intend to teach Adam about good and evil as they
took their daily walk together in the garden. I believe that they would have
come to know good by knowing God, and realizing that anything other than that
which pleased Him was evil. They would learn to be wise by knowing God more
intimately. In this way, the knowledge of good and evil would be a blessed
thing, the result of enjoying God. Disobeying God brought about a separation
from God, rather than greater intimacy with God.
How
many times do we find ourselves being tempted in the same manner? We sense that
we have a need (at the least, we feel a desire) that God has not yet met. We
should draw near to God, trusting Him to provide, or to withhold, what we
desire, knowing that “every good and perfect gift comes from above”
(James 1:17). God withholds only that which is detrimental to our good. But all
too often we, like Eve, choose to satisfy our needs independently, acting apart
from faith, and perhaps in direct disobedience to His Word. The results of such
disobedience are always disastrous in the end.
Isn’t
this what the Israelites of old needed to learn as well? They were led into the
wilderness, where there was no food and little water. God promised to provide
for all their needs. When they failed to trust and obey Him, there were always
painful consequences. God purposely let them be in need, to test them and to
increase their faith:
1
You must keep carefully the entire commandment I am giving you today so that
you may live, multiply, and go in and occupy the land that the Lord promised to your ancestors. 2
Remember the whole way by which he has brought you these forty years through
the desert so that he might, by humbling you, test to see whether deep within
yourselves you would keep his commandments or not. 3 So he humbled you by
making you hungry and feeding you with unfamiliar manna to make you understand
that mankind cannot live by food alone, but also by everything that comes from
the Lord’s mouth (Deuteronomy
8:1-3).
When
we have needs, it is often God’s way of teaching us to trust and obey. When we
fail to do so, we simply repeat, once again, the disobedience of Adam and Eve
in the garden.
Lesson 3 — The Flood[40][38]
Genesis 5:28—10:32
Introduction
This
past week, the election was held for the presidency of the
In
the Bible, we can see that the fate of many people often rests on the character
and conduct of just one man. This was the case, for example, with
In
my earlier series on the Book of Genesis, four lessons were required to cover
the same Scriptures that we shall deal with in but one lesson. Our purpose in
this lesson is to look at the “big picture,” and thus I cannot allow myself the
luxury of any rabbit trials. Among these is the question of the identity of the
“sons of God” and the Nephilim in the first verses of Genesis 6. Good
scholars differ over the interpretation of these terms. If knowing the precise
meaning of these terms were crucial to the message of this passage, then I’m
sure God would have spent more time on them and would have made the meaning
very clear to us. I must conclude that the text is somewhat vague, which should
caution us about being too dogmatic on such matters.
Further,
I am not going to attempt to explain how the flood came about in scientific
terms. This is partly because it is not my area of expertise, and partly
because it is not the point of the passage. Neither will I try to explain all
the differences between the pre-flood world and the post-flood world. These
matters may be of interest to some, and I wish them well in their pursuit of
them, so long as it does not prevent them from taking heed to the major thrust
of this passage. In this lesson I will seek to heed the “law of proportion,”
noting those parts of our passage which receive the most emphasis.
A World Ripe For Judgment
Genesis 6:1-7, 11-12
1 When mankind began to multiply on the
face of the earth, and daughters were born to them, 2 the sons of God saw that
the daughters of mankind were beautiful. Thus they took wives for themselves
from any they chose. 3 So the LORD said, “My spirit will not remain in mankind
indefinitely, since they are mortal. They will remain for one hundred and
twenty more years.” 4 The Nephilim were on the earth in those days (and also
after this), when the sons of God were having sexual relations with the
daughters of mankind, who gave birth to their children. They were the mighty
heroes of old, the famous men. 5 But the LORD saw that the wickedness of
mankind had become great on the earth. Every inclination of the thoughts of
their minds was only evil all the time. 6 The LORD regretted that he had made
mankind on the earth, and he felt highly offended. 7 So the LORD said, “I will
wipe mankind, whom I have created, from the face of the earth-everything from
mankind to animals, including creatures that move on the ground and birds of
the air, for I regret that I have made them.” … 11 The earth was ruined in the
sight of God; the earth was filled with violence. 12 God saw the earth, and
indeed it was ruined, for all living creatures on the earth were sinful.
I
have a confession to make. I often run to the grocery store for my wife, or
with her, to “pick up a few things.” The produce section has always fascinated
me. Sometimes the produce manager will attach a sticker to fruit which reads, “ripe.” From time to time, I’ve seen a piece of really rotten
fruit, and I must confess that I’ve attached a ripe sticker to that rotten
fruit for all to see.
I
think the civilization of Noah’s day needed one of those “ripe” stickers. It
was rotten to the core. Initially, things may have appeared to be on course,
but it didn’t take long for things to deteriorate. In the beginning, God had
given man His blessing and commanded them to “be fruitful and multiply”: 28 God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply!
Fill the earth and subdue it! Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of
the air and every creature that moves on the ground” (Genesis 1:28).
Adam and Eve bore two sons; Cain killed Abel, and
later on Seth, along with others. Then, some years later came Lamech, one of
Adam and Eve’s descendants through Cain. Cain and Lamech were better at
subtraction (by committing murder) than at multiplication, although Lamech made
up for his reduction of mankind by having two wives, rather than just one
(4:19-24). By the time we reach chapter 6, things have gone from bad to worse.
The
way I understand verses 1-7, Moses is describing a progressive dissatisfaction
with man, one that culminates with the necessity of worldwide judgment. The
first two verses of chapter 6 describe the way in which mankind was
multiplying. Men – the sons of God – were marrying women and together they were
bearing children. All this might be seen as positive, except for the basis on
which they chose their wives – they chose the ones that looked the best to them
(6:2). Especially after the fall, one would have hoped that men and women would
have sought mates who were godly, but this does not appear to be the case at
all. Men and women were marrying and multiplying, but out of
sheer fleshly desire. No wonder we find the words of God in verse 3,
which indicate that His Spirit would not strive with men forever. It is as
though God had said, “I created man, but he is so dominated by the flesh that
his spirit is no longer in tune with my Spirit. I shall not put up with this
for long. I will shorten man’s days to a mere 120 years.”[41][39]
The
next problem arises in Genesis 6:4. As marrying and multiplying goes, on a race
of giants known as Nephilim[42][40]
emerges. These men seem to be superior physical specimens, but from the
following verses, we find that the moral condition of mankind was found
wanting. As God looks down upon His creation, He finds that man’s wickedness is
great; man’s thoughts are continually fixed on the promotion of evil (6:5). The
time has finally come to deal with the mess man has made of creation.
In
the past, I was involved in prison ministry. Teaching seminars inside a number
of prisons was a great joy for me. The one thing I dreaded was that I might
someday be asked to sit with a condemned inmate as he was being executed for
his crimes. Fortunately, that never happened. If witnessing the death of a
guilty criminal would be painful, think of the agony one might experience at
seeing all creation put to death. One might wonder how the God who created all
these living creatures could now destroy them. The answer, my friend, is to be
found in the magnitude of the sin and corruption that man’s sin had brought
about in creation.
Take
just a moment to ponder the extent of the sin and corruption that had resulted
from the fall of Adam and Eve, and the subsequent sins of their offspring. All
mankind had been corrupted, as we can see from verse 5:
But the LORD saw that the wickedness of
mankind had become great on the earth. Every inclination of the thoughts of
their minds was only evil all the time.
From
morning till evening, man’s mind was filled with evil thoughts. They thought of
nothing but sin. And it did not end with mere thoughts; the earth was corrupt
and filled with violence (verse 11). When I looked at the use of the word
“corrupt,” I found that it is the same verb often used with the meaning “to
destroy” or “to render worthless” (see Genesis 9:11, 15; 13:13:10; 18:28, 32;
19:13, 14, 29; 38:9). That is what man’s sin did to the earth. Today, we might
say, man “trashed” the whole earth. What this means is that God did not destroy
something beautiful and useful (though He surely could have done so if He
pleased); He destroyed something that was worthless and corrupt.
It
has taken me some time to appreciate the fact that man’s sin really did corrupt
or destroy the earth. Verse 11 tells us that the “earth” was corrupted.
Man’s sin impacts everything. The land suffered corruption because of man’s sin
(see Leviticus 18:25-28)[43][41].
Not only was the land corrupted, but even the living creatures:[44][42]
13 So God said to Noah, “I have
decided that all living creatures[45][43]
must die, for the earth is filled with violence because of them. Now I am about
to destroy them and the earth… 17
I am about to bring floodwaters on the earth to destroy from under the sky all
the living creatures that have the breath of life in them. Everything
that is on the earth will die, …” (Genesis 6:13, 17,
emphasis mine). Good Grief Genesis 6:3,
6-7 3 So the Lord said, “My spirit will not remain in
mankind indefinitely, since they are mortal. They will remain for one hundred
and twenty more years.” … 6 The Lord regretted that he had made mankind on the
earth, and he felt highly offended. 7 So the Lord said, “I will wipe mankind, whom I have
created, from the face of the earth—everything from mankind to animals,
including creatures that move on the ground and birds of the air, for I regret
that I have made them.”
Our
text tells us that God was sorry that He had created man on earth and was
grieved in His heart (6:6). As a result, He determined to blot out man, along
with every breathing creature (6:7). Is this verse telling us that some
unforeseen event caught God by surprise? Is Moses telling us that God realized
that He had made a great mistake? Far from it! We see, once again, that God is
intimately involved with His creation and that He cares about it passionately.
God created all things, including mankind, knowing that man would fail the test
in the garden. It was through the fall of man and the entrance of sin into this
world that God was able to manifest His marvelous attributes: 5 And the Lord descended in the cloud and stood
with him there; and he made proclamation of the Lord by name. 6 And the Lord passed by before him and proclaimed:
“The Lord,
the Lord,
the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, and abounding in loyal love
and faithfulness, 7 keeping loyal love for thousands, forgiving iniquity, and
transgression and sin. But he by no means leaves the guilty unpunished,
visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and on the children’s
children, to the third and fourth generation” (Exodus 34:5-7).
It
is only in the context of sin that God’s grace can be seen for all that it is.
It is in contrast to the wickedness of men that the righteousness of God stands
out so sharply. The misconception that many seem to have is that if God is God,
then He will not allow anything to happen which causes Him sorrow or pain. We
can only imagine what kind of pain God experienced as He poured out His wrath
upon His Son at
The
point I am trying to make is that God purposes some things that He knows will
cause Him pain. The fact that God experienced sorrow because He had created man
does not mean that He did not know mankind would fail miserably, causing Him
grief. Any married couple who decides to have children should do so knowing
that there will be times of great sorrow, and not just
for the woman in her time of labor. God was sorry that man had become so
wicked, but being sorry does not mean that He did not know the outcome of His
act of creation.
Noah: A Righteous Man
Genesis 5:29; 6:9
5:28
When Lamech had lived one hundred and eighty-two years, he had a son. 29 He
named him Noah, saying, “This one will bring us comfort from our labor and from
the painful toil of our hands, because of the ground that the Lord has
cursed.” … 6:9 This is the account of Noah. Noah was a
godly man; he was blameless among his contemporaries. He walked with God.
The
line of Cain went from bad (Cain) to worse (Lamech). The line of Seth held some
promise. It was in Seth’s days that men began to “call upon the name of the
Lord” (4:26). Enoch, one of Seth’s descendants, was a man who “walked
with God,” and he was taken up into heaven (5:24). With the birth of Noah,
there was a sense of expectation; his father expressed the hope that this son
would bring about the reversal of the curse (5:29). He was used of God as a
deliverer, and as such, he foreshadowed the great “Deliverer,” the Lord Jesus
Christ. We will talk about this later on. We are told that Noah was a godly
man; in the midst of a corrupt society, Noah stood out, stood alone, as a man
of God. He was “blameless among his contemporaries,” a man like Enoch,
who “walked with God” (6:9).
This
is not to say that Noah was a perfect man, a man that God spared because he was
without any sin. Noah was a sinner, whose deliverance was a matter of divine
grace, rather than of human merit: But Noah found favor in the sight of the Lord (Genesis 6:8). It was God’s grace that saved Noah. And he, like all the
saints – Old Testament or New – was saved by faith:
5 By faith Enoch was taken up so that he did not see
death, and he was not to be found because God took him up. For before his
removal he had been commended as having pleased God. 6 Now without faith it is impossible to please him, for the one
who approaches God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who
seek him. 7 By faith Noah,
when he was warned about things not yet seen, reverently constructed an ark for
the deliverance of his family. Through faith he condemned the
world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith
(Hebrews 11:5-7, emphasis mine).
In
contrast to Adam, who disobeyed God, Noah’s faith was evident in his obedience
to the commands of God: And Noah did all that God commanded him—he did indeed
(6:22). And Noah did all that the Lord
commanded him (7:5). While Adam’s disobedience took place in a moment of time,
Noah’s obedience was demonstrated by countless years of constructing the ark.
God Gives Plans and a Promise
Genesis 6:13-22
13.
So God said to Noah, “I have decided that all living creatures must die, for
the earth is filled with violence because of them. Now I am about to destroy
them and the earth.
14.
Make for yourself an ark of cypress wood. Make rooms in the ark, and cover it
with pitch inside and out.
15.
This is how you should make it: the ark is to be four hundred fifty feet long,
seventy-five feet wide, and forty-five feet high.
16.
Make a roof for the ark and finish it, leaving eighteen inches from the top.
Put a door in the side of the ark, and make lower, middle and upper decks.
17.
I am about to bring floodwaters on the earth to destroy from under the sky all
the living creatures that have the breath of life in them. Everything that is
on the earth will die,
18.
but I will confirm my covenant with you. You will
enter the ark—you, your sons, your wife, and your sons’ wives with you.
19.
You must bring into the ark two of every kind of living creature from all
flesh, male and female, to keep them alive with you.
20.
Of the birds after their kinds, and of the cattle after their kinds, and of
every creeping thing of the ground after their kinds, two of every kind will
come to you so you can keep them alive.
21.
And you must take for yourself every kind of food that is eaten, and gather it
together. It will be food for you and for them.
22.
And Noah did all that God commanded him—he did indeed.
I
can’t help but think of an older model of a Volvo automobile when I read these
instructions concerning the construction of the ark. Someone has said of the
Volvo, “It’s boxy, but it’s safe.” I think that if we’d have seen the ark we
would have said, “It’s ugly (and probably boxy too), but it’s safe.” I suppose
that men had learned to make boats by that time, but no one would have ever
imagined the need for a craft the size of the ark. Think of it: the ark was to
be 450 feet long, 75 feet in width, and 45 feet high. In our church, Mrs. Roberts’
Sunday school class measured our new building and found that it was
approximately the same size, except that our church is not that tall. This was
a huge craft, and from the pictures I’ve seen of its likeness, it was nothing
for which Frank Lloyd Wright would want to take credit. It was, however, just
what was needed.
Someone
rightly remarked that the ark was a lot like our Lord Jesus. From outward
appearances, our Lord was not someone whom we would have found physically
attractive:
2.
He sprouted up like a twig before God, like a root out of parched soil;
he had no stately form or majesty that might catch our attention, no special
appearance that we should want to follow him.
3.
He was despised and rejected by people, one who experienced pain and was acquainted
with illness;people hid their faces from him; he was despised, and we
considered him insignificant (Isaiah 53:2-3). Can you imagine how the folks of
Noah’s day reacted to the building of that ark! First, it was so big. Second,
it was so ugly. Third, it seemed so useless. Fourth, it was offensive because
of what it signified. It was an outward sign of God’s coming judgment upon the
world. Noah was a most unusual “preacher.” Every day he spent working on that
ark was another sermon, another warning of the coming wrath of God upon
sinners. Who wanted a constant reminder of their sins and of God’s coming
judgment?
That
ark must have become a regular tourist site. Folks may have come from far and
wide to look at it, and probably to laugh at it. They might even have come to
hear this “crazy fellow,” Noah, who warned those who looked on that God was
going to judge the earth. If Noah lived in our day, the city council would have
tried to change the zoning laws so that the ark would have to be torn down. But
bye and bye, people who lived nearby probably just began to ignore it. After
all, who thought it would ever be completed? Who could imagine that it would
ever be needed?
I
don’t wish to say much about the ark and its appearance, but I do wish to mention
that the ark was a very utilitarian vessel, and it didn’t possess some of the
accessories that we might have wanted. For example, it had only one door. It
seemed to have no lower windows, and perhaps an 18-inch opening at the top for
ventilation (which one would need in a vessel full of animals). It seems to
have had only one window,[46][44]
and from what
I
can tell, this window was so high that Noah could not
look out from it and see the ground (or the waters) beneath the ark. You will
remember that Noah had to send out a dove (from the window), to see if the
waters had receded. He could not see outside for himself. And in the end, it
was God who gave the instruction to leave the ark and go outside (8:15ff.).
I
think all of these design features of the ark were very functional. For
example, you would not want doors or windows in a vessel that needed to repel
the torrential rains or which was to endure stormy waters. You would not want
many places for leaks or for torrents of rain or waves to pour in.
Thus,
all the lower levels would have no openings, except for one door (and we’re not
sure exactly where it was located). There was yet another reason for the design
of the ark. Once the flood commenced and men realized that Noah had been right,
they would have desperately sought to get on board the ship, but I’m convinced
that its design made it impossible to do. Finally, there were no picture
windows on board the ship because the sight of the storm would have been
terrifying, and the sight of his neighbors perishing outside would have been
too painful to witness. I believe God designed the ark so that Noah and his
family would not see the destruction of all life outside the ark. I am inclined
to think that this will be true in the future as well. I doubt that heaven will
have a picture window, overlooking hell, so that all in heaven can watch the
agony of the lost. It may be that hell has a picture window, looking toward
heaven, however (see Luke 16:23).
Along
with His instructions regarding the design and construction of the ark, God
gave Noah a promise. The Noahic Covenant would be formalized with Noah after
the flood, but God wanted to assure Noah of the outcome before the onslaught of
the flood. How much easier it is to undergo trials and tests when we know the
outcome ahead of time. God promised Noah that He would make a covenant with him
and his family, and then instructed him to gather food and pairs of every
breathing creature to put on board the ark. Of the clean animals, Noah was to
take seven pairs (7:2-3); of the unclean animals, one pair each (6:19-20).
The Flood
Genesis 7:1—8:19
After
many years of construction, the ark was finally completed. God commanded Noah
to take the animals into the ark, and Noah did so (7:1-9). It was not until
seven days had passed that the flood commenced. It would seem that it took a
week to load all of the animals on board. Perhaps God was giving the animals
time to settle down before the trauma of the flood came. The day that the
floods did come was the day Noah and his family entered the ark, and God shut
the door. The day of salvation abruptly ended for the people of the earth. For
40 days and nights, the heavens gushed with rain, and waters also emerged from
beneath the earth (7:10-23). If the floodwaters came over a 40-day period, they
prevailed for another 150 days (7:24).
More
than six months after the flood began, God remembered those He had rescued in
the ark and began the process of removing the waters. God caused a wind to pass
over the earth, causing the waters to recede for a period of another 150 days
(8:1-3). The ark then came to rest on the mountains of Ararat (8:4). Noah then
sent out a raven, but it came back to him because the earth was not yet able to
sustain life. A dove was sent out and it did not return (8:12). Noah removed
the cover from the ark and looked out, but no one left the ark for almost two
months (8:13-14). Finally, God gave the order to leave the ark for the ground
was now dry (8:15-19).
Noah
had spent years building the ark, and when he left the ark and returned to the
earth, the first thing he did was to build an altar on which he sacrificed one
of every clean bird and animal (8:20).[47][45]
So far as I can tell, this sacrificial offering was voluntary on the part of
Noah. That is, we see no command from God that he do so. God’s response
revealed His pleasure with the sacrifice. God promised never again to destroy
the earth in this fashion, even though man’s sinful
nature remained. The promise of uninterrupted seasons (8:22) seems to suggest
that the year of the flood completely set aside all the normal characteristics
of the various seasons.
The Noahic Covenant
Genesis 9:1-17
1
Then God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply
and fill the earth.
2
Every living creature of the earth and every bird of the sky will be terrified
of you. Everything that creeps on the ground and all the fish of the sea are
under your authority.
3 You may eat any moving thing that lives. As
I gave you the green plants, I now give you everything.
4
But you must not eat meat with its life (that is, its blood) in it.
5
For your lifeblood I will surely exact punishment, from every living creature I
will exact punishment. From each person I will exact punishment for the life of
the individual, since the man was his relative.
6
“Whoever sheds human blood by other humans must his blood be shed;
for in God’s image God has made mankind.”
7
But as for you, be fruitful and multiply; increase abundantly on the earth and
multiply on it.”
8
God said to Noah and his sons,
9 “Look! I now confirm my
covenant with you and your descendants after you
10
and with every living creature that is with you, including the birds, the
domestic animals, and every living creature of the earth with you, all those
that came out of the ark with you—every living creature of the earth.
11
I confirm my covenant with you: Never again will all living things be wiped out
by the waters of a flood; never again will a flood destroy the earth.”
12
And God said, “This is the guarantee of the covenant I am making with you and
every living creature with you, a covenant for all subsequent generations:
13
I will place my rainbow in the clouds, and it will become a guarantee of the
covenant between me and the earth.
14
Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds,
15
then I will remember my covenant with you and with all living creatures of all
kinds. Never again will the waters become a flood and destroy all living
things.
16
When the rainbow is in the clouds, I will notice it and remember the perpetual
covenant between God and all living creatures of all kinds that are on the
earth.”
17
So God said to Noah, “This is the guarantee of the covenant that I am
confirming between me and all living things that are on the earth.”
This
is our introduction to biblical covenants as this is the first covenant in the
Bible. The Abrahamic Covenant will soon follow (Genesis 12:1-3, etc.). This is
what is known as an unconditional covenant. That is, God promised to keep this
covenant, regardless of what men do. In fact, we might say that this covenant
is made, knowing that men will continue to sin (see 8:21). The actual promise
is given in Genesis 9:9-17. It is a covenant not only between God and Noah, but
between God and every living creature (9:9-10, 16). It is an “everlasting
covenant,” between God and Noah, and every generation after him (9:12). It
is God’s promise that He will never again judge the earth by means of a flood
(9:11). The sign of the covenant, the assurance that God will keep His
covenant, is the rainbow. Whenever it rains, men can look up and see the
rainbow, and be reminded that this rain will not be for their destruction
(indeed, the rains are the means by which God provides for their crops).
While
the Noahic Covenant is not conditional, there are certain commands laid down
for Noah and his descendants to keep. Noah and his family are a new beginning
for mankind. To mark this new beginning, God changes some of the previous rules.
At the first creation, man and animals were only to eat vegetable life, but not
animals (1:30); now God tells Noah and his family that they may eat whatever
meat they desire (9:3). This change in dietary rules is one of the indicators
that a new covenant has been established. Thus, when the Law of Moses is given,
men can no longer eat whatever meat they desire; they must eat only clean
animals. And when the New Covenant is established, men may once again eat any
meat they desire, except for meats offered to idols (Mark 7:14-19; Acts 10-11;
15:29; 1 Corinthians 8-10).
There
is a very special command given regarding blood, however. To curb the violence
that characterized the pre-flood world, God not only condemns murder; He
institutes the death penalty for those who are guilty of murder (9:6). To take
a man’s life is to strike out against God, for man is created in the image of
God (9:6). The value of human life is established by the consequence for taking
human life. The life of the murder is required for his sin. Notice that while
the law will undergird the institution of capital punishment, it is established
long before the Law of Moses was given.
A
profound significance is attached to blood in our text. Blood is viewed as the
basis for life. To shed the blood of man or animal is to deprive it of its
life. Man must not shed the blood of his fellow man, and he must not eat the
blood of the animals that he eats. God here attaches great significance to
blood, and time will reveal just how significant blood is. The shedding of
blood by means of animal sacrifices will put off the punishment for sins, and
the shedding of our Lord’s blood will be the ultimate payment for sin (see
Hebrews chapter 9).
The Sons of Noah and Their Father’s Shame
Genesis 9:18-27
18
The sons of Noah who came out of the ark were Shem, Ham, and Japheth. (Now Ham was the father of
24
When Noah awoke from his drunken stupor he learned what his youngest son had
done to him.
25 So he said, “Cursed be Canaan!The lowest of slaves he will be to his brothers.”
26
He also said, “Worthy of praise is the Lord, the God of Shem! May Canaan be the slave
of Shem!
27
May God enlarge Japheth’s territory and numbers! May he live in the tents of
Shem and may Canaan be his slave!”
28
After the flood Noah lived three hundred and fifty years.
29
The entire lifetime of Noah was nine hundred and fifty years, and then he died.
This
incident in Noah’s life is of no small import to mankind. First of all, it is a
reminder of the fact that, while Noah was a righteous man, he was not a perfect
man. It is difficult, however, to determine the degree of his culpability. Had
men learned to make wine before this time? I would be inclined to think so. Did
Noah become drunk accidentally, or was he responsible? I think there is some
measure of culpability here. Adam went into his garden, ate of forbidden fruit,
and thereby sinned. Now we see Noah planting a vineyard, eating of its fruit,
getting drunk, and lying naked in his tent.
Had
it not been for Noah’s youngest son, Ham, Noah’s sin would not have been as
public. It may have been obvious from the sounds within the tent that Noah was
drunk, but his nakedness could only be seen by someone who violated the privacy
of Noah’s tent. In Noah’s drunken state, his reputation and modesty rested in
the hands of his sons. Ham found Noah’s sin amusing, and he took pleasure in
it, and in making it known to his brothers. Ham’s brothers seem to exemplify
the words of Scripture, “Love covers a multitude of sins” (Proverbs
10:12; 1 Peter 4:8). These men did not wish to see their father’s nakedness;
they would not even look at his shameful state long enough to cover him. They
took Noah’s garment (“the garment,” 9:23) and walking backwards, draped
it over their father in such a way that they never saw his shame.
I
have heard some pretty twisted interpretations of this text, and I believe it
is my duty to tell you that they don’t stand up to scrutiny. You will notice
that while Ham is the youngest son (9:24) who sinned against his father, it is
his youngest son,
Lessons For the Israelites to
Learn
There
were many lessons for the Israelites to learn from this account of Noah and the
flood. It was the first of
the covenants that God made with mankind. This covenant was one that was
totally bound up with the faithfulness of God and not with the faithlessness of
men. This event gave some background to the Law that God gave
The
Noahic Covenant was the basis for Israel’s assurance that God would not wipe
out the whole creation with a flood ever again.
The
flood itself was an example of God’s power and His sovereignty over all
creation as its Creator. God had the right and the power to destroy the earth
and all that lived on it. The God who turned the chaotic watery mass into an
orderly creation is the God who can reverse the process, and destroy all life
on earth by means of a flood. This same God is the One who can part the waters
of the Red Sea (Exodus 14), and of the
The
account of the flood surely contained an important message for the Israelites
concerning God’s judgment and His mercy. They were to see that God is a holy
God, who will endure man’s sin for a season, to give sinners the opportunity to
repent. But there will be a payday, someday. The Israelites should learn that
while God is patient, He will judge sinners. This applied to the Canaanites:
12 When the sun went down, Abram fell sound asleep.
Then great terror overwhelmed him.
13 Then the Lord
said to Abram, “Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a
foreign country. They will be enslaved and oppressed for four hundred years.
14 But I will execute judgment on the nation that
they will serve. Afterward they will come out with many possessions.
15 But as for you, you will go to your ancestors in
peace and be buried at a good old age.
16 In the fourth generation your descendants will
return here, for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its limit.”
17 When the sun had gone down and it was dark, a
smoking firepot with a flaming torch passed between the animal parts.
18 That day the Lord
made a covenant with Abram: “To your descendants I give this land, from the
river of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates River—
19 the land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites,
20 Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites,
21 Amorites,
Canaanites, Girgashites, and Jebusites” (Genesis 15:12-21).
The
Israelites were poised to possess the land of Canaan. They now understood the
origin of the Canaanites, and they understood even more fully why these people
must be destroyed. They must not allow them to remain in the land, and they
dare not intermarry with them. The Israelites should also learn from the flood
that God protects the righteous and delivers them from judgment. As in the case
of Noah and his family, there may only be a remnant saved, but God will keep
His promises through the preservation of a godly remnant. That He has always
done:
27
And Isaiah cries out on behalf of Israel, “Though the number
of the children of Israel are as the sand of the sea, only the remnant
will be saved,
28
for the Lord will execute his sentence on the earth completely and quickly.”
29
Just as Isaiah predicted, “If the Lord of armies had not left us
descendants, we would have become like
Lessons for Men Today
It
should go without saying that many of the lessons for the Israelites of old
apply to the saints of today. But let us look back upon this text, both from
our point in time and from the vantage point of the fulfillment of God’s plan
of redemption in Christ.
I
believe this passage speaks to us about two very important and controversial
issues: abortion and capital punishment. Both of these issues stem from the
fact that man is created in God’s image:“Whoever sheds
human blood by other humans must his blood be shed; for in God’s image
God has made mankind” (Genesis 9:6).
I
have heard a lot of technical jargon used in discussing the matter of abortion.
One issue often raised is the question of when life begins. I think our text
may make the issue simpler than that. God says that murder is the shedding of
blood. The way that man deals with blood – even the blood of slaughtered
animals – is a matter of reverence for life and for God’s Word. To shed
innocent blood is to strike out against God. If the life is in the blood as our
text tells us (9:4),[48][46]
then life begins when there is blood. As I understand our text and its implications,
any abortion that involves the shedding of the blood of the unborn child is
murder, apart from extreme exceptional conditions (such as the unpleasant
choice of saving the life of the baby or its mother).
Notice
how our Lord later applies this principle (the life is in the blood) to man’s
salvation:
51
I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats from this
bread he will live forever. The bread that I will give for the life of the
world is my flesh.”
52
Then the Jews who were hostile to Jesus began to argue with one another, “How
can this man give us his flesh to eat?”
53
Jesus said to them, “I tell you the solemn truth, unless you eat the flesh of
the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no
life in yourselves.
54
The one who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life,
and I will raise him up on the last day.
55
For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. 56 The one who eats my
flesh and drinks my blood resides in me, and I in him” (John 6:51-56, emphasis
mine).
The
life is in the blood. Eternal life is in the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ,
who is eternal. To eat His flesh and to drink His blood is analogous to
trusting in His death on the cross of
How
often the argument is raised: “You believe abortion is wrong, and yet you are
in favor of capital punishment. Isn’t that inconsistent?” It most certainly is
not. Taking the life of an innocent child by abortion is murder. Taking the
life of a murderer is not. It is an act of obedience to God. It is the measure
of the value we place on the innocent blood that the murderer has shed. Capital
punishment is not my preference; it is God’s command.[49][47]
Capital punishment is the measure of how much God values life. And in the
context of Genesis 4-9, it is one means by which God restrains the violence of
men.
The
story of Noah’s drunkenness and nakedness and of Ham’s sin and judgment, is instructive, if we will listen. It certainly
instructs us as to how we should deal with the sins of others. Love should
cover a multitude of sins, just as Noah’s two sons covered the nakedness of
their father. Today, we are confronted with nakedness and encouraged to enjoy
it. Pornography is but one sordid part of a much larger problem. We should seek
to avoid seeing sin and nakedness with great effort. We should be much more
like Noah’s two sons, and much less like Ham. And we, men and women alike,
should remember that clothing was given to us to cover our nakedness, not to
call attention to it. What Noah did in his drunken state, many people do with
conscious intent. How often we are “naked and not ashamed,” and it is
nothing like the pre-fallen state of Adam and Eve.
Peter
uses the Old Testament account of Noah and of the flood to make an important
statement to New Testament saints:
1
But false prophets arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers
among you. These false teachers will infiltrate your midst with destructive
heresies, even to the point of denying the Master who bought them. As a result,
they will bring swift destruction on themselves.
2
And many will follow their debauched lifestyles. Because of these false
teachers, the way of truth will be slandered.
3
And in their greed they will exploit you with deceptive words. Their
condemnation pronounced long ago is not sitting idly by; their destruction is
not asleep.
4
For if God did not spare the angels who sinned, but threw them into hell and
locked them up in chains in utter darkness, to be kept until the judgment,
5
and if he did not spare the ancient world, but did protect Noah, a herald of
righteousness, along with seven others, when God brought a flood on an ungodly
world,
6
and if he turned to ashes the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah when he condemned
them to destruction, having appointed them to serve as an example to future
generations of the ungodly,
7
and if he rescued Lot, a righteous man in anguish over the debauched lifestyle
of lawless men,
8
(for while he lived among them day after day, that righteous man was tormented
in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard)
9
—if so, then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from their trials, and to
reserve the unrighteous for punishment at the day of judgment,
10 especially those who indulge their
fleshly desires and who despise authority (2 Peter 2:1-10a).
Just
a little later in his epistle, Peter tells us that wicked men will mock at
God’s warnings of divine judgment:
3
Above all, understand this: in the last days blatant scoffers will come, being
propelled by their own evil urges
4
and saying, “Where is his promised coming? For ever since our ancestors died,
all things have continued as they were from the beginning of creation.”
5
For they deliberately suppress this fact, that by the word of God heavens
existed long ago and an earth was formed out of water and by means of water.
6
Through these things the world existing at that time was destroyed when it was
deluged with water.
7
But by the same word the present heavens and earth have been reserved for fire,
by being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly (2 Peter
3:3-7).
Our
Lord likewise informs us that in the last days, men will be oblivious to the
coming wrath of God:
22
Then he said to the disciples, “The days are coming when you will desire to see
one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it.
23
Then people will say to you, ‘Look, there he is!’ or ‘Look, here he is!’ Do not
go out or chase after them.
24
For just like the lightning flashes and lights up the sky from one side to the
other, so will the Son of Man be in his day.
25
But first he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation.
26
Just as it was in the days of Noah, so too it will be in the days of the Son of
Man.
27
People were eating, they were drinking, they were marrying, they were being
given in marriage—right up to the day Noah entered the ark. Then the flood came
and destroyed them all.
28
Likewise, just as it was in the days of Lot, people were eating, drinking,
buying, selling, planting, building;
29
but on the day Lot went out from Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven
and destroyed them all.
30
It will be the same on the day the Son of Man is revealed.
31
On that day, anyone who is on the roof, with his goods in the house, must not
come down to take them away, and likewise the person in the field must not turn
back.
32
Remember Lot’s wife! (Luke 17:22-32).
Jesus
tells us that in Noah’s day, men had no sense of impending judgment. This was
not because they had no warning. There was the ark in their sight, and Noah,
whose works and words were a sermon. In spite of all the warnings, men went on
with their lives as though there were no danger. It is as though Satan had said
to them once again, “Thou shall surely not die!” The flood is a strong reminder
that the promised judgment of God will most certainly come. God knows how to
spare the righteous, but He also knows how to “reserve the unrighteous for
punishment at the day of judgment.”
I
love the fact that Peter calls Noah a “preacher (or herald) of
righteousness” (2 Peter 2:5). I don’t believe that Noah had a pulpit, or
that he went about the city with a sandwich board with words of condemnation on
it. I believe Noah was a preacher of righteousness by the way he lived his
life. Day after day, Noah lived in accordance with the Word of God. He believed
that there would be a flood, even though he had never seen one. He believed
that the ark was God’s means for saving him and his family. His lifestyle
loudly proclaimed that he was living his life in the light of the future, as
God had declared it. I wonder how many people would be indicted by our
lifestyle. Do we live as though all of the material things of this life will be
burned with fire? Do we live in a way that seeks to warn sinners about the
coming judgment of God? Noah is a man we should imitate, not by building an
ark, but by living as though biblical prophecy is true. There is a greater day
of judgment coming upon the whole world. God will spare us from His wrath, but
sinners will surely perish. Let us live as though this is true.
As
I was preparing this lesson, it occurred to me that the Noahic Covenant is very
relevant to saints today. We would not be here if it were not for this
covenant. The Noahic Covenant was not just for the benefit of Noah, or even the
Israelites of Moses’ day. The Noahic Covenant was the divine assurance that God
would never again bring universal judgment upon sin by destroying the world until
He did so in the death of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is very clear in Genesis
that man persisted in his sin after the flood. When God promised that He would
not destroy the world with a flood, He knew that men were sinners from birth.
But this covenant assured men that He would not bring universal judgment upon
this world until He did so in the person of Jesus Christ. When our Lord died
upon the cross of
As
I was reading one of the better commentaries on our text in Genesis, the writer
made a point of the fact (as he saw it) that all of Noah’s family was righteous
– that they were the righteous remnant God spared. He went on to say that they
all obeyed God’s commandments. But as I looked at the text, it did not say
this:
The
Lord said to Noah, “Come into the
ark, you and all your household, for I consider you
godly among this generation (Genesis 7:1, emphasis and comments mine).
The
New American Standard Bible reads this way:
Then
the LORD said to Noah, “Enter the ark, you and all your
household; for you alone I have seen to be righteous before Me in this
time.
The
word alone is in italics because the translators supplied it. They
included it because “you” is singular, not plural. Noah’s family is not
saved because they are righteous, but because Noah, alone, is righteous. And if
there is any question about this, Ezekiel makes it most clear:
12 The word of the Lord came to me:
13 “Son of man, when a country
sins against me by acting faithlessly, and I stretch out my hand against it,
and break its staff of bread, cause it to experience famine, and kill both man
and beast in it,
14 even if these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, they would save only
their own lives by their righteousness, declares the Sovereign Lord.
15 “If I were
to send wild animals through the land and they killed its children, and it
became desolate so that no one traveled across it because of the animals,
16 as I live, declares the
Sovereign Lord, even if these
three men were in it,
they could not save their own sons or daughters; they would save only their
own lives, and the land would be
devastated.
17 “Or if I were to bring the
sword of war against that land and say, ‘Let a sword pass through the land,’
and I kill both man and beast in it,
18 even though these three men
were in it, as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord,
they could not save
their own sons or daughters, they would save only their own lives.
19 “Or if I should send a
pestilence into that land, and poured out my furious anger on it with
bloodshed, to kill both man and beast in it,
20 even if Noah, Daniel, and
Job were in it, as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, they
could not save their own sons or daughters; they would save only their own
lives by their righteousness
(Ezekiel 14:12-20, emphasis
mine).
The
point could hardly be made more plainly. Noah’s family was saved because Noah
was righteous, not because they were righteous. The righteousness of this one
man made him a righteous remnant of one. His family was a remnant, but because
of his righteousness, not theirs. Think of it for a moment. In all the world of
that day, there was only one man that God could call righteous. And that one
man was the salvation of the human race. Because of Noah’s righteousness, his
family was spared, and by means of his family, the earth was repopulated.
Is
this not a picture of Christ? In all the history of mankind, there has never
been one man who was truly and totally righteous, save One,
our Lord Jesus Christ. It is because of His righteousness that any man can be
saved. It was because He alone was righteous that His sacrifice on the cross of
It
is because He was without sin that He could die for our sins. Noah was a
prototype of Christ because he showed us that men can be saved by One man, who is truly righteous.
The
story of Noah in Genesis is about the judgment of God, but the emphasis falls
on God’s salvation of Noah and his family. We are not given a graphic
description of the cries of the wicked, as they pled for mercy, or their
efforts to cling to the ark. We are taken inside the ark, and not outside. But
having emphasized the salvation of God, we dare not overlook or minimize His
judgment on the earth.
We
have a miniature “Noah’s ark” in our house, and our little randdaughter,
Lindsey Grace, loves it. She cannot play with it by herself, so she has to ask
one of us to take it down for her, so that she can look at it. She loves that
ark and can name all the animals whose heads protrude from it. But I have to
tell you that the story of Noah and the ark is not really a “cute story.” It
was not written so little children could look at animals, as though they were
going to the zoo. It is the story of man’s sin, and of divine judgment, and the
salvation of a few because of One man. Let us never
forget the sobering message of this story.
Lesson 4 — The Confusion of
Languages at Babel[50][48]
Genesis 10:1—11:25
Introduction
The
genealogies have never been the best-read portions of the Word of God. Ray
Stedman tells the story of an old Scots minister who was reading from the first
chapter of Matthew’s Gospel. He started reading, “Abraham begat Isaac, and
Isaac beget Jacob, and Jacob begat Judah,” and he looked on ahead and saw the
list to follow and said, “and they kept on begetting one another all the way
down this page and halfway into the next.”[51][49]
Genealogies
may seem uninteresting (a nice word for boring), but they are very important.
Suppose, for example, that you were to receive a phone call from a lawyer. He
identifies himself and informs you that he is handling the estate of a very
wealthy man who recently passed away, and who had only one living relative. If
that lawyer were to ask you to give the names of your parents and grandparents,
I’m sure that genealogies would suddenly become fascinating material.
The
early chapters of the Book of Genesis seem to abound with genealogies. After
the account of the fall of man, God pronounces curses upon Adam and Eve and
their offspring, as well as upon Satan. But God also gives a very important
prophecy of the coming of the Messiah – the seed of the woman – who would
destroy Satan: “And I will put enmity
Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her seed;
He shall bruise you on the head, And you shall bruise him on the heel” (Genesis
3:15, NASB).
In
Genesis 4, we read of Cain killing his brother Abel, which is followed by a
genealogy of the descendants of Cain in 4:16-24. This genealogy takes us from
Cain to Lamech, who married two wives and boasted of killing a boy. This
ungodly line terminates at the flood.
Genesis
5 follows with the genealogy of Seth, God’s replacement for Abel. Moses follows
the line of Seth through men like Enosh, Enoch, and Methuselah to Lamech, and
finally to Noah. The account of Noah and the flood is recorded in Genesis 6-9,
which is immediately followed by another genealogy in chapter 10. After the
account of the confusion of languages in Genesis 11:1-9, Moses gives us yet
another genealogy in Genesis 11:10-32. I think we would all have to agree that
Moses believed these genealogies were important to our understanding of the
origins of the human race. Most of all, some of these genealogies will trace
the line through which the promised Messiah will come.
The
contribution of the genealogies may become more evident when we compare the
genealogy of Cain (Genesis 4:16-24) with that of Seth (Genesis 5:1-32):
|
The Genealogy of
Cain |
The Genealogy of
Seth |
|
|
|
|
No mention of
death (it’s the last thing we talk about) |
Death is
frequently mentioned |
|
|
|
|
From one murderer
(Cain) to another (Lamech) |
From Seth to Noah |
|
|
|
|
Enoch, Cain’s
son, after whom a city is named |
Enoch, walked
with God and was no more |
|
|
|
|
Lamech – had tow
wives and murdered a boy |
Lamech – saw his
son as the key to removing the curse |
|
|
|
|
Emphasis on
technological achievements |
Emphasis on
faith, walking with God |
|
|
|
|
Ends at the flood |
Does not end at
flood. Noah is deliverer. |
Both
of these genealogies end with the flood, but in a very different manner. The
flood will wipe out Cain’s line; Seth’s line will be preserved through Noah.
The Genealogies of Shem, Ham, and Japheth
Genesis 10:1-32
Time
does not permit us to study this genealogy as much as we would like, but let me
make several observations.
Genesis
10 and 11 are not in chronological order. The events described in Genesis 10 occur
after the confusion of tongues at
The
account of the confusion of tongues in 11:1-9 serves as a divider between two
genealogies.
The genealogy in Genesis 10 is deliberately out of chronological order because
Moses wanted the account of the confusion of tongues to serve as a dividing
line in the genealogy of Shem. Eber, a descendant of Shem, had two sons, Peleg
and Joktam (10:25). In Genesis 10:21-31, the line of Shem is traced through
Joktam. After the account of the confusion of languages at
The
genealogy of Genesis 10 includes some very significant historical notes. Moses pauses
momentarily with Nimrod, one of the descendants of Ham. We are told that Nimrod
was a mighty hunter, and that the beginning of his kingdom was
15
Canaan was the father of Sidon his firstborn, Heth,
16
the Jebusites, Amorites, Girgashites,
17
Hivites, Arkites, Sinites,
18 Arvadites, Zemarites, and Hamathites. Eventually the
families of the Canaanites were scattered (Genesis 10:15-18). That day the Lord made a
covenant with Abram: “To your descendants I give this land, from the river of
Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates River—
19
the land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites,
20
Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites,
21 Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites, and
Jebusites” (Genesis 15:18-21).
The
genealogy of Genesis 10 spells out many of the offspring of Noah, who then
populate the world. The
sons of Japheth are dealt with first and somewhat abruptly. This is because
they will be the most distant peoples from the Israelites. They make up the
Indo-Europeans, which is the ancestry of many Americans.[52][50]
The Greeks were a part of the line of Japheth. The descendants of Ham make up
those peoples who are in closer proximity to the Israelites – the Babylonians,
Assyrians, Ninevites, and Egyptians. Then, as we noted above, the sons of
While
we do not have the time to study the genealogies more carefully, I can assure
you that they are a very rich topic for study. I would strongly recommend John
Sailhamer’s book[53][51]
to assist you in your study of the genealogies of Genesis, and of the
Pentateuch as a whole.
The Confusion of Languages at Babel
Genesis 11:1-9
1
The whole earth had a common language and a common vocabulary. 2 When the
people moved eastward, they found a plain in
Moses
begins by informing the reader that at this time, there was but one language,
with a single vocabulary.[54][52]
The ability to speak the same language enabled men to work together, for good
or evil. When God first created the earth, He gave this command:
28
God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply! Fill the earth
and subdue it! Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and every
creature that moves on the ground” (Genesis 1:28).
It
would seem that men are actively working at populating the earth in the early
verses of Genesis 6. The problem was that they were filling the earth with
wicked people. As a result, God had to wipe out all life and begin again after
the flood. After the flood, he repeated the command given in Genesis 1:28:
Then
God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill
the earth” (Genesis 9:1).
When
we come to Genesis 11, we find that men have moved eastward to the
3
Then they said to one another, “Come, let’s make bricks and bake them
thoroughly.” (They had brick instead of stone and tar instead of mortar.) 4
Then they said, “Come, let’s build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in
the heavens[55][53]
so that we may make a name for ourselves. Otherwise we will be scattered
across the face of the entire earth” (Genesis 9:3-4, emphasis mine).
These
folks feared the very thing that God commanded them to do. They dreaded being
spread out over the earth. They wanted to live in close proximity to one
another. They preferred city life to a more nomadic lifestyle. We are not told
what these folks expected to gain from living together in a city, but it is not
difficult to believe that one thing a well-built city would provide was
protection. There was security in the city and danger in the more distant
places. These folks were nothing like Christopher Columbus. They had no
adventuresome inclinations. They wanted to build a strong city with a tower.
They also wanted to make a name for themselves. In short, they wanted security
and significance. God looked down on this tower and saw where mankind was
headed. If men were allowed to collaborate with each other, they would only
accelerate their downward plunge into sin.
At
first glance, the language of 11:5 may seem to suggest that God was not aware
of the building of Babel until it became quite obvious. It could look to an
outsider as though God were out of touch with current events in His world, and
that He didn’t take note of what was happening until things had gotten out of hand.
Looking down, one could suppose, God noted what was going on. I used to agonize
about this wording, until I began to view it from the point of view of Moses,
the human author. These men of
3
From east to west the Lord’s name
is deserving of praise.
4
The Lord is exalted over all the
nations; his splendor reaches beyond the sky.
5
Who can compare to the Lord our
God, who sits on a high throne?
6
He bends down to look at the sky and the earth (Psalm 113:3-6).
Men
were getting “too big for their britches,” and it was time for God to
intervene. Left to themselves, they would go too far with their sin. In my
opinion, God’s description of man’s potential is almost tongue-in-cheek:
And
the Lord said, “If as one people
all sharing a common language they have begun to do this, then nothing they
plan to do will be beyond them” (Genesis 11:6).
This
is certainly the way we would like to think of ourselves, isn’t it? It is
something like the attitude which some displayed after man first walked on the
moon. We began to suppose that man could do anything he set his mind to,
especially if the Russians and the Americans pooled their technological
expertise.
But
in this exaggeration of man’s potential (his potential for evil is exceedingly
great), Moses is contrasting man’s great potential
with the wisdom and power of the Almighty God. God hardly lifts a finger, so to
speak. With one simple act, God abruptly “pulls the plug” on man’s great
exhibition of his own greatness. God merely confuses their language, and it’s
all over.
What
a scene this must have been! Can’t you just imagine what it would have been
like? The workers are busily building, talking with one another as they do.
“Hey, Sam, hand me a few more bricks, will you?” The architects are putting
their heads together to work out some engineering problem. Suddenly, one man is
speaking one language, and the other cannot understand a word he is saying. It
would have been mass confusion. Based on chapter 10, I am of the opinion that
various languages may have been distributed according to family (genealogical)
lines. The Canaanites, for example, would have spoken one language, the Semites
(Shemites) another. I can imagine people walking about, looking for someone
speaking their own language. And finally all those speaking one language (in my
opinion, one family line) would finally go off on their own, leaving the other
folks to themselves, and to their languages.
In
the light of Genesis 11:1-9, chapter 10 takes on a whole new light. How did all
these people get disbursed over the whole earth? Abandoning their project and
spreading out over the earth wasn’t their conscious choice to obey the command
of God; it was their only option, given their divinely-appointed circumstances.
Moses deliberately sets verses 8 and 9 against verse 4. Did the people of
The Lesson of Babel for the Israelites of Old
There
are a number of themes that Moses has been developing in the Book of Genesis,
and the incident at
There
is the theme of separation. God created the world by separating one thing from
another: light from darkness; land from water; heaven from earth. God
distinguished man from all other living creatures by creating him in His image.
God instructed Adam and Eve to distinguish between the tree of life and the
tree of the knowledge of good and evil. When Adam and Eve sinned, God separated
them from the garden. God not only distinguished between male and female, He
distinguished between clean and unclean (see Genesis 7:2-3). And now, God
separates the human race into various language groups. Soon, Abraham will be
set apart from all others. His offspring, the Israelites, will likewise be set
apart from the world.
There
is another subtle theme evident in the early chapters of Genesis. God commanded
man to “spread out,” but man’s natural inclination was to do the opposite. Thus
we see the “city builders” of old to be those of the ungodly line (Cain,
4:16-17; Nimrod, 10:8-12). Men tended to huddle together, rather than to spread
out, as God had commanded. Men were inclined toward city life, rather than to
deal with the challenges of rural life.
It
is fascinating to see that in the Pentateuch[56][54]
fallen men tended to move eastward. When Adam and Eve were driven out of the
garden, it appears that they went east, since the angel was stationed at the
east gate of the garden to prevent them from entering. When Cain fled, he fled
eastward from the presence of the (Lord 4:16). The descendants of Ham migrated
to the east also (10:30), as did those who came to settle in
All
of these things will reverse with Abraham. He will leave the land to the east
and travel to the west to the Promised Land. He will not live in the city, but
as a nomad. He will not even be allowed to remain in the safety and comfort of
his family. He must go out, not seeking to make a name for himself (like those
of
The
city of Babel is introduced to the reader in chapter 10 (verses 8-10) and is
further characterized in 11:1-9. This was a wicked city that would have much to
do with
The
incident at Babel had some very practical ramifications. The spreading out of
the citizens of
The
alliance of these citizens of Babel is for the purpose of opposing God and
striving to make a name for themselves. This kind of unity is far from godly.
It is like the temporary alliance of the Pharisees with the Sadducees, and even
with
Lessons for Saints in Every Age
At
the moment that I am writing this lesson, wars are taking place all around the
world. A number of years ago I heard former President Jimmy Carter speak at
At
Babel, men wanted to make a name for themselves, to build a monument to
themselves. I think this was their very distorted way
of seeking a kind of immortality. No longer were men living nearly a thousand
years. Life was getting shorter all the time. When they were gone, who would
remember them? How could they leave some kind of legacy, some monument, to be
remembered by?[57][55]
This city and its tower was the answer, in their minds.
Ever since, men have been making similar
efforts.
The pharaohs constructed pyramids, and others have attempted to leave some
other evidence of their existence and of their greatness. But all of this is
futile. The solution to the penalty of death is eternal life, not leaving some
monument behind. As I read this text, written by Moses, I could not help but be
reminded of the psalm Moses wrote, which is included in the Psalms. In my
opinion, Moses probably penned this psalm as the first generation of Israelites
was dying off in the wilderness:
Psalm
90
A prayer of Moses, the man of God.
1 O sovereign Master, you have been our protector through all generations!
2 Even before the mountains came into existence, or you brought the world into
being, you were the eternal God.
3 You make mankind return to the dust, and say, “Return, O people!”
4 Yes, in your eyes a thousand years are like yesterday that quickly passes,
or like one of the divisions of the nighttime.
5 You bring their lives to an end and they “fall asleep.” In the morning they
are like the grass that sprouts up;
6 in the morning it glistens and sprouts up; at evening time it withers and
dries up.
7 Yes, we are consumed by your anger; we
are terrified by your wrath.
8 You are aware of our sins; you even
know about our hidden sins.
9 Yes, throughout all our days we
experience your raging fury; the years of our lives pass quickly, like a
sigh.
10 The days of our lives add up to seventy years, or eighty, if one is
especially strong. But even one’s best years are marred by trouble and
oppression. Yes, they pass quickly and we fly away.
11 Who can really fathom the intensity of your anger? Your raging fury causes
people to fear you.
12 So teach us to consider our mortality, so that we might live wisely.
13 Turn back toward us, O Lord! How
long must this suffering last?
Have pity on your servants!
14 Satisfy us in the morning with your loyal love! Then we will shout for joy and
be happy all our days!
15 Make us happy in proportion to the days you have afflicted us, in proportion
to the years we have experienced trouble!
16 May your servants see your work! May their sons see your majesty!
17 May our sovereign God extend his favor
to us! Make our endeavors successful! Yes, make them successful! (Psalm
90:1-17)
It
is the words of the last verse that capture my attention: “Make our
endeavors successful! Yes, make them successful!” More literally, “Confirm
(or give permanence – note the margin of the NASB) the work of our hands.”
How is it that our work, our efforts, can have permanence? Jesus told us:19 “Do
not accumulate for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy
and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But accumulate for yourselves
treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and thieves do not
break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be
also” (Matthew 6:19-21).
Nothing
that we attempt to store up on earth will last. Only that which is laid up for
us in heaven will endure. Thus, we must be about God’s work, doing those things
that are eternal. When we invest in God’s kingdom, we invest in something that
will last forever. When we share the gospel and see men and women come to
Christ, we have eternal fruit. In short, when we do what God says, we invest in
the eternal. Our lives are short, and they will end, but what is done for our
Lord will last for all eternity.
One of the things men put their
confidence in today is technology. In the realm of technology, the world has
come a very long way. But all too often the amazing advances in technology have
been embraced as a means of sinning more swiftly and effectively. God has
always found ways to show men that technology that rests in the hands of
sinners is deadly. Our significance and our security will never be rightly
based upon our technology; it can only be found in our identity, in being in
Christ. Enoch walked with God, and bypassed death (Genesis 5:24). Noah found favor
with God , and walked with God (Genesis 6:8-9). It is
only when we forsake every effort to save ourselves, and cease striving to be
God-like through our own efforts, that we can enter into the salvation He has
accomplished for us.
Let’s
be honest about the fact that God’s will sometimes appears foreboding and
threatening. God’s command was for man to spread out and fill the earth.
Unbelieving men saw this as their worst nightmare. What was pleasing to God was
distasteful to the men and women of
1
Why do the nations cause a commotion? Why are the countries devising plots that
will fail?
2 The kings of the earth form a united front; the rulers collaborate
against the Lord and his chosen
king.
3 They say, “Let’s tear off the shackles they’ve put on us! Let’s free
ourselves from their ropes!”
4 The one enthroned in heaven laughs in disgust; the sovereign Master taunts
them.
5 Then he angrily speaks to them and terrifies them in his rage.
6 He says, “I myself have installed my
king on Zion, my holy hill.”
7 The king says, “I will tell you what
the Lord decreed. He said to me:
‘You are my son! This very day I have
become your father!
8 You have only to ask me, and I will
give you the nations as your inheritance, the ends of the earth as your
personal property.
9 You will break them with an iron
scepter; you will smash them as if they were a potter’s jar.’”
10 So now, you kings, do what is wise! You
rulers of the earth, submit to correction!
11 Serve the Lord in fear! Repent in terror!
12 Give sincere homage!Otherwise
he will be angry, and you will die because of your behavior, when his anger
quickly ignites. How happy are all who take shelter in him! (Psalm 2:1-2)
The
message of this psalm is simply to cease striving against God and to submit to
Him. Trust in the salvation He has provided in the person and work of Jesus
Christ, and be spared from His coming wrath on His enemies. Those who take
shelter in Him will be blessed.
Our
text in Genesis tells us that unity, in and of itself, is not necessarily good.
It was a unity based upon uniformity. These folks spoke the same language and
had the same vocabulary. They all wished to avoid being spread about the earth.
Some churches seek to attain unity at the expense of the truth. There are those
with whom Christians cannot be yoked (see 2 Corinthians 6:14-18). Some churches
seek to attain a semblance of unity by the use of “homogeneous grouping.” It is
based upon the human principle that “birds of a feather flock together.” If we
can gather a group that is largely made up of one race, of one culture, of one
segment of society, then we think we will have unity. True Christian unity is
best demonstrated in the context of true diversity: diversity socially,
diversity ethnically, diversity culturally, diversity economically, diversity
in spiritual gifts, diversity in convictions, and diversity in ministry. This
is one of the things I appreciate about our church. We do not have as much
diversity as I would like to see, but we can look out into the congregation and
see those of a different color, of nationality, of economic status, of
spiritual gifts, of convictions, and of ministries. I pray that there will be
more of this diversity, and that in this diversity we will demonstrate true
unity.
If
man’s collective disobedience brought about the confusion of languages, and
ultimately strife among different people and language groups, it is the
obedience of one person who can reverse it. Jesus Christ came to this earth at
His incarnation, adding perfect humanity to His undiminished deity. In
obedience to His Father’s will, He died on the cross of
The
story of Babel sounds “long ago and far away,” but it is really not as distant
and removed as we might think. We do not have the same mandate to spread out
and fill the earth, because this has happened. But we do have a similar
command:
18
Then Jesus came up and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has
been given to me.
19
Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of
the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit,
20
teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with
you always, to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:18-20).
We
are command to go[60][58]
into all the world with the message of the gospel. I think that many of us seek
to find ways to avoid going – perhaps not across the ocean, but at least across
the street. I am not saying that every Christian needs to leave the place where
they are and to go to some foreign land with the gospel. I am saying that we
should all be willing to go, and we should encourage those who desire to go.
We, too, like the security of the “nest” where we are. We do not huddle in a
city, with a tower, but in a church (sometimes with a tower). We need to be
careful to consistently gather for instruction, mutual edification, and worship
(Hebrews 10:24-25), but we also need to go “outside the camp:”
10
We have an altar that those who serve in the tabernacle have no right to eat
from.
11
For the bodies of those animals whose blood the high priest brings into the
sanctuary as an offering for sin are burned outside
the camp.
12
Therefore, to sanctify the people by his own blood, Jesus also suffered outside
the camp.
13
We must go out to him, then, outside the camp, bearing the abuse he
experienced.
14
For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come
(Hebrews 13:10-14, emphasis mine).
Those
of us who are parents know the reluctance of sending our children into places
of danger. Let us not be found guilty of the same sin as that of the people of
For
now, the confusion of languages at Babel has many implications for those who do
choose to go into the world with the good news of the gospel. It means that we
must learn to understand and to appreciate the culture of other people groups.
It means that we must learn the language of those to whom we are taking the
gospel. It means that there are many obstacles to be overcome, such as
nationalism and prejudice (theirs, and ours). I believe that when God gave His
Spirit to the church, He gave Him so that we would be empowered to proclaim the
gospel cross-culturally.
There
is one final lesson from our text I would like to point out in closing: God is
exceedingly gracious to hinder us from pursuing sin as rapidly and successfully
as we are capable of doing. God’s covenant with Noah had some very profound
implications. How quickly the whole world had deteriorated to the point that it
had to be destroyed. We see that after the flood it would not have taken long
for mankind to have returned to its former state of decay, which would have
needed to be removed once again. But when God promised not to destroy the whole
world again in this fashion, I believe it meant He would somehow restrain man’s
sinful tendencies until the time when He would send the Savior, on whom God’s
judgment would fall. (There will then be a future judgment for those who fail
to accept the provision of salvation in Christ.)
Thank
God for hindering man’s sinfulness. He did this in various ways. He “hindered”
Adam and Eve from living in the garden after their fall, so that they would not
eat of the tree of life and live forever in their sinful state. He reduced
man’s lifespan, so that rather than living for nearly 1,000 years (as we see in
Genesis 5), his lifespan would finally be reduced to 70 or 80 years (remember
that it was Moses who wrote this in Psalm 90:10). In Genesis 9, God also instituted
capital punishment for murder (which strongly suggests that this penalty does
hinder violence). With the flood, God wiped out a race that had gone entirely
bad (except for one man). Now, God has brought about the confusion of
languages, so that men cannot so easily conspire together to resist God. The
giving of the law will be another form of restraint on man’s sinful
inclinations (see Galatians 3:15-29; note especially verse 19).
Have
there ever been times in your life when you really wanted something and God
seemed to be putting obstacles in your path, keeping you from what you desired?
Did you feel as though God was against you, rather than for you? This text
tells me that I should thank God for all those times when He has stood in my
way, not unlike the way the “angel of the LORD” stood in the path of
Balaam (Numbers 22:21-25). I wonder how many times God hindered me from
sinning, in ways I never recognized as His hand? Thank God for standing in our
way when we desire to do what is contrary to His will.
Lesson 5 — Abraham’s Call and God’s Covenant[61][59]
Genesis 11:26—17:27
Introduction
A
good many years ago, my good friend Bill McRae and I had just finished jogging.
We were sitting on the steps outside our house catching our breath when another
jogger paused to chat for a moment. He introduced himself as Ed Bloom. As
usual, Bill was very warm and cordial and engaged “Ed” in conversation. In the
midst of this conversation, Bill said something like this: “Tell me, Ed, is
this your first year as a student at DTS?” I turned to Bill and said, “Bill,
this is Dr. Ed Bloom, who is a professor here at the seminary.” Needless to
say, Bill had not known that “Ed” had just joined the faculty, and he was very
embarrassed.
Some
people just don’t look like who they are. That is certainly the case with
Abraham. When we first meet him in Genesis 12, he does not appear to be the
hero of the faith we know from other passages in the Bible. Abraham is regarded
as one of the giants of the faith, and one of the most prominent personalities
in the Bible. A concordance search will indicate that the name “Abraham” occurs
some 230 times in the Bible. Included in this number is the appearance of his
name 67 times in the New Testament. “Abram” occurs in the Old Testament another
60 times. This man is a giant of the faith, but that is not necessarily evident
in the early days of his life, as we shall attempt to show. Here was a man who
came to trust in God, rather than in himself, but it
took considerable time and trouble to reach that point in his life. We will
devote two messages to Abraham, seeking to see what role he played in the
“unfolding drama of redemption.”
God’s Covenant and Abraham’s Call
Genesis 11:26—12:9
From
a reading of our text in Genesis, one would get the impression that Abraham
received his “call” while he was living in
1 Then the high priest said, “Are these things true?”
2 So he replied, “Brothers and fathers,
listen to me. The God of glory appeared to our forefather Abraham when he
was in Mesopotamia, before he settled in Haran,
3 and said to him, ‘Go out from your country and from your
relatives, and come to the land I will show you.’
4 Then he went out from the country of the Chaldeans and
settled in Haran. After his father died, God made him move to this country
where you now live” (Acts 7:1-4, emphasis mine).
Moses
does not wish to emphasize this fact about Abram. He tells us only what he
needs to do to develop his argument, and from that point on “love covers a
multitude of sins.” We see, then, that Abram was first called to leave his
family and his homeland while in
Therefore
we must say that the “call” of Abram in Genesis 12:1-3 is really his “second
call,” something like Jonah’s second commission to go to Nineveh (Jonah 1:1-2;
3:1-2). The difference is that Jonah refused to go where God told him and went
in the opposite direction. Abram was providentially brought part way to
The
call of Abram was similar in its demands to that of marriage. Abram was, so to
speak, to “leave and to cleave” – he was to leave his family and his homeland,
and to cleave to God, by faith. You and I live in the Western world in a very
mobile society, where family members live far apart. My brother lives 2200
miles away, in
Genesis
12:1-3 is widely recognized as the Abrahamic Covenant, and so it is. But I
would like to emphasize that the Bible demonstrates the principle of
progressive revelation. Truth is seldom revealed all at one time and place (see
Ephesians 2:8-10; 5:32). It is gradually unfolded, through time. For example,
we are told that the seed of the woman would crush Satan’s head (Genesis 3:15).
We expect that “seed” to be – or to come from – the line of Abel, but
Abel is killed by his brother, Cain (Genesis 4). We are not surprised to see
that the line of the seed passes down through Seth to Noah, and then from Noah
to Abram. By the end of Genesis, we will be told that the “seed” will
come through the line of Judah (Genesis 49:8-12). We will later learn that the “seed”
will come from the line of David (2 Samuel 7:10-16). The identity of the line
of the promised Savior continues to narrow, until the introduction of Jesus as
the Messiah in the Gospels.
The
principle of progressive revelation is very evident in the Book of Genesis,
especially regarding the Abrahamic Covenant. This covenant is introduced in
Genesis 12:1-3, but only in very general terms. There are personal promises
made to Abram, as there are collective promises made concerning his offspring.
In general terms, God promises Abram that He will give him many descendants,
and that He will also give him the
Abram
is told that he will have many descendants in chapter 12, and we see in Genesis
15:2 that Abram assumes that his “seed” will have to be an adopted
servant from his household. In Genesis 15:4, God assures Abram that the
promised “seed” will come forth from his own body (15:4). It is not
until after the birth of Ishmael that Abram is told he and Sarah will be the
parents of the promised child (17:15-16). God progressively reveals His plans
and purposes to Abram. Because of this, we should expect the details of the
Abrahamic Covenant to be disclosed progressively, over some period of time.
This is precisely what happens. And so it will suffice to say here that Abraham
is the one whom God designates as the patriarch of the family from which the
promised “seed” will come. As the story of Abraham unfolds, more and
more details concerning the promised blessings of the Abrahamic Covenant will
be disclosed.
Stretching the Faith of Abraham
I
have previously indicated that in the beginning Abraham did not look much like
“the father of the faith.” Nevertheless, this is what he will become. As we
continue our study in Genesis, we see the process through which God led Abram,
so that he became a man of faith. Let’s consider that process as we study
chapters 12 through 17.
Once
in Canaan, God assures Abram that this is the land He will give to him and to
his descendants (Genesis 12:7). Abraham passed through the
1
There was a famine in the land, subsequent to the earlier famine that occurred
in the days of Abraham. Isaac went to Abimelech king of the Philistines at Gerar.
2 The Lord appeared to Isaac and
said, “Do not go down to
Moses
is gracious in what he does (and does not) say about Abram at this point in his
life. As I look at this text, it is God’s way of letting us know the starting
point from which Abram’s spiritual growth began. This is Abram’s spiritual low
ground, and from here on, he is being stretched to live on higher ground.
The Test of Truthfulness
Genesis 12:10-20
Abram
knows full well how beautiful his wife Sarai is. He knows that a woman this
beautiful would be highly desired, and that all that anyone who wanted her
would have to do would be to kill him and take her. And so Abram and Sarai
agree to a scheme that they will consistently practice for a number of years –
they lie about her identity as his wife, and claim the half-truth that she was
his sister. This plan had a very serious flaw; it gave interested men the idea
that Sarai was available for marriage. Abram was trusting in his deception,
rather than in God, for life and prosperity. Abram was seeking to survive at
his wife’s expense. He put his wife at risk to save his own neck. In his mind,
he had to go to
When
they arrived in Egypt, it did not take long for Pharaoh to be informed about
Abram’s sister and her great beauty. Innocently, Pharaoh took Sarai into his
harem and was soon to make her his wife. I can only imagine the sleepless
nights that were in store for Abram. He must have sat up wide-eyed every night,
wondering what was going on between Pharaoh and Sarai. All the while, presents
arrived from Pharaoh, part of the dowry he was paying for taking Sarai as his
wife!
God
had plans for Abram and Sarai. They were to have a child, through whom many descendants
would be born. It was through the union of Abram and Sarai that the line of the
promised “seed” was to come. There was no way that God’s promise of a
seed could be fulfilled if Sarai were to become Mrs. Pharaoh. God intervened by
means of plagues that came upon Pharaoh and his house. (From chapter 20, we
learn that every woman in the
It
used to bother me a great deal that Abram came away from Egypt more prosperous
than when he arrived. How could God bless Abram when he was acting in fear, and
not in faith? How could God bless Abram’s deception?
The
first thing we must emphatically say is that we never really merit any of the
blessings that God may shower upon us. But the second thing we should see here
is that this story was deliberately used as a prototype of
The Test of Family and Fortune
Genesis 13:1—14:24
Clearly
implied in the promise of Genesis 12:2 is that of prosperity. God promised to “bless”
Abram, and to “make his name great.” This assures Abram of a large
family, with many descendants, and it strongly implies material wealth.
Chapters 13 and 14 put Abram’s faith to the test in the area of earthly
prosperity. In chapter 13, Abram returns to Canaan from
We
know that Lot chose what seemed to be the best land. But before we get too
critical of
Surely
Can
you imagine the conversation that must have taken place between Abram and Sarai
when Abram returned from his meeting with Lot? From what I read of Sarai in
Genesis 16, this was a woman who could be really cranky. I can imagine that
Abram came home and Sarai could not wait to ask how the dispute between their
herdsmen was settled. When Abram told Sarai that he had given
I
know I’m reading between the lines, but it would help to explain verses 14-18
of 13. In these verses, God reaffirms His covenant with Abram and reassures him
that he will be greatly blessed. Specifically, God assures Abram that this
whole land – on which both he and Lot are dwelling as sojourners – will be his
(not Lot’s). God tells Abram to look in all directions, and assures him that
the land will all be his, as far as he can see. It will be given to Abram, and
to his descendants, forever (verses 14-15). And since Abram is surely wondering
about these “descendants,” God reassures him that his descendants will be
without number (verse 16). Abram is told to walk throughout the land, to take a
good look at all that will be his. As he travels to these places, he
symbolically claims this land as his own. He will not possess it in his
lifetime, but his descendants will. Abraham then moves his tents near to the
oaks of Mamre, and there he builds yet another altar to the Lord (verse 18).
Lot
found himself caught in the middle of a power struggle between the king of
Sodom and his allies and an alliance of opposing kings. The king of
20 Worthy of praise is the Most High God,
who delivered your enemies into your hand” (Genesis 14:19b-20a).
Melchizedek
is a most interesting fellow, whose only appearance is here but who is the
topic of later revelation (Psalm 110:4, Hebrews 5:6, 10; 6:20; 7:1-17). He
plays an important role in Abram’s life at this moment in time.
He
informs Abram that the victory he has won was not his victory at all, but
God’s. It was He who delivered Abram’s enemies into his hand (verse 20). And He
is “the Creator of heaven and earth.” The NASB renders, “Possessor of
heaven and earth.” To be the Creator is to be the owner, the possessor.
Abram then paid a tithe to Melchizedek, and this king and priest disappears as
quickly as he appears.
It
would seem as though it were only moments later that the king of
“I
raise my hand to the Lord, the
Most High God, Creator of heaven and earth, and vow 23 that I will take
nothing belonging to you, not even a thread or the strap of a sandal. That way
you can never say, ‘It is I who made Abram rich.’ 24 I will take nothing except
compensation for what the young men have eaten. As for the share of the men who
went with me—Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre—let them take their share” (Genesis
14:22b-24, emphasis mine).
Since
the God of Abram was “Creator of heaven and earth,” and since God had
promised to prosper him, Abram would not allow this pagan king to prosper him.
His blessing must come from God. Abram gave tithes to the king of
It
would seem that from a purely business point of view, Abram had made two very
serious mistakes in chapters 13 and 14. First, he had failed to claim the
better land and had given it instead to
Divine Affirmation and Clarification
Genesis 15:1-21
Chapter
15 begins with these words from God to Abram: “Fear not.” It may seem as
though Abram was fearless, but God’s words indicate otherwise. What was it that
Abram feared? For one thing, he may very well have feared retaliation from the
kings he had defeated. In 1 Kings 20, we read how
Abram’s
fears seem to go beyond these heathen kings, however. He is painfully aware of
the fact that he has not yet begotten a son, as God had promised. His only
“heir” at that moment in time was the son of one of his servants, Eliezer of
Damascus. God graciously and tenderly encourages Abram at this moment of fear.
Had Abram confessed to the king of
Verse
6 describes Abram’s response – he believed God. He believed God’s promise of a
son and of countless descendants through him. God reckoned his faith (not any
works he had done) as righteousness. God did not stop here; He went on to reassure
Abram concerning the land that He would give to him, for this too was a part of
the Abrahamic Covenant. Abram wanted assurance from God that He would indeed
give him this land. One would think that if Abram believed God for a son, he
could also believe God for this land. God did not rebuke Abram; instead, God
gave Him reassurance by formalizing his covenant. He had Abram kill a heifer, a
goat, a ram, a turtledove and a young pigeon, dividing these in half, except
for the birds (15:9-11). As I understand what took place here, this was not a
sacrifice of worship; indeed, it was not a sacrifice at all. We do not even
read of a fire, nor do we find the term “sacrifice” employed. Abram even had to
shoo the birds away, because they wanted to eat on the carcasses. This was the
ritual by which men entered into covenant with each other. The parties entering
into the covenant would cut the animals in two, and then both would apparently
pass between the parts, signifying that the covenant was conditional, that it was
binding only if both parties kept their commitments. In this ritual, only God
passed between the animal halves, signifying that this was an unconditional
covenant, dependent only on His faithfulness.
As
God passed between the halves of the animals, He put Abram into a deep sleep,
and in this sleep, he had a vision of what the future held for his descendants.
Abram had a deep sense of terror, not only due to his being in the presence of
the Holy God, but perhaps also because of his vision of the suffering of his
descendants. God assured Abram that his descendants would possess the land, but
that this would not happen quickly. They would first endure slavery and
oppression in an unnamed foreign land for 400 years, but afterward they would
come out with many possessions. Abram was told that he would die before the
promise of God was fulfilled, but his descendants would surely possess the
land. The sins of the Amorites who presently occupied the land were not yet
complete. God would give them time, but in this time, their sins would only
increase. Then, when their sins had fully developed, God would bring about
divine judgment through Abram’s descendants.
After
the sun had set and it was dark, a smoking firepot and a flaming torch passed
between the animal parts. It was by means of this official ceremony that God’s
covenant with Abram was ratified. Other than the covenant God made with Noah,
this is the next time the word covenant is used.
Technically,
I suppose, we might call Genesis 12:1-3 a promise, and this a formal covenant.
God now informs Abram as to which peoples and which lands He will give him.
These lands were described more generally in 13:14-18, but now the peoples who
are to be replaced are named (Genesis 15:18-21).
In
addition to the added clarification and confirmation God has given in the
events of Genesis 15, there is a new disclosure, which bears directly on
Abram’s concerns. God is in no rush to fulfill His promises. He has just
informed Abram that while the
The Testing of Abram Through
Sarai
Genesis 16
God
had now made it clear that Abram’s promised “seed” would be the product
of his own body, and not that of another (15:4). Abram is now challenged to
produce a son, but not by means of Sarai. Amazing as it may seem this was not
Abram’s idea, but Sarai’s. She wanted a son so badly she was willing to employ
a known and accepted remedy of her culture. She could give Abram her maid,
Hagar, and by this means, Sarai could have a son. As soon as the child was born,
it would be Sarai’s son, not Hagar’s.
Sarai’s
reasoning is far from godly. She is painfully aware that she has not been able
to conceive. More than this, she knows that it is God who has prevented her
from bearing a son to her husband. Her proposition to Abram seems like a pretty
blatant attempt to circumvent God’s will. If God has kept her from having a son
through her own conception, then she will have a son another way – but not
really God’s way. She had an Egyptian maid named Hagar, Moses tells us. The
fact that she was an Egyptian does not seem incidental, because Moses repeats
this in verse 3. Was this one of the consequences of Abram’s sojourn in
But
to Adam he said, “Because you obeyed your wife[65][63]
and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat from it,’
cursed is the ground thanks to you; in painful toil you will eat of it all the
days of your life” (Genesis 3:17, emphasis mine).
Verse
3 inclines me to think that Abram did not immediately do as Sarai asked. Moses
tells us that after Abram and Sarai had lived in the
Once
Hagar knew that she was pregnant, her relationship with Sarai changed
dramatically. Hagar now looked upon Sarai with disdain, and Sarai knew it.
Sarai did not accept responsibility for insisting that Abram take Hagar;
instead, she blamed him. Abram once again caves in to Sarai’s pressure, and
tells his wife that she may deal with Hagar as she pleases (16:6). Sarai made
Hagar’s life miserable, to the point that she finally ran away. The angel of
the Lord sought her out, because it was not yet time for her to leave Abram and
Sarai. The angel promised Hagar that her son would become great (and that he
would live east of his brothers). He told Hagar that her son would be a
constant thorn in the flesh of Abram’s other offspring, and this seemed to give
her a measure of satisfaction. The angel also told Hagar that she must return
home and submit to Sarai as her mistress. That was the hard part. Hagar came to
see God in a different light, in a more personal way. He was the God who saw
her sorrow, the God who cared.
The Sign of Abram’s Faith
Genesis 17
Abraham
was 86 years old at the time Ishmael was born (16:16). Thirteen years pass
between the events of chapter 16 and the beginning of chapter 17. Ishmael is
now a teenager. I have little doubt that over those 13 years Abram has become
convinced that Ishmael is the promised “seed,” that he is the one
through whom he and Sarai will have countless descendants. I am also certain
that Abram has become deeply attached to Ishmael and loves
him very much.
Abram
is now 99 years old, and any hope of having another son by Sarai seems vain.
The Lord appeared to Abram, to reiterate His covenant promises to him:
1 When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him and said, “I am the
Sovereign God. Walk before me and be blameless.
2 Then I will confirm my covenant between me and
you, and I will give you a multitude of descendants.”
3 Abram bowed down with his face to the ground, and
God spoke to him, saying,
4 “As for me, this is my covenant with you: You will
be the father of a multitude of nations.
5 No longer will your name be Abram. Instead, your name will be Abraham,
because I will make you the father of a multitude of
nations.
6 I will make you extremely fruitful. I will make
nations of you, and kings will descend from you.
7 I will confirm my covenant as a perpetual covenant
between me and you. It will extend to your descendants after you throughout
their generations. I will be your God and the God of your descendants after
you.
8 I will give the whole land of Canaan—the land
where you are residing—to you and your descendants after you as a permanent
possession. I will be their God” (Genesis 17:1-8).
Though
Abram doesn’t yet know it, the time for the birth of the promised child is
drawing near. God once again reaffirms His covenant with Abram. He reveals
Himself as El Shaddai. So far as I can tell, this is the first time this name
for God is used in Genesis, though not the last (see Genesis 28:3; 35:11;
43:14; 48:3; 49:25; see also Exodus 6:3). He is the all-powerful, all
sufficient, sovereign God. God commands Abram to “walk before me” and to
be “blameless.” God promises to establish His covenant with Abram, and
to multiply his descendants greatly. Abram fell on his face, and God talked
with him. What a privilege Abram had to communicate directly with God in this
manner, in a manner similar to the way God talked with Moses (see Exodus
33:11). Surely Moses could identify with Abram here.
To
emphasize the fact that Abram would become the father of a multitude, God
changed his name from Abram (exalted father) to Abraham (father of a
multitude). The covenant that God had made with Abraham was an everlasting
covenant, one that would be established with Abraham’s descendants. These
descendants would possess the land as God had promised earlier in chapter 15.
The sign of the covenant between God and Abraham was that of circumcision. This
was to be observed by Abraham, and by his descendants. Hebrew boys were to be
circumcised on their eighth day. The male organ of reproduction was to set the
Israelites apart. As my former Hebrew professor, Dr. Bruce Waltke, used to say,
“Every time an Israelite man had sex, he was reminded of his unique identity
and calling.” Only those who were circumcised were regarded as being a part of
the covenant community, and a participant in the covenant blessings.
God
not only spoke concerning Abraham and his male descendants, He spoke also
regarding Sarai. It was not just Abraham who would be the father of the
promised child; Abraham and Sarah would be this child’s parents. And so God
changed Sarai’s name to Sarah (princess). She and Abraham would become the parents
of a kingly line. Abraham laughed because this promise of a child was so
incredible. Surely God meant for Ishmael to be the promised seed … (verse 18).
“No,” God said, “he and Sarah would have a son and his name would be Isaac”
(verse 19). It is with Isaac that God would establish His covenant. Ishmael
would be blessed, but he was not the son of promise. This promised child,
Isaac, was to be born at the same time the following year (17:21). In obedience
to God’s command, Abraham was circumcised at the age of 99, as was Ishmael and
all Abraham’s household (17:22-27).
I
have to smile to myself as I read the 17th chapter of Genesis. Moses
must have been humbled by writing this account because it plainly requires
every Israelite to be circumcised. Moses wrote that when God instructed Abraham
to be circumcised, and to circumcise his sons and household, he did so
immediately. It was not so with Moses, as he knew all to well:
24
Now on the way, at a place where they stopped for the night, the Lord met Moses and sought to kill him.
25 But Zipporah took a flint knife, cut off the foreskin of her son and touched
it to Moses’ feet, and said, “Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me.” 26
So the Lord let him alone. (At
that time she said, “A bridegroom of blood,” referring to the circumcision.)
(Exodus 4:24-26)
Lessons for
Abraham
had always been a hero to the Israelites. I think this account is intended to
put Abraham’s life into perspective. Abraham was not a perfect man, and
initially he is not a giant in matters of faith. He did not immediately obey
God’s command to leave
It
was not Abraham’s great faith that explains all the good things that happened
in Abraham’s life, but God’s faithfulness to His covenant with Abraham. I
believe it helps Christians to realize that there are no super heroes in the
Bible, except for One, our Lord Himself. The rest
were, as James puts it, “men of like passions,” men like ourselves
(James 5:17). It was only through time and troubles that Abraham grew in his
faith to become the man of faith that we see late in his life, and that we
would like to emulate. Sanctification is never instant; it takes time, and troubles
(see James 1:2-4).
The
Israelites of Moses’ day were informed by chapter 15 that the time of their
suffering in
There
is a lesson for us here regarding the way to blessing. From the Garden of Eden
onward, man has always been tempted to seek his own good his own way. Blessing
comes from trusting God and obeying His commands. Abram sought to find safety
and security in the
Our
text underscores the fact that God is in no hurry to achieve His purposes. He
did not immediately give the land to Abraham, but it would be the possession of
his descendants, after 400 years of slavery. He did not immediately give
Abraham the son that He promised. He waited until it was “too late,” humanly
speaking, so that it would be apparent this son was a gift of God. He did not
give Abraham instant, fully developed faith. God called him and led him through
various trials and tribulations, so that his faith would grow over time.
The
corollary to the fact that God is in no hurry is that men must learn to wait
patiently for God to fulfill His promises. Abraham had to wait for God’s
judgment upon the Canaanites. Abraham had to wait for a son, and for the land
to be his possession, through his descendants.
Abraham
can teach us a great deal about humility. He did not put his own interests
above those of
We
learn from Abraham that men ought to be the leaders in their homes and not to
abdicate their responsibilities as leaders. Like Adam, Abraham listened to the
voice of his wife, following her into the painful path of disobedience by
taking Hagar as his wife. (From this, the Israelites were given an illustration
of the danger of marrying foreign wives – see Deuteronomy 7:1-6). Men are not
to be autocrats, who ignore the wisdom of their wives, but neither are they are
not to allow themselves to be pressured by their wives into doing what they
know to be wrong.
Abraham
is an example of both faith and fear. In faith, he left
Abraham
is one of the early examples of the truth that God chooses the weak and foolish
things of this world to amaze the wise:
26
Think about the circumstances of your call, brothers and sisters. Not many were
wise by human standards, not many were powerful, not
many were members of the upper class. 27 But God chose what the world thinks
foolish to shame the wise, and God chose what the world thinks weak to shame
the strong. 28 God chose what is low and despised in the world, what is
regarded as nothing, to set aside what is regarded as something, 29 so that no
one can boast in his presence (1 Corinthians 1:26-29).
As
I read the story of Abraham, I see that God did not choose him for his courage,
or his intelligence, or his standing in the community. God sovereignly chose
Abraham out of his weaknesses, rather than his strengths. Abraham was a
God-made man. He was a man who faced the same trials and temptations that we
experience. The good news is that this man came to be a giant in faith. As he
grew in his faith, so can we, by God’s grace.
One
of the most encouraging truths we find in this passage is that sin never
thwarts the purposes of God. There are some who think that God is dependent
upon our faithfulness, and that when we fail, God’s
purposes will fail as well. This simply is not true. God is able to accomplish
His purposes through man’s disobedience and failures, as well as through man’s
obedience. Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden, but God had already
purposed to bring about the redemption of fallen men. Because of man’s sin,
God’s grace can now be seen in all its splendor.
Abraham sought refuge in
As
I have thought about this comforting truth (that man’s sin cannot thwart God’s
purposes), it occurred to me that it goes beyond this. God does not merely
“fix” the things that men break; God makes them better than they were before.
Think about the fall of man in the Garden of Eden, for example. Adam and Eve
lived in a lovely garden, where sin was (as yet) unknown. They were created in
God’s image. They were without sin in the beginning, but then fell into sin,
with all its contamination and corruption. But when God finishes with man, he
will live in a heavenly city, with a much better garden. There will be a new
heaven and a new earth, and this will be a better one. The sins of the saints
will be forgiven and forgotten, and they will possess the righteousness of
Christ. God turns our tragedies into triumph, our bungling into blessings. This
is not an excuse for sloppiness or for sin, because sin has painful earthly consequences.
But in the end, our failures don’t frustrate God’s purposes and promises; they
are the occasion for His power and grace to be magnified.
Finally,
our text provides us with an excellent example of progressive revelation. God
did not disclose the totality of the Abrahamic Covenant in one revelation. God
spread out this revelation over a number of years, adding details and content
to it little by little. Abram was first promised many descendants (12:2), then
a son born of his own body (15:4), and finally a son born of he
and Sarah (17:15-19). It was 24 years before Abraham was finally made aware
that the promised child would be born of both he and his wife Sarah. Initially,
Abram was told that God would give him the
In
the Bible, God discloses His plans and purposes to mankind a portion at a time.
This process is known as progressive revelation. Now that God has spoken
finally and fully in His Son (Hebrews 1:1-4), we have the sum total of divine
revelation in our hands – the Bible. I believe that while we possess all of
God’s Word, we do not comprehend it all at once. In this sense, revelation is
still being disclosed to us progressively. The Holy Spirit is the One who
enlightens our hearts and minds, so that we may grasp the revelation of God
(see, for example, 1 Corinthians 2:6-16). He reveals certain truths to us as we
have need for them. This is why we must constantly read and reread the Word of
God. Almost every time we do so, we will see something new. It is not that this
truth was not there before, but only that we did not see it before. We must
come to the Word of God as the psalmist did in Psalm 119, with a prayer and the
expectation that God will “open our eyes to behold wondrous things from His
word” (see Psalm 119:18).
In
our time of worship that will follow this message, we are going to celebrate
our Lord’s death, as we do every week. Some people think that remembering our
Lord in this way is needlessly repetitive and boring. It is our opportunity to
reflect on the New Covenant of our Lord, brought about through the shedding of
His precious blood, once for all. Just as it took Abraham a lifetime to begin
to grasp the immensity of the Abrahamic Covenant, I believe that it takes us a
lifetime (indeed, an eternity!) to grasp the magnitude of the New Covenant.
Each time we do so, let us come to the Bible and to the Lord’s Table with a
sense of expectation and wonder, seeking to see something more than we have
seen before.
Lesson 6 — Abraham’s Finest Hour[66][64]
Genesis 18:1—26:35
Introduction
I
received a letter from my friend, Frank, this past week, which he had written
while he and his wife, Donna, were waiting for their plane at the airport. She
was spending her time working on a Bible crossword puzzle. When Donna got up to
purchase a snack, Frank decided to play a practical joke on her. He snatched up
her crossword puzzle, found a place with five spaces, and wrote in his name,
FRANK. When she returned, Frank tried hard to conceal his amusement. It took
Donna a couple of minutes to see Frank’s work, and she giggled. Then, on second
look, she began to laugh much harder, saying, “Yes … yes, that’s PERFECT, so
PERFECT!!” She kept on laughing. Frank couldn’t stand it any longer and finally
asked what was so funny. She handed Frank the crossword puzzle, telling him to
look at number 46 across. Number 46 read: “GET THEE BEHIND ME _ _ _ _ _.”
Frank
did not expect his name to be found where Satan’s name belonged. Let’s suppose
there was a number 47 across, with 7 blanks, and it read, “THE FATHER OF THE
FAITH.” I think Abraham would have been even more surprised to see his name
written in those blanks. He was a great man of faith, in the end, but this
would not be as readily apparent to us earlier in Abraham’s life. The title of
this lesson is “Abraham’s Finest Hour.” There are some wonderful evidences of
faith in chapters 18-25, but not all are examples of faith, as we shall see.
Before we begin our study at chapter 18, let’s briefly review the events
leading up to this point in Abraham’s life.
According
to Stephen, Abram’s original call came to him while he was still in
When
Abram and
In
chapter 16, Sarai confronts Abram with a test, a test that he seems to fail.
Since God has withheld children from her, she proposes that Abram take Hagar,
her handmaid, and produce a son through her. Abram consents, but when Hagar
becomes pregnant, Sarai becomes bitter and angry. Sarai is so cruel to Hagar
that she runs away, but the Lord seeks her out and convinces her to return and
to submit to Sarai, assuring Hagar that He will bless her child.
By
the time we reach chapter 17, we find Abram is 99 years old and still without
an heir. God assured Abram that he and Sarai would have a son and told him the
boy’s name would be Isaac. God changed Abram’s name to Abraham (“father of a
multitude”) and Sarai’s name to Sarah (“princess”). He instituted the rite of
circumcision as a sign of His covenant with Abraham and his descendants.
Hospitality at High Noon
Genesis 18
Abraham
and Sarah lived in the mountains, overlooking the valley below where the cities
of
Sarah
was in the tent behind Abraham, listening to this conversation with great
interest. When she heard the announcement that she would have a child, she
laughed to herself, amused at the thought of her and Abraham[67][65]
having a child in their old age. This need not have been the scorning laughter
of unbelief; I think hers was the laughter of total shock, something like my
response to receiving the title, “best dressed man in
1 When the LORD restored the well-being of
we thought we were dreaming.
2 At that time we laughed loudly
and shouted for joy.
At that time the nations said,
“The LORD has accomplished great things for these people” (Psalm 126:1-2).
It
was absolutely an incredible thing – a child at the age of 90, with a husband
who would then be 100. The Lord knew exactly what Sarah’s silent response was
for He could read her thoughts. He – not one of the angels[68][66]
– challenged Abraham concerning Sarah’s response. Sarah attempted to deny it,
but the Lord knew better.
Abraham’s
hospitality is impressive, but the
When
God reveals that He is about to judge
Once
there was agreement in principle, the only issue was: How many righteous folks
would be required for God to withhold judgment from
The Destruction of
Genesis 19
It
would seem that the Lord was interested only in dealing with Abraham face to
face, since only the two angels arrived at the city gates of
They
had not yet settled down for the evening when there was a loud pounding at the
door. It was not just a handful of folks, not a small gang of bad boys; this
was a very large segment of the male population of
Now,
lest we harshly condemn
We
know that
Initially,
From
what we read about
7 And if he rescued Lot, a righteous man in anguish over the debauched lifestyle of
lawless men, 8 (for while he lived among them day after day, that righteous man was tormented in
his righteous soul by the
lawless deeds he saw and heard) 9
—if so, then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from their trials, and to
reserve the unrighteous for punishment at the day of judgment (2 Peter 2:7-9,
emphasis mine).
Being
righteous is not the same as being perfect.
Never Say Never
Genesis 20
In
Genesis 20, Moses leaves
If
we think that God’s covenant purposes and promises are dependent upon our
faithfulness, we are mistaken. It is not Abraham’s faithfulness that saves the
day, but God’s. Moses is a prophet of God, as we are told in this very text
(verse 7), and yet he is not speaking to Abimelech for God. It is God who
speaks to Abimelech, and in a way that certainly got his attention:
But
God appeared to Abimelech in a dream at night and said to him, “You are about
to die because of the woman you have taken, for she is someone else’s wife”
(Genesis 20:3).
Abimelech
was “all ears.” He insisted that he had taken Sarah innocently, and that it was
Abraham and Sarah who had been deceptive. God told Abimelech that He had kept
the king from sinning, and thus from death. He was now to restore Sarah to her
husband. He further indicated that Abraham was a prophet and that he would pray
for the king and his people, so that they would be healed and not die. In
verses 17 and 18, we are told that Abraham’s prayer for the king and his
household enabled them to have children, because God had closed the wombs of
every women in the king’s household. There was no
chance of Sarah getting pregnant in that household,
because there was no chance of anyone getting pregnant there, until Abraham
prayed for healing on their behalf. God was making sure that His promise to
Abraham would be fulfilled, in spite of Abraham’s sin.
The
thing that catches my attention in chapter 20 is that God speaks to Abraham
through Abimelech, and not the reverse, even though Abraham is a prophet. It is
Abimelech, a pagan king, who rebukes Abraham, a prophet of God. What a contrast
to chapter 18, where Abraham walks with God, and where God reveals His purposes
to Abraham as a friend. What Abraham discloses to Abimelech is most disturbing.
He confesses that he lied out of fear. He reveals that his view of God is
inadequate, for he supposes that where there is no “fear of God,” God
cannot protect him (verse 11). Even though God had promised to make a great
nation of Abraham, he believed that the men of Gerar would kill him (verse 11).
And perhaps most disturbing of all, Abraham admits that this is an established
policy that he and Sarah had practiced for years, everywhere they went (verses
12-13). That leaves us to wonder whether these two instances of this sin that
are recorded in Genesis 12 and 20 are the only times they did this, or whether
these are merely two examples among others. Abraham got the message, but not in
the way he would prefer, and this because of his sin.
The Arrival of Isaac and Departure of Ishmael
Genesis 21
The
fears of Abraham were unfounded, and the faithfulness of God is undeniable.
Twice in verse 1, we are told that God gave Sarah and Abraham a son “just as
He said.” The child was born, and as instructed (17:19), they named him
Isaac (verse 3). Can you imagine this? At a time when Abraham and Sarah should
have been buying Geritol (a supplement for older folks), they were buying (so
to speak) diapers and baby food. Abraham was 100 years old (verse 5), and Sarah
was 90 (17:17). In obedience to God’s instruction, Abraham circumcised Isaac
when he was eight days old.
When
Isaac was weaned, they had a special celebration, at which the teenage Ishmael
was mocking Isaac. For Sarah, this was the straw that broke the camel’s back.
She exploded, demanding that Abraham send the lad and his mother away (verse
10). Abraham was greatly distressed by Sarah’s demand (verse 11). For nearly 13
years, Abraham had lived with the assumption that Ishmael would be his only
son, and thus the heir to his covenant blessings. Beyond this, I believe that
Abraham had come to love this lad. It would break his heart to send Hagar and
Ishmael away. I believe that while Sarah was right in thinking the boy must go,
she was wrong in her motivation. I fear that she wanted the right thing for the
wrong reasons.
All
of this was a part of God’s plan for Abraham and Sarah, and Isaac. He was
preparing for Abraham’s great test of faith in chapter 22. There, God would say
to Abraham,
“Take
your son – your only son,
whom you love, Isaac – and go to the
If
Ishmael were still living with Abraham, this statement could not have been
made. The test was much more difficult after Abraham had sent Ishmael away,
permanently.
God
told Abraham to listen to his wife and to do as she said.[73][71]
He reiterated once again[74][72]
that Abraham’s descendants would be counted through Isaac, and not through
Ishmael. In a different way than in chapter 22, Abraham was required to
sacrifice his son, Ishmael. God promised that He would bless Ishmael, but not
as Abraham’s promised seed. And so, “early in the morning,”[75][73]
Abraham gave provisions to Hagar, and sent her on her way. In the wilderness of
The
remainder of chapter 21 has to do with Abimelech. God had terrified Abimelech,
so that he would not dare to harm Abraham, and so that he would return Sarah to
her husband. But relations were not what they should have been between
Abimelech and Abraham. Abimelech and his commander came to visit Abraham,
acknowledging that God was surely with him. He wanted Abraham to swear to him that
he would not deceive him again. What an interesting thing for a pagan to say to
a prophet. Abraham would enter into a treaty with Abimelech, but not until
after they had resolved a conflict over a certain well that Abimelech’s men
claimed for themselves. Having settled these matters,
Abimelech and Phicol, his commander, returned to, the land of the Philistines.[76][74]
The Greatest Test of Abraham’s Life
Genesis 22
It
has been a long and difficult road for Abraham, but he is now to receive the
ultimate test of his faith. He has been prepared by many tests over the years.
Some tests he has handled well. He believed God and left
In
chapter 22, God commands Abraham to take his son Isaac to a mountain He will
designate and to sacrifice him there. One can only imagine Abraham’s initial
response. The reader is spared any insight into the private struggle that took
place within the heart of Abraham. I am confident that there was a struggle,
but equally assured that knowing his private agonies would not prove edifying
to the reader. And so Moses simply tells us that Abraham did what God
commanded.
Early
in the morning,[77][75]
he saddled his donkey, two servants, firewood, fire, the knife and his beloved
son, and set out for the place of sacrifice. How it must have pained Abraham to
hear as his son began to grasp the uniqueness of this trip:
Isaac
said to his father Abraham, “My father?” “What is it, my son?” he replied.
“Here is the fire and the wood,” Isaac said, “but
where is the lamb for the burnt offering?” 8 “God will provide for
himself the lamb for the burnt offering, my son,” Abraham replied. The two of
them continued on together (Genesis 22:7b-8).
On
the one hand Abraham’s answer was evasive; on the other hand, it seems to
express faith in God, for when Abraham left his servants behind he told them,
“You two stay here with the donkey, while the boy and I go up there. We will worship and then return
to you” (22:5b, emphasis mine).
We
know much more about what went on in Abraham’s mind from the writers of Romans
and Hebrews:
18
Against hope Abraham believed in hope with the result that he became the
father of many nations according
to the pronouncement, “so will your descendants be.” 19
Without being weak in faith, he considered his own body as dead (because he was
about one hundred years old) and the deadness of Sarah’s womb. 20 He did not
waver in unbelief about the promise of God but was strengthened in faith,
giving glory to God. 21 He was fully convinced that what God promised he was
also able to do. 22 So indeed it was credited to Abraham as righteousness
(Romans 4:18-22).
17
By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac. He had received the
promises, yet he was ready to offer up his only son. 18 God had told him, “Through
Isaac descendants will carry on your name,” 19 and he reasoned that God could even
raise him from the dead, and in a sense he received him back from there
(Hebrews 11:17-19, emphasis mine).
In
both these texts, we are told that Abraham reasoned by faith. If I could paraphrase the sense of both
these texts, Abraham’s reasoning went something like this:
“God
promised me that I would have a son. Eventually, He made it clear that this son
would be born of both Sarah and myself. God waited to
give us this son until it seemed impossible, and humanly speaking, it was.
Nevertheless, I have come to trust in God, no matter what He says, and He did
it! We were as good as dead, so far as having children were concerned, and yet
God gave us a new life – our precious son. God produced life out of death! Now,
God has commanded me to take the life of my son. I know that this is the son
through whom God’s covenant promises are to be fulfilled. And, I know that God
can bring life out of death, because He has already done so in the birth of
Isaac. Therefore, I must conclude that if I put my son to death, God will raise
him from the dead.”
And
so we read that Abraham bound his son, placed him on the altar, and prepared to
plunge the knife into his chest. It was only then that God called out from
heaven for Abraham to stop. By his actions, Abraham had demonstrated his faith
and his willingness to obey God in the most costly of ways. It was only then
that Abraham saw a ram, whose horns were caught in the bushes nearby. As Abraham had hoped (verse 8), God did provide the sacrifice
(verse 13). And so Abraham offered the sacrifice, not with his son, but
with the ram God provided. It is no wonder that Abraham named that place “The
Lord provides.”
And
now, for the last time[78][76]
in Abraham’s life (so far as the Scriptures record), the Abrahamic Covenant is
reaffirmed:
15
The Lord’s angel called to
Abraham a second time from heaven 16 and said, “‘I solemnly swear by my own
name,’ decrees the Lord, ‘that
because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, 17 I
will indeed bless you, and I will greatly multiply your descendants so that
they will be as countless as the stars in the sky or the grains of sand on the
seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the strongholds of their
enemies. 18 Because you have obeyed me, all the nations of the earth will
pronounce blessings on one another using the name of your descendants’”
(Genesis 22:15-18).
What
a joyful return trip that must have been for Abraham and Isaac. I wonder what
they talked about as they made their way home. I wonder whether Abraham told
his servants – and especially Sarah – what took place on the mountain that day.
In the New Testament we read,
“Your father Abraham was overjoyed to see
my day, and he saw it and was glad” (John 8:56).
I’m
not really sure when this happened, but I am inclined to think that this event
on Mount Moriah (the very place where the Temple would be built – 2 Chronicles
3:1) must have been one of those times when Abraham had a glimpse of Christ’s
day.
The
last verses of chapter 22 seem somewhat parenthetical, and they may be, but
they are important for they tell us that Abraham learned that his brother
Nahor’s wife had borne him children, one of which was Bethuel, who became the
father of Rebekah. As we shall soon see (chapter 24), Abraham would send his
servant to find a wife for his son Isaac, and that woman would be Rebekah.
Home is Where the Heart Is
Genesis 23
Sarah
lived to be 127 years old, and then she died in
One
must wonder why so much emphasis was spent describing this transaction. It is
surely interesting to those of us living in the West, many centuries later. The
story is not written merely to enrich us culturally; it is recorded to
dramatically demonstrate that Abraham’s entire life was lived out by faith,
without seeing the fulfillment of this promise of God (the promise of
possessing the
13
These all died in faith without receiving the things promised, but they saw
them in the distance and welcomed them and acknowledged that they were
strangers and foreigners on the earth. 14 For those who speak in such a way
make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. 15 In fact, if they had been
thinking of the land that they had left, they would have had opportunity to
return. 16 But as it is, they aspire to a better land, that is, a heavenly one.
Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a
city for them (Hebrews 11:13-16).
We
must remember that Abraham was a bit of a nomad. He was constantly moving about
the land in order to find grazing land for his cattle and food. Buying this
burial place was something like dropping anchor for Abraham. Buying this parcel
of land and burying the body of his beloved wife was a great act of faith, and
a declaration that this was home.
Final Arrangements: A Wife for Isaac
Genesis 24
Chapter
24 records the last important matter of business that Abraham deals with before
his death. Indeed, his great sense of urgency in this matter is due to the fact
that he knows his death is near. Nowhere that I can see does God give Abraham
instructions concerning a wife for his son. We do know
that Abraham was very specific in the instructions he gave to his servant:
1
Now Abraham was old, well advanced in years, and the Lord had blessed him in everything. 2 Abraham said to his
servant, the senior one in his household, who was in charge of everything he
had, “Put you hand under my thigh, 3 so that I may make you solemnly promise by
the Lord, the God of heaven and
the God of the earth: You must not
acquire a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among
whom I am living. 4 You must go
instead to my country and to my relatives to find a wife for my son Isaac.” 5 The servant asked him, “What if the
woman is not willing to come back with me to this land? Must I then take your
son back to the land from which you came?” 6 “Be careful never to take my son back there!” Abraham told
him. 7 “The Lord, the God of
heaven, who took me from my father’s house and the land of my relatives,
promised me with a solemn oath, ‘To your descendants I will give this land.’ He
will send his angel before you so that you may find a wife for my son from
there. 8 But if the woman is not
willing to come back with you, you will be free from this oath of mine. But you must not take my son back there!”
9 So the servant placed his hand under the thigh of
his master Abraham and gave his solemn promise he would carry out his wishes”
(Genesis 24:1-9, emphasis mine).
Three
things are apparent: (1) Abraham wants to obtain a wife for Isaac before he dies. Isaac needs to have a wife, so that he can continue
the line of Abraham, and so that the Covenant will pass through his
descendants. (2) This wife cannot be a Canaanite woman, but must be from one of
Abraham’s relatives. (3) Under no circumstances is Isaac to return to the land
from which Abraham came.
Nowhere
that I can find does God give Abraham specific instructions regarding a wife
for Isaac. While it is possible that God did instruct
Abraham concerning this, and that Moses simply does not record it for us, I am
inclined to think that Abraham came to this conclusion by the reasoning of
faith, much the same way that he reasoned God would raise his son from the dead
if he sacrificed him to the Lord (see above). Abraham knew that the fulfillment
of God’s covenant promises to him would be fulfilled through Isaac and his
descendants (17:19). Isaac would need a wife in order to carry on the line.
Abraham also knew that God had called him to settle in Canaan and to leave his
home and his family in Paddan
The
other piece of reasoning had to do with the necessity of getting a wife for
Isaac from Abraham’s relatives in Paddan
This
chapter goes into great detail to describe how Abraham’s servant went about
fulfilling his master’s desires. What a marvelous and faithful servant this
fellow was. He seems to have shared his master’s faith, for he prays for
guidance and praises God when his prayers are answered (24:12, 26). He is eager
to return to
The Role of Abraham in the Unfolding Drama of
Redemption
God
had started with one man and one woman in the Garden of Eden. They sinned,
plunging the whole creation into sin and chaos. God had promised Eve that her
seed would destroy Satan and would provide a solution for sin (Genesis 3:15).
It looked as though that “seed” would be Abel, but his brother Cain
killed him (Genesis 4). God replaced Abel with Seth, and his line is traced in
the genealogy of Genesis 5, ending with Noah. God destroyed the whole earth,
but spared Noah and his family, so that the “seed” of the woman would be
preserved. It was through Noah’s son Shem that the “seed” would come,
for it is from the line of Shem that Abraham is born (Genesis 11). God confused
man’s language at
Lessons From the Life of
Abraham for Ancient
The
lessons for the ancient Israelites (those of Moses’ day and later) were many.
The Israelites of Moses’ day had just entered into a covenant with God – the
Mosaic Covenant. With all of its commandments and instructions the Israelites
could become legalistic. While the Jews of Jesus’ day proudly announced that
they were Abraham’s descendants, they were not like him at all. This was
because they made two false assumptions. First, that mere physical descent put
one in the category of those who would be blessed. We can see that the
blessings of the Abrahamic Covenant were much more specifically applied.
Secondly, Abraham was the “father of the faith,” not the “father of salvation
by works.” His good works did not save Abraham. Abraham was saved by grace, and
in spite of many sins. Let any who would mistakenly conclude that Abraham was
saved by his works look again. He was declared righteous, based upon faith, not
works (15:6). He was declared righteous before he was circumcised, and many
years before the law was given. It is because of the
Abrahamic Covenant that men are saved, not because men strive to keep the
Mosaic Covenant. Paul will make this abundantly clear in Galatians 3 and
elsewhere. The Mosaic Covenant was given after the Abrahamic Covenant, not to
fulfill it, but to restrain sin until the coming of Christ and the New
Covenant. The Mosaic Covenant cannot save; it can only reveal our sin, and our
need for salvation. The Abrahamic Covenant looks forward to the cross of
The
life of Abraham shows us that he was not saved because of his faithfulness to
God, but because of God’s faithfulness to him. Over and over, Abraham failed.
He trusted in God, but imperfectly. Over many years, God deepened and enriched
his faith. But the life of Abraham should make it very clear to us that
Abraham’s salvation was not earned; it was a gift from God. It was not based
upon Abraham’s works, but upon God’s choosing and covenant promises.
The
Israelites who would first hear Moses’ account of Abraham’s calling and life
were those who were poised at the entrance of the
Our
text also dramatically illustrates the truth that obedience to God’s commands
brings blessing, while disobedience brings difficulty. Indeed, for the
unbeliever, disobedience brings divine judgment. In the rescue of Lot and the
destruction of
4
For if God did not spare the angels who sinned, but threw them into hell and
locked them up in chains in utter darkness, to be kept until the judgment, 5
and if he did not spare the ancient world, but did protect Noah, a herald of
righteousness, along with seven others, when God brought a flood on an ungodly
world, 6 and if he turned to ashes the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah when he
condemned them to destruction, having appointed them to serve as an example to
future generations of the ungodly, 7 and if he rescued Lot, a righteous man in
anguish over the debauched lifestyle of lawless men, 8 (for while he lived
among them day after day, that righteous man was tormented in his righteous
soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard) 9 —if so, then the Lord knows how
to rescue the godly from their trials, and to reserve the unrighteous for
punishment at the day of judgment, 10 especially those who indulge their
fleshly desires and who despise authority (2 Peter 2:4-10).
Righteousness
brings blessing, and sin brings judgment.
Finally,
our text provides us with some powerful instruction concerning inter-marriage.
God has very clearly forbidden the Israelites from inter-marrying with the
Canaanites:
1
When the Lord
your God brings you to the land that you are going to occupy and forces out
many nations before you—Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites,
Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, seven nations more numerous and powerful
than you—2 and he delivers them over to you and you attack them, you must
utterly annihilate them. Make no covenant with them nor show them compassion! 3
You must not intermarry with them. Do not give your daughters to their sons nor
take their daughters for your sons, 4 for they will turn your sons away from me
to worship other gods. Then the wrath of the Lord will erupt against you and he will soon
destroy you. 5 Instead, this is what you must do to them: You must tear down
their altars, shatter their sacred pillars, cut down their sacred Asherah
poles, and burn up their images. 6 For you are a people holy to the Lord your
God. He has chosen you to be a people prized above all others on the face of
the earth (Deuteronomy 7:1-6; see also Exodus 34:11-16; Joshua 23:9-13).
Lessons For Saints Today
Our
text has much to teach us about our family responsibilities. Both negatively (
Abraham
initially was willing to sacrifice his wife to save his own life, just as Lot
was willing to sacrifice his daughters to protect his guests. But Abraham comes
to cherish his children and his wife. It is then that Abraham’s faith will be
given the ultimate test, the sacrifice of his son, Isaac. How many of us as
parents put our children ahead of God? The man who started poorly – Abraham –
ended well. As much as he loved Isaac, Abraham was willing to obey God, even if
it meant taking the life of his son. Please do not misinterpret what I am
saying. Take note of the fact that God did not allow Abraham to follow through
with the sacrifice of Isaac. But when it comes to loving God first, above
family, how strong is our faith?
25
Now large crowds were accompanying Jesus, and turning to them he said, 26 “If
anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother, and wife and
children, and brothers and sisters, and even his own life, he cannot be my
disciple. 27 Whoever does not carry his own cross and follow me cannot be my
disciple” (Luke 14:25-27).
Many
today are sacrificing their families, but it is not in obedience to God. They
sacrifice their families on the altar of self-interest. In Luke 14:25-27
(above), Jesus not only requires His disciples to love Him more than their
families, He insists that His disciples love Him more than themselves. His disciples
must take up their own cross, they must die daily to self-interest, in order to
follow Him. I believe that Abraham loved Isaac more than life itself and would
have gladly taken the place of his son (or his wife). But when God put
Abraham’s faith to the test, he chose God over everything else, and everyone
else, including himself.
Abraham
and Lot illustrate the folly of situational ethics. Situational ethics
subordinate obedience to absolute commands to human judgment of difficult
circumstances. Sometimes it is a choice between what would be called the
“lesser of two evils.”
Situational
ethics is wrong because of a fundamental premise. That premise is that God
places us in circumstances where we must sin. The Scriptures say otherwise:
No
trial has overtaken you that is not faced by others.
And God is faithful: he will not let you be tried too much, but with the trial
will also provide a way through it so that you may be able to endure (1
Corinthians 10:13).
13
Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God,” for God cannot be
tempted by evil, and he himself tempts no one. 14 But each one is tempted when
he is lured and enticed by his own desires. 15 Then when desire conceives, it
gives birth to sin, and when sin is full grown, it gives birth to death. 16 Do
not be led astray, my dear brothers and sisters. 17 All generous giving and
every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with
whom there is no variation or the slightest hint of change (James 1:13-17).
God
never puts us in circumstances where sin is the only way out. Situational
ethics says otherwise. God does place us in circumstances where it may appear
that there is no way out. He brought the Israelites to the
The
life of Abraham should teach us that men and women of faith, even great faith,
are not perfect. There are plenty of flaws in Abraham’s life, but he is a man
who trusted God for his eternal salvation. He is a man who somehow grasped that
his promised “seed” would include “the seed,” the one through
whom the death grip of sin would be broken:
Now
the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his descendant. Scripture does not
say, “and to the descendants,” referring to many, but “and to your descendant,” referring to one, who is Christ
(Galatians 3:16).
“Your father Abraham was overjoyed to see
my day, and he saw it and was glad” (John 8:56).
Abraham
understood that he was a sinner, and that his salvation rested in God’s
provision of “the seed,” the “seed” promised in Genesis 3:15, the
“seed” who was the Lord Jesus Christ. It was His death on
Note,
too, that Abraham’s faith was a “resurrection faith;” Abraham believed
in a God who could raise the dead (Hebrews 11:19). God had given he and Sarah – who were as good as dead – the child He had
promised. God would raise that child from the dead, if necessary. It was not
necessary for Him to raise Isaac because God provided a substitute for Isaac.
Immediately, God provided a ram, but ultimately God provided the “Lamb of
God, who takes away the sin of the world” (Isaiah 52:13—53:9). By raising
our Lord from the dead, God vindicated His words and works, and demonstrated
that He was pleased with our Lord’s eternal sacrifice (Romans 1:4).
Abraham’s
faith was God-given faith, a faith that God initially gave to Abraham, and a
faith that God caused to grow, through time and troubles. Like Abraham, saints
grow in faith in the midst of trials and tribulations. These were not brought
into our lives to break us, but to build us up in faith.
1. 1.
1 Therefore, since we have been declared righteous by faith, we have peace with
God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have also obtained access
by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in the hope of God’s
glory. 3 Not only this, but we also rejoice in sufferings, knowing that
suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance, character, and character, hope.
5 And hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in
our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us (Romans 5:1-5).
2. 2.
2 My brothers and sisters, consider it nothing but joy
when you fall into all sorts of trials, 3 because you know that the testing of
your faith produces endurance. 4 And let endurance have its perfect effect, so
that you will be perfect and complete, not deficient in anything (James 1:2-4).
3. 3.
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ! By his great mercy he gave us new birth into a living hope through the
resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 that is, into an inheritance
imperishable, undefiled, and unfading. It is reserved in heaven for you, 5 who
by God’s power are protected through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed
in the last time. 6 This brings you great joy, although you may have to suffer
for a short time in various trials. 7 Such trials show the proven character of
your faith, which is much more valuable than gold—gold that is tested by fire,
even though it is passing away—and will bring praise and glory and honor when
Jesus Christ is revealed (1 Peter 1:3-7).
The
life of Abraham not only describes the process of his growth in faith, but the
fruits of it. Consider the marks of maturity that we can see in Abraham’s life,
which should characterize us in our maturity as well.
1. 1.
Obedience. Abraham obeyed God in faith.
2. 2.
Hospitality. Abraham was marked by hospitality (chapter 18), as was
3. 3.
Intimacy with God. Abraham became the “friend of God” (James 2:23), a
man to whom God revealed His promises and purposes.
4. 4.
Intercession. Abraham came to be less concerned with himself,
and more concerned with others. His intercession with God in chapter 18 is one
of the high water marks of spirituality in his life.
5. 5.
Influence. I believe that Abraham’s faith impacted others around him. I think
this can be seen in Sarah’s faith and submission (1 Peter 3:6), and in the
spiritual maturity of Abraham’s trusted servant (Genesis 24).
6. 6.
Less dependence upon the spectacular and more day-to-day dependence, obedience,
and fellowship with God. At the outset of Abraham’s life, it seemed that
Abraham required more external verification, more spectacular confirmation (see
Genesis 15:8), but as time went on, God’s Word alone was sufficient basis for
trust and obedience (Genesis 22).
I
pray that each of you has come to trust in the God of Abraham for your eternal
salvation, and that you and I, like Abraham, will grow in our faith, being
faithful to the end.
Lesson 7 — Jacob[79][77]
Genesis 27:1—35:29
Introduction
I
have preached quite a few funerals in my life — for all kinds of people, who
lived in many different kinds of circumstances. When I do a funeral, I always
attempt to begin with a biographical sketch of the deceased. I try to focus on
some of their positive qualities and to recall some fond memories. I then go on
to proclaim the gospel, whether or not that person was saved. It is usually not
too difficult to find something positive to say about the person who has died.
I did have one occasion where I could think of almost nothing really positive
to say, but I believe doing Jacob’s funeral would have proven even more
challenging. I could probably follow the example of one of my relatives. She
always found something positive to say about everyone. Even of the Devil, she
would probably have said, “Well, at least he’s persistent!” I think I could say
that about Jacob, or, “Well, at least he’s consistent!”
One
of my friends told me not to be too hard on Jacob, because he found that he
identified with him. I know just how my friend feels. I can easily identify
with Jacob. He is a kind of Old Testament “Peter,” with all the polish rubbed
off. And yet this man Jacob is one of the most important men in the Book of
Genesis. Almost half of Genesis deals with Jacob and the time period in which
he lived. In our text, God will rename Jacob, calling him “
As
famous as Jacob is, his life was really a mess. Near the end of his life, Jacob
is brought before Pharaoh, who asks how many years he has lived:
7
Then Joseph brought in his father Jacob and presented him before Pharaoh. Jacob
blessed Pharaoh. 8 Pharaoh said to Jacob, “How long have you lived?” 9 Jacob
said to Pharaoh, “All the years of my travels are one hundred and thirty. All
the years of my life have been few and painful; the years of my travels are not
as long as those of my ancestors.” 10 Then Jacob blessed Pharaoh and went out
from his presence (Genesis 47:7-10).
Why
would Jacob say such a thing? He was a man who was promised the blessings of
the Abrahamic Covenant, patriarch of the nation
As
I’ve already indicated, the life and times of Jacob receives more attention in
Genesis than any other person in the book. This lesson is titled, “Jacob,” and
the next and final lesson in the Book of Genesis will be titled, “Joseph.” The
truth of the matter is that Joseph’s life is important primarily because of its
impact upon Jacob and his sons. Thus, our next lesson will be about Jacob, too.
Our
study, “From Creation to the Cross,” is a survey of the turning points in the
“unfolding drama of redemption” from Genesis through the Gospels. We cannot
study any of our texts in depth, but we must limit ourselves to an overview.
The same holds true for the life of Jacob. In this lesson I will limit my
message to an overview of the major turning points in the life of Jacob.[80][78]
Jacob, Womb Wrestler
Genesis 25:20-26
Jacob’s
struggles began in his mother’s womb. Rebekah was not able to become pregnant
until Isaac interceded with God on her behalf. Then she conceived, and it soon
became obvious that something unusual was going on within her. When she
inquired of the Lord about this, the Lord informed her that there were not just
twins in her womb, but that there were two nations, and that the older of these
twins would serve the younger. When the boys were born, Esau emerged first,
followed by Jacob clinging to Esau’s heel. The birth of Jacob was an early
indication of things to come.
Jacob Purchases
Esau’s Birthright
Genesis 25:27-34
When
the boys grew up, Esau became a hunter and outdoorsman. He also had a taste for
wild game, just like his father. Esau was Isaac’s favorite son. Jacob, on the
other hand, was his mother’s boy. On one occasion, Esau came in from the field
tired and hungry. Jacob had just cooked up a fine stew, and Esau asked for
some. Jacob “sold” his stew to his older brother in exchange for his
birthright, which Esau despised. It seems that while Esau was surely wrong to
despise his birthright, Jacob is not heartily condemned for his actions. Esau
was not deceived in this transaction. Jacob seems to have done something very
shrewd, yet safely inside the line of what was legal. The acquisition of
Isaac’s blessing was a very different matter.
Obtaining Isaac’s Blessing Under False Pretenses
Genesis 27
This
incident sets the course of Jacob’s life. It is a story filled with intrigue.
There is a struggle between Isaac (who wants to bless his son Esau, rather than
Jacob) and his wife Rebekah (who wants to be sure that Jacob is blessed). Both
husband and wife seem willing to deceive (or at least underhandedly work
against) their mate. When Abraham knew that his days were numbered, he sought
to obtain a wife for his son, Isaac. But when Isaac felt death was not far away,[81][79]
he sought to pronounce his blessing upon Esau. It is almost inconceivable to
think that Isaac was unaware of God’s words to his wife that “the older
would serve the younger” (25:23). For one thing, I cannot imagine Rebekah
not telling Isaac this time after time to buttress her efforts to help Jacob
gain dominance over his “older” brother, Esau.
Isaac
called his son Esau to him and announced his intention to bless him. He asked
his son to go hunt some game, and then to prepare his favorite dish (this was,
after all, their common bond – see 25:28), after which he would bless him. All
of this seems intended to exclude both Rebekah and “her” son, Jacob. But like
Sarah (see 18:10), Rebekah had been listening on the other side of the tent
walls (27:5). She quickly called Jacob, told him what his father was about to
do, and then proposed a plan to circumvent his efforts. Jacob was no more
concerned about the morality of his actions than was his mother. His
reservations revolved around the logistics of this scheme and the consequences
for him if he were caught. His mother assured him that deceiving Isaac was
possible and that she would bear the consequences if they were caught.
What
a scene that must have been. Jacob was all decked out in his brother’s clothes,
probably three3 sizes too large for him. And to top it all off, he had the
skins of goats wrapped around his arms and neck. Isaac was not easily
convinced. He sensed that the voice was that of Jacob, and not Esau, and yet
Jacob assured his father that he was Esau. When Isaac was surprised that his
son would find game so quickly, Jacob was quick to give the answer, “Because
the Lord your God brought it to me” (27:20). At least twice Jacob assured
his father than he was Esau, his oldest son (27:19, 24). Isaac was suspicious,
but when he drew near and smelled the clothing of his son Esau, he was
satisfied and pronounced this blessing on Jacob:
27
So Jacob went over and kissed him. When Isaac caught the scent of his clothing,
he blessed him, saying,
“Yes,
my son smells
like the scent of an open field
which the Lord has blessed.
28 May God give you
the dew of the sky
and the richness of the earth,
and plenty of grain and new wine.
29 May peoples serve you
and nations bow down to you.
You will be lord over your brothers,
and the sons of your mother will bow down to you.
May those who curse you be cursed,
and those who bless you be blessed” (Genesis 27:27-29).
Note
especially the last two lines of verse 29. It comes as close as Isaac dares to
a repetition of the last part of the covenant the God made with Abraham:
1
Now the Lord
said to Abram,
“Go out from your country, your relatives, and your father’s household
to the land that I will show you.
2 Then I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you,
and I will make your name great,
in order that you might be a prime example of divine blessing.
3 I will bless those who bless you,
but the one who treats you lightly I must curse,
and all the families of the earth will pronounce blessings on one another using
your name”
(Genesis 12:1-3, emphasis mine).
It
would seem that Isaac is attempting to make Esau the heir of the Abrahamic
Covenant, rather than Jacob. It would also seem that Isaac is seeking to
reverse the words God had spoken to his wife Rebekah:
22
But the children struggled inside her, and she said, “If it is going to be like
this, I’m not so sure I want to be pregnant!” So she asked the Lord 23 and the Lord said
to her,
“Two nations are in your womb,
and two peoples will be separated from within you.
One people will be stronger than the other,
and the older will serve the younger” (Genesis 24:22-23, emphasis
mine).
It
is only after Isaac learns that he has been deceived, and that his blessing had
been pronounced on Jacob that he gives these two blessings; the first to Esau,
and the second to Jacob:
39
So his father Isaac said to him [Esau],
“Indeed, your home will be
away from the richness of the earth,
and away from the dew of the sky above.
40 You will live by your sword
but you will serve your brother.
When you grow restless,
you will tear off his yoke
from your neck” (Genesis 27:39-40).[82][80]
1
So Isaac called for Jacob and blessed him… . 3 May the
Sovereign God bless you! May he make you fruitful and give you a multitude of
descendants! Then you will become a large nation. 4 May he give you and your
descendants the blessing he gave to Abraham, so that you may possess the land
God gave to Abraham, the land where you have been living as a temporary
resident” (Genesis 28:1a, 3-4).
I
believe that it is these last two blessings to which the writer to the Hebrews
refers:
By
faith also Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau concerning the future (Hebrews 11:20).
I
do not think that we can say Isaac gave the first blessing (to Jacob) in faith.
Isaac was attempting to undermine God’s choice of Jacob. That can hardly be an
act of faith. I think Isaac’s faith is evident when his devious plan is exposed
and providentially overruled. It is then that Isaac pronounces the “blessing”
on Esau in 27:39-40, which subjects Esau to his younger brother. It is only
then that Isaac blesses Jacob by pronouncing upon him the blessings of the
Abrahamic Covenant. By faith Isaac finally pronounces blessings in accord with
God’s revealed word.
1
There was a famine in the land, subsequent to the earlier famine that occurred
in the days of Abraham. Isaac went to Abimelech king of the Philistines at
Gerar. 2 The Lord
appeared to Isaac and said, “Do not go down to
What
I wish to emphasize here is the purpose for which Moses gives us such a
detailed account of the deception of Isaac by his son Jacob. I would like to
suggest to you that the purpose is set out for the reader, by the words that
immediately precede this account (Genesis 26:34-35) as well as those that
follow it (Genesis 27:41—28:10):
34
When Esau was forty years old, he married Judith the daughter of Beeri the
Hittite, as well as Basemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite. 35 They caused
Isaac and Rebekah great anxiety (Genesis 26:34-35).
41
So Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing his father had given to his
brother. Esau said privately, “The time of mourning for my father is near; then
I will kill my brother Jacob!” 42 When Rebekah heard what her older son Esau
had said, she quickly summoned her younger son Jacob and told him, “Look, your
brother Esau is planning to get revenge by killing you. 43 Now then, my son, do
what I say. Run away immediately to my brother Laban in
I
find that the story of Jacob’s deception of Isaac is placed within the larger
context of marriage. The last two verses of chapter 26 inform us that Esau was
40 years old when he had married two Hittite women, and that this caused Isaac
and Rebekah great grief. You will recall that Isaac was also 40 years old when
he married Rebekah (25:20). If Esau is 40, then Jacob also is 40, yet he has no
wife. It is through him that the covenant blessings to Abraham and his
descendants will pass. Where, then, will Jacob obtain a wife? Genesis 24 is a
rather detailed description of how Abraham obtained a wife for Isaac from among
his own relatives, rather than from among the Canaanites. Abraham also strongly
emphasized that under no circumstances was Isaac to return to Paddan
After
Jacob has deceived his father and stolen his brother’s blessing, Esau becomes
so angry that he intends to kill Jacob. He is only waiting for his father’s
death (a somewhat more distant event than either Esau or Isaac supposed).
Rebekah hears of Esau’s intentions and sets out to save her son’s life. When
she speaks to Jacob in 27:42-45, she says nothing to him about marriage. She
only warns Jacob of Esau’s plan to kill him. She urges her son Jacob to flee to
her brother Laban in Paddan
The
marriage of Jacob is the pretext for sending him away from his brother Esau in
order to spare his life. When Rebekah speaks to her husband Isaac, she says
nothing of Esau’s plan to kill Jacob. She points out that Esau has married the
daughters of Heth, and that she could not live if this were to happen to her
son Jacob. In response, Isaac calls Jacob and sends him to Paddan
The
point of all this is that neither Isaac nor Rebekah took this marriage matter
as seriously as they should have. It was more of a pretext than a matter of
primary importance. Granted, Isaac and Rebekah wrung their hands when Esau
married two Hittite women, but they did not seem to have given him any
instruction on this matter. They left him to figure it out for himself (28:6-9). Now, Esau is married, but Jacob is not.
Still, his parents do nothing to secure a wife for him. It is only after
Rebekah learns that Esau plans to kill Jacob that she and Isaac send Jacob
away. The deceiving of Isaac and the theft of Isaac’s blessing is the reason
why Jacob went to Paddan
To Paddan
Genesis 28:10—35:29
Jacob
hastily leaves Canaan for Paddan
11
He reached a certain place, where he decided to camp because the sun had gone
down. He took one of the stones and placed it near his head. Then he fell
asleep in that place 12 and had a dream. He saw a stairway erected on the earth
with its top reaching to the heavens. The angels of God were going up and
coming down it 13 and the Lord
stood at its top. He said, “I am the Lord,
the God of your grandfather Abraham and the God of your father Isaac. I will
give you and your descendants the ground you are lying on. 14 Your descendants
will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west, east,
north, and south. All the families of the earth will pronounce blessings on one
another using your name and that of your descendants. 15 I am with you! I will
protect you wherever you go and will bring you back to this land. I will not
leave you until I have done what I promised you!” 16 Then Jacob woke up and
thought, “Surely the Lord is in this place, but I did not realize it!” 17 He was afraid
and said, “What an awesome place this is! This is nothing else than the house
of God! This is the gate of heaven!” 18 Early in the morning Jacob took the
stone he had placed near his head and set it up as a sacred stone. Then he
poured oil on top of it. 19 He called that place
Jacob’s
vision served several important purposes. On the one hand, it was a direct
divine announcement to Jacob that he was the heir of the Abrahamic Covenant
(28:13-15). In addition, it contained a promise from God that although he was
leaving
The
inference should be clear. There was no place else on earth like this land, the
Jacob’s
response to this dream was somewhat less than satisfactory. He did not praise
God for the blessing He just pronounced on him. He did not vow to return to
this place, no matter what. The best he can do is to make a promise, based upon
a number of “if’s:”
If
God would go with him,
If
God would protect him on his journey,
If
God would provide for his needs, and
If
God would bring him back to
Then
Jacob would make the Lord his God (verses 20-21).
Then
Jacob would give a tenth (or a tithe) to Him (verse 22).
Having
said this, Jacob set up a stone as a memorial and made his way to Paddan
Like
Abraham’s servant, Jacob finds his wife at a well near Laban’s home. Moses
tells us about an incident that took place at this well, which gives us much
insight into Jacob’s character. Jacob arrives at a well in the field. It may
have been the very same well that Abraham’s servant came to years before. Three
flocks of sheep were lying down beside the well. The well was covered by a
large stone, and no one seemed to be doing anything to uncover the well so that
the flocks could be watered. Jacob watched for some time, and then he could not
help but ask why they didn’t uncover the well, water their flocks, and then put
them out to graze. It looked like they were wasting time.
The
shepherds had a very reasonable answer. They were waiting for others who would
come and remove the stone; then they would water their flocks. Afterwards,
those who uncovered the well would cover it again. I understand this
explanation this way:
“This
is not our well. It belongs to another. We have to purchase water from him.
Every day we line up by the well with our flocks, and then the owner sends his
servants to uncover the well. When they uncover the well, then we water our
flocks. When we are done, they cover the well again and leave. This we do day
after day.”
This
was not a “self-service” well. You had to purchase its water. Shepherds had no
right to uncover the well and to help themselves. They had to wait for the
owner or his servants to give them access to the water. They had to pay for
what they used. It was perfectly logical, but it made no sense to Jacob. When
Rachel arrived with her father’s flock, Jacob decided to wait no longer. He
removed the stone and watered her flocks. (What an interesting reversal from
the previous visit by Abraham’s servant. On this occasion, Jacob’s mother gave
water to the servant, and then she watered his camels.)
This
story tells us a great deal about Jacob. This fellow didn’t care about “the
rules.” He did not care how things were done. If something did not make sense
to him – or if it was inconvenient – then Jacob would willfully bypass the
rules. Jacob could well have written the lyrics to a contemporary song, “I did
it my way.” So he did, and he usually paid a high price for doing so.
I
believe that Moses intends for us to compare and contrast Jacob’s conduct at
this well with the conduct of Abraham’s servant at the well in chapter 24. In
chapter 24, it was not Isaac who was at the well, but Abraham’s servant. The
servant prayed that God would lead him to the right wife for Isaac, and then he
praised God for doing so. Abraham’s servant sought for a woman who was a
relative of Abraham, but also for a woman of character. Jacob, on the other
hand, immediately falls in love with Rachel, based on her looks and
personality, and not on her character. He does not pray before he meets Rachel,
just as he does not pray after he finds her. Instead, Isaac weeps and kisses
Rachel.
Jacob
gets more than he bargains for when he negotiates with Laban for a wife. He
intends to marry Rachel, and when he bargains with Laban, that is what he
thinks he is going to get. When Jacob asks for Rachel’s hand in marriage,
Laban’s words are carefully chosen: “I’d rather give her to you than to
another man. Stay with me” (29:19b). I chuckle every time I read the rest
of Jacob’s wedding story. Jacob takes his new wife into his tent, where his
marriage is consummated. In the morning, Jacob wakes up and beholds his new
bride in the light of day, only to find out he has
married Leah. He is incensed; he is filled with righteous indignation, and he
expresses this to Laban:
25
In the morning Jacob discovered it was Leah! So Jacob said to Laban, “What in
the world have you done to me! Didn’t I work for you in exchange for Rachel?
Why have you tricked me?” 26 “It is not our custom here,” Laban replied, “to
give the younger daughter in marriage before the firstborn. 27 Complete my
older daughter’s bridal week. Then we will give you the younger one too, in
exchange for seven more years of work” (Genesis 29:25-27).
Laban
was one shrewd fellow. He probably knew Jacob loved Rachel so much that he
would work yet another seven years for her. He makes no apologies for his
actions, pointing out what I believe Jacob already knew to be the custom: the
oldest daughter was married off first, and then the younger daughter(s). Once
again, Jacob was not interested in following the rules, but only in getting
what he wanted. Perhaps, too, Jacob could not avoid seeing the poetic justice
in what had happened.[85][83]
He had deceived his father in order to obtain his blessing, and by so doing, he
substituted himself (the younger) for Esau (the older). Now, God allowed Laban
to substitute the older (Leah) for the younger (Rachel). Jacob was getting a
dose of his own medicine.
It
is important to see that Jacob’s choice of Rachel over Leah was much like
Isaac’s choice of Esau over Jacob. God’s blessings were in accord with neither
Isaac’s nor Jacob’s preferences. God blessed Jacob over Esau, even as He
blessed Leah over Rachel. Leah bore six sons and one daughter, and her handmaid
bore Jacob two more sons, while Rachel bore only two sons, and her maid another
two (Genesis 35:22-27). Compared individually, Leah had three times as many
children as Rachel (six to two). Collectively, Leah and her handmaid produced
twice as many sons for Jacob as did Rachel and her handmaid (8 to 4).
There
is more to it than this, however. Rachel died earlier than Leah and was buried
along the road (Genesis 35:19), while Leah lived longer and was buried in the
family burial place (49:29-32). To me, Leah had more spiritual perception than
Rachel (compare 29:32, 33, 35; 30:8). For example, it was Rachel who
stole her father’s household idols (31:19). She also seemed to be very much
like her husband (see 30:8). You will note that Rachel’s two sons Joseph and
Benjamin do not play a major role in the spiritual leadership of the nation
Through
a very complicated and competitive process, Jacob acquired two wives and two
concubines while in Paddan
Jacob
was not content to leave his prosperity to God, and so he devised a clever
scheme by which he thought he would gain at Laban’s expense. He assumed that he
could influence the offspring of Laban’s cattle by manipulating their
environment. And so he took freshly cut branches and peeled them, so that they
would be striped, and then he placed them in close proximity to the strongest
and best of Laban’s flocks (30:37-43). From all appearances, his scheme seemed
to be working:
37
But Jacob took fresh-cut branches from poplar, almond, and plane trees. He made
white streaks by peeling them, making the white inner wood in the branches
visible. 38 Then he set up the peeled branches in all the watering troughs where
the flocks came to drink. He set up the branches in front of the flocks when
they were in heat and came to drink. 39 When the sheep mated in front of the
branches, they gave birth to young that were streaked or speckled or spotted.
40 Jacob removed these lambs, but he made the rest of the flock face the
streaked and completely dark-colored animals in Laban’s flock. So he made
separate flocks for himself and did not mix them with Laban’s flocks. 41 When
the stronger females were in heat, Jacob would set up the branches in the
troughs in front of the flock, so they would mate near the branches. 42 But if
the animals were weaker, he did not set the branches there. So the
weaker animals ended up belonging to Laban and the stronger animals to Jacob.
43 In this way Jacob became extremely prosperous. He owned large flocks, male
and female servants, camels, and donkeys (Genesis 30:37-43).
In
my mind’s eye, I can see Jacob peeling pole after pole, smiling to himself as
he thought of how clever he was. He was finally getting even with Laban; in
fact, he was gaining the upper hand. Day and night Jacob must have worked at
this scheme, willing to put out the extra effort because he was making himself
prosperous. And then one day God let him know the true cause of his prosperity:
10
“Once during breeding season I saw in a dream that the male goats mating with
the flock were streaked, speckled, and spotted. 11 In the dream the angel of
God said to me, ‘Jacob!’ ‘Here I am!’ I replied. 12 Then he said, ‘Observe that
all the male goats mating with the flock are streaked, speckled, or spotted,
for I have observed all that Laban has done to you. 13 I am the God of Bethel,
where you anointed the sacred stone and made a vow to me. Now leave this land
immediately and return to your native land’” (Genesis 31:10-13).
What
a shocking revelation this was! His prosperity had absolutely nothing to do
with all those branches he had peeled and strategically placed among the
flocks. In his dream, God pointed out that only the “streaked, speckled, and
spotted” goats were mating. The offspring were streaked, speckled, or
spotted because only the streaked, speckled, or spotted males were mating. It
had nothing at all to do with being around those peeled branches. God caused
this to happen because of His covenant promise to Jacob, and because Laban had
dealt in an unfair manner with Jacob. All of Jacob’s efforts were wasted
efforts. They counted for nothing at all. His “works” counted for nothing so
far as his blessings were concerned, just as our works count for nothing so far
as our salvation is concerned (see Titus 3:3-7).
Once
again in Genesis prosperity brings about a separation (see Genesis 13:6-13;
26:12-17; see also 36:6-8). Laban’s wealth, acquired largely due to Jacob’s
presence for those first 14 years, was now largely transferred from Laban and
his sons to Jacob. Laban’s sons were all too aware of this and were very bitter
toward Jacob (31:1-2). It was at this time that God spoke to Jacob, instructing
him to return to the
When
Laban learned that Jacob and his family and flocks had fled, he was incensed
that Jacob would deceive him in this way. He was even more distressed to
discover that Jacob’s absence corresponded with the absence of his family idols
(31:19, 30). I believe Laban may have seriously considered killing Jacob,
thereby retrieving his daughters, grandchildren, and cattle. God put a quick
end to any such thoughts by warning Laban in a dream not to even speak harshly
to Jacob (31:24, 29). Because of this warning, Laban gently rebuked Jacob, and
then sought to recover his lost idols. Due to Rachel’s cunning, Laban did not
find them. After getting an earful of Jacob’s outpouring of “righteous
indignation,” Laban pressed Jacob to make a covenant – a sort of non-aggression
treaty – with him, and then the two went their separate ways.
Jacob’s
return to
The
Lord said to Jacob, “Return to
the land of your fathers and to your relatives. I will be with you” (Genesis
31:3).
We
would have expected Jacob to return to
Jacob
was frightened and divided his entourage into two groups, thinking that if one
group were attacked, the other might escape and survive. He then prayed for
God’s protection:
9
Then Jacob prayed, “O God of my father Abraham, God of my father Isaac, O Lord, you said to me, ‘Return to your
land and to your relatives and I will make you prosper.’ 10 I am not worthy of
all the faithful love you have shown your servant. With only my walking stick I
crossed the
Having
prayed, Jacob arranged a gift for his brother, composed of several groups or
“waves” of cattle. All of this Jacob hoped would appease his brother’s anger
and result in his brother’s acceptance.
That
night Jacob had a most unusual wrestling match with God (Genesis 32:22-32). I
must confess that it is a difficult incident to understand. It is not hard to
think of Jacob wrestling. He did this in the womb (25:22-23), and in much of
his life, he struggled to gain the advantage over someone. His wife, Rachel,
was much the same way (see 29:8). Two things have puzzled me about this
wrestling match. The first is that there was any contest at all. Couldn’t God
overcome Jacob in a wrestling match? Of course He could, and He did. With a
mere touch, He dislocated Jacob’s hip joint. I believe God wanted to give Jacob
the impression that he had prevailed and that he had the upper hand, just to
see what he would ask for when he seemed to have the advantage. Jacob is not
willing to let go until God had blessed him. This is certainly progress from
the Jacob we saw earlier, decked out in his brother’s clothing, neck and arms
covered with animal skins. He was right to understand that blessings come from
God.
The
other thing that has always troubled me about this account is that God said, “What
is your name?” He answered, “Jacob.” “No longer will your name be
Jacob,” the man told him, “but
The
sad thing about this wrestling match with God is that it seems to have had very
little permanent impact on Jacob. The Jacob we see after this amazing incident
is largely the same old Jacob we have seen all along. After this wrestling
match was over, Jacob did seem to change his course in one positive way: when
his family set out to meet Esau, Jacob moved to the front, rather than to hide
out at the back (see 23:3).
The
meeting with Esau went amazingly well. Jacob found a brother who welcomed him
with open arms, even though he had deceived him and stolen his blessing. The
armed men who accompanied Esau seem to be those he
brought with him to protect Jacob, not to kill him. Jacob strongly resisted
Esau’s kind offer to accompany him, urging his brother to go on ahead, and
assuring him that he would catch up. It is my personal opinion that Jacob still
feared his brother and did not wish to be close to him for any period of time.
Jacob argued that his pace would only hold his brother up and that he would
prefer to drive his flocks at a slower pace, for their benefit. And with this,
Esau mounts up and rides off to his home in Seir.
What
follows is not very encouraging. It seems very much like Jacob lied to Esau
when he promised to come to him soon (33:14):
16
So that same day Esau made his way back to Seir. 17 But Jacob traveled to
Succoth, where he built himself a house and made shelters
for his livestock. That is why the place was called Succoth.18 After he left Paddan
Why
would Jacob have “built himself a house” and “made shelters for his
livestock” at Succoth (33:17) if he was planning to go directly to Seir
where Esau lived? We are then told that Jacob arrived at the city of
Leah’s
daughter, Dinah, went into the city of
Leah’s
brothers were deeply incensed by the crime that Shechem had committed against
their sister, and they were not about to let him get away with it. Deceitfully,
Simeon and Levi insisted that they could not allow their sister to marry anyone
who was not circumcised. The same would hold true for any other Israelite woman.
And so the men of Shechem consented to be circumcised. By the third day after
their circumcision the men of Shechem were in great agony, and definitely not
in any condition to fight. Simeon and Levi went into the city of
Jacob
was greatly angered by the action taken by his sons. He feared reprisals from
“friends and family” of those who his sons had killed. Jacob was primarily
concerned with the repercussions of this slaughter, and not with the moral
issues involved. His sons put it very well, “Should he treat our sister like a
common prostitute?” (34:31b).
If
Jacob had intended to live near Shechem, this was no longer possible. They must
flee from that place before any relatives attempted to seek revenge for this
slaughter. God once again spoke to Jacob, telling him to leave:
Then
God said to Jacob, “Go up at once to
And
so Jacob and his family quickly departed for
More
than twenty years after his flight from Canaan and his brother Esau, Jacob
finally returns to
9
God appeared to Jacob again after he returned from Paddan
As
Jacob went on from
Conclusion
The
story of Jacob is far from over. Moses will continue to describe God’s working
in his life until the last chapter of Genesis. There are some lessons to be
learned from Jacob, which can be seen from our text. Let me close this message
by pointing out some of these lessons.
There
is a correspondence between Jacob’s sojourn in Paddan
gods their fathers had worshipped in
Jacob’s
sojourn in Paddan
In
our Lord’s day, the Jews took great pride in their
identification with Abraham. They boasted in the fact that they were Abraham’s
offspring (see Matthew 3:9; John 8:33, 39). Nowhere that I can think of does
anyone boast in the fact that they are Jacob’s offspring.
God chose to name Jacob “
If
we are unfaithful, he remains faithful, since he cannot deny himself (2 Timothy
2:12).
Jacob
teaches us a great deal about “getting ahead in life.” Jacob was a man who knew
all about asserting himself, about “looking out for number one.” He was more
than willing to get ahead at the expense of others. Up to this point in his
life, I see no humility, and no servanthood. He grasped every opportunity to
further his own personal interests, at the expense of others. His life is a vivid
contrast to what we are taught in the Book of Philippians:
3
Instead of being motivated by selfish ambition or vanity, each of you should,
in humility, be moved to treat one another as more important than yourself. 4
Each of you should be concerned not only about your own interests, but about
the interests of others as well. 5 You should have the same attitude toward one
another that Christ Jesus had,
6
who though he existed in the form of God
did not regard equality with God
as something to be grasped,
7 but emptied himself
by taking on the form of a slave,
by looking like other men,
and by sharing in human nature.
8 He humbled himself,
by becoming obedient to the point of death
—even death on a cross!
9 As a result God exalted him
and gave him the name
that is above every name,
10 so that at the name of Jesus
every knee should bow
—in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11 and every tongue confess
to the glory of God the Father
that Jesus Christ is Lord (Philippians 2:3-11).
What
a contrast Jacob is to our Lord (above), and to men like Timothy and
Epaphroditus:[88][86]
19
Now I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you quickly, so that I too may
be encouraged by hearing news about you. 20 For there is no one here like
him who will readily demonstrate his deep concern for you. 21 Others
are busy with their own concerns, not those of Jesus Christ. 22 But you
know his qualifications, that like a son working with his father, he served
with me in advancing the gospel. 23 So I hope to send him as soon as I know
more about my situation, 24 though I am confident in the Lord that I too will
be coming soon (Philippians 2:19-24, emphasis mine).
Jacob
has not yet learned the Christian paradox that one saves his life by giving it
up, and he gains most by giving. Unfortunately, Jacob is typical of many
successful people today – he sought to succeed by outwitting others. And the
irony of it all is that Jacob’s deception and scheming contributed nothing to
his success, which was all of God, and all of grace. The only thing his
scheming brought him was broken relationships and adversity.
There
is surely a lesson in our text concerning marriage and the family. We learn
from Esau the dangers of intermarriage. This was a significant threat to the
nation
I
think we can also see that polygamy creates all kinds of problems. We read of
how Jacob loved Rachel, but not Leah, and our hearts go out to Leah, the
unloved wife. On the other hand, we must ask ourselves, “What do we expect?”
Marriage was never designed to be anything other than a “one man, one woman”
relationship. I am to love my wife, which means I must value and treasure her
above all others. How can any man have two wives and love them equally? The
choice to marry a woman includes a determination to value her above anyone
else. This can only happen with one woman. Polygamy always has its problems.
We
certainly can learn something about parenting from the bad example of Isaac and
Rebekah. The first mistake is that both Isaac and Rebekah favored one of their
children, so much so that one must wonder if the child isn’t more loved than
their mate. Rebekah is certainly not submissive to her husband, but Isaac is
being underhanded in his dealings with his wife. Neither Isaac nor Rebekah
seemed to teach their children about walking with God and about choosing a
godly wife. They agonized over the consequences of bad parenting, but did
nothing to correct it. Much of their sorrow was of their own doing, because
their sins were amplified in the lives of their sons.
Jacob
seems to live out what I would call “crisis Christianity.” In his day-to-day
life, he lives very much like the pagans, giving little attention to the things
of God. He employs fleshly means to get ahead, rather than faith, exercised
through humility and servanthood. It is only when his back is to the wall and
he has no other choice that he seems to call on God to rescue him. There is no
hint of a daily walk in fellowship with God. There are several very significant
spiritual high points in his life (such as his dream at
How
many of us live much the same kind of life? We go our merry way, employing our
own devices, seeking to further our interests. Only when our plans collapse, or
when real danger looms on the horizon, do we turn to God. Only then do we pray
and read His Word. From time to time, we may have a “mountain top” spiritual
experience or encounter with God, but no permanent fruit results. Let us not be
like Jacob, turning to God only in times of crisis. Let us abide in Him,
walking by faith, and not by sight, placing the interests of others above our
own.
Lesson 8 — Joseph[89][87]
Genesis
37:1—50:26
Introduction
For
several years, I was actively involved in prison ministry, teaching in-prison
seminars for Prison Fellowship in a few prisons around the country. I knew that
in some prisons a number of the inmates had lower than average reading skills;
some did not even speak English.[90][88]
I was told that because of this the attention span of some inmates was limited
to just a few minutes, and thus I would need to continually interject
activities to hold the attention of those who attended. It occurred to me that
the story of Joseph in the Book of Genesis might be a better way to communicate
with the seminar participants, and so I would work my way from Genesis 37 to
Genesis 45, all in one weekend. What I found was amazing. This story so
captured their interest and attention that they listened intently for more than
an hour at a time, if necessary.
I
also noticed a marked change that took place during the course of the seminar.
In the beginning, everyone tended to identify with Joseph, the innocent victim
who was betrayed by his brothers. Even those who were guilty of their crimes
tended to identify someone who was responsible for their incarceration and to
focus their anger towards them. When Joseph’s brothers arrived in
The
story of Joseph is one of the great dramas of the Bible. A young man is favored
by his father and is consequently hated by his brothers. The brothers conspire
to rid themselves of Joseph, and sell him as a slave to a caravan of
Ishmaelites, headed for
Betrayed
Genesis 37
Actually,
the story of Joseph begins before Genesis 37. The twelve sons of Jacob were the
offspring of four mothers. The rivalry between Jacob’s two wives and two
concubines caused much dissention within the family. Joseph, along with his
younger brother Benjamin, were the only children of Rachel, Jacob’s favored
wife. Eight of Joseph’s siblings were the sons of Jacob’s unloved wife, Leah,
and her handmaid, Zilpah (see Genesis 34:22b-26). It was all too apparent to
these older brothers that Jacob loved Joseph — the “son of his old age”
— more than all of them combined (37:3, 4), and for this reason they hated
Joseph.
There
were other contributing factors, which fueled the hatred of these older
brothers for Joseph. Jacob (
For
some reason, Joseph was kept at home when his brothers took their father’s
flock to graze near Shechem.
As
it turns out, Joseph’s brothers had moved on to Dothan, nearly 20 miles further
to the north and thus that much more distant from Jacob’s watchful eye.[91][89]
Providentially, a man saw Joseph wandering about in the fields around Shechem.
He just happened to overhear Joseph’s brothers saying that they were moving on
to
Reuben
did not agree with this plan. He wanted to spare Joseph’s life, but it would
seem that his motives were self-serving. He, after all, was the eldest of
Reuben
was gone – perhaps taking his turn watching the flock – when his brothers sat
down to eat, somewhere near the cistern, probably well within hearing distance,
so that as they ate they could hear his cries for help.[92][90]
It
was at this point Judah proposed a more profitable solution to their problem.
Rather than killing Joseph, why not sell him as a slave? They would be rid of
him, yet they would not be guilty of shedding his blood. And, to make this an
even more tempting opportunity, they could make a little money for themselves
at the same time. This seemed to accomplish all of their objectives better than
killing Joseph. Since Reuben was not there to object,
Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch
Genesis 38
Genesis
38 may seem somewhat out of place at first glance, but this is far from the
case. Why does Moses change the focus from Joseph in chapter 37 to
It’s
not hard to understand why Judah would leave home. It must have been pure
misery to watch Jacob pining away in sorrow, refusing to be comforted (37:35).
Abraham was very careful to obtain a non-Canaanite wife for his son, Isaac
(chapter 24). Isaac and Rebekah were not as careful, but God providentially
provided two wives for Jacob from Rebekah’s brother Laban, in Paddan
After
the passing of a considerable period of time,
Why
would Moses include this rather sordid story here in the midst of the account
of Joseph’s betrayal? The reason is both clear and compelling: If Israel had
remained in the
The Price of
Purity
Genesis 39:1-20
Genesis
39 is a refreshing example of sexual purity. Joseph was purchased from the
Ishmaelites by Potiphar, a powerful and prosperous man. Potiphar was a servant
of Pharaoh. He owned what appears to be a large and lucrative ranch. Initially,
Joseph was probably acquired to work with the flocks. Over a period of time, it
became apparent to Potiphar that God’s hand was on Joseph – everything he
touched seemed to turn to gold. Before long, Potiphar had put everything under
Joseph’s authority. The only decisions Potiphar made concerned what he would
have for dinner (39:6).
The
problem was that Mrs. Potiphar (a woman whose name is never given – she is only
referred to as Potiphar’s wife) began to take note of Joseph. She tried in
various ways to seduce him, but Joseph purposed to avoid her. One day she
managed to trap Joseph in the house alone, where she once again sought to
seduce him. He found it necessary to flee, leaving his outer garment in her
grasp (notice how Joseph’s coats always seemed to get him into trouble). She
then accused Joseph of attacking her, and Potiphar, her husband, had Joseph
thrown into prison.[95][93]
Joseph did not have far to go from the “executive suite” to the prison, because
they were all in the same house. In those days prisons were really dungeons,
under the house of an official like Potiphar. Potiphar was, in fact, the “captain
of the guard” (39:1; 40:3). In prison, as in the executive suite, God’s
hand of blessing continued to be upon Joseph.
From the Prison to the Palace
Genesis 39:21—41:57
In
prison, it would have been very easy for Joseph to wallow in self-pity. He
could well have said to himself, “What’s the good of
trusting God and doing what is right? So far, it has only gotten me into
trouble.” Instead, Joseph set out to minister to others, and before long, the
hand of God was once again evident in Joseph’s life. The warden gave Joseph a
free hand, putting him in charge of all the prisoners. He virtually ran the
prison (39:21-23). It was during this time that two prisoners were added to
those under Joseph’s care. One was Pharaoh’s butler (literally, his cup
bearer), and the other his baker. Both were paying the price for offending
their master. Moses makes a very interesting comment about Joseph’s
relationship to these men:
The
captain of the guard appointed Joseph to be their attendant and he served
them (Genesis 40:4, emphasis mine). The NASB renders, “And the captain of
the bodyguard put Joseph in charge of them, and he took care of them.” The
important thing to see here is that Joseph really did “serve” or “minister to”
these two men, who were under his authority. I believe this is where
Joseph had earlier failed in his relationship with his brothers. His father had
given him authority over his brothers, but he did not use his leadership role
as an occasion to serve them.
How
easy it is in prison to overlook the suffering of others, especially if you are
suffering. Joseph noted that both the butler and the baker were despondent one
morning, and he asked them what was troubling them. They informed Joseph they
both had different dreams in the night, but no one could tell them what they
meant. Joseph reminded them that interpretations belong to God, and encouraged
them to tell him their dreams. (Surely this suggests that they were well aware
of Joseph’s relationship with God.) The butler went first, and Joseph told him
that God was about to restore him to favor with Pharaoh. Joseph then asked the
butler to remember his unjust treatment and to speak kindly for him with
Pharaoh, but the butler forgot all about him for two full years. The baker’s
dream was different, as was its outcome. His dream indicated that Pharaoh would
execute him. Needless to say, Joseph didn’t ask this fellow to remember him
before Pharaoh.
It
was a full two years before the butler brought Joseph’s name before Pharaoh.
The Pharaoh had two dreams that troubled him greatly. The first dream was of
seven fat cows, which were eaten by seven very skinny and ugly cows. The second
dream was of seven healthy heads of grain that were swallowed up by seven thin
heads of grain. None of Pharaoh’s diviners were able to interpret the meaning
of these dreams, but the butler remembered the young Hebrew who had interpreted
his dream, along with that of the baker,[96][94]
while both were in prison. Pharaoh called for Joseph, who made it clear it was
God who gave the interpretation of dreams.
Joseph’s
words were of great comfort and encouragement to Pharaoh, who must have sensed
something ominous about his dreams. The dreams referred to the same events.
There would be seven years of plenty, followed by seven years of severe famine.
The years of famine would consume the abundance of the years of plenty. The
fact that there were two dreams confirmed that this would most surely come to pass.[97][95]
Joseph now goes beyond the interpretation of these dreams to recommend a
solution to the problem they predicted. Here we can see Joseph’s administrative
gifts in action. The king should appoint someone to prepare for this disaster,
before the years of famine came upon the
I
do not believe Joseph submitted this plan to Pharaoh, along with his business
card, hoping to be hired for this task. I don’t think Joseph ever imagined he
would be chosen for such a task. Once again, Joseph was simply trying to serve
his king. Neither did Joseph seek to bargain with Pharaoh for his release:
“Well, Pharaoh, I know that I can interpret your dreams, but you’re going to
have to help me out as well… .” Joseph sought to
represent His God by the way he served those in authority over him. Pharaoh
could see that Joseph was right and that his wisdom was divine in origin:
37
This advice made sense to Pharaoh and all his officials.
38
So Pharaoh asked his officials, “Can we find a man like Joseph, one in whom the
Spirit of God is present?”
39
So Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Because God has enabled you to know all this, there
is no one as wise and discerning as you are!
40
You will oversee my household and all my people will submit to your commands.
Only I, the king, will be greater than you” (Genesis 41:37-40).
These
verses toward the end of chapter 41 are very important to our understanding of
what will happen when Joseph’s brothers arrive in Egypt, seeking grain for
their families:
50
Two sons were born to Joseph before the famine came. Asenath daughter of
Potiphera, priest of On, was their mother.
51
Joseph named the firstborn Manasseh, saying, “Certainly God has made me forget
all my trouble and all my father’s house.”
52
He named the second child Ephraim, saying, “Certainly God has made me fruitful
in the land of my suffering” (Genesis 41:50-52).
Joseph
named his oldest son Manasseh, which means, “making to forget.” God had caused
Joseph to forget all his sufferings at the hand of his brothers (verse 51). The
younger son Joseph named Ephraim, which means “fruitfulness.” God had caused
Joseph to be fruitful in the land of his affliction. Joseph had no anger toward
God or toward his brothers. This meant that when they arrived in
When
the famine struck, Egypt was ready for it, thanks to Joseph. Not only did the
Egyptians come to Joseph for grain, but also those from other lands, including
1
When Jacob heard there was grain in
Jacob
seems to display irritation and impatience toward his sons. Was this because
they also knew that there was grain in
All
the sons of Jacob make their way to Egypt, minus Benjamin. Jacob had lost one
of Rachel’s sons while he was out of his sight and in the care of his brothers;
he is not willing to run the risk of losing another. When the ten sons of Jacob
come before Joseph, the “ruler of the country” (42:6), they fall down
before him, unwittingly fulfilling the prophecy of Joseph’s earlier dreams
(37:5-11).
Many
are tempted to see Joseph’s response as pure revenge. His harshness is thought
to be his way of making his brothers pay for their
previous sins against them. This view simply cannot be accepted, because the
text is just too clear on this matter. First, if Joseph really wanted to
make his brothers suffer, he would have immediately made his identity known to
them. If Joseph had wanted to terrify his brothers, he would have let them know
that it was he who was the ruler of
When
Joseph saw his brothers, he recognized them; but he pretended[98][96]
to be a stranger to them and spoke to them harshly. He asked, “Where do you
come from?” They answered, “From the
Fourth, on several
occasions, we find Joseph’s true feelings toward his brothers revealed. Twice
Joseph had to go aside to weep privately (42:24; 43:30). Fifth, Joseph’s
actions toward his brothers were not vindictive, but gracious. Twice he sent
them home with the grain they purchased and with their money refunded in their
sacks. The meal he prepared for them was another gift of grace. Even the
suffering he caused his brothers was benevolent in its goal of bringing his
brothers to repentance, so they could be reconciled.
Joseph’s
actions toward his brothers, in their first and second visits to Egypt, are
very carefully planned and orchestrated to bring about his intended result.
When Joseph accused his brothers of being spies, they were terrified and
blurted out information about Joseph’s father and younger brother he yearned to
know, yet without his brothers realizing who he really was. Joseph could
carefully interrogate his brothers about “family” matters, under the guise of
protecting the
Having
learned that both Jacob and Benjamin were alive, Joseph set out to accomplish
the next phase of his plan – bringing Benjamin down to
The
response of Joseph’s brothers to their incarceration and to Joseph’s words is
most important to the story:
21
They said to one other, “Surely we’re being punished because of our brother,
because we saw how distressed he was when he cried to us for mercy, but we
refused to listen. That is why this distress has come on us!” 22 Reuben said to
them, “Didn’t I say to you, ‘Don’t sin against the boy’, but you wouldn’t
listen? So now we must pay for shedding his blood” (Genesis 42:21-22).
More
than 20 years after they had sinned against their brother Joseph, the events of
that day were vivid in their minds. They recalled his pleading with them and
their total lack of mercy. They understood this was a kind of “day of
reckoning” for their sin. I would submit they were genuinely sorry for what
they had done, but they were not yet fully repentant. This would come in time.
Joseph
was standing nearby and heard their words, but they had no idea that he could
understand what they were saying. He was deeply touched by their words and had
to leave their presence so that he could cry (42:23-24). Joseph bound Simeon
before their eyes to impress them with his resolve about seeing Benjamin when
they returned. He then ordered for their sacks to be filled with grain and for
provisions to be supplied for their journey.
The
brothers then set out on their journey, no doubt discussing what they would
tell their father. One of the brothers opened his sack of grain when they
stopped for the evening and was shocked to find his money in his sack of grain.
You would think that any son of Jacob would have rejoiced. It would be like
putting money into a vending machine, getting what you had selected, and then
finding your money in the coin return. But the brothers were greatly dismayed.
Looking at one another, they said, “What in the world has God done to us?”
(42:28). They completely failed to see the kindness of
Joseph in this and saw only the judgmental hand of God. God had not done
something for them; He had done something terrible to them.
They
returned home and told their father all that had happened to them in
Their
father Jacob said to them, “You are making me childless! Joseph is gone. Simeon
is gone. And now you want to take Benjamin! Everything is against me” (Genesis
42:36).
Jacob
could not have been more mistaken. His appraisal of the situation was precisely
the opposite of reality. He was not concerned about Simeon as much as he was
himself. He blames his sons for his loss of Joseph, and now, of Simeon, and he
blames them for also wanting to take away his youngest son, Benjamin. His sons
were “causing all things to work together against him,” or so he supposed.
Ruben
now comes through with these comforting words of assurance:
“You
may put my two sons to death if I do not bring him back to you. Put him in my
care and I will bring him back to you” (42:37).
There
was nothing more to be said regarding this matter at the moment, because Jacob
flatly refused to allow them to take Benjamin with them. In Jacob’s mind, there
would be no more discussion of this matter.
The
famine lingered on, and the supply of grain continued to diminish. Finally, the
grain they had purchased in
Jacob’s Seven Laws of Leadership
Procrastinate: Whatever problems arise today are best dealt with tomorrow. Jacob delayed
acting decisively on the issue of sending Benjamin to
Minimize: No problem can possibly be as bad as it
seems.
If the first principle betrays a “manana mentality,” the second attempts to
minimize the problem to the point where it is hardly worth thinking about. If a
problem is not serious, then it can be put off indefinitely.
Lie: In a crisis, honesty is often not the best
policy.
Jacob still had a lot of the old deceiver in him. He believed that good
communication only causes problems. He thought that the less others
knew about him, the better off he and his family would be. Jacob’s sons were
thus rebuked for telling Joseph any facts about the family.
Always look out for number one. Jacob’s leadership
was focused on seeking his own interests. It was Judah who urged his father to
think of others rather than himself (cf. verse 3).
Pass
the buck: As much as is possible, see to it that others receive the blame for
your mistakes.
Jacob sought to place the responsibility for his troubles on Judah and his
brothers, because they told the truth (43:6). A good leader is one who is
willing to accept responsibility for his mistakes.
Bribe:
If our efforts to solve a problem fail, add money. Jacob hoped that
his presents, along with a double payment, would help achieve his desired ends.
Get
religion: Call on God for help, but don’t get your hopes up. It is no accident
that Jacob mentions God last. It never seemed to occur to him (as it did to
Joseph) that God was actively involved in all of his troubles. His wish that
God would be with his sons is only a last ditch effort, when it should have
been his first line of defense. “Foxhole religion” is not new, nor is it a
thing of the past. Jacob’s words, “As for me, if I lose my children I lose
them” (43:14), is not an expression of great faith, but sounds much more
like fatalism.
Jacob’s
response to this family crisis is pathetic. He does everything possible to
avoid facing the problem. He attempts to send his sons to do an impossible
task, therefore putting them at great risk. His great concern is for himself
and his own well-being. He has to be forced to act. Jacob is no hero in these
chapters. Joseph certainly is, exemplifying godly leadership. But there is
another leader who begins to emerge in chapter 43 – Judah, the brother who
earlier suggested they sell Joseph into slavery, the man who married a
Canaanite wife, and unwittingly fathered his own grandson (as it were) through
Tamar.
Jacob
is pathetic as he whines about the way his sons have mistreated him by telling
“the ruler of Egypt” about Benjamin.
3
But Judah said to him, “The man solemnly warned us, ‘You will not see my face
unless your brother is with you.’
4
If you send our brother with us, we’ll go down and buy food for you.
5
But if you will not send him, we won’t go down there, because the man said to
us, ‘You will not see my face unless your brother is with you.’”
6
Israel said, “Why did you bring this trouble on me by telling the man you had
one more brother?”
7
They replied, “The man questioned us thoroughly about ourselves and our family,
saying, ‘Is your father still alive? Do you have another brother?’ So we
answered him in this way. How could we possibly know that he would say, ‘Bring
your brother down’?”
8
Then Judah said to his father Israel, “Send the boy with me and we will go
immediately. Then we will live and not die—we and you and our little ones.
9
I myself pledge security for him; you may hold me liable. If I do not bring him
back to you and place him here before you, I will bear the blame before you all
my life.
10
But if we had not delayed, we could have traveled there and back twice by now”
(Genesis 43:3-10).
Judah
and his brothers had certainly sinned in selling Joseph into slavery, but they
were not the ones putting their families at risk at the moment. They had only
told “the ruler of
Jacob
had no other choice than to do as Judah said. If he did not send Benjamin with
the others when they returned to
Joseph
saw them coming, this time with Benjamin. He instructed his servant to bring
the men to his home and to prepare a fine meal for them to eat. The brothers
could only imagine the worst possible outcome:
But
the men were afraid when they were brought to Joseph’s house. They said, “We
are being brought in because of the money that was returned in our sacks last
time. He wants to capture us, make us slaves, and take our donkeys!” (43:18).
Their
sense of guilt overwhelmed them. They could not imagine this “ruler of
The
brothers were quick to explain about the money they had found in their sacks,
and the servant carefully chose his words to speak the truth, yet without
disclosing Joseph’s identity or his plans for them:
19
So they approached the man who was in charge of Joseph’s household and spoke to
him at the entrance to the house.
20
They said, “My lord, we did indeed come down the first time to buy food.
21
But when we came to the place where we spent the night, we opened our sacks and
each of us found his money—the full amount—in the mouth of his sack. So we have
returned it.
22
We have brought additional money with us to buy food. We do not know who put
the money in our sacks.”
23
“Everything is fine,” the man in charge of Joseph’s household told them. “Don’t
be afraid. Your God and the God of your father has
given you treasure in your sacks. I had[100][98] your money.” Then he
brought Simeon out to them (Genesis 43:19-23).
The
servant did everything he could to extend hospitality to Joseph’s brothers.
First, he brought Simeon out to them, and then he brought them all into Joseph’s
house, where they were given water to drink, and their feet were washed. Their
donkeys were also fed (43:24). The brothers braced themselves for the
appearance of the “ruler of
Here
is something that they completely missed. The gifts that they brought did not
serve their purpose at all. Joseph was not pleased by their gift; their gift
was, in fact, a reminder of their sins against him.
They
got their gifts ready for
Joseph’s arrival at noon, for they had heard that they were to have a meal
there (43:25, emphasis mine).
Then
their father
When
they sat down to eat their food, they looked up and saw a caravan of
Ishmaelites coming from Gilead. Their camels were carrying spices, balm,
and myrrh down to
It
has taken me a long time to see this, but when you look carefully at the three
passages above you realize that the “gifts” they brought to impress Joseph with
their kindness were actually reminders of their cruelty to them.
Several
of the items that Joseph’s brothers brought him from the land of Canaan were
the same things the Ishmaelite traders carried with them down to Egypt, along
with Joseph. The smell of those spices that accompanied him to
The
very odors that Joseph may have come to despise, because of the associations
they had with his slavery, were now the odors that greeted Joseph as he walked
into his house. Did his brothers think their gift would win this ruler over?
This scheme was very true to the character of Jacob, who suggested it, but in
reality, it would have been counter-productive had Joseph allowed it to sway
his emotions.
When
Joseph arrived, his brothers bowed before him, once again fulfilling the dreams
he had years earlier (Genesis 37:5-11). Joseph seems not to have even noticed
their gift, so carefully arranged to capture his attention and win his
approval. Joseph only had eyes for his younger brother, Benjamin. Joseph was so
touched by the sight of his brother, he had to leave
the room to weep in private. He then washed his face and returned, giving the
order, “Set out the food” (43:31). The servants set out three separate
tables: One for Joseph, one for his brothers, and one for the Egyptians who ate
with Joseph. Joseph seated his brothers according to their birth order, which
must have both amazed and puzzled them: “How could he know?” It was a royal
feast, and I’m sure that Joseph’s brothers (who had run out of grain some time
earlier) would have appreciated it. I’m also certain they had all they could
eat. But Joseph did something that was most unusual – he made Benjamin’s
portions five times greater than those of his other brothers. In preparation
for the test ahead, Joseph was not going to minimize the fact that Benjamin was
the favorite son of Jacob; indeed, he wanted to emphasize this fact. By the
time the meal was over, they had their fill of both food and drink. I have a
feeling this was to give his brothers an artificial sense of confidence and to
dull their senses for the moment.[101][99]
Joseph
then gave very careful instructions to his servant. He had him fill his
brothers’ sacks with grain, once again placing their money in each man’s sack.
This time, however, one more item was included – Joseph’s “silver cup.”
This cup was to be placed in Benjamin’s sack, along with his money. After the
men were sent on their way, Joseph’s servant was to pursue and overtake the
brothers as they were leaving
There
is no need to be distressed over what we read here. Joseph did not actually use
this cup for divination. This was part of the servant’s “script,” which Joseph
instructed him to say. It was a part of Joseph’s disguise.
When
Joseph instructed his servant to hide this cup in Benjamin’s sack, he simply
referred to it as “his silver cup” (44:2). But for the sake of his
brothers, his servant was to call it the cup that his master used for
divination. Joseph wanted to continue the masquerade a little while longer, and
this line helped maintain his disguise.
When
Joseph’s servant overtook the brothers, he did just as his master had
instructed him – he accused these men of returning evil for good by stealing
his master’s divining cup. The brothers were shocked that they would be accused
of such a crime. They were confident that none of them had stolen this cup, and
so they overreacted to these charges. They prescribed the punishment for
themselves, should any one of them have stolen this cup:“If
one of us has it, he will die, and the rest of us will become my lord’s slaves”
(44:9).
Joseph’s
servant then responded to this statement, prescribing what the punishment would
be for stealing the cup:He replied, “You have
suggested your own punishment. The one who has it will become my slave, but the
rest of you will go free” (44:10).
I’m
sure that each of these men was extremely confident as he lowered his sack to
the ground and opened it. What a shock it must have been for each man to find
his money in the mouth of his sack, just as they had before. It would be
something like being pulled over by a policeman, and having him search your trunk for money that was stolen in a bank
robbery. Confident you did not have the money in your car, you pop open the
trunk, to see it filled with automatic weapons. I would imagine fear began to
grip the heart of each of these men as they discovered their money in their
sacks.
The
worst was yet to come. When Benjamin’s sack was opened, not only was his money
found, but also Joseph’s silver cup. These brothers tore their clothes in
anguish, loaded their animals, and made their way back to face the music before
“the ruler of
“What
did you think you were doing? Don’t you know that a man like me can find out
things like this by divination?” (44:15).
Joseph
wanted these men to think that there was nothing about them he did not know, or
could not find out. (After all, he had already arranged their seating according
to their birth order.) And now he had a silver divining cup, by which he could
discern the truth (or so he claimed). The message was clear: It would do them
no good to lie.
Judah
assumes the leadership, and speaks on his brothers’ behalf:
16
17
But Joseph said, “Far be it from me to do this! The man in
whose hand the cup was found will become my slave, but the rest of you may go
back to your father in peace” (44:16-17).
Judah’s
answer is most interesting and most encouraging. I am convinced that
This
is real progress for Joseph’s brothers, but they have not yet fully manifested
true repentance. And so Joseph declines
Here
was the greatest test of their lives. They could seize upon Joseph’s words,
denounce Benjamin for stealing, and go home to
This
is truly Judah’s finest hour. He is the one who made himself surety for
Benjamin (42:9). Now, he fulfills his promise to his aged father.
It
was too much for Joseph. He could restrain himself no longer. Indeed, he need
not restrain himself any longer. He could reveal his true identity because his
brothers had finally demonstrated true repentance. Joseph ordered everyone to
leave the room, except for his brothers. He wept loudly and told them he was
Joseph, their brother. He asked if his father was still alive. The brothers
were in shock. They could not believe what he was telling them. He asked them
to come closer, and they did. He repeated that he was the brother they had sold
into slavery in
Joseph
then sent his brothers back home to bring their father and their families down
to Egypt, informing them that there were yet five more years of famine ahead.
The story goes on to describe the arrival of Jacob and his family in
In
his final days, Jacob begins to manifest the fruits of faith.[103][101]
When standing before Pharaoh, Jacob admitted that his
life had been shorter and more unpleasant than that of his predecessors:
7
Then Joseph brought in his father Jacob and presented him before Pharaoh. Jacob
blessed Pharaoh.
8
Pharaoh said to Jacob, “How long have you lived?”
9
Jacob said to Pharaoh, “All the years of my travels are one hundred and thirty.
All the years of my life have been few and painful; the years of my travels are
not as long as those of my ancestors.”
10
Then Jacob blessed Pharaoh and went out from his presence (Genesis 47:7-10).
I
believe that by saying this, Jacob admitted to having lived out most of his
life in the flesh, striving with God and with men. It took him all this time to
see that his striving was not a life of faith, and it did not produce peace.
The
second thing Jacob did in his last days was to bless Joseph’s two sons:
1
After these things Joseph was told, “Your father is weakening.” So he took his
two sons Manasseh and Ephraim with him.
2
When Jacob was told, “Your son Joseph has just come to you,” Israel regained
strength and sat up on his bed.
3
Jacob said to Joseph, “The Sovereign God appeared to me at Luz in the land of
Canaan and blessed me.
4
He said to me, ‘I am going to make you fruitful and will multiply you. I will
make you into a group of nations and I will give this land to your descendants
as an everlasting possession.’
5 “Now, as for your two sons, who were born
to you in the land of Egypt before I came to you in Egypt, they will be mine. Ephraim and
Manasseh will be mine just as Reuben and Simeon are.
6
Any children that you father after them will be yours; they will be listed
under the names of their brothers in their inheritance.
7
But as for me, when I was returning from Paddan, Rachel died—to my sorrow—in
the land of Canaan. It happened along the way, some distance from Ephrath. So I
buried her there on the way to Ephrath” (that is,
8
When Israel saw Joseph’s sons, he asked, “Who are these?”
9
Joseph said to his father, “They are the sons God has given me in this place.”
His father said, “Bring them to me so I may bless them.”
10
Now Israel’s eyes were failing because of his age; he was not able to see well.
So Joseph brought his sons near to him, and his father kissed them and embraced
them.
11
Israel said to Joseph, “I never expected to see you again, but now God has
allowed me to see your children too.”
12
So Joseph moved them from Israel’s knees and bowed down with his face to the
ground.
13
Joseph positioned them; he put Ephraim on his right hand across from Israel’s
left hand, and Manasseh on his left hand across from Israel’s right hand. Then
Joseph brought them closer to his father.
14
Israel stretched out his right hand and placed it on Ephraim’s head, although
he was the younger. Crossing his hands, he put his left hand on Manasseh’s
head, for Manasseh was the firstborn.
15
Then he blessed Joseph and said, “May
the God before whom my fathers
Abraham and Isaac walked— the God who has been my shepherd all my life long to
this day—
16 the Angel who has protected me from all harm— bless these boys. May my name be named in them, and
the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac. May they
grow into a multitude on the earth.”
17
When Joseph saw that his father placed his right hand on Ephraim’s head, it
displeased him. So he took his father’s hand to move it from Ephraim’s head to
Manasseh’s head.
18
Joseph said to his father, “Not so, my father, for this is the firstborn. Put
your right hand on his head.”
19
But his father refused and said, “I know, my son, I know. He too will become a
nation and he too will become great. In spite of this, his younger brother will
be even greater and his descendants will become a multitude of nations.”
20
So he blessed them that day, saying, “By you will Israel bless, saying,
‘May God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh.’” So he put Ephraim before
Manasseh.
21
Then Israel said to Joseph, “I am about to die; but God will be with you and
will bring you back to the land of your fathers.
22
As one who is above your brothers, I give to you the
mountain slope, which I took from the Amorites with my sword and my bow”
(Genesis 48:1-22).
One
can hardly miss the similarity of this blessing of Joseph’s two sons to Isaac’s
blessings of his sons in his old age. Both Isaac and Jacob were old, and their
sight was poor. In the case of Isaac, Jacob sought to obtain his father’s
blessing under false pretenses, just as Isaac wished to bless the oldest son,
in spite of God’s indication to the contrary. In this case, Joseph places his
two sons before his father in such a way that he will not be confused as to
which is the older son. Knowing that his oldest grandson was placed under his
right hand, Jacob removed his hands and crossed them, purposely giving the
younger of the two lads the rights of the firstborn. Joseph was initially
irritated and tried to correct his father, until he realized that this was a
very deliberate action. By this act, Jacob seems to have symbolized the truth
that is stated in Romans 9:
6
It is not as though the word of God had failed. For not all those who are
descended from
7 nor are all the children Abraham’s true
descendants; rather “through Isaac will your descendants be traced.”
8
This means it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God;
rather, the children of promise are counted as descendants.
9
For this is what the promise declared: “About a year from now I will
return and Sarah will have a son.”
10
Not only that, but when Rebekah had conceived children by one man, our ancestor
Isaac—
11
even before they were born or had done anything good or bad (so that God’s
purpose in election would stand, not by works but by his calling) —
12
it was said to her, “The older will serve the younger,”
13
just as it is written: “Jacob I loved, but Esau
I hated” (Romans 9:6-13).
Jacob
has thereby acknowledged that the blessings of the Abrahamic Covenant are
passed on to the one of God’s choosing. It is a matter of election, based upon
sovereign grace; it is not determined by good works (present or future), and it
is not determined by scheming or manipulation. It was God’s choice of him,
rather than Esau, that made him the heir of the Abrahamic Covenant. It was God
who had watched over him and blessed him throughout his life, not due to his
merit or schemes, but because God had chosen him to be the heir of the promised
blessings to Abraham.
Jacob
was not just blessing these two sons of Joseph; he was adopting them (48:5-6).
His oldest son, Reuben, had sinned against his father by sleeping with one of
his concubines (35:22; 49:3-4), and thus was deprived of his rights as the
firstborn. By adopting Ephraim and Manasseh, Jacob was giving the right of the
firstborn to Joseph, because he would now receive a double inheritance through
his two sons.
The
third and final act of Jacob (so far as the biblical account is concerned) was
the blessing he pronounced on each of his sons, as recorded in Genesis 49.
These “blessings” are really prophecies concerning the future of each of his
sons and their offspring. The most significant of these blessings was that of
8
“Judah, your brothers will praise you. your hand will
be on the neck of your enemies, your father’s sons will bow down before you.
9
You are a lion’s cub, Judah, from the prey, my son, you have gone up.
He crouches and lies down like a lion; like a lioness—who will rouse him?
10 The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor
the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until he comes to whom it belongs; the nations will
obey him.
11
Binding his foal to the vine, and his colt to the choicest vine,
he will wash his garments in wine, his robes in the blood of grapes.
12 His eyes will be dark from wine, and
his teeth white from milk” (Genesis 49:8-12).
This
blessing upon Judah reveals the fact that the covenant promise given to
Abraham, Isaac, and himself would now be passed on through Judah. Abraham and
Sarah had been told that a line of kings would proceed from them (Genesis 17:6,
16). We now see that these kings will come through the tribe of
26
In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, the angel Gabriel was sent by God
to a town of Galilee called Nazareth,
27
to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, a descendant of David, and
the virgin’s name was Mary.
28
The angel came to her and said, “Greetings, favored one, the Lord is with you!”
29
But she was greatly troubled by his words and began to wonder about the meaning
of this greeting.
30
So the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor
with God.
31
Listen: you will become pregnant and give birth to a son, and you will name him
Jesus.
32
He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the
Lord God will give him the throne of his father David.
33
He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and his kingdom will never end”
(Luke 1:26-33, emphasis mine).
Conclusion
The
lives of
Nearly
everything we learn from Jacob is negative. Jacob would now tell us, if he
could, “Don’t do as I did.” Jacob was a man who wrestled with God and man most
all of his life, and for this, he paid a high price. As he told Pharaoh, his
life was shorter and more painful than that of his forefathers (Genesis 47:9).
Abraham willingly obeyed God, to the point of sacrificing his son, if necessary
(Genesis 22), but Jacob clung to his favored sons (first Joseph, and then
Benjamin), who had to be snatched from his grasp. Almost every good thing that
God did in Jacob’s life was in spite of him. It did not happen through his
active obedience, but providentially, in spite of his resistance. Because of this,
he did not experience the joy of walking in obedience to God.
There
is both good news and bad news to be discerned from the life of Jacob. On the
one hand we can be encouraged by the fact that God’s purposes and promises will
be fulfilled, even if it is in spite of our sins. The bad news is that
resisting God comes at a very high price. Jacob’s relationships were pathetic.
His wives battled for his affections. Laban and his sons came to resent Jacob
because he sought to gain at their expense. Jacob’s sons not only disliked each
other, they resented their father’s preferential affections. It seemed they
almost enjoyed leading him to the conclusion that Joseph had been torn to
pieces by a wild animal. For a number of years, Jacob lived with the false assumption
that his son Joseph was dead. He faced the trials of life with fear, and not
with faith. He cared far too much about himself and far too little about
others. His was not the “good life.”
In
all of this, Jacob (Israel) was the perfect prototype of the nation Israel.
Like their forefather, the Israelites often relied upon fleshly effort. Much of
the time they opposed God and trusted in their own devices. Many were the times
when God spared them from destruction and brought about their good providentially
– in spite of their sins. Jacob did not begin to comprehend or to enjoy the
grace of God until very late in his life; the nation
We
see the providential hand in
From
This
kind of repentance is what Joseph was working to accomplish in the lives of his
brothers when they came to
8
For even if I made you sad by my letter, I do not regret having written it
(even though I did regret it, for I see that my letter made you sad, though
only for a short time).
9
Now I rejoice, not because you were made sad, but because you were made sad to
the point of repentance. For you were made sad as God
intended, so that you were not harmed in any way by us.
10
For sadness as intended by God produces a repentance that leads to salvation,
leaving no regret, but worldly sadness brings about death.
11
For see what this very thing, this sadness as God intended, has produced in
you: what eagerness, what defense of yourselves, what indignation, what alarm,
what longing, what deep concern, what punishment! In everything you have proved
yourselves to be innocent in this matter (2 Corinthians 7:8-11).
Joseph
did cause his brothers pain, but not for the sake of revenge. It is clear that
causing his brothers to suffer was also painful to Joseph. Even in the midst of
Joseph’s severity, there was a depth of mercy. He sent them subtle hints that
should have proven encouraging. For example, he told them that he, too, feared
God (42:18). In the midst of apparent severity, there was kindness. Both times
they returned home with grain from
If
Jacob is an example of impotent spiritual leadership, Joseph is a model of
spiritual leadership. Some years ago, J. Oswald Sanders spoke on spiritual
leadership at a conference in
As
I look at the life of Joseph, I see all three of Sanders’ main points
illustrated, plus a couple more (which, coincidentally, begin with the letter
“s”):
God
prepared Joseph for leadership by the suffering he endured. None of Joseph’s
suffering was wasted time or energy. During the time of Joseph’s slavery and
imprisonment, he learned the language and the culture of
The
second element of leadership is servanthood. I fear that in his
youth Joseph was not the servant to his brothers he should have been. He seems
to have been unwise in the way he used his authority. I don’t think that one
could say Joseph was truly serving his brothers at this point in his life.
Joseph must have reflected on the anger his brothers displayed toward him. He
must have perceived it was the way he exercised his authority over them that
enraged them. The first thing they did was to strip his robe from him. They
must have taunted him about his dreams.[104][102]
Joseph came to understand that a position of power and authority is a place of
service, not of status. Thus, having learned the lesson of servanthood,[105][103]
when Joseph was put in charge of the butler and the baker in prison he used his
position to minister to them, not to lord it over them.
The
third element of spiritual leadership is that of sovereignty. Through his
suffering, Joseph came to a much fuller understanding of the sovereignty of
God. Even before his brothers arrived in
7 “God sent me ahead of you to preserve you
on the earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance.
8
So now, it is not you who sent me here, but God. He has made me an adviser to
Pharaoh, lord over all his household, and ruler over all the
20
“As for you, you meant to harm me, but God intended it for a good purpose, so
he could preserve the lives of many people, as you can see this day.
21
So now, don’t be afraid. I will provide for you and your little children.” Then
he consoled them and spoke kindly to them (Genesis 50:20-21).
God
had sovereignly appointed Joseph over his brothers. God gave Joseph the gifts
and skills that commended him to Potiphar and to Pharaoh. Joseph could not take
pride in what God had sovereignly given him,[106][104]
and now he knew it.
The
fourth element of spiritual leadership is that of stewardship.[107][105] A
steward does not own the things that are under his control. The clearest
expression of his “steward” mindset is found in Joseph’s response to Mrs.
Potiphar, who urged Joseph to “possess” her:
8
But he refused, saying to his master’s wife, “Look, my master does not give any
thought to his household with me here, and everything that he owns he has put
into my care.
9
There is no one greater in this household than I am. He has withheld nothing
from me except you, because you are his wife. So how could I do such a great
evil, and sin against God?” (Genesis 39:8-9)
Joseph
did not own what he controlled. I wonder, however, if his brothers felt as
though he acted that way towards them in his youth. But when
in Potiphar’s house, even though Joseph was in control of everything (except
Mrs. Potiphar), he did not own any of it. The same was true in the
prison and when serving Pharaoh. Joseph was a steward. He did not lay claim to
that which he did not own.[108][106]
The
fifth element of spiritual leadership is what I wish to call “secular savy.” Often there is a
false distinction drawn between spiritual and secular leadership. Joseph was a
skilled spiritual leader in whatever situation he was placed. He was a
“spiritual leader” in the home of Potiphar, because Potiphar saw that
the hand of God was upon him:
2
The Lord was with Joseph. He was
successful and lived in the household of his Egyptian master.
3
His master observed that the Lord
was with him and that the Lord
made everything he was doing successful (Genesis 39:2-3).
When
Joseph declined the proposition of Mrs. Potiphar, he explained his actions in
spiritual terms (39:9). When Joseph ministered to the butler and the baker in
the prison, he did so in spiritual terms:
7
So he asked Pharaoh’s officials, who were with him in custody in his master’s
house, “Why do you look so sad today?”
8
They told him, “We both had dreams, but there is no one to interpret them.”
Joseph responded, “Don’t interpretations belong to God? Tell them to me”
(Genesis 40:7-8).
The
same was true in his ministry to Pharaoh. The butler very carefully avoided any
spiritual reference to Joseph’s ministry to him (41:9-13), but when Joseph
ministered to Pharaoh, he repeatedly gave all the glory to God:
Joseph
replied to Pharaoh, “It is not within my power, but God will speak concerning
the welfare of Pharaoh” (Genesis 41:16).
Then
Joseph said to Pharaoh, “Both dreams of Pharaoh have the same meaning. God has
revealed to Pharaoh what he is about to do” (Genesis 41:25).
“This is just what I
told Pharaoh: God has shown Pharaoh what he is about to do” (41:28).
Joseph
was a spiritual leader, doing a secular task. All too often Christians suppose
that spiritual leadership requires a spiritual environment. They feel that
“full-time Christian work” is superior to “mere secular work.” I think this text (and many others) prove this thinking to be wrong.
Joseph had a great spiritual impact on those with whom he came in contact
through his secular employment. Think also of men like Daniel.
This
leads me to conclude that unless one can demonstrate spiritual leadership in
the secular world of employment, I seriously doubt that he can exercise
spiritual leadership in the church. Is this not what Paul was saying when he
set down the qualifications for elders?
2
The overseer then must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, temperate,
self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, an apt teacher,
3 not a drunkard, not violent, but gentle,
not contentious, free from the love of money.
4
He must manage his own household well and keep his children in control without
losing his dignity.
5
But if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care
for the church of God?
6
He must not be a recent convert or he may become arrogant and fall into the
punishment that the devil will exact.
7
And he must be well thought of by those outside the faith, so that he may not
fall into disgrace and be caught by the devil’s trap (1
Timothy 3:2-7).
If
I had my way, no one would go into full-time Christian ministry until they had
obtained secular employment skills, and then proven themselves to be wise in
some form of “secular” employment. The Book of Proverbs, as I understand it, is
written to those who would rule, those who would exercise spiritual leadership
in the nation
Our
text has a great deal to say about sexual purity. Some years ago, my friend
Craig Nelson and I were ministering in
Joseph is a prototype of our Lord Jesus
Christ. He was the object of his father’s affections, just as our Lord Jesus
was the beloved Son of God the Father. As Joseph’s brothers resented his
authority and sought to be rid of him, so the Jewish religious leaders resented
Jesus’ authority and sought to put him to death on a cruel cross. It was
through much suffering at the hands of his brothers – who rejected him as their
leader – that Joseph became their deliverer. It was
through the suffering of our Lord Jesus, at the hand of His “brethren,”
that He became the way of salvation for all who believe in Him.
I
would be remiss if I did not point out something that my friend, Marvin Ball,
reminded me of this past week. Our text is a dramatic illustration of the truth
of Romans 8:28:
28
And we know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who
are called according to his purpose,
29 because those whom he foreknew he also
predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that his Son would be the
firstborn among many brothers and sisters.
30
And those he predestined, he also called; and those he called, he also
justified; and those he justified, he also glorified (Romans 8:28-30).
God always fulfills His purposes and
His promises. He is not limited to using the willing acts of obedience of His
saints. He is able to employ the rebellious acts of unbelievers and the sins of
the saints to accomplish His purposes. To be sovereign is to be in full
control. God is fully in control, in spite of the sin and rebellion that is
rampant in His world.
Our
text illustrates how God sovereignly orchestrated and overruled in the affairs
of men, so that his promises would be fulfilled. Through his dreams, God
revealed to Joseph that he would rule over his family. It certainly appeared
that the sin of his brothers nullified the prophecy of those dreams, but in
truth, their actions merely set the stage for their fulfillment. It looked as
though the sins of
Nearly
25 years ago, my friend Bill McRae and his family left
I
wonder, my friend, if your life looks something like Jacob’s life, when he was
forced to give up his beloved son, Benjamin? Do you think “all these things
are against me” (Genesis 42:36)? If you are a part of God’s family, they
are not for your destruction, but for your deliverance; they are not meant to
be a tragedy, but to be triumph. I pray that each of you who read this can
experience the assurance, through faith in Christ, that God
is working for your good, and His glory:
31
What then shall we say about these things? If God is for us, who can be against
us?
32
Indeed, he who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will
he not also, along with him, freely give us all things?
33
Who will bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies.
34
Who is the one who will condemn? Christ is the one who died (and more than
that, he was raised), who is at the right hand of God, and who also is
interceding for us.
35
Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will trouble, or distress, or
persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?
36
As it is written, “For your sake we encounter death all day long; we were
considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”
37
No, in all these things we have complete victory through him who loved us!
38
For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor
things that are present, nor things to come, nor powers,
39
nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in creation will be able to separate
us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 8:31-39).
Lesson 9 — Moses and the Exodus[110][108]
Exodus 1-15
Introduction
In
his book, The Jesus I Never Knew, Philip Yancey writes:
Richard
Nixon got carried away with excitement in 1969 when Apollo astronauts first
landed on the moon. “It’s the greatest day since Creation!” crowed the
president, until Billy Graham solemnly reminded him of Christmas and Easter. By
any measure of history, Graham was right.[111][109]
From
our vantage point as New Testament Christians, we would surely agree with Billy
Graham. The coming of our Lord is truly the greatest event since Creation. But
from the perspective of the Old Testament believer, there is one great event
after Creation that overshadows all others – the exodus of the nation
This
Sunday is the last day of 2000. Tomorrow we mark the beginning of a new year.
The exodus also marked a new beginning:
1
The Lord
said to Moses and Aaron in the
The
exodus is the subject of our study in this lesson, and it is vitally important
to our understanding of the Bible. The theme of the exodus occurs repeatedly in
the Old Testament, as well as in the New. Let us give careful consideration to
this great turning point in the history of
Genesis as the Introduction to the Book of Exodus
More
than 400 years separate the life of Joseph from the birth of the nation
The
exodus of
12
When the sun went down, Abram fell sound asleep. Then great terror overwhelmed
him. 13 Then the Lord said to
Abram, “Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a foreign
country. They will be enslaved and oppressed for four hundred years. 14 But I
will execute judgment on the nation that they will serve. Afterward they will
come out with many possessions. 15 But as for you, you will go to your
ancestors in peace and be buried at a good old age. 16 In the fourth generation
your descendants will return here, for the sin of the Amorites has not yet
reached its limit” (Genesis 15:12-16).
Events
in Genesis give evidence that this promise will most certainly be fulfilled.
Abraham’s sojourn in
The
second element is that of persecution of the Israelites in
Pharaoh
and the Egyptians began to feel threatened by the presence and the prosperity
of the Israelites. The Israelites were numerous and they were strong, more so
than the Egyptians. The Egyptians feared that if a war broke out with one of
their neighbors the Israelites would side with their enemies, bringing about
their downfall (Exodus 1:9-10). On the other hand, since the Israelites had
become the work force of the land, the Egyptians did not want to see them
leave.
As
I read of the Egyptians’ fears, I could not help but think of this Proverb:
What
the wicked fears will come on him;
What the righteous desire will be granted (Proverbs 10:24).
What
the Egyptians feared did come upon them, no matter how hard they tried to
prevent it. The presence of the Israelites in
“I
will bless those who bless you,
but the one who treats you lightly I must curse” (Genesis 12:3a).
Initially,
the Egyptians sought to deal so harshly with the Israelites that they would
have no spirit left to resist their oppressors:
11
So they installed captains of work forces over them to oppress them with hard
labor. As a result they built Pithom and Rameses as store cities for Pharaoh.
12 But the more the Egyptians oppressed them, the more they multiplied and spread.
As a result the Egyptians loathed the Israelites, 13 and they made the
Israelites serve rigorously. 14 So they made their lives bitter by hard service
in mortar and bricks and by all kinds of service in the fields. Every kind of
service the Israelites were required to give was rigorous (Exodus 1:11-14).
This
approach failed miserably. The harder the Egyptians worked the Israelites, the
stronger they became. This intensified the Egyptians’ animosity toward the
Israelites and prompted them to deal even more harshly with God’s people.
The
Israelites actually thrived in the midst of their adversity, prompting the
Egyptians to devise another scheme:
15
The king of
You
might say that when the Egyptians failed to work the Israelites to death, they
changed their approach, ordering the Hebrew midwives to carry out “partial
birth abortions.” While in the process of assisting the Hebrew women give
birth, the midwives were to kill the male infants. Eventually, this would leave
only female Israelites, who would be taken as wives or concubines by the
Egyptians. Had this scheme succeeded, the nation
The
Egyptians were not willing to allow their plans to be thwarted and so they
devised yet another devious plan of genocide:
Then
Pharaoh commanded all his people, “All sons that are born you must throw into
the river, but all daughters you may let live” (Exodus 1:22).
This
was a far more aggressive plan because it was out and out genocide. This did
not depend upon the compliance of the Israelites, but on the actions of the
Egyptians. Every Egyptian was told to drown any and every boy baby born to the
Israelites. It must certainly have appeared that this plan was destined to
succeed. Who could possibly prevent it?
The
third element is that of the preservation and preparation of Moses as
What
a wonderful privilege God gave Miriam, Moses’ older sister. As she looked on
from a distance, she saw the daughter of Pharaoh come
to the edge of the
Most
often, we look at this wonderful story as the deliverance of one Hebrew baby,
but it is far more than that – it is the deliverance of every Hebrew boy. Had
Moses not been taken “out of the water” by Pharaoh’s daughter, there would have
been no nation for him to deliver more than 75 years later.[113][111]
Pharaoh had given a decree, and his own daughter defied it. She adopted this
Hebrew baby, and she was not about to let her father or anyone else harm him.
How many Hebrew babies do you think were thrown into the
As
he grew up, he became a very powerful man in
13
When he went out the next day, there were two Hebrew men fighting. So he said
to the one who was in the wrong, “Why are you striking your fellow Hebrew?” 14
And the man replied, “Who made you a ruler and a judge over us? Are you planning
to kill me just as you killed that Egyptian?” Then Moses was afraid, thinking,
“Surely what I did has become known.” 15 When Pharaoh heard about this event,
he sought to kill Moses. So Moses fled from Pharaoh and settled in the
Knowing
that Pharaoh had been informed of his crime, Moses fled to Midian. It was there
that he, like his ancestors before him,[116][114]
found his wife at a well (Exodus 2:14-22). For nearly 40 years[117][115]
he tended flocks in this wilderness before God called him to deliver the
Israelites from their bondage in
God
communicated with Moses from the midst of a burning bush. This burning bush was
such an incredible sight that Moses had come closer to investigate. God called
Moses from the bush, revealing that He was going to liberate His people, and
that Moses was the man He was going to use to confront Pharaoh:
7
Then the Lord said, “I have
surely seen the affliction of my people who are in
Moses
was not so easily convinced. He was overly confident 40 years earlier, when he
attempted to deliver his fellow-Israelites, but his complete failure had
drained him of all self-confidence. It would do us well to briefly review
Moses’ objections and God’s response.
Objection One: “Who am I?”
11
But Moses said to God, “Who am I, that I should go to
Pharaoh, or that I should bring the Israelites out of
It
was not a bad question. What man would dare to stand before Pharaoh, ruler of
one of the most powerful nations on the face of the earth, and demand that he
release the Israelites? Many years before, Moses was the (adopted) son of
Pharaoh. He was a man of great power. On his own initiative, he sought to
deliver his kinsmen. And he failed, miserably. Moses was now a felon and a
fugitive from justice. How could he possibly return to
God’s
answer might be paraphrased this way:
“It
really doesn’t matter who you are, Moses. What matters is that I have sent you,
and I will be with you as you go and stand before Pharaoh. Your success in this
mission does not depend upon your greatness or power, but on mine. I am like
this bush, which burns, but does not burn up. Like this bush appears to be, I
am eternal. Therefore, when I say I will be with you, you can be assured that I
will, for I am eternal. Your reward for obeying Me
will be to serve Me on this mountain.”
It
wasn’t the identity of the messenger that mattered; it was the identity of Him
who sent the messenger.
God – the Creator of heaven and earth – was the One who was sending Moses to
carry out this task. If God was with Moses, then Moses would surely carry out
his mission.
Objection Two: “Who are you?”
13
But Moses said to God, “If I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of
your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they say to me, ‘What is his name?’—what
should I say to them?” 14 So God said to Moses, “I AM that I AM.” And he said,
“You must say this to the Israelites, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’” 15 God also
said to Moses, “You must say this to the Israelites, ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers,
the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.
This is my name forever, and this is my memorial from generation to
generation’” (Exodus 3:13-15).
We
know that Moses exercised faith when he made the decision to identify with
God’s people, rather than with
Objection three: “What if they don’t believe me?”
1
Moses answered again, “And if they do not believe me or pay attention to me,
but say, ‘The Lord has not
appeared to you’?” 2 And the Lord
said to him, “What is that in your hand?” He replied, “A rod.” 3 And the Lord said, “Throw it to the ground.” So
he threw it to the ground, and it became a snake, and Moses fled from it. 4 But
the Lord said to Moses, “Put out
your hand and grab it by the tail”—so he put out his hand and caught it, and it
became a rod in his hand— 5 “that they may believe that the Lord, the God of their fathers, the God
of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you.” 6 And
the Lord also said to him, “Put
your hand into your robe.” So he put his hand into his robe; and when he
brought it out—it was leprous as snow! 7 And he said, “Put your hand back into
your robe.” So he put his hand back into his robe; and when he brought it out
from his robe—it was restored like the rest of his skin. 8 “And if they do not
believe you or pay attention to the former sign, then they may believe the
latter sign. 9 And if they do not believe even these two signs or listen to you,
then take some water from the
Moses
is beginning to tread on thin ice at this point. He asks what he will do if the
people don’t believe him, but this is after God has already said,
18 “And the elders will listen to you;
and then you and the elders of
Moses
doubts God’s promises, but God graciously responds by giving Moses several
signs, which will prove that he speaks with God’s authority and power. The
signs are: (1) the staff that becomes a snake; (2) the hand that becomes
leprous; and, (3) the water that becomes blood. These signs will cause the Israelites
to take Moses seriously.
It
is easy for us to sit back and be critical of Moses and his lack of faith,
isn’t it? But let me remind you that while Moses’ experience at the burning
bush must have made a great impression on him, it would hardly have been
compelling proof to the Israelites, or to Pharaoh. I can’t remember who it was
who first commented on this, but it is surely true. Can you imagine being Moses
and standing before Pharaoh, insisting that he release the Israelites? Pharaoh
responds, “Why should I believe you and do what you say?” Moses then replies,
“Well, you see, I was talking to this bush… .” No
wonder Moses was worried about the Israelites believing him. His story was
almost too incredible to believe.
Objection Four: “I’m not eloquent; please send someone
else.”
10
Then Moses said to the Lord, “O
my Lord, I am not an eloquent man, neither in the past nor since you have
spoken to your servant; but I am slow of mouth and slow of tongue.”11 And the Lord said to him, “Who gave a mouth to
man, or who makes a person mute or deaf or seeing or blind? Is it not I, the Lord? 12 So
now, go, and I will be with your mouth, and will teach you what you must say”
(Exodus 4:10-12).
Moses’
words here seem a bit too humble when compared to Stephen’s words in Acts 7:
“So
Moses was trained in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was powerful in his
words and deeds” (Acts 7:22).
It
should be remembered, however, that Stephen says this of Moses concerning his
abilities while he was at the height of his power and popularity in
God vs. the “gods” of
Exodus 5:1—15:21
The
exodus is much more than a face-to-face confrontation with Pharaoh; it is a
confrontation between the “gods” of
1
And afterward Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘Release my
people so that they may hold a pilgrim feast to me in the desert.’” 2 But
Pharaoh said, “Who is the Lord
that I should obey him by releasing
“And
I will pass through the
It
is not just the Egyptians who need to be convinced that God of Israel is God
alone, or that the “gods” of
“Now
obey the Lord and worship him
with integrity and loyalty. Put aside the gods your ancestors worshiped
beyond the river and in
25 “Did you present Me with
sacrifices and grain offerings in the wilderness for forty years, O house of
Prelude to the Plagues
Chapters
5 and 6 of Exodus are really a prelude to the plagues. Before God does some
great and mighty work in the Bible, He often prefaces it with events that
underscore the difficulty (perhaps better, the impossibility) of what He is
about to do. God promises a son to Abram and Sarai, but He waits 25 years to
provide this son, so that by the time He does enable Sarah to conceive, it is a
“Class A” miracle. Joseph’s situation looks absolutely hopeless as he finds
himself in an Egyptian prison, but God provides a miraculous deliverance, so
that Joseph does not merely find himself a man who is released from prison, but
one who has become the second most powerful man in
In
chapter 4, Moses returned to
22
Moses returned to the Lord, and
said, “Lord, why have you brought trouble to this people? Why did you ever send
me? 23 From the time I went to speak to Pharaoh in your name, he has caused
trouble for this people, and you have certainly not rescued your people!”
(Exodus 5:22-23).
God
was not ruffled by the indignation of Moses. He once again outlines the process
that He will use to manifest His power over Pharaoh and
After
a somewhat parenthetical genealogy of the line of Levi (focusing particularly
on Moses and Aaron – 6:14-27), Moses takes up the matter of his difficulty with
speech (6:28-30). God repeats Moses’ orders, with the assurance that Aaron will
be the spokesman for Moses (7:1-2). He repeats the process by which Pharaoh and
all
3
“But I will harden Pharaoh’s heart. And although I will multiply my signs and
my wonders in the
God
instructs Moses and Aaron to return to Pharaoh. Moses is told that Pharaoh will
request a miracle, and when he does, Moses is to instruct Aaron to throw down
his staff, which will become a snake (7:8-9). Moses and Aaron go to Pharaoh. No
demands are reported, but Pharaoh does ask for a miracle, as proof of God’s
power and Moses’ authority as His spokesman. Moses instructs Aaron to throw
down his staff, which becomes a snake. Pharaoh summons his magicians, and they
appear to reproduce the miracle, except for the fact that Aaron’s snake
swallows up all their staffs. The heart of Pharaoh is hardened, and he refuses
to take heed to the word of the Lord (7:13).
The
“prelude to the plagues” plays a very important role in the story of the
exodus. It sets the stage for the drama that is about to take place when God
brings the series of ten plagues upon Pharaoh and
Moses
told this to the Israelites, but they did not listen to him
because of their discouragement and harsh labor (Exodus 6:9, emphasis mine; cf.
also v. 12).
The
Israelites were no longer supportive of Moses by the time the plagues
commenced. Moses was pretty much on his own so far as taking a stand against
Pharaoh was concerned. He did not have widespread support from those he was
sent to liberate. In my opinion, many of the Israelites may have wished that
Moses would just go away and leave them alone. Up to this point, his “ministry”
had only caused them further pain. Moses kept facing off with Pharaoh because
God commanded him to do so, not because the people urged him to go. And when
the people are set free, they are virtually forced out of
Before
the plagues have even begun, the reader has a very strong sense of the
difficulty of the task ahead. Pharaoh is adamantly opposed to letting the
Israelites go, and it will take a miracle for Pharaoh’s will to be broken.
Indeed, it will take a sequence of miracles before Pharaoh will finally let
God’s people go. The victory will not be due to the confident leadership of
Moses or of Aaron, nor will it be due to the faith of the Israelites. It will
not be due to the kindness of Pharaoh, nor even out of the fear of divine judgment.
The victory over Pharaoh and the gods of
The Plagues
There
is a distinct pattern to the plagues that God brings upon the Egyptians. First
we see that God employs the forces of nature against the Egyptians. God, the
Creator of the heavens and the earth (Genesis 1 and 2), will once again
demonstrate His power over nature by employing it as His judgment rod against
The
first three plagues
produce discomfort; the next three plagues produce destruction. The
The
second series of three plagues is more than just irritating; it is
personally painful and destructive. Each of the successive plagues strikes
closer and closer to home, especially for Pharaoh. They also become more
specific and discriminative. The fourth plague is promised at a specific time
(see 8:23; 9:5). From the fourth plague on, God distinguishes between the
Egyptians and the Israelites (see 8:22; 9:4). The Egyptians suffer, but the
Israelites are exempted from the judgment. Death comes to the livestock of the
Israelites, a foretaste of what is yet to come on the Egyptians. Pharaoh begins
to bargain with Moses, seeking to reduce his losses, but whenever the plague is
removed, he revokes his promise. The third of each series of plagues reveals
Pharaoh as one whose heart is hardened and unwilling to admit defeat.
The
third series of plagues produces selective destruction and a growing sense of
dread on the part of the Egyptians (but not Pharaoh). The destruction is
selective because the Israelites are exempted. God tells the Egyptians that He
could have destroyed all of them by now, if He had chosen to do so. He also
warns that this series of plagues will prove to be utterly devastating. He will
now commence unleashing all His plagues on them, impacting them in a very
personal way (9:14). The first plague of the series (the seventh plague in the
series) is a great storm which will produce lightning and hail. God reveals the
time the storm will come, and for the first time, appeals to the people of
The
tenth and final plague is introduced in chapter 11, although it seems clear
that Moses announced this plague to Pharaoh just before he departed from the
presence of Pharaoh for the last time (which was recorded in the final verses
of chapter 10). God begins by telling Moses that this is the final plague, and
that after this judgment falls upon Pharaoh and all
In
Exodus 12 and 13, we are told about the judgment of God upon
But
interspersed within chapters 12 and 13 are God’s very precise instructions
regarding the celebration of the first Passover meal, which was the means by
which He would spare the firstborn sons of the Israelites. In addition to this,
God gave instructions regarding the perpetual observance of the Passover as a
memorial. The exodus of
The
Passover celebration was to be followed up with the “Feast of unleavened
bread” (12:14-20). All leaven was to be removed from their houses, and no
leavened bread was to be eaten for seven days after Passover. Since God spared
the firstborn sons of the Israelites, they belonged to God, and thus the
Israelites were to redeem their firstborn sons and cattle (13:1-16).
The Great Escape
Angered
by Moses’ refusal to negotiate regarding the release of Israel (the Israelites
could go, but the flocks and herds must remain in Egypt), the heart of Pharaoh
was further hardened, resulting in his command that Moses was never again to
come into his presence (10:24-29). At midnight, the Lord struck all the
firstborn males in
The
Israelites were to have eaten the Passover meal “in haste,” and “dressed
to travel” (12:11), so it did not take that long for the Israelites to begin to
make their way out of
God
led the Israelites in a manner that appeared somewhat less than direct. He did
not lead them by the most direct route, because they would have faced the
Philistines, and they were not yet ready for war. Had they faced war early on,
they might have sought to desert and return to
The
Israelites cried out to God. From the words they spoke to Moses, it would seem
this was not a crying out in prayer so much as it was an outcry of protest:
10
When Pharaoh got closer, the Israelites looked up and saw that the Egyptians
were marching after them. They were terrified. Then the Israelites cried out to
the Lord. 11 And they said to
Moses, “Was it because there were no graves in
Just
hours from slavery, the Israelites are already eager to return. Moses was doing
a little “crying out” as well (14:15), but God instructed him to lift up his
rod, extending it toward the
We
all think we know the story of the Israelites’ passing through the
While
the bodies of the Egyptian soldiers washed up on shore, the Israelites sang
this song to the Lord:
1
Then Moses and the Israelites sang this song to the Lord:
“I will sing to the Lord for he
has triumphed gloriously,
the horse and its rider he has thrown into the sea.
2 The Lord is my strength and my
song,
and he has become my salvation.
This is my God and I will praise him,
my father’s God, and I will exalt him.
3 The Lord is a man of war,
the Lord is his name.
4 The chariots of Pharaoh and his army he has thrown into the sea,
and his chosen officers were drowned in the
5 The depths have covered over them,
they went down to the bottom like a stone.
6 Your right hand, O Lord, was
majestic in power,
your right hand, O Lord,
shattered the enemy.
7 And in the greatness of your majesty you have overthrown
those who rise up against you.
You sent forth your wrath;
it consumed them like stubble.
8 And by the blast of your nostrils the waters were piled up,
the waters stood upright like a heap,
and the deep waters were congealed in the heart of the sea.
9 The enemy said, “I will chase, I will overtake,
I will divide the spoil;
my desire will be satisfied on them.
I will draw my sword, my hand will destroy them.”
10 But you blew with your breath, and the sea covered them.
They sank like lead in the mighty waters.
11 Who is like you, O Lord, among
the gods?
Who is like you?—majestic in holiness,
fearful in praises, working wonders?
12 You stretched out your right hand,
the earth swallowed them.
13 By your loyal love you will lead the people
whom you have redeemed;
you will guide them by your strength to your holy habitation.
14 The people will hear and be afraid;
anguish will take hold of the inhabitants of
15 Then the chiefs of
the leaders of
and the inhabitants of
16 Fear and dread will fall on them;
by the greatness of your arm they will be as still as stone
until your people pass over, O Lord,
until the people pass over, which you have bought.
17 You will bring them in
and plant them in the mountain of your inheritance,
in the place, O Lord, you made
for your residence,
the sanctuary, O Lord, your hands
have established.
18 The Lord will reign for ever
and ever!
19 For the horses of Pharaoh went
with his chariots and his footmen into the seas,
and the Lord brought again the
waters of the sea on them,
but the Israelites went on dry land in the midst of the sea.”
20
Then Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took a hand-drum in her hand,
and all the women went out after her with hand-drums and with dances. 21 And
Miriam sang antiphonally to them, “Sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed
gloriously; the horse and its rider he has thrown into the sea” (Exodus
15:1-21).
Rightly,
the Israelites saw the exodus as the work of God. Just as the plagues displayed
the sovereignty of God to the Egyptians, they also were compelling proof to the
Israelites that the God of Israel is God alone. To my knowledge this “Song of
the Sea” is the first poetry found in the Old Testament. In very dramatic
terms, it describes the victory of God over the “gods” of
Conclusion
The
exodus of
The
exodus marks a number of other important changes. It is at the exodus that God
begins to work with the nation
The
plagues God brought upon the Egyptians served several purposes:
They
were a punishment on Pharaoh and upon the Egyptian for abusing God’s chosen
people. God blessed Pharaoh and the Egyptians on account of Joseph, but God
punished Pharaoh and the Egyptians for enslaving and abusing the Israelites.
This was the fulfillment of the Abrahamic Covenant.
The
plagues were a demonstration of the existence and the power of the God of
Israel, that they might believe He is God alone.
The
plagues were a manifestation of God’s nature and His glory (Exodus 14:18). God
glorified Himself by Pharaoh’s rebellion and resistance (see Romans 9:17).
The
plagues were also a warning to the Israelites, a demonstration of the
consequences they would face for disobeying God’s commands (see Deuteronomy
28:60).
The
exodus is the fulfillment of God’s covenant promises, in a very precise way. In
addition to paving the way for the fulfillment of the Abrahamic Covenant
(Genesis 12:1-3, etc.), the exodus is the fulfillment of God’s promise to
Abraham in Genesis 15:
12
When the sun went down, Abram fell sound asleep. Then great terror overwhelmed
him. 13 Then the Lord said to
Abram, “Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a foreign
country. They will be enslaved and oppressed for four hundred years. 14 But I
will execute judgment on the nation that they will serve. Afterward they will
come out with many possessions. 15 But as for you, you will go to your
ancestors in peace and be buried at a good old age. 16 In the fourth generation
your descendants will return here, for the sin of the Amorites has not yet
reached its limit.”17 When the sun had gone down and it was dark, a smoking
firepot with a flaming torch passed between the animal parts. 18 That day the Lord made a covenant with Abram: “To
your descendants I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river,
the Euphrates River— 19 the land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, 20
Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites, 21 Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites, and
Jebusites” (Genesis 15:12-21).
Moses
tells us that the departure of
As
mentioned earlier, the exodus was the second great act of creation in the
Pentateuch. It was the time when God “created” the nation
The
exodus will become the basis for
The
exodus proved the folly of idolatry. The Israelites had already embraced some
of the idolatry of the Canaanites (see Genesis 31:19; 35:1-3; Joshua 24:14-15;
Amos 5:25-26). At the exodus, God pronounced judgment on the “gods” of
“And
I will pass through the
What
folly it would be to worship the very gods that God had judged in
The
exodus was a deliverance brought about by God’s grace, and not as the result of
God’s
great act of delivering His people at the exodus was a dramatic demonstration
of His power and the assurance that God would accomplish all that He had
promised. This is what the Israelites sang as they stood on the other side of
the
1
Now, this is what the Lord says,
the one who created you, O Jacob,
and formed you, O
“Don’t be afraid, for I will protect you.
I call you by name, you are mine.
2 When you pass through the waters, I am with you;
when you pass through the streams, they will not overwhelm you.
When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned;
the flames will not harm you.
3 For I am the Lord your God,
the sovereign king of
14 This is what the Lord says,
your protector, the sovereign king of
“For your sake I send to
and make them all fugitives,
turning the Babylonians’ joyful shouts into mourning songs.
15 I am the Lord, your
sovereign ruler,
the one who created Israel, your king.”
16 This is what the Lord says,
the one who made a road through the sea,
a pathway through the surging waters,
17 the one who led chariots and horses to destruction,
together with a mighty army.
They fell down, never to rise again;
they were extinguished, put out like a burning wick:
18 “Don’t remember these earlier events;
don’t recall these former events.
19 “Look, I am about to do something new.
Now it begins to happen! Do you not recognize it?
Yes, I will make a road in the desert
and paths in the wilderness.
20 The wild animals of the desert honor me,
the jackals and ostriches,
because I put water in the desert
and streams in the wilderness,
to quench the thirst of my chosen people,
21 the people whom I formed for myself,
so they might praise me” (Isaiah 43:14-21, emphasis mine).
The
work of our Lord Jesus Christ is also described in “exodus terminology”:
13
After they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph saying,
“Get up, take the child and his mother and flee to
28
Now about eight days after these sayings, Jesus took with him Peter, John, and
James, and went up the mountain to pray. 29 As he was praying, the appearance
of his face was transformed, and his clothes became dazzling white. 30 Then two
men, Moses and Elijah, began talking with him. 31 They appeared in glorious
splendor and spoke about his departure[120][118]
that he was about to carry out at
The
“departure” of which our Lord, Moses, and Elijah spoke was literally our
Lord’s “exodus.” It is the second and greater exodus, the greatest saving act
of all time. As
1
For I do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters, that our fathers
were all under the cloud and all passed through the sea, 2 and all were
baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, 3 and all ate the same
spiritual food, 4 and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they were all
drinking from the spiritual rock that followed them, and the rock was Christ (1
Corinthians 10:1-4).
The
work of our Lord is likened to that of the Passover lamb:
13
“Look, my servant will succeed!
He will be elevated, lifted high, and greatly exalted.
14 Just as many were horrified by the sight of you—
he was so disfigured he no longer looked like a man;
15 his form was so marred he no longer looked human—
so now he will startle many nations.
Kings will be shocked by his exaltation,
for they will witness something unannounced to them,
and they will understand something they had not heard about.
53:1
Who would have believed what we just heard?
When was the LORD’s power revealed through him?
He sprouted up like a twig before God,
like a root out of parched soil;
he had no stately form or majesty that might catch our attention,
no special appearance that we should want to follow him.
3 He was despised and rejected by people,
one who experienced pain and was acquainted with illness;
people hid their faces from him;
he was despised, and we considered him insignificant.
4 But he lifted up our illnesses
he carried our pain;
even though we thought he was being punished,
attacked by God, and afflicted for something he had done.
5 He was wounded because of our rebellious
deeds,
crushed because of our sins;
he endured punishment that made us well;
because of his wounds we have been healed.
6 All of us had wandered off like sheep;
each of us had strayed off on his own path,
but the LORD caused the sin of all of us to attack him.
7 He was treated harshly and afflicted,
but he did not even open his mouth.
Like a lamb led to the slaughtering block,
like a sheep silent before her shearers,
he did not even open his mouth.
8 He was led away after an unjust trial—
but who even cared?
Indeed, he was cut off from the land of the living;
because of the rebellion of his own people he was wounded.
9 They intended to bury him with criminals,
but he ended up in a rich man’s tomb,
because he had committed no violent deeds,
nor had he spoken deceitfully.
10 Though the LORD desired to crush him and make him ill,
once restitution is made,
he will see descendants and enjoy long life,
and the LORD’s purpose will be accomplished through him.
11 Having suffered, he will reflect on his work,
he will be satisfied when he understands what he has done.
“My servant will acquit many, for he carried their sins.
12 So I will assign him a portion with the mighty,
he will divide the spoils of victory with the powerful,
because he willingly submitted to death
and was numbered with the rebels,
when he lifted up the sin of many
and intervened on behalf of the rebels (Isaiah 52:13—53:12, emphasis mine).
29
On the next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the
Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” 30 This is the one
about whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who is
greater than I am, because he existed before me.’ 31 I did not recognize him,
but I came baptizing with water so that he could be revealed to
6
Your boasting is not good. Don’t you know that a little yeast affects the whole
batch of dough? 7 Clean out the old yeast so that you may be a new batch of
dough, since you are, in fact, without yeast. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. 8 So then, let us
celebrate the festival, not with the old yeast, the yeast of vice and evil, but
with the bread without yeast, the bread of sincerity and truth (1 Corinthians
5:6-8, emphasis mine).
The
greatest deliverance of all time was not the exodus of the Israelites out of
14
Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, he likewise shared in
their humanity, so that through death he could destroy the one who holds the
power of death (that is, the devil), 15 and set free those who were held in
slavery all their lives by their fear of death (Hebrews 2:14-15).
Our
Lord is the One greater than Moses, of whom Moses spoke:
15
The Lord
your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you—from your
fellow Israelites; you must listen to him 16 in line with everything you asked
of the Lord
your God at Horeb in the day of the convocation: “Do not let us hear the voice
of the Lord
our God any more or see this great fire any more lest we die.” 17 The Lord then
said to me, “What they have asked is good. 18 I will raise
up a prophet like you for them from among their fellow Israelites. I will put
my words in his mouth and he will speak to them whatever I want. 19 I myself
with hold responsible anyone who then pays no attention to the words that
prophet will speak in my name.
The
Lord Jesus Christ is that “prophet” to whom we must listen:
1
After God spoke long ago in various portions and in various ways to our
ancestors through the prophets, 2 in these last days he has spoken to us in a
son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he created the
world. 3 The Son is the radiance of his glory and the representation of his
essence, and he sustains all things by his powerful word, and so when he had
accomplished cleansing for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the
Majesty on high. 4 Thus he became so far better than the angels as he has
inherited a name superior to theirs (Hebrews 1:1-4).
1
Therefore we must pay closer attention to what we have heard, so that we do not
drift away. 2 For if the message spoken through angels proved to be so firm
that every violation or disobedience received its just penalty, 3 how will we
escape if we neglect such a great salvation? It was first communicated through
the Lord and was confirmed to us by those who heard him, 4 while God confirmed
their witness with signs and wonders and various miracles and gifts of the Holy
Spirit distributed according to his will (Hebrews 2:1-4).
He
is the One who came to bear the penalty for our sins. He is the “Lamb of
God, who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). He is the Passover
Lamb, who delivers us from death. To receive Him is to know true freedom (John
8:32). Have you recognized your bondage to sin and death? Have you trusted in
Jesus Christ as God’s only provision for the forgiveness of your sins and the
hope of eternal life? If not, I urge you to do so this very moment.
When
I read the account of the exodus, I am reminded of the fact that God is in no
hurry. Though He promised to deliver His people
13
These all died in faith without receiving the things promised, but they saw
them in the distance and welcomed them and acknowledged that they were
strangers and foreigners on the earth.
14
For those who speak in such a way make it clear that they are seeking a
homeland.
15
In fact, if they had been thinking of the land that they had left, they would
have had opportunity to return.
16
But as it is, they aspire to a better land, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore,
God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them… . 39 And these all were commended for their faith, yet
they did not receive what was promised. 40 For God had provided something
better for us, so that they would be made perfect together with us (Hebrews
11:13-16, 39-40).
God
is in no great hurry to carry out His plans and purposes. He is eternal. He has
all the time in the world; indeed, He is above and beyond time. But what He
promises will come to pass. Faith is living out our lives, based upon the
promises of God. We are to believe His Word, and to live by His Word, looking
for that day when He will accomplish all that He has promised.
If
the exodus teaches us anything about God, it is that He is sovereign. He is in
control. He is bigger than Pharaoh and the great nation of
34
But at the end of the appointed time I, Nebuchadnezzar, looked up toward
heaven, and my sanity returned to me.
I
blessed the Most High,
and I praised and glorified the one who
lives forever.
For his rule is an everlasting rule,
and his kingdom extends from one generation to the next.
35 All the inhabitants of the earth are regarded as nothing.
He does as he wishes with the army of heaven
and with those who inhabit the earth.
No one slaps his hand and says to him, `What have you
done?’
36
At that time my sanity returned to me. I was restored to the honor of my
kingdom, and my splendor returned to me. My ministers and my magistrates were
seeking me out, and I was reinstated over my kingdom. Tremendous greatness was
restored to me, greater than before. 37 Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and exalt
and glorify the King of heaven, for all his deeds are right and his ways are
just. He is able to bring low those who live in pride” (Daniel 4:34-37).
|
Encounter |
Text |
Request |
Threat |
Response |
Consequence |
Response /
Outcome |
||
|
A |
5:1ff. |
Have a feast for
3 days in the wilderness. |
None Lest God strike
us with sword or plague. |
That’s just a
vacation. No more straw,
foremen punished. |
Foremen protested
to Moses. Moses protested
to God. |
God reassures
Moses of release, based on His covenant with Abraham. Further
instructions given. |
||
|
B |
7:8ff. |
Request
apparently repeated. |
None |
Pharaoh requests
a miracle. Magicians imitate
miracle. |
Aaron’s staff
becomes serpent. Aaron’s staff
devours theirs. |
Pharaoh’s heart
was hardened. He did not listen
to Moses and Aaron. |
||
|
Level of Pain:
Irritation |
||||||||
|
1 |
7:14ff. |
In the morning Release My People |
Nile turned to
blood |
Magicians
imitate. Pharaoh did not
take it to heart. |
Egyptians dug
around Nile for water to drink. |
Pharaoh did not
take this to heart. |
||
|
2 |
7:25ff. |
One week later “Go to Pharaoh” “Release My
People.” |
If not, frogs. |
None recorded,
but Pharaoh surely refused – magicians imitate miracle. |
Frogs sent |
Pharaoh bargains
— Requests frogs to be removed, but when removed Pharaoh hardens his heart. |
||
|
3 |
8:16ff. |
No request:
“Extend your hand… .” |
No threat made |
Gnats sent |
Magicians could not
reproduce this miracle: “This is the finger of God.” |
Pharaoh’s heart
is hardened – did not listen to his magicians. |
||
|
Level of Pain:
Discriminative Pain and Destruction |
||||||||
|
4 |
8:20ff. |
“Get up early
…and say: ‘“Release My people.” Time: tomorrow. |
Swarms of flies
to be sent on Egyptians. God distinguishes
between Egyptians and Israelites. |
Flies sent |
Pharaoh:
“Sacrifice, but stay in this land.” “O.K. but don’t
go far.” |
“I will release,
but don’t go far.” Moses prays;
flies removed; Pharaoh hardens his heart and refuses to release Israel. |
||
|
5 |
9:1ff. |
“Go to Pharaoh
and tell him: ‘Release My people.’” |
Plague sent on
Egyptian livestock & animals, but not Israelite animals. At appointed
time. |
Egyptian
livestock dies. Pharaoh
investigates, but his heart hardened, so that he does not release Israelites. |
|
|
||
|
6 |
9:8-12 |
No request. “Throw soot into
air.” |
No warning. |
Aaron casts soot,
boils come on Egyptians. |
Magicians cannot
stand before Moses because of their boils. |
Lord hardens
Pharaoh’s heart; he does not listen nor release the Israelites. |
||
|
Level of Pain:
Discriminative Devastation and Dread |
||||||||
|
7 |
9:13-35 |
“Get up early in
the morning and say, ‘Release My
people.’” “I could have
destroyed you all by now.” “This time
tomorrow” |
I will send all
My plagues on you, your servants, your people. Hail to come the
next day – people warned to bring people, livestock under cover. |
Those who feared
brought in man and beast from the hail as Moses commanded. Those who
disbelieved left servants and livestock outside. |
Hail destroyed
everything, but land of Goshen was not affected. Flax and barley
destroyed; wheat and spelt not destroyed. |
Pharaoh confesses
his sin, requests Moses to pray and to stop the hail. Promises to
release Israelites. Moses indicated
that he knew better than to believe Pharaoh. Pharaoh hardens
his heart; won’t release Israelites. |
||
|
8 |
10:1-20 |
“Go to Pharaoh.” “I have hardened
his heart.” “Release My
people.” |
Locusts will
destroy remaining crops. |
Pharaoh’s
servants strongly urge him to release the Israelites, lest Egypt be
completely destroyed. Pharaoh summons
Moses and Aaron – “Men only may go” – drives out Moses and Aaron. |
Locusts released,
and destroy everything that is left, that hail didn’t destroy, like wheat and
spelt. |
Pharaoh confesses
his sin, asks Moses to stop the locusts. Locusts removed. Lord hardened
Pharaoh’s heart; he refused to release Israelites. |
||
|
9 |
10:21-29 |
None “Extend your
hand” |
|
Darkness came
across the land of Egypt for 3 days. Israelites had
light. |
Pharaoh: “Go, but
leave your cattle.” Moses: “Not
without our cattle.” Pharaoh: “Get
out, and don’t come back.” Moses: “We
won’t.” |
|
||
|
DEATH |
||||||||
|
10 |
11:1—12:42 |
None |
No threat made. |
Israelites
instructed to ask Egyptians for gifts. They give
generously, |
God distinguishes
between Israel and Egypt. Feasts
established Instructions
given for spoiling the Egyptians. |
|
||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Lesson 10 — The Giving of the
Law, Part I[121][119]
The Evangelistic Purpose of the Law
My
father-in-law, Larry Oubre, is easily one of the most devoted students of the
Word of God that I’ve had the privilege to know, and I’ve learned to listen
carefully when he talks about rightly handling the Scriptures. On Christmas
day, I was talking to him about this message and about the quandary I was in
trying to figure out how to take the topic of the “Giving of the Law,” which I
had previously taught in about 20 lessons, and boiling it down to just a couple
of “big picture”-type messages. He told me to start at the end – with the New
Testament’s declaration regarding the purpose of the Old Testament Law – then
to go back to the Old Testament and show that the purpose of the Law has always
been the same. Following his wise counsel, that’s exactly the approach I’m
going to take.
New Testament
Not One Righteous
Romans 3:1-18
In
the first three chapters of the Book of Romans, Paul presents a carefully
crafted argument addressing the question, “How do men become righteous in the
eyes of God?” The first part of his argument is to explain how men have NOT
become righteous in the eyes of God.
He
explains that in spite of the knowledge of God made known through nature,
through conscience and through the revealed Law, all men, both Jews and
Gentiles, have failed to accomplish the requirement of God.
In
chapter 3, Paul takes his argument to its logical conclusion. In verse 9, he
declares flat out “that both Jews and Greeks are all under sin.” He then
defends this forceful accusation against all men by going back to the Old
Testament Scriptures. The words he uses here could not be any simpler, any
clearer, or any more forceful!
10
as it is written,
There is none righteous, not even one;
11 There is none who understands,
There is none who seeks for God;
12 All have turned aside,
together they have become useless;
There is none who does good,
There is not even one.
Their throat is an open grave,
With their tongues they keep deceiving,
The poison of asps is under their lips;
Whose mouth is full of cursing
and bitterness;
Their feet are swift to shed
blood,
Destruction and misery are in
their paths,
And the path of peace have they
not known.
|There is no fear of God before
their eyes (Romans 3:10-18)[122][120].
In
Romans 2, verse 6, Paul said that God …
will render to every man according to
his deeds; to those who by perseverance in doing good seek for glory and honor
and immortality, eternal life; but to those who are selfishly ambitious and do
not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, wrath and indignation.
There
are two categories of people spoken of here: (1) “those who by perseverance
in doing good seek for glory and honor and immortality” (those get eternal
life), and (2) “those who are selfishly ambitious and do not obey the truth,
but obey unrighteousness” (those get God’s wrath and indignation).
According to Paul’s own argument, how many people are there in the first
category?
NONE,
NOT ONE!!!
Look
again at Romans 3:10-18. Except for Jesus Christ, Himself, how many people have
there been in history who were righteous enough to fulfill the requirement of
God’s Law? None! Not one! Not ever!
How
many people have genuinely taken the initiative to seek after God?
“There
is NONE who understands, There is NONE who seeks for God; ALL have turned
aside, together they have become useless; There is NONE who does good, There is
NOT EVEN ONE” (emphasis mine).
The
propositions here are clear, simple, and forceful, and leave no room for
interpretation.
When
men try to create a loophole in this argument so they can say that some people
are good enough for God, they are throwing out the clear and precise revelation
of Almighty God, and they are replacing it with their own foolishness. The
world is full of man-made religions which have done this very thing – many of
which call themselves Christian.
Men
do a lot of things that are good in their outward appearance, but God knows the
hearts of men. He knows our motives, and His Word declares that, left to our
own devices, we are useless sinners, consumed with ourselves. We don’t even
know how to begin being truly righteous.
All
the World Accountable to God
Romans 3:19-20
The
culmination of everything Paul has said in the first three chapters is found in
Romans 3:19-20. And the truth of these two verses is absolutely foundational to
a proper understanding of the true purpose of the Law of Moses:
19
Now we know that whatever the Law says, it speaks to those who are under the
Law, that every mouth may be closed, and all the world may become accountable
to God;
20
because by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight; for
through the Law comes the knowledge of sin (emphasis mine).
The
Law was never intended to make men righteous. It was intended to prove man’s
unrighteousness – to cast the light of God’s holiness on man’s unholiness so
that there would be no question about what all men have merited.
If
Galatians 3:21-22
In
Galatians 3:21-22, Paul says,
21
For if a law had been given which was able to impart life, then
righteousness would indeed have been based on law. 22 But the Scripture has
shut up all men under sin, that the promise by faith
in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.
So,
the New Testament is clear and forceful about the fact that the Law could not
make one righteous. That’s great. Hindsight is always 20-20. We’ve seen a few
Old Testament quotations from Paul’s writings, but were these few Old Testament
passages enough to make it clear to men living in Old Testament times that they
ultimately could not keep the Law – that the Law was given to prove them to be
unholy?
We
will see that the Old Testament was just as forceful and consistent as the New
Testament about this matter.
The
fact of the matter is this: Judaism – true Old Testament Judaism - does NOT, and NEVER DID, make man the author of his own
righteousness or of his own salvation.
Old Testament
After
God’s miraculous deliverance of
God is Not Like
Exodus 19:10-25;
20:18-21
10
The Lord also said to Moses, “Go
to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow, and let them wash their
garments; 11 and let them be ready for the third day, for on the third day the Lord will come down on
18
And all the people perceived the thunder and the lightning flashes and the
sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking; and when the people saw it,
they trembled and stood at a distance. 19 Then they said to Moses, “Speak to us
yourself and we will listen; but let not God speak to us, lest we die.” 20 And
Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid; for God has come in order to test
you, and in order that the fear of Him may remain with you, so that you may not
sin.” 21 So the people stood at a distance, while Moses approached the thick
cloud where God was (Exodus 20:18-21).
The
Israelites were terrified of God on that day! They couldn’t bear to hear the
voice of God directly, so they requested that He speak to them through Moses,
which is exactly what God had intended in the first place. God made it
perfectly clear that He could annihilate
As
for idolatry, how could God be represented in the form
of a created being when it was so clear that He transcended His creation? How
could He be represented in the form of anything that came from the mind of men
when men couldn’t look upon Him, couldn’t begin to comprehend Him, and couldn’t
even stand to hear His voice?
All
that God had done to deliver Israel from Egypt, and all the miraculous signs
they were beholding from their vantage point at the base of the mountain,
served to drive home the fact that their God is entirely other than they are.
This was the setting, the context for the beginning of the Law, and for the
Law’s testimony to man’s separation from God.
The Golden Calf
Exodus 32-33
After
giving the revelation of the commandments and ordinances and the instructions
for the tabernacle and priesthood, God called Moses to come up to the mountain
to receive the two tablets with the Ten Commandments engraved by the finger of
God.
12
Now the Lord said to Moses, “Come
up to Me on the mountain and remain there, and I will
give you the stone tablets with the law and the commandment which I have
written for their instruction.” 13 So Moses arose with Joshua his servant, and
Moses went up to the
What
were the Israelites doing during the 40 days Moses was on the top of the
mountain? They were blatantly violating the first two commandments!
2
“I am the Lord your God, who
brought you out of the
Could
this be any clearer than it is?
Now,
let me see – does a calf bear any likeness to anything
God
had just given
God
made it very clear that
Did
Numbers 14
In
the second month of the second year after the Exodus, God led
Once
again, God was angry with
The Second
Generation After the Exodus
Deuteronomy 9:4-7
God
led Israel through their wanderings in the wilderness for 40 years, until that
entire generation that had refused to enter the land had perished except for
Joshua and Caleb, Moses, and a few of the sons of Aaron.
In
the Book of Deuteronomy, we find the new generation of Israelites camped at the
eastern shore of the Jordan river, having conquered the pagan nations on the
east side of the river, and poised to cross over to the west side to take
possession of land. At this point, God says this to them,
4
Do not say in your heart when the LORD your God has driven them out before you,
‘Because of my righteousness the LORD has brought me in to possess this land,’
but it is because of the wickedness of these nations that the LORD is
dispossessing them before you.
5
It is not for your righteousness or for the uprightness of your heart that you
are going to possess their land, but it is because of the wickedness of these
nations that the LORD your God is driving them out before you, in order to
confirm the oath which the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and
Jacob.
6
Know then, it is not because of your righteousness that the LORD your God is
giving you this good land to possess, for you are a stubborn people.
7
Remember, do not forget how you provoked the LORD your God to wrath in the
wilderness; from the day that you left the land of Egypt until you arrived
at this place, you have been rebellious against the LORD (Deuteronomy
9:4-7, emphasis mine).
The Blessing and
the Curses
(Guess which Ones
Deuteronomy 27-30
Near
the end of the Book of Deuteronomy, God laid out before
Lest
you think that the curses of the Mosaic Covenant were idle threats, read the
Books of Jeremiah and Lamentations, and you will see that the curses were
fulfilled to the last painful detail during Nebuchadnezzar’s second siege of
Jerusalem!
The Commissioning
of Joshua
Deuteronomy
31:16-21
In
the final chapters of Deuteronomy, we find the narrative of the end of Moses’
life and the passing of the mantle of leadership to Joshua. At the
commissioning of Joshua, the LORD says this to Moses,
16
… “Behold, you are about to lie down with your fathers; and this people will
arise and play the harlot with the strange gods of the land, into the midst of
which they are going, and will forsake Me and break My covenant which I have
made with them. 17 “Then My anger will be kindled against them in that day, and
I will forsake them and hide My face from them, and they shall be consumed, and
many evils and troubles shall come upon them; so that they will say in
that day, ‘Is it not because our God is not among us that these evils
have come upon us?’ 18 “But I will surely hide My face
in that day because of all the evil which they will do, for they will turn to
other gods. 19 “Now therefore write this song for yourselves,
and teach it to the sons of
According
to verse 21, God knew before they entered the land that the Israelites were
already cultivating in their hearts an attitude of faithlessness and disloyalty
toward their Deliverer. He knew that once He brought them into the land, they
would embrace the false gods of the Canaanites and would forsake their God.
Moses
died without entering the land, and Joshua took the mantle of leadership.
Joshua’s Farewell
Address
Joshua 24
Through
His servant Joshua, God led
After
the conquest of the land, after God had fought all of
The
people declared that they would, indeed, forsake other gods and would serve the
LORD, and they acknowledged His gracious deeds on their behalf (24:16-18). But
look at Joshua’s words to them:
19
You will not be 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 He has done good to you
(Joshua 24:19-20 – emphasis mine).
God
is Holy and
The
people once again swore that they would serve God and would obey His voice.
Joshua erected a large stone at that place to memorialize their covenant to
obey God, and he said,
“…
Behold, this stone shall be for a witness against us, for it has heard all the
words of the LORD which He spoke to us; thus it shall be for a witness against
you, lest you deny your God” (Joshua 24:27).
The Generation After the Conquest of the Land
Judges 2:6-10
6
When Joshua had dismissed the people, the sons of
Following
the death of Joshua, the very next thing that is recorded about
And
all that generation also were gathered to their fathers; and there arose
another generation after them who did not know the Lord, nor yet the work which He had done for
The Period of the
Judges
Every Man Did What
Was Right in His Own Eyes
Without
skipping a beat, the writer of the Book of Judges presents us with verses
11-23, in which we see a spiral of spiritual decline in
11
Then the sons of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, and served the Baals, 12 and they forsook the Lord, the God of their fathers, who had
brought them out of the land of Egypt, and followed other gods from among
the gods of the peoples who were around them, and bowed themselves down to
them; thus they provoked the Lord
to anger. 13 So they forsook the LORD and served Baal and the Ashtaroth. 14 And
the anger of the Lord burned
against
“They Have Rejected
Me from Being King Over Them”
1 Samuel 8
At
the end of the period of the Judges, in 1 Samuel 8:5, the people said to
Samuel, “Now appoint a king for us to judge us like all the nations.”
God permitted them to have their human king, but He made it clear what was in
The Kings of
Israel
got her kings, and so began a long series of episodes involving kings who were
occasionally men of faith, but mostly men of faithlessness and idolatrous
disloyalty to YAHWEH; the nation continued in a spiritual trend that was
generally downward, until their sinfulness had persisted so long that God
banished both the northern and southern tribes into exile to Assyria and
Babylon, respectively.
The Prophets –
Accusation, Not Approval
During
and after the period of the kings, we find the writings of the prophets.
And these writings are filled with God’s accusations against
4
Surely our griefs He Himself bore,
And our sorrows He carried;
Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken,
Smitten of God, and afflicted.
5 But He was pierced through for our transgressions,
He was crushed for our iniquities;
The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him,
And by His scourging we are healed.
6 All of us like sheep have turned astray, each of us has turned to his own
way,
Each of us has turned to his own way;
But the LORD has caused the
iniquity of us all
To fall on Him (Isaiah 53:4-6).
So What?
Okay,
so what does all of this mean?
It
means that there was never any basis in Scripture for
Man’s
absolute and continual failure to meet the standard of holiness required by God
is not an idea that was first introduced in the New Testament. It was
introduced in Genesis 3, and it has been driven home at every juncture of man’s
dealings with God and God’s dealings with man. It was clear after the Fall, it was clear after the flood, it was clear after the
scattering at
The
fact is that by the time Christ came in the form of a man, it should have been
blatantly obvious to
The
Law in all of its particulars purposed to show the true character of man in the
light of God’s character. And man failed that standard utterly and completely.
That’s okay, because that’s what was supposed to happen. That’s why the Law was
given in the first place – that every mouth might be closed and every man
held accountable to God for his sin!
Law
keeping and good works will not make you righteous in the eyes of God. It never
did. It never will!
The True Standard of the Law
Matthew 5:21-48
In
verse 20 of Matthew 5, Jesus makes this stinging statement:
“For
I say to you, that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and
Pharisees, you shall not enter the kingdom of heaven.”
So
the question then becomes, “What kind of righteousness does God require?”
Jesus
goes directly to the Law.
21
You have heard that the ancients were told, “You shall not commit murder” and
“Whoever commits murder shall be liable to the court.” 22 “But I say to you
that every one who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court;
and whoever shall say to his brother, ‘Raca,’ shall be guilty before the
supreme court; and whoever shall say, ‘You fool,’ shall be guilty enough to
go in the hell of fire ( Matthew 5:21-22).
He
then goes from the level of a man’s words to the level of a man’s innermost
thoughts,
27
You have heard that it was said, “You shall not commit adultery;” 28 but I say
to you, that every one who looks on a woman to lust for her has committed
adultery with her already in his heart (Matthew 5:27-28).
Jesus
caps off His teaching about God’s standard of righteousness in verse 48 –
one of the clearest and simplest statements in all of Scripture: “therefore
you must be perfect as your Father in heaven is perfect.” The only kind of
righteousness that passes muster with a holy God is His righteousness! Period!
I’ve heard preachers and seminary professors try to water that verse down and
make it mean something less than it says. But the question
on the table in this passage is, “What kind of righteousness is acceptable to
God,” and the answer is, “HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS!” The man who makes this
declaration of our Lord any less simple or any less forceful than it is does so
at the expense of the gospel and at the peril of his soul!
I
am convinced that much of Jesus’ teaching during His earthly ministry was
intended to bring the Law into sharp focus as God’s perfect and unwavering
standard – to show that the true standard of the Law was an infinitely higher
standard than the Jews had construed it to be. In short, to prepare men to
accept Him as Savior, Jesus worked to show men that the standard of the Law was
a standard that men cannot possibly meet in themselves
because it was, and still is, the standard of God’s own Holy character!
Lowering the Bar
What
“A
religion that makes law-keeping the basis for righteousness must make
law-keeping achievable. To do so, it must lower the bar – lower the standard
required by the law.”
That
is precisely what
Those
who lower the standard of the Law to make it achievable have cast aside the
clear and forceful testimony of God’s own Word and have replaced it with the
most lethal of all lies! The gospel of Jesus Christ calls us to cast aside our
own foolish self-glorification – to agree with God that we are dead in our sins
and utterly helpless to make ourselves acceptable in the sight of a Holy God.
Only then are we made ready to accept God’s gift of forgiveness and eternal
life!
And
to believers, I must say this. If you think you are beyond the point where you
need to be concerned about the tendency to revert to law keeping, you’d better
take another look. Even the Apostle Peter stumbled on this issue. He had walked
with Jesus during His entire earthly ministry. He had seen the miraculous
signs, the crucifixion, and the resurrected Christ. He had been filled with the
Holy Spirit and had been powerfully used by Christ to minister the gospel to
others, yet he stumbled over the Law and had to be harshly rebuked by
none other than the Apostle Paul as recorded in Galatians 2:11-21. If it could
happen to Peter, it could happen to you.
My
friends, be vigilant. Legalism by any other name is
still legalism, and it is NOT and never will be the basis of righteousness
before God. If you are making rules that focus on outward behavior, and you
are presuming to be able to judge other men on the basis of those rules, you
are guilty of legalism. It happens often in the church.
And
to believers I also say this: If you add works to the gospel, you will have
stumbled over the grace of God, and your gospel will not be the one revealed in
God’s Scripture. The gospel is not a bargain! The gospel is not a promise of
obedience made by men to God! The gospel is the gift of eternal life given to
people who are dead in their sins until God plucks them from the domain of
darkness and plants them in the kingdom of His beloved Son, through faith in
Jesus Christ!
And
that brings us to the Good News.
The Good News!
Romans 3:21-31
In
Romans 3:21 and following, there is a dramatic shift in Paul’s argument – a
shift from the bad news to the good news. A shift from the
universal condemnation of all men to the free gift of God which saves men from
that condemnation through faith in Jesus Christ.
21
But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested,
being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, 22 even the righteousness
of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe; for there is no
distinction; 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24
being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in
Christ Jesus; 25 whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through
faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in the
forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed; 26 for the
demonstration, I say, of His righteousness at the present time, that He
might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. 27 Where
then is boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law?
Of works? No, but by a law of faith. 28 For we
maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the Law. 29 Or is
God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles also?
Yes, of Gentiles also— 30 if indeed God is one—and He will justify the
circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith. 31 Do we then nullify
the Law through faith? May it never be! On the contrary, we establish the Law
(Romans 3:21-31).
The
bottom line is this – until you are a child of God through faith in His Son,
Jesus Christ – your efforts to comply with God’s righteous standard cannot
possibly result in anything other than the proof of your lostness and
condemnation!
He
made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, that we might become
the righteousness of God in Him (2 Corinthians 5:21).
It’s
His righteousness, not ours! Believers, when you have been in
heaven 10,000 years, it will STILL be the righteousness of Jesus Christ, not
your own righteousness that allows you to stand holy and blameless in His
Presence!
If
you have never taken God at His Word – if you have never trusted in the Lord
Jesus Christ as the sole provision for your sin and the only way to be righteous
in the eyes of God, I invite you to do so today – right now – right where you
are.
Lesson 11 — The
Giving of the Law, Part II [125][123]
Principles From the Law
Introduction
In
our previous lesson of this series, The Evangelistic Purpose of the Law,
we saw that the Law cannot make a man righteous in the eyes of God – that one
of the most critical functions of the Law in the plan of God was to cast the
light of God’s holy character on man’s unholiness and unrighteousness so that
all men would be without excuse before Him. Until God has closed your mouth and
shown you your helpless condition – your desperate need for a means of
forgiveness and righteousness that can come only from Him – you are not ready
to receive the gift of forgiveness, righteousness, and eternal life that the
shed blood of Jesus Christ has purchased for you.
Paul
was speaking of this evangelistic purpose of the Law in Galatians 3:24, when he
wrote, “… the Law has become our schoolmaster to lead us to Christ.”[126][124]
But
what is the role of the Law in the lives of those of us who have already trusted
Jesus Christ as our Savior? Paul writes in Galatians 5:18, “But if you are
led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law.” Christ declared Himself to
be the fulfillment of the Law (Matthew 5:17). So, what value is there for
Christians in studying the Law?
Let’s
look at what a couple of the Psalmists said about the Law and consider whether
these things still apply:
The Law is our Delight!
Psalm 19:7-14 and Psalm 119:97-104
In
Psalm 19, David declares that the Law in all its parts is perfect, sure, right
and pure, true and righteous altogether. It is more desirable than much fine
gold and sweeter than honey.
7
The law of the Lord is perfect,
restoring the soul;
The testimony of the Lord
is sure, making wise the simple.
8
The precepts of the Lord are
right, rejoicing the heart;
The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes.
9
The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever;
The judgments of the Lord
are true; they are righteous altogether.
10
They are more desirable than gold, yes, than much fine gold;
Sweeter also than honey and the drippings of the
honeycomb.
11
Moreover, by them Thy servant is warned;
In keeping them there is great reward.
12
Who can discern his errors? Acquit me of hidden faults.
13
Also keep back Thy servant from presumptuous sins;
Let them not rule over me;
Then I shall be blameless,
And I shall be acquitted of great transgression.
14
Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
Be acceptable in Thy sight,
O Lord, my rock and my Redeemer
(Psalm 19:7-14).
Look
at the things that David says the Law does for the one who makes it his
delight: it restores the soul; it makes wise the simple; it rejoices the heart;
it enlightens the eyes. By the Law of God His servant is warned and in keeping
it he finds great reward.
Are
these things still desirable for us who are no longer under the Law? Let’s look
at Psalm 119:97-104:
97
Oh how I love Thy law!
It is my meditation all the day.
98
Thy commandments make me wiser than my enemies,
For they are ever mine.
99
I have more insight than all my teachers,
For Thy testimonies are my meditation.
100
I understand more than the aged,
Because I have observed Thy precepts.
101
I have restrained my feet from every evil way,
That I may keep Thy word.
102
I have not turned aside from Thine ordinances,
For Thou Thyself hast taught me.
103
How sweet are Thy words to my taste!
Yes, sweeter than honey to my mouth!
104
From Thy precepts I get understanding;
Therefore, I hate every false way.
The
Psalmist declares, “O how I love Thy law! It is my
meditation all the day” (verse 97).
And
again in these verses, look at the benefit he declares that he has derived from
making the Law his meditation and observing its instruction:
Thy
commandments make me wiser than my enemies, …,
I have more insight than all my teachers, …
I understand more than the aged, …
From Thy precepts I get understanding;
Therefore I hate every false way.
Like
David, he says in verse 103, “How sweet are Thy words to my taste! Yes,
sweeter than honey to my mouth!”
Wisdom, insight, understanding, hatred of
every false way … rejoicing, restoration. Are these things that belong only
in the Old Testament system? No, these are blessings and benefits of the
Scriptures that are precious to every believer. And all of these blessings and
benefits come from the Law of Moses.
Why
is it so hard for us to derive that sort of benefit from meditating on the Law?
I think that in large measure it is because we don’t meditate on the Law in the
first place!
The
reality is that nobody ever got to hidden treasure by standing around waiting
for it to fall on their head! To get to the good stuff, you have to do a lot of
digging and sifting and searching.
Proverbs
2 tells us the way to get godly wisdom, where we read:
If
you seek her as silver,
And search for her as for hidden treasures;
Then you will discern the fear of the Lord,
And discover the knowledge of God.
For the Lord gives wisdom;
From His mouth come knowledge and understanding (Proverbs 2:4-6).
We
who are in Christ have been assigned a marvelous treasure hunt – a lifelong
treasure hunt – and it is to include the whole of God’s revelation, not just
the parts we find easiest to understand.
For
us who have been forgiven and sealed for the day of redemption, the Law still
has a grand
purpose – because the Law was always a reflection of the character of God. If
we are beholding God through the Law as through all of Scripture, we
will be transformed through that beholding.
So,
what does the Law tell us about the character of God that should affect our
worship, our relationship with God, and our relationship with our fellow man?
The answer is, “A lot!” There is much more than we can address in one lesson.
It is up to you individually to consider the additional aspects of the Law that
we can’t cover in this lesson – and that leaves a lot to consider.
For
the remainder of this lesson, we will look at only a couple of the major
categories of the Law to drive home the point that there are many profound and
timeless principles in the Law. My hope is that this will stir up our interest
in pursuing this further in our individual study.
Commandments and Ordinances
Exodus 20-23
We
should first note the difference between the general commandments and the
detailed ordinances, statutes, and precepts of the Law.
The
Ten Commandments are really the summary declarations of God’s Law which
encompass all the detailed ordinances and statutes that follow. There are many
other declarations in the Law that take the form of
direct commandments, but the Ten Commandments are the overriding principles of
law, which the ordinances and statutes flesh out.
1
Then God spoke all these words, saying, 2 “I am the Lord
your God, who brought you out of the
The
Ten Commandments, as many of you know, address two essential aspects of man’s
experience. The first four commandments focus directly on man’s
relationship with God, and the remaining six focus on man’s
relationships with man. This is parallel to Jesus’ own statement about the
essence of the Law in Mark 12:28-31, in which one of the Jewish scribes asked
Jesus,
“What
commandment is the foremost of all?”
Jesus
answered, “The foremost is, ‘Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is
one Lord;
And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and
with all your mind, and with all your strength.’
“The
second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other
commandment greater than these.”
Ultimately,
all of the commandments and ordinances are found to be outworkings of these two
overriding commandments. Genuinely loving God and our fellow man is the
fulfillment of the Law, and this godly love is the goal of God’s work of
sanctification in the life of the believer.
The Ordinances
Exodus 21-23
In
Exodus 21-23, many of the Laws are worded in the form of “if,
… then” statements. For example, in 22:1:
“If
a man steals an ox or a sheep, and slaughters it or sells it, he shall pay five
oxen for the ox and four sheep for the sheep.”
These
and many of the other laws address fairly specific scenarios that might arise
in the lives of Israelites. These laws, or ordinances, are not to be taken
as comprehensive, but rather are to been seen as examples to guide the Israelites in the application of the Law to
their daily lives. One of the great errors of
Wisdom is Greater
Than Knowledge
In
the Old Testament, the key Hebrew term for wisdom is chokmah. It is a
very common word throughout the Old Testament. It means moral skill, or put
another way, the wisdom to make godly decisions. It is not the same as
knowledge. People love to have knowledge – we want to know exactly what
is expected of us and to know when we’ve achieved it. We want things to be
predictable and easy. God, on the other hand, wants to teach us wisdom.
Knowledge is simply a stepping stone to wisdom. God has already told us all we
need to know (in His Word), but we’re not familiar enough with what He has
already revealed to have a good sensibility about how to deal with the things
He has not specifically addressed. A knowledge of
God’s Word, combined with faith, produces wisdom to live well – to live with a
clarity that comes from truly knowing God as He intends for us to know Him. I
like the phrase popular with our youth – WWJD – “What would Jesus do?” When you
know the answer to that question in a given situation, with no further
revelation than that which God has already supplied, and you do what God
would have you to do, then you have discovered chokmah – godly wisdom.
In
our congregation, younger children also hear the messages as they are
delivered, so I shall address them here. Children, when you are young,
sometimes you find it very hard to understand why your parents make you do
certain things. Sometimes when they can’t explain something to you, they just
say, “Do it because I said to do it!” But as you grow up, you begin to
understand that there is a reason for the rule. There is a principle
behind the rule that starts to make sense, and pretty soon, you obey the rule
because you believe in the reason for it.
How
many of you children have been to the library? Has your mommy or daddy ever
said to you when you walk into the library, “Be very quiet – people are trying
to read!” Well, when you’re little, and you can’t
read, your parents get books and they go home and read them to you. But then
you learn how to read for yourself. Let’s say, one day, you are sitting in the
library with a good book, and you are trying to read while your mother is
looking for another book. Some little child comes in being very noisy, and his
mother says to him, “Don’t be noisy in the library – people are trying to
read!” Then, you understand!
You
see, the rules your parents make you follow have a good reason, a principle
behind them. When you are young, you may not understand the principle. All you
have is the rule, and you have to follow it because your parents tell you to.
It was the same way with your parents when they were little. As time goes by
and you learn more, the reason becomes clearer. Hopefully, your parents are
making every effort to explain the reasons for the rules, even when you’re
still too young to fully understand them. It’s that way with God’s rules, too. Every law that God set before
We
have now seen the two big categories of law in the Old Testament – the
fundamental Law in the Ten Commandments, and then lots of examples to instruct
God’s people about how the spirit of the Law plays out in their day-to-day
experience.
In
the remainder of this message, let’s look at just a couple of major areas
addressed in the Law of Moses and talk about the timeless principles we can
glean from them.
The Distinction Between Clean
and Unclean
One
of the areas in the Law of Moses that Christians find hardest to understand is
the distinction between that which is ceremonially clean and that which is
ceremonially unclean. I will touch just the tip of that particular iceberg,
hopefully enough to communicate the big principle behind those statutes.
Dietary
Restrictions
Leviticus 11
First, the dietary restrictions in
Leviticus 11.
There were certain foods that were forbidden for an Israelite to eat. If an
Israelite even touched any of these forbidden animals when it was dead, he
became unclean until the evening of that day, and according to chapter 5, he
was required to bring a sin offering for atonement.
There
have been numerous interpretations of the reasons or principles behind these
dietary restrictions. Some say they have to do with respecting the distinction
in kinds and that animals that don’t fit well into their categories are to be
avoided, like sea creatures without scales. But there are many cases that don’t
fit this approach.
Others
have made a lot out of the health considerations of these restrictions, saying
the animals that were clean are more healthful to eat than those that were not.
While there may be something to this on a pragmatic level, there is a lot of
disagreement about which animals are more healthful to eat. After all, eating a
bunch of beef is not considered a wise thing to do based
on medical knowledge we now have. There is nothing in the text itself to
support this view.
The
one interpretation of the dietary laws that I believe makes the most sense, and
that I am convinced is best supported by the whole context of Scripture, is
that these restrictions were given to separate
44
For I am the Lord your God. Consecrate yourselves
therefore, and be holy; for I am holy. And you shall not make yourselves
unclean with any of the swarming things that swarm on the earth.
45 For I am the Lord,
who brought you up from the
While
we are no longer under the Law, and God has declared all things to be clean,
there is a sense in which the principle of these restrictions still applies.
Paul
exhorts Christians in 2 Corinthians 6:14-18 to separate from unbelievers in
certain ways. This passage is directly pertinent to our discussion because it
touches on the idea of avoiding that which is unclean and on the idea of
separateness:
Do
not be bound together with unbelievers; for what partnership
have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with
darkness?
Or
what harmony has Christ with Belial, or what has a believer in common with an unbeliever?
Or
what agreement has the
Therefore
come
out from their midst and be separate,” says the Lord. And do
not touch what is unclean;
and I will welcome you. And I will be a Father to you, and
you shall be sons and daughters to Me,” says
the Lord Almighty (2 Corinthians 6:14-18 – emphasis mine).
Unclean Conditions
of People and Things
Leviticus 12-15
The
rest of the clean/unclean distinctions are found in Leviticus 12-15. The basic
categories of clean/unclean distinctions are these:
Uncleanness
related to Childbearing
Uncleanness
due to Skin Disorders
Uncleanness
due to Mildews
Uncleanness due to Bodily Discharges.
There
were certain things that might happen to an Israelite that would render him or
her ceremonially unclean. What it meant for the person to be ceremonially
unclean is that the person was temporarily barred from drawing near to the
Presence of the LORD at the tabernacle (or later at the temple) to worship with
the congregation. Typically, the unclean condition required that the person
wait for a period of purification to pass; then he was to bring a sin offering
to the tabernacle to make atonement so that he could be restored to a condition
of fellowship. After that, he could regularly draw near to the Lord to worship at the tabernacle. In
the case of leprosies or skin diseases, the person was in an unclean condition
until the illness was cured. In the case of mildews, the house or fabric that
was affected, if not “cured” after a period of time, was to be destroyed.
At
first glance, it is hard to see the point of these restrictions. But if we look
a little harder, it starts to make very good sense. What common element
is involved in conditions associated with childbearing, skin disorders,
mildews, and bodily discharges? With what are all of these things
associated? The simplest answer is: They are all associated with the fall
of Adam and Eve. The curse of the Fall was death –
spiritual death and physical death (Genesis 2:16-17). Illness, disease,
decay, corruption, pain and death were all part of the curse (Genesis 3).
It was not only man who was affected in the curse. All of creation was
affected.
Romans
8:19-22 says,
For
the anxious longing of creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of
God, For the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will,
but because of Him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself also will
be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the
children of God.
The
whole of God’s creation was subjected to an inevitable movement toward
corruption and decay once sin entered into the world.
Mildew
and rot and decay are part of the curse just as are the infirmities of man.
But what about childbirth? Childbirth isn’t a
bad thing, is it? Certainly not! Psalm 127:3-5 declares that children are a
blessed heritage from God. But childbirth was a part of mankind’s earthly
experience that was explicitly affected by the curse. In Genesis 3:16,
God told the woman, “I will greatly multiply your pain in childbirth, In pain you shall bring forth children.” Childbirth
involves pain and the shedding of blood. It is a marvelous blessing, but it is
also a vivid reminder of man’s cursed and mortal condition – just ask
any woman who has been through it. I think it was Carol Burnett who used to say
that childbearing is about as much fun as grabbing your lower lip and pulling
it up over the top of your head.
So
the conditions that constituted ceremonial uncleanness were all associated with
the curse of the Fall. Which brings
us to the next question:
With
what are these things NOT
associated?
Let’s
look at Revelation 21:3-4:
And
I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is
among men, and He shall dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God
Himself shall be among them,
And
He shall wipe every tear from their eyes, and there shall no longer be any
death; there shall no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first
things have passed away.”
The
conditions that constituted uncleanness are conditions that will not be a part
of our experience before the presence of God in heaven. All the effects of the Fall will be left behind when we receive our resurrection
bodies and we enter fully into His glorious Presence!
The
Tabernacle worship presented an earthly picture of the heavenly reality of
drawing near to the Presence of God. And the distinctions between clean and
unclean served as a memorial, a vivid reminder for
The
clean/unclean distinction in the Law of Moses is not just mindless minutiae.
These detailed requirements are memorials to cause God’s people in every
age to appreciate the transcendent experience of drawing near to a holy God.
These laws remind us, as they were to remind
I
believe there is a strong forward-looking aspect to these ordinances as well.
They point to the hope of glory which belongs to those who are rightly related
to God through faith – the promise of the restoration of all things to the
blessed condition that existed before man sinned and was cursed.
It
is exceedingly valuable for us to study these things and to meditate on the
principle inherent in them. Next time you get out the X-14 mildew remover or
you feel arthritis pain in your wrist, remember that our mortal
condition is not the end of the story – Jesus Christ has overcome the curse. “Surely
our griefs He Himself bore and our sorrows [infirmities] He carried”
(Isaiah 53:4). He has overcome illness, decay, corruption, and death itself.
One day, if we have believed in His Son, He will take these mortal bodies and
transform them into immortal (1 Corinthians 15) – He will wipe every tear from
our eyes, and He will make us to dwell forever in His glorious Presence.[127][125]
The Sabbath Principle
The
second major area of the Law I would like to consider is the sabbaths,
and the principle behind the sabbaths.
The
word “sabbath” means “to cease” or “to rest.” The first idea that pops
into our minds when we hear the word “sabbath” is “worship.” But the
word means “to cease.”
The
commandment related to the sabbath day (the last day
of the week) is the fourth of the Ten Commandments. God said in the fourth
commandment,
Remember
the sabbath day to keep it holy, But on the seventh
day is a sabbath of the Lord your
God; in it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter, your
male or your female servant or your cattle or your sojourner who stays with
you. For in six days the Lord
made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on
the seventh day; therefore the Lord
blessed the sabbath day and made it holy {set apart} (Exodus 20:8-11).
So
the pattern of resting on the seventh day is based on the fact that God ceased
from His creative labor on the seventh day. Keeping the sabbath
day holy meant setting it apart from the other days of the week. It was
set apart as a day of worship, but it was also set apart as a day of rest from
labor, and it is the ceasing from labor, and not the worship, that is
the explicit focus of virtually every passage that talks about the sabbath.
It
is important to note that the term “sabbath” is not limited to the
observance of the last day of each week. There were other sabbath
days as well, including sabbaths associated with nearly all of the festivals.
There were also Sabbatical Years and Jubilee Years. Each of these observances
involved the idea of Sabbath, or cessation from work.
The Manna in the Wilderness
Exodus 16
In
addition to the pattern of God’s creation, there is another crucial historical
event that serves as a basis for all the sabbaths.
That event was the giving of the manna
in Exodus 16. Even before the Ten Commandments were given,
God
promised to provide the manna, the bread that miraculously appeared each
morning like dew on the ground. Each family of
To
understand the spirit, or principle of the sabbath, we
must consider what action and what attitude constituted violation of the
sabbath. What tendency in man nudges man to violate this law? I would submit
that it is NOT that we love to work and
hate to rest. How many of you dread the thought of having some time away
from work? Instead, I would say that it
is that we love to be in control over provision for our own
well-being. We obsessively seek to control the means of provision for our
needs and to store up provision for the future. In a word, we look to ourselves
as our providers. The sabbaths required God’s people
to deliberately and regularly set aside their efforts to
provide for their own needs so that they would deliberately and regularly
acknowledge their ultimate dependence upon God alone for every good thing.
Let’s
carry this to the next level. In addition to the weekly sabbath,
there were the festivals, the holy days. Three times a year,
The Festivals and Holy Days
Leviticus 23
Time
does not permit us to examine each of the festivals, but a study of the
calendar for the Jewish year reveals that if the people had observed all of the
festivals, those who had to travel to get to the temple would have to leave
their land and their flocks and herds behind and come before the Lord for nearly THREE MONTHS of every
year!
And
what might happen to their land and their herds while they were gone? Well, you
may have heard of the Midianites. They were big believers in forced
redistribution of wealth. The Midianites were one of several nomadic peoples
who loved to benefit from other people’s labors. They excelled in wandering
around taking possession of the crops and the herds of other nations, and then moving
on to find other easy pickings. For
God
promised to do just that. In Exodus 34, when Moses went up the mountain to
receive the tablets for the second time, God told him,
Three
times a year all your males are to appear before the Lord GOD, the God of Israel. For I will drive out nations
before you and enlarge your borders, and no man shall covet your land when you go up
three times a year to appear before the LORD your God (Exodus 34:23-24
emphasis mine).
The
festivals required God’s people to very deliberately LET GO of their dependence
on their own efforts to provide for themselves and
protect what they had, and to trust God to be their faithful Provider and
Protector.
This
same principle – of relinquishing to God the whole issue of provision – applied
in all of the sabbath observances under the Law.
The Sabbatical Years and the Jubilee Year
Leviticus 25
The
Sabbatical Years scaled this principle up yet another level. In one year out of
every seven, the people were not to sow their seed. They were not to do any
work to produce crops in that year. Whatever sprang up on its own during the
seventh year was available for anyone to glean (the poor, the servants, aliens,
landowners – everyone), but there was to be no systematic harvest or selling of
the produce from that year. God promised that if they would observe this law,
He would provide enough harvest in the sixth year to get them through the
eighth.
The
Jubilee ratcheted this principle up yet another notch. After every seventh
sabbatical year came the Jubilee year, and again in
that year,
Their
crops were not the only thing they had to let go of in those special years.
Every Sabbatical year, they had to release all their Hebrew slaves to go back to their families, and
they had to forgive any debt owed to them by a fellow Hebrew. Furthermore, in
the Jubilee year, any land
that had been sold by one Israelite to another was to revert back to its
original owner.
The
reason God gave for these provisions in Leviticus
25:23 and 25:55 is that the land
and the people belong to God Himself! God
is the owner and the Source of every good thing, and He defines the terms on
which He gives us stewardship over those things.
There
is no evidence that
Now,
let’s recap what we’ve seen in the sabbath
observances: The sabbaths were to be a continual
memorial to these fundamental principles:
God’s
people are not to rely on their own efforts to provide for themselves or to
protect themselves because:
God
is the possessor of all things.
God
is the sole provider of every good thing.
God’s
provision must be received on His terms, not ours.
By
deliberately setting aside their efforts at the times appointed by Yahweh, the Israelites were to
acknowledge and demonstrate their utter dependence on Him for every good thing.
Are
these time-bound principles that applied only to ancient
We
need to think hard about ways that these principles can and should be worked
out in our own lives. With regard to the principles contained in the sabbath
observances, it is exceedingly valuable for us to deliberately set aside times
to cease from our efforts to provide for our own needs, especially in the
culture in which we find ourselves today. We need that spiritual exercise to
keep our priorities straight and to focus our attention on the call to trust
God for all things!
The
relevance of these principles is pervasive. Whom we trust for provision and
security directly affects what we do with our money; it affects the relative
time priority we give to work versus family and ministry to one another; it
directly affects the level of anxiety we associate with lack of control over
our finances or over our job security – and it affects a myriad of other
aspects of our daily lives.
We
have talked about the purpose of the commandments and the ordinances to those
who have been justified before God by grace through faith – that purpose being
to impart godly wisdom. We’ve talked about some of the lessons to be learned
from the Sabbaths, the Festivals, the Sabbatical Years, and the Jubilee. We
have talked about the principle found in the distinction between clean and
unclean. There is so much more that can be said about the principles that we
should find in the Law of Moses.
The
more we dig into the Scriptures, the more we come to know God’s whole plan of
redemption, and the more we come to know God Himself. The personal knowledge of
God is that which produces wisdom and makes our sojourn on this earth a blessed
opportunity to live as vessels of honor in the hands of our marvelous God.
In
Romans 7:12, Paul wrote that “the Law is holy, and the commandment is
holy and righteous and good.” My exhortation to you and to me is that we do
not neglect to study and meditate on the perfect Law of God, and that we
faithfully put into practice the marvelous principles found in it. Then we will
say with the Psalmist,
O
how I love Thy law!
It
is my meditation all the day.
Thy
commandments make me wiser than my enemies,
For
they are ever mine (Psalm 119:97-98 emphasis mine).
Lesson 14 —
Numbers 10:11—14:45
Introduction
Imagine
what excitement there must have been in the Israelite camp as the time arrived for
the entire nation to leave
Can
you imagine the logistics that would have been required to get over two million
people organized (along with their cattle) to break camp and travel in the
wilderness, and then to set up camp once again? As J. Sidlow Baxter writes,
It
is well to keep in mind that here, in this quadrangular formation of the camp
of
A
Boy Scout troop meets in our church building, and I must tell you that from
what I’ve seen, there are a lot of logistics that go into a camping trip for
this troop. What would it have been like to move the Israelites in an orderly
fashion? The Book of Numbers gives us some insight into how God made provision
for the orderly march of the Israelites into the
11
And on the twentieth day of the second month, in the second year, the cloud was
taken up from the tabernacle of the testimony. 12 So the Israelites set out on
their journeys from the Wilderness of Sinai; and the cloud settled in the
Wilderness of Paran (Numbers 10:11-12).[132][130]
By
the time we come to our text, they have traveled three days’ journey:
33
So they traveled from the
mountain of the Lord three
days’ journey; and the ark of the covenant of the Lord was traveling before them in
the three days’ journey, to find a resting place for them.
34 And the cloud of the Lord was
on them by day, when they journeyed from the camp. 35 And when the ark journeyed,
Moses would say, “Rise up, Lord,
and may your enemies be scattered and those who hate you flee before you.” 36
And when it came to rest he would say, “Return, O Lord, to the many thousands of
We
must pause here momentarily to reflect on what this generation of Israelites
had seen with their own eyes in the past two years. They looked on as Moses
confronted Pharaoh and witnessed the plagues that God brought upon the gods of
16
And on the third day in the morning there were thunders and lightning and a
dense cloud on the mountain, and the sound of a very loud horn; and all the
people who were in the camp trembled. 17 And Moses brought the people out of
the camp to meet God, and they took their place at the lower end of the
mountain. 18 Now
The
Israelites lived in the Sinai wilderness for a year, where God provided food
and water for a multitude and for their cattle. They experienced God’s guidance
and protection. They also witnessed God’s wrath when they chose to worship the
golden calf (Exodus 32-34). God literally performed miracles daily to care for
His chosen people.
What’s the Beef?[133][131]
Numbers 11:1-3
1
When the people complained it
displeased the Lord. When the Lord heard it, his anger burned, and so
the fire of the Lord burned among
them, and consumed some of the outer parts of the camp. 2 Then the people cried
to Moses; and Moses prayed to the Lord,
and the fire died out. 3 And he called the name of that place Taberah, because
the fire of the Lord burned among
them (Numbers 11:1-3).
After
only three days, the people are already complaining against God, and the
reasons seem to be so petty that they are not even mentioned (as they are
elsewhere). I cannot help but think that the mention of being three days into
their journey (10:33) was very deliberate. I suspect Moses is trying to cause
the reader to remember that Israel began to grumble just three days after they
had crossed the Red Sea:
22
Then Moses caused
It
does not take much time or much trouble to get some folks to grumble. We
certainly see this with the Israelites of old, and we can see it today. The
emphasis in verses 1-3 is not so much on the displeasure of the Israelites as
it is on the displeasure of God with the Israelites. God was angry because His
people complained. God responds in a manner that I would
liken to “firing a shot over the bow.”[134][132]
The “fire of the Lord” (lightning?) came down
from heaven, consuming some of the outer portions of the camp. It is difficult
to determine whether or not any people were destroyed. Since this “fire”
struck the outer portions of the camp, it may have been that some of the
Israelites’ animals were consumed. The warning should have been very clear. God
was greatly displeased with their grumbling, and He would not tolerate it.
Where’s the Beef?
Numbers 11:4-35
One
would expect that God’s response to
4
Now the mixed multitude who were among them craved
more desirable foods, and so the Israelites wept again, and said, “If only we
had meat to eat! 5 We remember the fish we used to eat freely in
Isn’t
it amazing that the mixed multitude grumbled because they could not eat the
very things that the doctor tells some folks to avoid – things that make you
burp! I must confess that I’m a bit of an expert on grumbling about food. When
I was a student in college, one of the items the cafeteria served for breakfast
was “oatmeal.” As I recall, that “oatmeal” tasted
about like I think manna did. Well, anyway, one day as I was waiting in line, I
wrote in a “g” in front of the “oatmeal” sign: = “goatmeal.” When I was
teaching in a medium security prison, we ate in the prison cafeteria, and it
was better (more expensive) food that my wife and I ate at home. I can still
remember going to class after lunch and hearing one of the inmates complain
about how his steak was cooked. We’re all grumblers when it comes to food.
It
must have been the mixed multitude who grumbled because I find it difficult to
imagine that the Israelite slaves ate as the grumblers claimed to have eaten in
10
And Moses heard the people weeping throughout their families, everyone at the
door of his tent; and when the anger of the Lord
was kindled greatly, Moses was also displeased. 11 And Moses said to the Lord, “Why have you afflicted your
servant? Why have I not found favor in your sight, that you lay the burden of all this people on me? 12 Did I conceive all
this people? Did I produce them, that you should say to me, ‘Carry them
in your bosom, as a foster father bears a nursing child,’ to the land which you
swore to their fathers? 13 From where shall I get meat to give to all this people, for they cry to me, ‘Give us meat, that we
may eat!’ 14 I am not able to bear all this people
alone, because it is too heavy for me! 15 But if you are going to deal with me
like this, then kill me immediately. If I have found favor in your sight then
do not let me see my trouble” (11:10-15).
God
first responded to the complaint of Moses:
16
And the Lord said to Moses,
“Gather to me seventy men of the elders of
I
get the distinct impression that the actions taken here in Numbers are those
that Jethro had suggested earlier, and that Moses just didn’t get around to –
until this crisis forced him to do so:
17
Then Moses’ father-in-law said to him, “The thing you are doing is not good. 18
You will surely wear out, both you and this people who are with you, for this
is too heavy for you; you are not able to do it by yourself. 19 Now listen to
me, I will give you some advice, and may God be with you: You be for the people
a representative to God, and bring their disputes to God. 20 And warn them of
the statutes and the laws, and make known to them the way in which they must
walk, and the work that they must do. 21 But choose from the people capable
men, God-fearers, men of truth, those who hate bribes, and put them over the
people as rulers of thousands, and rulers of hundreds, and rulers of fifties,
and rulers of tens. 22 And they will judge the people all the time, and every
great issue they will bring to you, but every small issue they themselves will
judge, so that you may make it easier for yourself, and they will bear the
burden with you. 23 If you do this thing, and God so commands you, then you
will be able to endure, and all these people will be able to go to their place
satisfied.” 24 So Moses listened to his father-in-law and did all that he had
said (Exodus 18:17-24).
Although
the last verse (24) states that Moses did all that Jethro had suggested, we do
not have any account as to how or when this was implemented – not until the
crisis of Numbers 11. Isn’t that the way many of us operate? We know that we
need to make certain changes, but it takes a crisis to force us to change. By
giving each of the 70 men a portion of the Spirit (Numbers 11:16-30), God
visibly demonstrated to the nation that these men were divinely empowered to
carry out the task that Moses once tried to handle by himself.
Having
dealt with Moses, God now turns to the grumbling Israelites. They had the gall
to claim that their life was better in
14
In the wilderness they had an insatiable craving for meat;
they challenged God in the desert.
15
He granted their request,
then struck them with a disease (Psalm
106:14-15).
It
would almost appear that the mixed multitude was removed (or at least greatly
reduced), because the plague came upon those who craved the food of
So
the name of that place was called Kibroth Hattaavah, because there they buried the
people that craved different food (Numbers 11:34,
emphasis mine).
Grumbling Against Moses
Numbers 12:1-16
One
would like to think the Israelites had learned their lesson in regard to
grumbling, but this was not the case. Numbers 12 is yet another account of
grumbling against Moses and his leadership, but this time the grumbling did not
originate from the masses, but from the very top, from Miriam and Aaron:
1
Then Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Cushite woman he had
married (for he had married an Ethiopian woman.) 2 And
they said, “Has the Lord only
spoken by Moses? Has he not also spoken by us?” And the Lord heard it. 3 Now the man Moses was very humble, more so
than any man on the face of the earth (Numbers 12:1-3).
Notice
the precipitating event – Moses had entered into an interracial marriage with a
Cushite woman. There is not so much as a word of
rebuke from God for Moses, regarding his marriage or anything else. God does
have a strong rebuke for Miriam and Aaron. They argued for equality in
leadership, refusing to submit to Moses as a higher authority. They reasoned
that because they were prophets like Moses, they were Moses’ equals. They sound
a great deal like Satan, who refused to accept his subordinate position,
striving to be “like God” (Isaiah 14:13-14; compare Genesis 3:5).
What
a wonderful compliment is paid to Moses in verse 3. (I am inclined to think
that Moses did not write this, but some later editor, who added this under
inspiration.) Moses was humble, the most humble man on the face of the earth.
Here was a leader whose ego did not come in the giant economy size. In
practical terms, I take this to mean that Moses refused to defend himself, as
most leaders would be inclined to do. Moses did not need to defend himself,
because he left his cause with God. And God certainly defended him!
The
Lord promptly ordered, “The three of you come out to the tent of meeting”
(verse 4). When the Lord came down in the pillar of the cloud, He emphatically
endorsed Moses as the main leader, superior in rank to Miriam and Aaron:
6
And the Lord said, “Hear now my
words: If there is a prophet among you, I the Lord
will make myself known to him in a vision, I will
speak with him in a dream. 7 My servant Moses is not so; he is faithful in all my house. 8 With him I will speak face to face, openly,
and not in riddles; and he will see the form of the Lord. Why then were you not afraid to speak against my
servant Moses?” 9 And the anger of the Lord
burned against them, and he departed (Numbers 12:6-9).
Did
Miriam and Aaron consider themselves to be prophets? So they were, but how they
received their revelations from God showed that they were subordinate to Moses.
It is one thing for an employee to receive a memo from the president of the
company; it is quite another to be taken to breakfast by the president, to be
personally briefed by him in advance as to his plans for the company. God
reminded Miriam and Aaron that He communicated with Moses “face to face,”
but to them, He spoke only through visions and dreams.
To
underscore the severity of their offense, God struck Miriam with leprosy. This
would seem to suggest that it was she, rather than Aaron, who first complained.
Moses pled with God to heal Miriam immediately, and God did so, but He also
required her to remain outside the camp (as the law required – Leviticus 14:8)
for a week, until she was pronounced clean. The whole multitude of Israelites
waited an entire week for Miriam to be pronounced clean. (Let husbands who
grumble because they must wait for their wives consider Miriam the world record
holder for most man-hours lost in waiting.)
A Failure of Faith
Numbers 13-14
It
seems apparent that Moses included chapters 10-12 as his introduction to
The
Lord instructed Moses to send spies into the
1
The Lord spoke to Moses: 2 “Send
out men that they may investigate the
This
description of how the spies were sent out differs somewhat from the account
Moses gives in the first chapter of Deuteronomy:
19
“Then we struck out from Horeb and passed through all that immense, forbidding
wilderness that you saw on the way to the Amorite hill country as the Lord our God had commanded us to do,
finally arriving at Kadesh Barnea. 20 Then I said to you, “You have come to the
Amorite hill country which the Lord
our God is about to give us. 21 Look, he has set the land before you. Go up,
take possession of it just as the Lord,
the God of your ancestors, said to do. Don’t be afraid or discouraged.” 22 So
all of you approached me and said, ‘Let’s send some people ahead of us to scout
out the land and bring us back word as to how we should go up and what the
cities are like there.’ 23 I thought this was a good idea so I
sent twelve men from among you, one from each tribe” (Deuteronomy 1:19-23,
emphasis mine).
The
difference is not really that difficult to explain. The most likely explanation
is that the people did suggest that they send spies into the land. This idea
appealed to Moses, who then consulted God. God then instructed the Israelites
to do what they had proposed. I think there are three reasons why Moses omitted
mentioning that the Israelites first suggested sending the spies in his account
in Numbers (though he purposed to give “the rest of the story” in Deuteronomy).
First, I believe that in Numbers the emphasis is upon God, and His
leading. In the final analysis, the spies were sent to
The
spies were sent out, and they went about the entire land over a period of 40
days (13:21-25). When the spies returned, they were unanimous in their
assessment that the land was a good land, a land “of milk and honey”
(13:26-27). They differed little in their assessment of the strength of the Canaanites
(13:28-29). It seems as though Caleb becomes uncomfortable with the emphasis
that is placed on the strength of the Canaanites, and that he interrupts the
ten in the midst of their report:
27
And they told Moses, “We went to the land where you sent us. It is indeed
flowing with milk and honey, and this is its fruit. 28 But the inhabitants are
strong, and the cities are fortified and very large. Moreover we saw the
descendants of Anak there. 29 The Amalekites live in the Negev; the Hittites,
Jebusites, and Amorites live in the hill country; and the Canaanites live by
the sea and along the banks of the
The
real difference between the two spies – Joshua and Caleb – and the ten was in
their perspective. The two faithful spies looked at the task ahead from the
perspective of who their God was. Their God was the one who triumphed over
The
response of the Israelites to the spies’ report is tragic:
1
Then all the community raised a loud cry, and the people wept that night. 2 And
all the Israelites murmured against Moses and Aaron, and the whole congregation
said to them, “If only we had died in the
They
wept because of the strength of their opposition, rather than to rejoice in the
goodness of the land and the greatness of their God. They spoke of
I
see only four leaders standing on the Lord’s side in this catastrophic failure
of faith: Moses and Aaron, Joshua and Caleb (14:5-10). I’m not saying that
there were not others who stood with Moses, but I do suspect that many of
5
Then Moses and Aaron fell down with their faces to the ground before all the
assembly of the community of the Israelites. 6 And Joshua son of Nun and Caleb
son of Jephunneh, part of those who investigated the land, tore their garments.
7 They said to all the community of the Israelites, “The land we passed through
to investigate is an exceedingly good land. 8 If the Lord delights in us, then he will bring us into this land and
give it to us—a land that is flowing with milk and honey. 9 Only do not rebel
against the Lord, and do not fear
the people of the land; for they are bread for us. Their protection has turned
aside from them; but the Lord is
with us. Do not fear them!” (Numbers 14:5-9)
However,
all the community threatened to stone them. But the glory of the Lord appeared to all the Israelites
at the tent of the meeting (14:10).
God’s
words to Moses and his response are a strikingly similar to the earlier
conversation between God and Moses in Exodus, which took place as a result of
|
Numbers 14 11 And the Lord said
to Moses, “How long will this people despise me, and how long will they not
believe in me, in spite of the signs that I have done among them? 12 I
will strike them with the pestilence, and I will disinherit them; I will make
you into a nation that is greater and mightier than they!” 13 And Moses
said to the Lord,
“When the Egyptians hear it—for you brought up this people in your might from
among them— 14 then they will tell it to the inhabitants of this land. They
have heard that you, Lord, are among this people, that you, Lord, are seen face to face, that
your cloud stands over them, and that you go before them by day in a pillar
of a cloud and in a pillar of fire by night. 15 If you kill all this
people at once, then the nations that have heard of your fame will say, 16
‘Because the Lord
was not able to bring this people into the land that he swore to them, he
killed them in the wilderness’ (Numbers 14:11-16, emphasis mine). |
Exodus 32 7 And the Lord spoke
to Moses: “Go, descend, because your people, whom
you brought up from the |
|
Numbers 17 So now, let
the power of my Lord be great, just as you have said, 18 ‘The Lord is slow to anger and
abounding in loyal love, forgiving iniquity and transgression, and by no
means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the
children until the third and fourth generations.’ 19 Please forgive the
iniquity of this people according to your great loyal love, just as you have
forgiven this people from |
Exodus 5 And the Lord descended in the cloud and stood
with him there; and he made proclamation of the Lord by name. 6 And the Lord
passed by before him and proclaimed: “The Lord, the Lord,
the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, and abounding in loyal
love and faithfulness, 7 keeping loyal love for thousands, forgiving
iniquity, and transgression and sin. But he by no means leaves the guilty
unpunished, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and on the
children’s children, to the third and fourth generation” (Exodus 34:5-7,
emphasis mine). Then the Lord relented over the evil that
he had said he was going to do to His people (Exodus 32:14, emphasis mine). |
It
is my opinion that God deliberately repeated the threat He made at Sinai,
knowing that Moses would recognize it as such, and that he would once again
appeal to Him in accordance with His character and His covenant. God is
predictable in terms of His character, for He does not change. He is also
predictable in regard to His covenants, because He keeps His covenants. As
expected, God did forgive the Israelites, as Moses had requested. Forgiveness
meant that God would not instantly destroy the Israelites on the spot, as
threatened; it did not mean that
21
“But truly, as I live, all the earth will be filled with the glory of the Lord. 22 Because all the men have
seen my glory and my signs that I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have
tempted me now these ten times, and have not obeyed me, 23 they will by
no means see the land that I swore to their fathers, nor will any of them who
despised me see it. 24 Only my servant Caleb, because he had a different spirit
and has followed me fully—I will bring him into the land where he had gone, and
his descendants will possess it” (Numbers 14:21-24).
The
Israelites would not experience the physical blessings God had promised. They
would not enter the
The
judgment the Israelites must endure was based upon two main facts. First, this
generation that refused to trust God and to go up into Canaan to possess the
land was a generation that had personally witnessed the mighty hand of God in
Too Little, Too Late
Numbers 14:40-45
40
And early in the morning they went up to the crest of the hill country, saying,
“Here we are, and we will go up to the place that the Lord commanded, for we have sinned.” 41 But Moses said, “Why
are you now transgressing the commandment of the Lord? But it will not prosper. 42 Do not go up, for the Lord is not among you, and you will be
defeated before your enemies. 43 For the Amalekites and the Canaanites are
there before you, and you will fall by the sword. Because you have turned away
from the Lord, the Lord will not be with you.” 44 But they
presumed to go up to the crest of the hill, although neither the ark of the
covenant of the Lord nor Moses
departed out of the camp. 45 So the Amalekites and the Canaanites who lived in
that hill country swooped down and attacked them as far as Hormah.
I
have observed what seems to be a very human trait over the years, particularly
in recent years. I have noted that those who sin,
often come to regret their decision to disobey. While some may genuinely
repent, many seem only to regret their actions, and more particularly, the
consequences of their actions. What they really want is to turn the clock back,
to make things just as they were before they sinned. This appears to be the
case with the Israelites. Realizing that God was not going to allow them to
enter the land, they came to regret their refusal to enter the
The
Israelites assembled for battle, early in the morning, ready to attack the
Canaanites and to possess the land. It was too late, however, as Moses made very
clear. Now, attempting to take the land would be disobedience, just as refusing
to do so earlier was also sin. They must suffer the consequences for their
actions, even though God had forgiven them. (Had God not forgiven them, I
assume He would have wiped the entire nation out immediately, as He threatened
to do.) The Israelites once again refused to heed God’s word, spoken through
Moses. They went to battle without Moses, without the ark of
the covenant, and without God. When they engaged the Canaanites in
battle, they suffered a terrible defeat. And now they must wander about the
wilderness, until the whole generation has died.
Conclusion
It
can easily be seen that Kadesh was a major turning point for the first
generation of Israelites. They failed to “trust and obey” one time too many,
and the consequence was being denied the blessing of possessing the
We
should note that this sin is neither sudden nor unexpected in the Book of
Numbers.
Let
us be very careful about grumbling. Our grumbling, like that of ancient
Sadly,
If
I had publicized these thoughts,
I
would have betrayed your loyal followers (Psalm 73:15).
Both
unbelief and faith are contagious. Our grumbling and doubting can influence
others, just as our faith and obedience can inspire and encourage others. This
is one of the reasons why the Israelites later worshipped at the temple. There
they could proclaim the mercies of the Lord and challenge others to walk by
faith (Psalm 52:9; 116:14, 18; Jeremiah 33:11). Surely this is one of the
reasons why New Testament saints are exhorted to assemble together as a church:
23
And let us hold unwaveringly to the hope that we confess, for the one who made
the promise is trustworthy. 24 And let us take thought of how to spur one
another on to love and good works, 25 not abandoning our own meetings, as some
are in the habit of doing, but encouraging each other, and even more so because
you see the day drawing near (Hebrews 10:23-25).
After
teaching this lesson on Kadesh, one of the members of our church wrote this
poem, which I have been given permission to share with you, anonymously:
Giants in Them
Hills
We’ve
bin starved an’ we’ve bin thirsty
Ain’t got cukes or onions still;
Now you tell us even worsty
There are giants in them hills.
We aren’t a goin’ forward yet
Them giants will kill us all.
We’ll cry and cry, our eyes all wet
‘ Cause we ain’t so strong and tall.
O why did we leave Pharaoh?
Nor die in the wilderness?
Them giants have spear and arrow
An’ they’ll make a mess of us.
We all want another lead man
It’s too hard to follow you
Those giants are of Anak’s clan
From the Nephilim they grew.
We won’t believe, we can’t believe
So jest leave us all alone!
We’ll weep and weep until we grieve
Then we’ll set off on our own.
And so, the lesson at Kadesh
a generation defiled.
Would I have acted in the flesh
Or behaved as His beloved child?
Now these things happened to them as an example,
and they were written for our instruction …
1 Corinthians 10:11.
I
wonder what our Kadesh will be? Each of us, I suspect,
will experience some kind of “Kadesh” at least once in our lives, and
probably more often than that. It will be a time when God will place a
challenge before us, one that looks humanly impossible (and, indeed, is). It
will be a matter of faith and obedience. Either we will trust in God’s promises
and power, and obey, or we will be overcome by doubts and fears, and disobey. I
also wonder if there will be a Kadesh for us corporately, as a church. Let us
not develop a pattern of doubt and fear and grumbling, but let us walk by faith
and encourage others to do likewise, so that when our “Kadesh” comes
along, we shall not fail the test (see Revelation 3:7-12).
I
should also point out that while unbelief kept this generation from possessing
the
For the gifts and the call of God are
irrevocable (Romans 11:29).
If we are unfaithful, he remains faithful,
Since
he cannot deny himself (2 Timothy 2:13).
Have
you ever wondered why God fed
1
Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the
devil. 2 After he fasted forty days and forty nights he was famished. 3 The
tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones
to become bread.” 4 But he answered, “It is written, `Man does not live
by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God’“ (Matthew 4:1-4).
The
Scriptures make much of the failure of the Israelites at Kadesh. It is the
central theme of Psalm 95. That Psalm begins with a call to worship, and ends
up with a warning, a warning not to be like the Israelites at Kadesh (and
elsewhere where they grumbled). Praise is the preventative and the cure for
grumbling. It focuses on God and urges others to do likewise. It thinks on the
greatness of God and on His wondrous deeds. It inspires faith and obedience.
Remembrance of our Lord’s work at
It
just so happens that while I have been preparing this lesson in the Old
Testament Book of Numbers, I have also been preparing for teaching in the Book
of Hebrews, chapter 3. I am more and more convinced that properly understanding
the failure of
Lesson 15 —
The Book of Deuteronomy
Introduction
No
knowledgeable Christian would dispute the importance of the Book of
Deuteronomy. Certainly we should take note of the fact that this book is cited
more than 50 times in the New Testament. Counting allusions to Deuteronomy, the
instances of New Testament use would increase to nearly 200 times. Deuteronomy
was our Lord’s favorite Old Testament book. Henrietta Mears has written:
Jesus
often quoted from Deuteronomy. In fact, it is almost invariably from this book
that He quotes.[136][134]
Our
Lord resisted and refuted Satan’s temptations by citing the truths of
Deuteronomy (see Matthew 4:1-11; Luke 4:1-12). In many ways, his testing in the
wilderness paralleled
The
Book of Deuteronomy records several important transitions. It records the
transition from the first generation of Israelites, who died in the wilderness
(the Book of Numbers), to the second generation of Israelites, who would
possess the
Deuteronomy
marks the end of the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Old Testament
written by Moses). In this book, Moses hands the torch of leading the nation
The
Book of Deuteronomy is not merely a repetition of the Law, as it was originally
given to the first generation of Israelites at Sinai (Exodus 20ff.).
Deuteronomy is an explanation or exposition of the law. It sets down those
governing laws and principles that will guide the Israelites as they live in
the
1
Now,
Deuteronomy
is the account of this generation of Israelites embracing the covenant of God
with their fathers as their own, of their entering into a covenant relationship
with God. This is the renewal of the covenant:
16
Today the Lord your God is
commanding you to keep these statutes and ordinances, something you must do
with all your heart and being. 17 Today you have declared the Lord to be your God, and that
you will walk in his ways, keep his statutes, commandments, ordinances, and
obey him. 18 And today the Lord
has declared you to be his special people (as he already promised you)
so that you may keep all his commandments, 19 so that he may elevate you above
all the nations he has made as a cause of praise, as a name, and as an honor,
and so that you may be a holy people to the Lord
your God, as he has said (Deuteronomy 26:16-19, emphasis mine).
9
“Therefore, keep the terms of this covenant and obey them so that you may be
successful in everything you do. 10 You are standing today, all of you, before
the Lord your God—the
heads of your tribes, your elders, your officials, every Israelite, 11 your
infants, your wives, and the foreigners living in your encampment, those who
chop wood and those who carry water—12 so that you may enter into the
covenant of the Lord your God
and into the benefits of the oath that the Lord
is making with you today, 13 to affirm you today as his people and himself as
your God just as he said to you and already swore to your ancestors, to
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. 14 And it is not with you alone that I am making
this covenant and oath, 15 but with whoever stands with us here today before
the Lord your God as well
as those not with us here today” (Deuteronomy 29:2-15, emphasis mine).
None
of this generation has been circumcised, which was the sign of the covenant God
made with Abraham (see Genesis 17:9-14, 23-27; compare Exodus 4:24-26). In only
a few days, this whole generation will undergo circumcision and observe the
Passover before they attack
At
the age of 120, Moses made his way to the top of
25
After you have produced children and grandchildren and have been in the land a
long time, if you become corrupted and make an image of any kind and do other
evil things before the Lord your
God that enrage him, 26 I invoke heaven and earth as witnesses against you
today that you will surely and swiftly be destroyed from the very land you are
about to cross the Jordan to possess. You will not last long there because you
will be totally devastated. 27 Then the Lord
will scatter you among the peoples and there will be very few of you in the
nations where the Lord will drive
you. 28 There you will worship gods made by human hands—wood and stone that can
neither see, hear, eat, nor smell. 29 But if you seek the Lord your God from there, you will find
him, if, indeed, you seek him with all your heart and soul. 30 In your distress
when all these things happen to you in the latter days, if you return to the Lord your God and listen to him 31 (for
he is a merciful God), he will not let you down or destroy you, for he cannot
forget the covenant with your ancestors that he swore to them (Deuteronomy
4:25-31).
At
the end of the book, very clear statements are made regarding
15
The Lord appeared in the tent in
a pillar of cloud that stood above the door of the tent. 16 And the Lord said to Moses, “You are about to
die, and then these people will begin to prostitute themselves with the foreign
gods of the land into which they are going. They will leave me and break my
covenant that I have made with them. 17 On that day my anger will flare up
against them and I will leave them and hide myself from them until they are
devoured. Many hurts and distresses will overcome them so that they will say at
that time, ‘Have not these difficulties overcome us because God is not among
us?’ 18 But I will certainly hide myself on that day because of all the
wickedness they will have done by turning to other gods. 19 Now compose for
yourselves the following song and teach it to the Israelites—put it into their
very mouths!—so that this song may serve me as a witness against the
Israelites. 20 For after I have brought them to the land I promised to their
ancestors—one flowing with milk and honey—and they eat and become satisfied and
fat, then they will turn to other gods to worship them and will reject me and
break my covenant. 21 Then when many hurts and distresses overcome them this
song will become a witness against them, for their descendants will not forget
it. I know the intentions they have in mind today, even before I bring them to
the land I have promised.” 22 Therefore on that day Moses wrote this song and
taught it to the Israelites, 23 and the Lord
commissioned Joshua son of Nun, “Be strong and courageous, for you will take
the Israelites to the land I have promised them, and I will be with you.” 24
When Moses finished writing on a scroll the words of this law in their
entirety, 25 he commanded the Levites who carried the ark of the Lord’s covenant, 26 “Take this scroll
of the law and place it beside the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God. It will be there as a
witness against you, 27 for I know about your rebellion and stubbornness.
Indeed, even while I have been alive among you, you have been rebellious
against the Lord; how much more
will you be so after my death? 28 Gather to me all your tribal elders and
officials so I can speak to them directly of these things and call the heavens
and the earth to witness against them. 29 For I know that after I die you will
totally corrupt yourselves and turn away from the path I have commanded you to
walk. Disaster will confront you in the days to come because you will act
wickedly before the Lord,
inciting him to wrath because of your works.” 30 Then Moses recited the words
of this song from start to finish in the hearing of the whole assembly of
A
fuller description of
8
Now pay attention to the whole commandment I am giving you today, so that you
may be strong enough to enter and possess the land where you are headed, 9 and
that you may enjoy long life in the land the Lord
swore to give to your ancestors and their descendants, a land flowing with milk
and honey (Deuteronomy 11:8-9).
26 Take note—I am setting before you today a blessing
and a curse: 27 the blessing if you take to heart the commandments of the Lord your God that I am giving you
today, 28 and the curse if you pay no attention to his commandments and turn
from the way I am setting before you today to pursue other gods you have not
known (Deuteronomy 11:26-28).
You
must be careful to do everything I am commanding you. Do not add to it or
subtract from it! (Deuteronomy 12:32)
15 “Look! I have set before
you today life and prosperity on the one hand, and death and disaster on the
other. 16 What I am commanding you today is to love the Lord your God, to walk in his ways, and to obey his
commandments, his statutes, and his ordinances. Then you will live and become
numerous and the Lord your God
will bless you in the land where you are going to take possession of it. 17
However, if you turn aside and do not obey, but are lured away to worship and
serve other gods, 18 I declare to you this very day that you will certainly
perish! You will not extend your time in the land you are crossing the
My Approach in this Lesson
It
is generally accepted that Moses’ sermons in the Book of Deuteronomy were
delivered over a period of about a week and that they fall into three major
divisions. These divisions are essentially chronological: the first chapters
look back in time; the middle chapters look to the near future; and the final
chapters look into
THE
FIRST ISSUE: HOW WILL THIS NEW GENERATION OF ISRAELITES RESPOND TO THE
DIFFICULTY OF TAKING THE PROMISED LAND FROM THE CANAANITES? This issue was the
turning point for the first generation of Israelites, who were terrified by the
strength and size of their adversaries (Numbers 13:26—14:35). Moses knows full
well that the difficulty of their task will be an issue the second generation
must deal with as well:
17
If you think, “These nations are more numerous than I—how can I
dispossess them?,” 18 you must not fear them
(Deuteronomy 7:17-18a, emphasis mine).
1
Listen, Israel: Today you are about to cross the Jordan River so you can
dispossess the nations there, people greater and stronger than you, large
cities with extremely high fortifications, 2 the Anakites, a
numerous and tall people whom you know about and of whom it is said, “Who is
able to withstand the Anakites?” (Deuteronomy 9:1-2, emphasis mine)
Moses
turns to the history of God’s previous dealings with
First, Moses reminds this generation that their
fathers refused to possess the land and rebelled against Moses in the
wilderness, consequently losing their opportunity to enter into God’s blessings
(Deuteronomy 1:18-46).
Second,
Moses commands the Israelites not to fear by reiterating God’s promise that He
will most certainly give them the land He promised their fathers under the leadership
of Joshua:
18
I instructed you at that time as follows, “The Lord your God has given
you this land for your possession. You are to cross over before your
fellow Israelites, all the warriors, equipped for battle. 19 But your wives,
children, and livestock (of which I know you have many) must remain in the
cities I have given you 20 until the Lord helps your fellow countrymen prevail
as you have, and allows them to possess the land that he is giving them on the
other side of the Jordan River. Then each of you may return to his own
territory which I have given you.” 21 I also commanded Joshua at the same
time, “You have seen everything the Lord your God did to these two kings; he
will do the same to the kingdoms where you are going. 22 Do not
be afraid of them, for the Lord your God will personally fight for you”
(Deuteronomy 3:18-22, emphasis mine).
Third,
Moses reminds the Israelites of what God had already done for the Israelites
while they were slaves in
32
Indeed, ask about earlier days that have preceded you, from the day God
created mankind on the earth and from one end of heaven to the other, whether
there has ever been such a great thing as this, or even a rumor of it.
33 Have a people ever heard the voice of God speaking from fire, as you
yourselves have, and lived to tell about it? 34 Or has God ever before
tried to deliver a nation to himself from the middle of another nation,
accompanied by testings, signs, wonders, war, strength, power, and other very
terrifying things like the Lord your God did for you in Egypt before your very
eyes? 35 You have been made to understand that the Lord alone is
God—there is no other besides him. 36 From heaven he spoke to you in order to
teach you, and on earth showed you his great fire from which you also heard
him. 37 Moreover, because he loved your ancestors he chose their
descendants who followed them, and personally brought you out of Egypt with
great power 38 to dispossess nations greater and more powerful
than you and brought you in to give you their land as an inheritance—just as it
has taken place today. 39 May you understand today and take it to
heart that the Lord is God in heaven above and on earth below—there is no other!
40 And may you keep his statutes and commandments that I am setting forth today
so that it may go well with you and your descendants and that you might enjoy
longevity in the land that the Lord your God is about to give you forever”
(Deuteronomy 4:32-40, emphasis mine).
You
must carefully recall what the Lord your God did to Pharaoh and all Egypt, 19 the great
afflictions you saw, the signs and wonders, the strong hand and extended arm by
which he brought you out—thus the Lord your God will do to all the people you
fear. 20 Furthermore, he will release the hornet among them until the very last
ones who hide from you perish. 21 You must not tremble in their presence, for
the Lord your God, who is present among you, is a great and awesome God. 22 He,
the God who leads you, will expel the nations little by little. You must not
overcome them all at once lest the wild animals overrun you. 23 The Lord your
God will give them over to you; he will trouble them with great difficulty
until they are destroyed. 24 He will hand over their kings to you and you will
erase their very names from memory. Nobody will be able to stand before you
until you annihilate them” (Deuteronomy 7:18b-24, emphasis mine)
1
Therefore, love the Lord your God and keep his obligations, that is, his
statutes, ordinances, and commandments forever. 2 Bear in mind today that
I am not speaking to your children who have not known or seen the instruction
of the Lord your God, his greatness, strength, and power, 3 or
his signs and works that he did in the midst of Egypt to Pharaoh king of Egypt
and his whole land; 4 what he did to the army of Egypt, their
horses and chariots, when he made the waters of the Red Sea overwhelm them when
they were pursuing you, and how he destroyed them to this very day; 5
what he did to you in the desert until you reached this place, 6 and what he
did to Dathan and Abiram, sons of Eliab the Reubenite, when the earth opened
its mouth and swallowed them, their children, their tents, and everything that
followed them, in the middle of all Israel— 7 but it is your very eyes
that saw all the great deeds of the Lord! (Deuteronomy 11:1-7, emphasis
mine)
Fourth,
Moses reminds the Israelites of God’s intervention in the more recent past:
2:24
Get up, make your way across Wadi Arnon. Look! I have
already delivered over to you Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and his land.
Go ahead! Take it! Engage him in war! 25 This very day I will begin to fill all
the people of the earth with dread and to terrify them when they hear about
you. They will shiver and shake in anticipation of your coming.” 26 Then I sent
messengers from the
3:1
Next we set out on the route to Bashan, but King Og of
Based
upon God’s faithfulness to
18
I instructed you at that time as follows, “The Lord your God has given
you this land for your possession. You are to cross over before your
fellow Israelites, all the warriors, equipped for battle. 19 But your wives,
children, and livestock (of which I know you have many) must remain in the
cities I have given you 20 until the Lord helps your fellow countrymen prevail
as you have, and allows them to possess the land that he is giving them on the
other side of the Jordan River. Then each of you may return to his own
territory which I have given you.” 21 I also commanded Joshua at the same
time, “You have seen everything the Lord your God did to these two kings; he
will do the same to the kingdoms where you are going. 22 Do not be
afraid of them, for the Lord your God will personally fight for you”
(Deuteronomy 3:18-22, emphasis mine).
THE SECOND ISSUE: THE DANGERS OF CANAANITE IDOLATRY
AND IMMORALITY. The second issue
facing the Israelites as they are preparing to enter the Promised Land is the
temptation posed by the Canaanites’ immorality and idolatry.
We
should recall that it was the danger posed by Canaanite idolatry and immorality
that necessitated
Not
long ago I received an e-mail from a website inquirer asking if I knew of any
sources of information about the pagan sexual practices of Paul’s day. I
responded that I was sure such information was available, but that I would not
recommend investigating this matter thoroughly. If God’s Word does not supply
such information, then perhaps it is unnecessary, or even ill advised. There is
a way in which the study of evil can be an unnecessary and dangerous source of
temptation. Curiosity about such things can be very dangerous:
29
After the Lord your God has cut off the nations from the place where you are
going to dispossess them and you do so and settle down in their land, 30 be
careful not to be ensnared like they are, after they have been destroyed from
your presence, and pursue their gods and say, “How do these nations serve their
gods? I myself will do the same.” 31 You must not do this against the Lord your
God! For everything abominable to him, everything he hates, they have done for
their gods. They even burn up their sons and daughters to their gods!
(Deuteronomy 12:29-31)
Through
Moses, God prepares His people for their encounter with the idolatry and
immorality of the Canaanites. Moses first turns the Israelites’ attention to
the past, which should instruct them regarding the future. First, there was the
lesson that should have been learned from the exodus.
33
“Have a people ever heard the voice of God speaking from fire, as you
yourselves have, and lived to tell about it? 34 Or has God ever before tried to
deliver a nation to himself from the middle of another nation, accompanied by
testings, signs, wonders, war, strength, power, and other very terrifying things
like the Lord your God did for you in Egypt before your very eyes? 35 You have
been made to understand that the Lord alone is God—there is no
other besides him” (Deuteronomy 4:33-35, emphasis mine).
When
Moses confronted Pharaoh, asking that he release the Israelites, Pharaoh
immediately saw this as a “battle of the gods”:
1
And afterward Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said, “Thus says the Lord,
the God of Israel, ‘Release my people so that they may hold a pilgrim feast to
me in the desert.’” 2 But Pharaoh said, “Who is the Lord that I should obey him
by releasing
The
whole encounter demonstrated that God alone is God, and that
“And
I will pass through the
If
the God of Israel defeated the “gods” of
Moses
reminded the Israelites that at
12
“Then the Lord spoke to you from the fire; you indeed heard speech but you
could not see anything—only a voice… . 15 Be most
careful, then, because you saw nothing at the time the Lord spoke to you at
Horeb from the fire’s midst. 16 I say this so you will not corrupt yourselves
by making an image in the form of any kind of figure, the likeness of a human
male or a female, 17 of any kind of land animal, of a bird that flies in the
sky, 18 of any insect on the ground, or of any fish in the deep waters of the
earth. 19 It is also to guard you against looking up to the sky and seeing the
sun, moon, and stars—the whole heavenly creation—and then being seduced by them
to worship and serve them, things that the Lord your God has distributed among
all the people of the world” (Deuteronomy 4:12, 15-19).
They
should also remember how angry God was with the Israelites when they worshipped
an idol – the golden calf – at the foot of
7
Remember—don’t ever forget—how you provoked the Lord your God in the desert;
from the time you left Egypt until you came to this place you were constantly
rebelling against him. 8 At Horeb you provoked him and he was angry enough with
you to destroy you. 9 When I ascended the mountain to receive the stone
tablets, the tablets of the covenant that the Lord made with you, I remained
there forty days and nights, eating and drinking nothing. 10 And the Lord gave
me the two stone tablets, written with the very finger of God; and on them was
everything he said to you at the mountain from the fire at the time of that
assembly. 11 Now at the end of the forty days and nights the Lord presented me
with the two stone tablets, the texts of the covenant. 12 And he said to me,
“Get up, go down from here because your people whom
you brought out of
It
should probably be noted here that the idolatry of the Canaanites was closely
related to their immorality. This is often the case. It was with the Israelites
at
So
they got up early on the next day and offered up burnt offerings, and they
brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and drink, and they
rose up to play (Exodus 32:6).
The
word “play” has definite sexual connotations.[140][138]
The Canaanites worshipped fertility gods, and so it is little wonder that
sexual immorality would be involved in their “worship.”
1
“When the Lord your God brings you to the land that you are going to occupy and
forces out many nations before you—Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites,
Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, seven nations more numerous and powerful
than you—2 and he delivers them over to you and you attack them, you must
utterly annihilate them. Make no covenant with them nor show them compassion! 3
You must not intermarry with them. Do not give your daughters to their sons nor
take their daughters for your sons, 4 for they will turn your sons away from me
to worship other gods. Then the wrath of the Lord will erupt against you and he
will soon destroy you. 5 Instead, this is what you must do to them: You must tear
down their altars, shatter their sacred pillars, cut down their sacred Asherah
poles, and burn up their images. 6 For you are a people holy to the Lord your
God. He has chosen you to be a people prized above all others on the face of
the earth” (Deuteronomy 7:1-6).
25
“You must burn the images of their gods, but do not covet the silver and gold
that covers them so much that you take it for yourself and thus become ensnared
by it; for it is abhorrent to the Lord your God. 26 You must not bring any
detestable thing into your house and thereby become an object of divine
annihilation like it is. You must absolutely abhor and detest it, for it is an
object of divine annihilation” (Deuteronomy 7:25-26).
12
“If it should come to your attention in one of your cities that the Lord your
God is giving you as a place to live that 13 some evil people have departed
from among you to entice the inhabitants of their cities, saying, “Let’s go and
serve other gods whom you have not known before,” 14 you must investigate thoroughly
and inquire carefully. If it is true and certain that this abomination is being
done among you, 15 you must by all means slaughter the inhabitants of that city
with the sword; put under the divine curse everyone in it, even the livestock,
by the sword. 16 You must collect all of its spoil into the middle of the plaza
and burn the city and all its spoil as a whole burnt offering to the Lord your
God. It will be an abandoned ruin forever—it must never be rebuilt again. 17
You must not take for yourself anything of that which has been cursed, so that
the Lord might relent of his intense wrath and show you compassion,
that he might have mercy on you and multiply you as he promised your
ancestors. 18 Thus you must obey the voice of the Lord your God, keeping all
his commandments that I am presenting you today and doing the thing that is
right before him” (Deuteronomy 13:12-18).
These
texts were crucial to
Let
27
“You have heard that it was said, ‘Do not commit adultery.’ 28 But I say to you
that whoever looks at a woman to desire her has already committed adultery with
her in his heart. 29 If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw
it away. It is better to lose one of your members than to have your whole body
thrown into hell. 30 If your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw
it away. It is better to lose one of your members than to have your whole body
go into hell” (Matthew 5:27-30).
THE THIRD ISSUE: THE DANGERS OF APATHY, PRIDE, AND
SELF-SUFFICIENCY. There is yet another serious danger for the Israelites
as they prepare to possess the Promised Land of Canaan – that they become smug,
arrogant, and self-sufficient. In other words, in their prosperity they will be
tempted to forget that God is the source of their blessings and begin to take
credit themselves:
10
Then when the Lord your God brings you to the land he swore to your ancestors
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—to give you large, excellent cities you did not
build, 11 houses filled with choice things you did not provide, hewn out
cisterns you did not dig, and vineyards and olive groves you did not plant—and
you eat to your satisfaction, 12 be careful lest you forget the Lord who
brought you out of Egypt, the place of slavery” (Deuteronomy 6:10-12).
11
“Be very careful lest you forget the Lord your God, not keeping his
commandments, ordinances, and statutes that I am giving you today. 12 When you
eat to your satisfaction, when you build and occupy good houses, 13 when your
cattle and flocks increase, when you have plenty of silver and gold, and when
you have abundance of everything, 14 be careful lest you feel self-important
and forget the Lord your God who brought you from the land of Egypt, the place
of slavery, 15 and who brought you through the great, fearful desert of
venomous serpents and scorpions, a thirsty place of no water, bringing forth
for you water from flint rock and 16 feeding you in the desert with manna
(which your ancestors had never before known) so that he might test you and
eventually bring good to you. 17 Be careful lest you say, “My own ability has
gotten me this wealth.” 18 You must remember the Lord your God, for it is he
who gives ability to get wealth; if you do this he will confirm his covenant
that he swore to your ancestors, even as he has to this day. 19 Now it will
come about that if you forget the Lord your God at all and run after other
gods, worshiping and prostrating yourselves before them, I testify to you today
that you will be utterly destroyed. 20 Just like the nations the Lord is about
to decimate from your sight, so he will do to you because you would not pay
attention to him” (Deuteronomy 8:11-20).
Up
to this point in time, the Israelites had not experienced what we might call
“the good life.” They had come out of slavery in
God
graciously built in some protective elements. He did not make farming so easy
for His people that they would not have to trust and obey Him. God put the
Israelites in a land that was dependent upon Him for its rains:
8
Now pay attention to the whole commandment I am giving you today, so that you
may be strong enough to enter and possess the land where you are headed, 9 and
that you may enjoy long life in the land the Lord swore to give to your
ancestors and their descendants, a land flowing with milk and honey. 10 For the
land where you are headed as your possession is not like the
7
It is not because you were more numerous than all the other peoples that the
Lord considered and chose you—for in fact you were the smallest of all peoples—
8 but because of his love for you and his faithfulness to the oath he swore to
your ancestors the Lord brought you out with great power, redeeming you from
the place of slavery, from the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt. 9 Therefore,
take note that it is the Lord your God who is God, the faithful God who keeps
covenant faithfully with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a
thousand generations” (Deuteronomy 7:7-9).
The
Israelites were reminded of the humble circumstances from (and through) which
God brought them to the Promised Land:
20
“When your children ask you later on, ‘What are the stipulations, statutes, and
ordinances that the Lord our God commanded you?,’ 21
you must say to them, ‘We were Pharaoh’s slaves in
1
“When the time comes for you to enter the land that the Lord your God is giving
you as an inheritance, and you occupy it and live in it, 2 you must take the
first of all the ground’s produce you harvest from the land the Lord your God
is giving you, place it in a basket, and go to the place where he has chosen to
locate his name. 3 You must go to the priest in office at that time and say to
him, “I declare today to the Lord your God that I have come into the land that
the Lord swore to our ancestors to give us.” 4 The priest will then take the
basket from you and set it before the altar of the Lord your God. 5 And you
must affirm before the Lord, “A wandering Aramean was my ancestor, and he went
down to
The
Israelites were to remember how God brought them through adversity and need, in
order to teach them to trust and obey:
1
“You must keep carefully the entire commandment I am giving you today so that
you may live, multiply, and go in and occupy the land that the Lord promised to
your ancestors. 2 Remember the whole way by which he has brought you these
forty years through the desert so that he might, by humbling you, test to see
whether deep within yourselves you would keep his commandments or not. 3 So he
humbled you by making you hungry and feeding you with unfamiliar manna to make
you understand that mankind cannot live by food alone, but also by everything
that comes from the Lord’s mouth. 4 Your clothing did not wear out nor did your
feet swell all these forty years. 5 Be keenly aware that just as a human being
disciplines his child, the Lord your God disciplines you. 6 Thus, you must keep
his commandments, that is, walk according to his ways and revere him. 7 For the
Lord your God is bringing you to a good land, a land of brooks, springs, and
fountains flowing forth in valleys and hills, 8 a land of wheat, barley, vines,
fig trees, and pomegranates, of olive trees and honey, 9 a land where you may
eat food in plenty and find no lack of anything, a land whose stones are iron
and from whose hills you can mine copper. 10 You will
eat and drink and then bless the Lord your God because of the good land he will
have given you” (Deuteronomy 8:1-10).
4
“Do not think to yourself after the Lord your God has run them out before you,
‘Because of my own righteousness the Lord has enabled me to possess this land,
and because of the wickedness of these nations he is dispossessing them from
before me.’ 5 It is not because of your righteousness, or even your inner
uprightness, that you have come to possess their land. Instead, because of the
wickedness of these nations the Lord your God is expelling them before you in
order to confirm the promise he swore to your ancestors, to Abraham, Isaac, and
Jacob. 6 Understand, therefore, that it is not because of your righteousness
that the Lord your God is about to give you this good land as a possession, for
you are a stubborn people!” (Deuteronomy 9:4-6)
To
help the Israelites remember their past and the wondrous ways that God blessed
them, God gave them a number of memorials. The annual celebration of the
Passover reminded the Israelites of the way God had delivered them from their
slavery in
It
is true to say that the blessings the Israelites experienced from the hand of
God were in spite of
6
Understand, therefore, that it is not because of your righteousness that the
Lord your God is about to give you this good land as a possession, for you are
a stubborn people! 7 Remember—don’t ever forget—how you provoked the Lord your
God in the desert; from the time you left Egypt until you came to this place
you were constantly rebelling against him” (Deuteronomy 9:6-7; see also
9:8—10:11).
In
spite of all these lessons from the past, the Israelites will disregard them
and become smugly self-sufficient and arrogant. Through Moses, God warns the Israelites
about the future, assuring them that they will fail to heed these words of
warning and instruction, spelling out the consequences for their sin. The first
warning is found in Leviticus 26. The first warning about the future in
Deuteronomy is found in chapter 4:
25
“After you have produced children and grandchildren and have been in the land a
long time, if you become corrupted and make an image of any kind and do other
evil things before the Lord your God that enrage him, 26 I invoke heaven and earth
as witnesses against you today that you will surely and swiftly be destroyed
from the very land you are about to cross the Jordan to possess. You will not
last long there because you will be totally devastated. 27 Then the Lord will
scatter you among the peoples and there will be very few of you in the nations
where the Lord will drive you. 28 There you will worship gods made by human
hands—wood and stone that can neither see, hear, eat, nor smell. 29 But if you
seek the Lord your God from there, you will find him, if, indeed, you seek him
with all your heart and soul. 30 In your distress when all these things happen
to you in the latter days, if you return to the Lord your God and listen to him
31 (for he is a merciful God), he will not let you down or destroy you, for he
cannot forget the covenant with your ancestors that he swore to them”
(Deuteronomy 4:25-31).
There
is a lengthy pronouncement of blessings and cursings in the closing chapters of
Deuteronomy. In chapter 27, the Israelites erect stones on which the law was
inscribed. Half of the people gathered on
In
chapter 28, the first 14 verses outline the blessings that God will shower upon
His people if they obey the Lord by keeping His commandments. The remaining verses
(54 of them) describe the curses which will come upon the Israelites for
disobeying God’s commandments. The proportions certainly reflect the fact that
the Israelites will not obey God’s commandments and will experience these
curses.
47
“Because you have not served the Lord your God joyfully and wholeheartedly with
the abundance of everything you have, 48 instead in hunger, thirst, nakedness,
and lack of everything you will serve your enemies whom the Lord will send
against you. They will place an iron yoke on your neck until they have
destroyed you. 49 The Lord will raise up a distant
nation against you, one from the other side of the earth as the eagle flies, a
nation whose language you will not understand, 50 a nation of stern appearance
that will have no regard for the elderly or consideration for the young. 51
They will devour the offspring of your cattle and the produce of your soil
until you are destroyed. They will not leave you with grain, new wine, olive
oil, increased herds, or larger flocks until they have demolished you. 52 They
will besiege all of your villages until all of your high and fortified walls
collapse—those in which you put your confidence throughout the land. They will
put under siege all your gates in all parts of the land the Lord your God has
given you. 53 You will then eat your own offspring, the flesh of the sons and
daughters the Lord your God has given you, because of the stressful siege in
which your enemies will constrict you… . 64 The Lord will scatter you among all
nations, from one end of the earth to the other. There you will worship other
gods that neither you nor your ancestors have known, gods of wood and stone. 65
Among those nations you will have no rest nor will there be a place of peaceful
rest for the soles of your feet, for there the Lord will give you an anxious
heart, failing eyesight, and a spirit of despair. 66 Your life will hang in
doubt before you; you will be terrified by night and day and will have no
certainty of surviving from one day to the next. 67 In the morning you will
say, ‘If only it were evening!’ And in the evening you will say, ‘I wish it
were morning!’ because of the things you will fear and the things you will see.
68 Then the Lord will make you return to
Chapters
28-30 of Deuteronomy are the key to understanding the history of
1
“Now when all these things happen to you—the blessing and the curse I have set
before you—and you remember them in all the nations where the Lord your God has
exiled you, 2 if you turn to the Lord your God and listen to him just as I am
commanding you today—you and your descendants—with your whole mind and being, 3
then the Lord your God will reverse your captivity and have pity on you. He
will turn and gather you from all the peoples among whom he has scattered you.
4 Even if any of your dispersed are under the most distant skies, from there the
Lord your God will gather and bring you back. 5 Then he will bring you to the
land your ancestors possessed and you also will possess it; he will do better
for you and multiply you more than he did your ancestors. 6 The Lord your God
will also cleanse your heart and the hearts of your descendants so that you may
love him with all your mind and being, in order to live. 7 Then the Lord your
God will put all these curses on your enemies, on those who hate you and
persecute you. 8 You will return and pay attention to the Lord, keeping all his
commandments I am giving you today. 9 The Lord your God will make the labor of
your hands abundantly successful—in your offspring, the offspring of your
cattle, and the crops of your fields. For the Lord your God will once more
rejoice over you for good just as he rejoiced over your ancestors, 10 if you
obey the Lord your God and keep his commandments and statutes that are written
in this book of the law, that is, if you turn to him with your whole mind and
being” (Deuteronomy 30:1-10).
Moses
concludes by presenting the Israelites with a choice, urging them to choose to
trust and obey God:
11
“For this commandment that I am giving you today is not too awesome for you,
nor is it too remote. 12 It is not in heaven, as though one must say, “Who will
go up to heaven to get it for us so that we may hear and obey it?” 13 And it is
not across the sea, as though one must say, “Who will cross over to the other
side of the sea and get it for us so that we may hear and keep it?” 14 For the
thing is very near you—it is in your mouth and mind so
that you can do it. 15 “Look! I have set before you
today life and prosperity on the one hand, and death and disaster on the other.
16 What I am commanding you today is to love the Lord your God, to walk in his
ways, and to obey his commandments, his statutes, and his ordinances. Then you
will live and become numerous and the Lord your God will bless you in the land
where you are going to take possession of it. 17 However, if you turn aside and
do not obey, but are lured away to worship and serve other gods, 18 I declare
to you this very day that you will certainly perish! You will not extend your
time in the land you are crossing the
Conclusion
The
Book of Deuteronomy concludes with the “song of Moses” in chapter 32, a
blessing pronounced by Moses (chapter 33), and a description of the death of
Moses (chapter 34). One might conclude that the Book of Deuteronomy ends in a
very depressing way. Even before the Israelites have set foot in the Promised
Land, they are told that they will fail and that they will be cast out of the
land. Where is the “good news” in all of this? Consider the following truths
that we find in the Book of Deuteronomy.
First,
God has given man a choice to serve God and live, or to disobey and die:
15 “Look! I have set before you
today life and prosperity on the one hand, and death and disaster on the other.
16 What I am commanding you today is to love the Lord your God, to walk in his
ways, and to obey his commandments, his statutes, and his ordinances. Then you
will live and become numerous and the Lord your God will bless you in the land
where you are going to take possession of it. 17 However, if you turn aside and
do not obey, but are lured away to worship and serve other gods, 18 I declare
to you this very day that you will certainly perish! You will not extend your
time in the land you are crossing the
Second,
the Book of Deuteronomy makes it clear that, left to himself,
man can never merit God’s blessings on the basis of law-keeping. The problem with
man is that he is fallen and he does not have a heart to serve God:
28
“When the Lord heard you speaking to me he said to me, ‘I have heard all that
these people have said to you—they have spoken well. 29 If only it would really
be their desire to fear me and keep all my commandments forever, so that it may
go well with them and their descendants eternally’” (Deuteronomy 5:28-29).
But
to this very day the Lord has not given you an understanding mind, perceptive
eyes, or discerning ears! (Deuteronomy 29:4)
Third,
the Israelites, left to themselves, will only bring
divine judgment upon themselves.
16
And the Lord said to Moses, “You are about to die, and then these people will
begin to prostitute themselves with the foreign gods of the land into which
they are going. They will leave me and break my covenant that I have made with
them. 17 On that day my anger will flare up against them and I will leave them
and hide myself from them until they are devoured. Many hurts and distresses
will overcome them so that they will say at that time, ‘Have not these
difficulties overcome us because God is not among us?’ 18 But I will certainly
hide myself on that day because of all the wickedness they will have done by
turning to other gods. 18 But I will certainly hide myself on that day because
of all the wickedness they will have done by turning to other gods. 19 Now
compose for yourselves the following song and teach it to the Israelites—put it
into their very mouths!—so that this song may serve me as a witness against the
Israelites. 20 For after I have brought them to the land I promised to their
ancestors—one flowing with milk and honey—and they eat and become satisfied and
fat, then they will turn to other gods to worship them and will reject me and
break my covenant… . 29 For I know that after I die you will totally corrupt
yourselves and turn away from the path I have commanded you to walk. Disaster
will confront you in the days to come because you will act wickedly before the
Lord, inciting him to wrath because of your works” (Deuteronomy 31:16-20, 29).
Fourth,
6
The Lord your God will also cleanse your heart and the hearts of your
descendants so that you may love him with all your mind and being, in order to
live. 7 Then the Lord your God will put all these curses on your enemies, on
those who hate you and persecute you. 8 You will return and pay attention to
the Lord, keeping all his commandments I am giving you
today” (Deuteronomy 30:6-8).
39
“See now that I, indeed I, am he!” says the Lord,
“and there is no other god besides me.
I am the one who kills and brings to life.
I smash and I heal,
and none can deliver from my power.
40 For I raise up my hand to heaven,
and say, ‘As I live forever,
41 I will sharpen my lightning-like sword,
and my hand will grasp hold of judgment;
I will execute vengeance on my foes,
and repay those who hate me!
42 I will satisfy my arrows fully with blood,
and my sword will eat flesh;
with the blood of the slaughtered and captured,
from the chief of the enemy’s leaders!’”
43 Cry out, O nations, with his people,
for he will avenge his servants’ blood;
he will direct vengeance against his enemies,
and make atonement for his land and people (Deuteronomy 32:39-43,
emphasis mine).
26
There is no one like God, O Jeshurun,
riding the heavens to help you,
and in his lofty clouds.
27 The everlasting God is a dwelling place,
and underneath are eternal arms;
he has driven out enemies before you,
and he has said, “Destroy!”
28
the fountain of Jacob quite secure,
in a land of grain and new wine;
indeed, its heavens rain down dew.
29 Most happy are you,
A people delivered by the Lord,
your helpful shield
and your exalted sword;
may your enemies cringe before you,
but may you trample on their backs (Deuteronomy 33:26-29).
At
this point in time, the warnings that are so clear and emphatic in Deuteronomy
are not taken seriously enough, in spite of Moses’
best efforts. This moment in time is very much like a wedding ceremony.
Everyone is happy, and the couple feels so much in love. As a preacher and an
elder of a local church, I know all too well that time will present these
newlyweds with many challenges. I know that some of the weddings at which I
officiate will end up in failed marriages. I also know what it is that will
destroy them. I instruct, I warn, and I encourage those being married to carry
out God’s instructions, yet I know that many marriages will not survive because
of sin and disobedience.
How
much easier it is to understand Moses’ words in Deuteronomy from our vantage
point. We understand that the Law of Moses was not given to save men, but as a
standard of holiness that no man can meet:
19
Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law,
so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world may be held accountable
to God. 20 For no one is declared righteous before him by the works of the law,
for through the law comes the knowledge of sin (Romans 3:19-20).
Only
one person has ever fulfilled the Law completely – the Lord Jesus Christ:
15
For we do not have a high priest incapable of sympathizing with our weaknesses,
but one who has been tempted in every way just as we are, yet without sin… . 26
For it is indeed fitting for us to have such a high priest: holy, innocent,
undefiled, separate from sinners, and exalted above the heavens (Hebrews 4:15;
7:26; see also Matthew 5:17-18; 27:4; Luke 23:4, 14, 22; 23:47; John 7:19;
8:46; 1 Peter 1:18-29).
It
was His death in the sinner’s place that made salvation possible. He bore the
penalty we deserve as sinners; His righteousness is imputed to all those who
trust in Him. It is in Christ and Christ alone that the requirements of the Law
have been satisfied.
3
For God achieved what the law could not do because it was weakened through the
flesh. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and concerning
sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, 4 so that the righteous requirement of the
law may be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but
according to the Spirit (Romans 8:3-4).
This
is what the prophet Jeremiah foretold:
31
“Indeed, a time is coming,” says the Lord, “when I will make a new agreement
with the people of
It
is also what the Apostle Paul proclaimed as the gospel in the Book of Romans.
Taking up the words of Deuteronomy 30, Paul writes:
4
For Christ is the end of the law, with the result that there is righteousness
for everyone who believes. 5 For Moses writes about the righteousness that is
by the law: “The one who does these things will live by them.” 6 But the
righteousness that is by faith says: “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will
ascend into heaven?’” (that is, to bring Christ down)
7 or “Who will descend into the abyss?” (that is, to
bring Christ up from the dead). 8 But what does it say? “The word is near you,
in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we preach), 9
because if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your
heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the
heart one believes and thus has righteousness and with the mouth one confesses
and thus has salvation. 11 For the scripture says,
“Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” 12 For there is no
distinction between the Jew and the Greek, for the same Lord is Lord of all,
who richly blesses all who call on him. 13 For everyone who calls on the name
of the Lord will be saved (Romans 10:4-13).
No
wonder the Book of Deuteronomy is so often quoted in the New Testament. It
foretells the history of the nation
Moses
called upon the second generation of Israelites to enter into a covenant
relationship with God, just as the first generation had done. New Testament
saints do not live under the old covenant, but rather under the new, but we
must embrace the New Covenant in order to enter into its blessings. This we do
by faith in Jesus Christ. In our church, we celebrate and remember the New
Covenant each week by the celebration of the Lord’s Table (communion).
To
many, the Book of Deuteronomy is a book of duty and obligation. While this is
true, I want to remind you that “love” is emphasized in this book as well. It
is not a teeth-gritting kind of obedience that God desires, but an obedience
prompted by love:
12
Now,
The
Book of Deuteronomy reminds us that every generation must enter into a covenant
relationship with God. It is not enough that your mother or father trusted in
Jesus Christ for salvation; you must personally embrace Christ’s work on the
cross of
Israel’s Covenant Renewal
The Book of Deuteronomy133
No knowledgeable Christian
would dispute the importance of the Book of Deuteronomy. Certainly we should
take note of the fact that this book is cited more than 50 times in the New
Testament. Counting allusions to Deuteronomy, the instances of New Testament
use would increase to nearly 200 times. Deuteronomy was our Lord’s favorite Old
Testament book. Henrietta Mears has written:
Jesus often quoted from
Deuteronomy. In fact, it is almost invariably from this book that He quotes.134
Our Lord resisted and refuted
Satan’s temptations by citing the truths of Deuteronomy (see Matthew 4:1-11;
Luke 4:1-12). In many ways, his testing in the wilderness paralleled
The Book of Deuteronomy
records several important transitions. It records the transition from the first
generation of Israelites, who died in the wilderness (the Book of Numbers), to
the second generation of Israelites, who would possess the
Deuteronomy marks the end of
the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Old Testament written by Moses). In
this book, Moses hands the torch of leading the nation
The Book of Deuteronomy is
not merely a repetition of the Law, as it was originally given to the first
generation of Israelites at Sinai (Exodus 20ff.). Deuteronomy is an explanation
or exposition of the law. It sets down those governing laws and principles that
will guide the Israelites as they live in the
1 Now,
Deuteronomy is the account of
this generation of Israelites embracing the covenant of God with their fathers
as their own, of their entering into a covenant relationship with God. This is
the renewal of the covenant:
16 Today the Lord your God is
commanding you to keep these statutes and ordinances, something you must do
with all your heart and being. 17 Today you have declared the Lord to be
your God, and that you will walk in his ways, keep his statutes,
commandments, ordinances, and obey him. 18 And today the Lord has
declared you to be his special people (as he already promised you) so
that you may keep all his commandments, 19 so that he may elevate you above all
the nations he has made as a cause of praise, as a name, and as an honor, and
so that you may be a holy people to the Lord your God, as he has said (Deuteronomy
26:16-19, emphasis mine).
9 “Therefore, keep the terms of
this covenant and obey them so that you may be successful in everything you do.
10 You are standing today, all of you, before the Lord your God—the
heads of your tribes, your elders, your officials, every Israelite, 11 your
infants, your wives, and the foreigners living in your encampment, those who
chop wood and those who carry water—12 so that you may enter into the
covenant of the Lord your God and into the benefits of the oath that
the Lord is making with you today, 13 to affirm you today as his people
and himself as your God just as he said to you and already swore to your
ancestors, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. 14 And it is not with you alone that I
am making this covenant and oath, 15 but with whoever stands with us here today
before the Lord your God as well as those not with us here today”
(Deuteronomy 29:2-15, emphasis mine).
None of this generation has
been circumcised, which was the sign of the covenant God made with Abraham (see
Genesis 17:9-14, 23-27; compare Exodus 4:24-26). In only a few days, this whole
generation will undergo circumcision and observe the Passover before they
attack
At the age of 120, Moses made
his way to the top of
25 After you have produced
children and grandchildren and have been in the land a long time, if you become
corrupted and make an image of any kind and do other evil things before the
Lord your God that enrage him, 26 I invoke heaven and earth as witnesses
against you today that you will surely and swiftly be destroyed from the very
land you are about to cross the Jordan to possess. You will not last long there
because you will be totally devastated. 27 Then the Lord will scatter you among
the peoples and there will be very few of you in the nations where the Lord
will drive you. 28 There you will worship gods made by human hands—wood and
stone that can neither see, hear, eat, nor smell. 29 But if you seek the Lord
your God from there, you will find him, if, indeed, you seek him with all your
heart and soul. 30 In your distress when all these things happen to you in the
latter days, if you return to the Lord your God and listen to him 31 (for he is
a merciful God), he will not let you down or destroy you, for he cannot forget
the covenant with your ancestors that he swore to them (Deuteronomy 4:25-31).
At the end of the book, very
clear statements are made regarding
15 The Lord appeared in the tent
in a pillar of cloud that stood above the door of the tent. 16 And the Lord
said to Moses, “You are about to die, and then these people will begin to
prostitute themselves with the foreign gods of the land into which they are
going. They will leave me and break my covenant that I have made with them. 17
On that day my anger will flare up against them and I will leave them and hide
myself from them until they are devoured. Many hurts and distresses will
overcome them so that they will say at that time, ‘Have not these difficulties
overcome us because God is not among us?’ 18 But I will certainly hide myself
on that day because of all the wickedness they will have done by turning to
other gods. 19 Now compose for yourselves the following song and teach it to
the Israelites—put it into their very mouths!—so that this song may serve me as
a witness against the Israelites. 20 For after I have brought them to the land
I promised to their ancestors—one flowing with milk and honey—and they eat and
become satisfied and fat, then they will turn to other gods to worship them and
will reject me and break my covenant. 21 Then when many hurts and distresses
overcome them this song will become a witness against them, for their
descendants will not forget it. I know the intentions they have in mind today,
even before I bring them to the land I have promised.” 22 Therefore on that day
Moses wrote this song and taught it to the Israelites, 23 and the Lord
commissioned Joshua son of Nun, “Be strong and courageous, for you will take
the Israelites to the land I have promised them, and I will be with you.” 24
When Moses finished writing on a scroll the words of this law in their
entirety, 25 he commanded the Levites who carried the ark of the Lord’s
covenant, 26 “Take this scroll of the law and place it beside the ark of the
covenant of the Lord your God. It will be there as a witness against you, 27
for I know about your rebellion and stubbornness. Indeed, even while I have
been alive among you, you have been rebellious against the Lord; how much more
will you be so after my death? 28 Gather to me all your tribal elders and
officials so I can speak to them directly of these things and call the heavens
and the earth to witness against them. 29 For I know that after I die you will
totally corrupt yourselves and turn away from the path I have commanded you to
walk. Disaster will confront you in the days to come because you will act
wickedly before the Lord, inciting him to wrath because of your works.” 30 Then
Moses recited the words of this song from start to finish in the hearing of the
whole assembly of
A fuller description of
8 Now pay attention to the whole
commandment I am giving you today, so that you may be strong enough to enter
and possess the land where you are headed, 9 and that you may enjoy long life
in the land the Lord swore to give to your ancestors and their descendants, a
land flowing with milk and honey (Deuteronomy 11:8-9).
26 Take note—I am setting before
you today a blessing and a curse: 27 the blessing if you take to heart the
commandments of the Lord your God that I am giving you today, 28 and the curse
if you pay no attention to his commandments and turn from the way I am setting
before you today to pursue other gods you have not known (Deuteronomy
11:26-28).
You must be careful to do
everything I am commanding you. Do not add to it or subtract from it!
(Deuteronomy 12:32)
15 “Look! I have set before you today life and prosperity on
the one hand, and death and disaster on the other. 16 What I am commanding you
today is to love the Lord your God, to walk in his ways, and to obey his
commandments, his statutes, and his ordinances. Then you will live and become
numerous and the Lord your God will bless you in the land where you are going
to take possession of it. 17 However, if you turn aside and do not obey, but
are lured away to worship and serve other gods, 18 I declare to you this very
day that you will certainly perish! You will not extend your time in the land
you are crossing the
It is generally accepted that
Moses’ sermons in the Book of Deuteronomy were delivered over a period of about
a week and that they fall into three major divisions. These divisions are
essentially chronological: the first chapters look back in time; the middle
chapters look to the near future; and the final chapters look into
THE FIRST ISSUE: HOW WILL
THIS NEW GENERATION OF ISRAELITES RESPOND TO THE DIFFICULTY OF TAKING THE
PROMISED LAND FROM THE CANAANITES?
This issue was the turning point for the first generation of Israelites, who
were terrified by the strength and size of their adversaries (Numbers
13:26—14:35). Moses knows full well that the difficulty of their task will be
an issue the second generation must deal with as well:
17 If you think, “These
nations are more numerous than I—how can I dispossess them?,” 18 you must not fear them (Deuteronomy 7:17-18a,
emphasis mine).
1 Listen, Israel: Today you are
about to cross the Jordan River so you can dispossess the nations there, people
greater and stronger than you, large cities with extremely high fortifications,
2 the Anakites, a numerous and tall people whom you know about and of
whom it is said, “Who is able to withstand the Anakites?” (Deuteronomy
9:1-2, emphasis mine)
Moses turns to the history of
God’s previous dealings with
First, Moses reminds this
generation that their fathers refused to possess the land and rebelled against Moses in the wilderness,
consequently losing their opportunity to enter into God’s blessings
(Deuteronomy 1:18-46).
Second, Moses commands the
Israelites not to fear by reiterating God’s promise that He will most certainly
give them the land He promised their fathers under the leadership of Joshua:
18 I instructed you at that time
as follows, “The Lord your God has given you this land for your
possession. You are to cross over before your fellow Israelites, all the
warriors, equipped for battle. 19 But your wives, children, and livestock (of
which I know you have many) must remain in the cities I have given you 20 until
the Lord helps your fellow countrymen prevail as you have, and allows them to
possess the land that he is giving them on the other side of the Jordan River.
Then each of you may return to his own territory which I have given you.” 21 I
also commanded Joshua at the same time, “You have seen everything the Lord your
God did to these two kings; he will do the same to the kingdoms where you are
going. 22 Do not be afraid of them, for the Lord your God will
personally fight for you” (Deuteronomy 3:18-22, emphasis mine).
Third, Moses reminds the
Israelites of what God had already done for the Israelites while they were
slaves in
32 Indeed, ask about
earlier days that have preceded you, from the day God created mankind on the
earth and from one end of heaven to the other, whether there has ever been such
a great thing as this, or even a rumor of it. 33 Have a people ever
heard the voice of God speaking from fire, as you yourselves have, and lived to
tell about it? 34 Or has God ever before tried to deliver a nation to
himself from the middle of another nation, accompanied by testings, signs,
wonders, war, strength, power, and other very terrifying things like the Lord
your God did for you in Egypt before your very eyes? 35 You have been
made to understand that the Lord alone is God—there is no other besides him. 36
From heaven he spoke to you in order to teach you, and on earth showed you his
great fire from which you also heard him. 37 Moreover, because he loved
your ancestors he chose their descendants who followed them, and personally
brought you out of Egypt with great power 38 to dispossess
nations greater and more powerful than you and brought you in to give you their
land as an inheritance—just as it has taken place today. 39 May
you understand today and take it to heart that the Lord is God in heaven above
and on earth below—there is no other! 40 And may you keep his statutes
and commandments that I am setting forth today so that it may go well with you
and your descendants and that you might enjoy longevity in the land that the
Lord your God is about to give you forever” (Deuteronomy 4:32-40, emphasis
mine).
You must carefully recall
what the Lord your God did to Pharaoh and all Egypt, 19 the
great afflictions you saw, the signs and wonders, the strong hand and extended
arm by which he brought you out—thus the Lord your God will do to all the
people you fear. 20 Furthermore, he will release the hornet among them until
the very last ones who hide from you perish. 21 You must not tremble in their
presence, for the Lord your God, who is present among you, is a great and
awesome God. 22 He, the God who leads you, will expel the nations little by
little. You must not overcome them all at once lest the wild animals overrun
you. 23 The Lord your God will give them over to you; he will trouble them with
great difficulty until they are destroyed. 24 He will hand over their kings to
you and you will erase their very names from memory. Nobody will be able to
stand before you until you annihilate them” (Deuteronomy 7:18b-24, emphasis
mine)
1 Therefore, love the Lord your
God and keep his obligations, that is, his statutes, ordinances, and
commandments forever. 2 Bear in mind today that I am not speaking to your
children who have not known or seen the instruction of the Lord your God, his
greatness, strength, and power, 3 or his signs and works that he
did in the midst of Egypt to Pharaoh king of Egypt and his whole land;
4 what he did to the army of Egypt, their horses and chariots, when he
made the waters of the Red Sea overwhelm them when they were pursuing you, and
how he destroyed them to this very day; 5 what he did to you in the
desert until you reached this place, 6 and what he did to Dathan and Abiram,
sons of Eliab the Reubenite, when the earth opened its mouth and swallowed
them, their children, their tents, and everything that followed them, in the
middle of all Israel— 7 but it is your very eyes that saw all the great
deeds of the Lord! (Deuteronomy 11:1-7, emphasis mine)
Fourth, Moses reminds the
Israelites of God’s intervention in the more recent past:
2:24 Get up,
make your way across Wadi Arnon. Look! I have already delivered over to you
Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and his land. Go ahead! Take it! Engage him
in war! 25 This very day I will begin to fill all the people of the earth with
dread and to terrify them when they hear about you. They will shiver and shake
in anticipation of your coming.” 26 Then I sent messengers from the
3:1 Next we set out on the route
to Bashan, but King Og of
Based upon God’s faithfulness
to
18 I instructed you at that time
as follows, “The Lord your God has given you this land for your
possession. You are to cross over before your fellow Israelites, all
the warriors, equipped for battle. 19 But your wives, children, and livestock
(of which I know you have many) must remain in the cities I have given you 20
until the Lord helps your fellow countrymen prevail as you have, and allows
them to possess the land that he is giving them on the other side of the Jordan
River. Then each of you may return to his own territory which I have given
you.” 21 I also commanded Joshua at the same time, “You have seen
everything the Lord your God did to these two kings; he will do the same to the
kingdoms where you are going. 22 Do not be afraid of them, for
the Lord your God will personally fight for you” (Deuteronomy 3:18-22,
emphasis mine).
THE SECOND ISSUE: THE
DANGERS OF CANAANITE IDOLATRY AND IMMORALITY. The second
issue facing the Israelites as they are preparing to enter the Promised Land is
the temptation posed by the Canaanites’ immorality and idolatry.
We should recall that it was
the danger posed by Canaanite idolatry and immorality that necessitated
Not long ago I received an
e-mail from a website inquirer asking if I knew of any sources of information
about the pagan sexual practices of Paul’s day. I responded that I was sure
such information was available, but that I would not recommend investigating
this matter thoroughly. If God’s Word does not supply such information, then
perhaps it is unnecessary, or even ill advised. There is a way in which the
study of evil can be an unnecessary and dangerous source of temptation.
Curiosity about such things can be very dangerous:
29 After the Lord your God has
cut off the nations from the place where you are going to dispossess them and
you do so and settle down in their land, 30 be careful not to be ensnared like
they are, after they have been destroyed from your presence, and pursue their gods
and say, “How do these nations serve their gods? I myself will do the same.” 31
You must not do this against the Lord your God! For everything abominable to
him, everything he hates, they have done for their gods. They even burn up
their sons and daughters to their gods! (Deuteronomy 12:29-31)
Through Moses, God prepares
His people for their encounter with the idolatry and immorality of the
Canaanites. Moses first turns the Israelites’ attention to the past, which
should instruct them regarding the future. First, there was the lesson that
should have been learned from the exodus.
33 “Have a people ever heard the
voice of God speaking from fire, as you yourselves have, and lived to tell
about it? 34 Or has God ever before tried to deliver a nation to himself from
the middle of another nation, accompanied by testings, signs, wonders, war,
strength, power, and other very terrifying things like the Lord your God did
for you in Egypt before your very eyes? 35 You have been made to understand
that the Lord alone is God—there is no other besides him”
(Deuteronomy 4:33-35, emphasis mine).
When Moses confronted
Pharaoh, asking that he release the Israelites, Pharaoh immediately saw this as
a “battle of the gods”:
1 And afterward Moses and Aaron
went to Pharaoh and said, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘Release my
people so that they may hold a pilgrim feast to me in the desert.’” 2 But
Pharaoh said, “Who is the Lord that I should obey him by releasing
The whole encounter
demonstrated that God alone is God, and that
“And I will pass through the
If the God of Israel defeated
the “gods” of
Moses reminded the Israelites
that at
12 “Then the Lord spoke to you
from the fire; you indeed heard speech but you could not see anything—only a
voice… . 15 Be most careful, then, because you saw
nothing at the time the Lord spoke to you at Horeb from the fire’s midst. 16 I
say this so you will not corrupt yourselves by making an image in the form of
any kind of figure, the likeness of a human male or a female, 17 of any kind of
land animal, of a bird that flies in the sky, 18 of any insect on the ground,
or of any fish in the deep waters of the earth. 19 It is also to guard you
against looking up to the sky and seeing the sun, moon, and stars—the whole
heavenly creation—and then being seduced by them to worship and serve them,
things that the Lord your God has distributed among all the people of the
world” (Deuteronomy 4:12, 15-19).
They should also remember how
angry God was with the Israelites when they worshipped an idol – the golden
calf – at the foot of
7 Remember—don’t ever forget—how
you provoked the Lord your God in the desert; from the time you left Egypt
until you came to this place you were constantly rebelling against him. 8 At
Horeb you provoked him and he was angry enough with you to destroy you. 9 When
I ascended the mountain to receive the stone tablets, the tablets of the
covenant that the Lord made with you, I remained there forty days and nights,
eating and drinking nothing. 10 And the Lord gave me the two stone tablets,
written with the very finger of God; and on them was everything he said to you
at the mountain from the fire at the time of that assembly. 11 Now at the end
of the forty days and nights the Lord presented me with the two stone tablets,
the texts of the covenant. 12 And he said to me, “Get up, go
down from here because your people whom you brought out of
It should probably be noted
here that the idolatry of the Canaanites was closely related to their
immorality. This is often the case. It was with the Israelites at
So they got up early on the next
day and offered up burnt offerings, and they brought peace offerings; and the
people sat down to eat and drink, and they rose up to play (Exodus 32:6).
The word “play” has
definite sexual connotations.138
The Canaanites worshipped fertility gods, and so it is little wonder that
sexual immorality would be involved in their “worship.”
1 “When the Lord your God brings
you to the land that you are going to occupy and forces out many nations before
you—Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and
Jebusites, seven nations more numerous and powerful than you—2 and he delivers
them over to you and you attack them, you must utterly annihilate them. Make no
covenant with them nor show them compassion! 3 You must not intermarry with
them. Do not give your daughters to their sons nor take their daughters for
your sons, 4 for they will turn your sons away from me to worship other gods.
Then the wrath of the Lord will erupt against you and he will soon destroy you.
5 Instead, this is what you must do to them: You must tear down their altars,
shatter their sacred pillars, cut down their sacred Asherah poles, and burn up
their images. 6 For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. He has chosen
you to be a people prized above all others on the face of the earth”
(Deuteronomy 7:1-6).
25 “You must burn the images of
their gods, but do not covet the silver and gold that covers them so much that
you take it for yourself and thus become ensnared by it; for it is abhorrent to
the Lord your God. 26 You must not bring any detestable thing into your house
and thereby become an object of divine annihilation like it is. You must
absolutely abhor and detest it, for it is an object of divine annihilation”
(Deuteronomy 7:25-26).
12 “If it should come to your
attention in one of your cities that the Lord your God is giving you as a place
to live that 13 some evil people have departed from among you to entice the
inhabitants of their cities, saying, “Let’s go and serve other gods whom you
have not known before,” 14 you must investigate thoroughly and inquire
carefully. If it is true and certain that this abomination is being done among
you, 15 you must by all means slaughter the inhabitants of that city with the
sword; put under the divine curse everyone in it, even the livestock, by the
sword. 16 You must collect all of its spoil into the middle of the plaza and
burn the city and all its spoil as a whole burnt offering to the Lord your God.
It will be an abandoned ruin forever—it must never be rebuilt again. 17 You
must not take for yourself anything of that which has been cursed, so that the
Lord might relent of his intense wrath and show you compassion,
that he might have mercy on you and multiply you as he promised your
ancestors. 18 Thus you must obey the voice of the Lord your God, keeping all
his commandments that I am presenting you today and doing the thing that is
right before him” (Deuteronomy 13:12-18).
These texts were crucial to
Let
27 “You have heard that it was
said, ‘Do not commit adultery.’ 28 But I say to you that whoever looks at a
woman to desire her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 29 If
your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. It is better
to lose one of your members than to have your whole body thrown into hell. 30
If your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is
better to lose one of your members than to have your whole body go into hell”
(Matthew 5:27-30).
THE THIRD ISSUE: THE
DANGERS OF APATHY, PRIDE, AND SELF-SUFFICIENCY. There is yet another serious danger for the
Israelites as they prepare to possess the Promised Land of Canaan – that they
become smug, arrogant, and self-sufficient. In other words, in their prosperity
they will be tempted to forget that God is the source of their blessings and
begin to take credit themselves:
10 Then when the Lord your God
brings you to the land he swore to your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—to
give you large, excellent cities you did not build, 11 houses filled with
choice things you did not provide, hewn out cisterns you did not dig, and
vineyards and olive groves you did not plant—and you eat to your satisfaction,
12 be careful lest you forget the Lord who brought you out of Egypt, the place
of slavery” (Deuteronomy 6:10-12).
11 “Be very careful lest you
forget the Lord your God, not keeping his commandments, ordinances, and
statutes that I am giving you today. 12 When you eat to your satisfaction, when
you build and occupy good houses, 13 when your cattle and flocks increase, when
you have plenty of silver and gold, and when you have abundance of everything,
14 be careful lest you feel self-important and forget the Lord your God who
brought you from the land of Egypt, the place of slavery, 15 and who brought
you through the great, fearful desert of venomous serpents and scorpions, a
thirsty place of no water, bringing forth for you water from flint rock and 16
feeding you in the desert with manna (which your ancestors had never before
known) so that he might test you and eventually bring good to you. 17 Be
careful lest you say, “My own ability has gotten me this wealth.” 18 You must
remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives ability to get wealth; if
you do this he will confirm his covenant that he swore to your ancestors, even
as he has to this day. 19 Now it will come about that if you forget the Lord
your God at all and run after other gods, worshiping and prostrating yourselves
before them, I testify to you today that you will be utterly destroyed. 20 Just
like the nations the Lord is about to decimate from your sight, so he will do
to you because you would not pay attention to him” (Deuteronomy 8:11-20).
Up to this point in time, the
Israelites had not experienced what we might call “the good life.” They had
come out of slavery in
God graciously built in some
protective elements. He did not make farming so easy for His people that they
would not have to trust and obey Him. God put the Israelites in a land that was
dependent upon Him for its rains:
8 Now pay attention to the whole
commandment I am giving you today, so that you may be strong enough to enter
and possess the land where you are headed, 9 and that you may enjoy long life
in the land the Lord swore to give to your ancestors and their descendants, a
land flowing with milk and honey. 10 For the land where you are headed as your
possession is not like the
7 It is not because you were more
numerous than all the other peoples that the Lord considered and chose you—for
in fact you were the smallest of all peoples— 8 but because of his love for you
and his faithfulness to the oath he swore to your ancestors the Lord brought
you out with great power, redeeming you from the place of slavery, from the
power of Pharaoh king of Egypt. 9 Therefore, take note that it is the Lord your
God who is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant faithfully with those who
love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations” (Deuteronomy
7:7-9).
The Israelites were reminded
of the humble circumstances from (and through) which God brought them to the
Promised Land:
20 “When your children ask you
later on, ‘What are the stipulations, statutes, and ordinances that the Lord
our God commanded you?,’ 21 you must say to them, ‘We
were Pharaoh’s slaves in
1 “When the time comes for you to
enter the land that the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance, and you
occupy it and live in it, 2 you must take the first of all the ground’s produce
you harvest from the land the Lord your God is giving you, place it in a
basket, and go to the place where he has chosen to locate his name. 3 You must
go to the priest in office at that time and say to him, “I declare today to the
Lord your God that I have come into the land that the Lord swore to our
ancestors to give us.” 4 The priest will then take the basket from you and set
it before the altar of the Lord your God. 5 And you must affirm before the
Lord, “A wandering Aramean was my ancestor, and he went down to
The Israelites were to
remember how God brought them through adversity and need, in order to teach
them to trust and obey:
1 “You must keep carefully the
entire commandment I am giving you today so that you may live, multiply, and go
in and occupy the land that the Lord promised to your ancestors. 2 Remember the
whole way by which he has brought you these forty years through the desert so
that he might, by humbling you, test to see whether deep within yourselves you
would keep his commandments or not. 3 So he humbled you by making you hungry
and feeding you with unfamiliar manna to make you understand that mankind
cannot live by food alone, but also by everything that comes from the Lord’s
mouth. 4 Your clothing did not wear out nor did your feet swell all these forty
years. 5 Be keenly aware that just as a human being disciplines his child, the
Lord your God disciplines you. 6 Thus, you must keep his commandments, that is,
walk according to his ways and revere him. 7 For the Lord your God is bringing
you to a good land, a land of brooks, springs, and fountains flowing forth in
valleys and hills, 8 a land of wheat, barley, vines, fig trees, and pomegranates,
of olive trees and honey, 9 a land where you may eat food in plenty and find no
lack of anything, a land whose stones are iron and from whose hills you can
mine copper. 10 You will eat and drink and then bless
the Lord your God because of the good land he will have given you” (Deuteronomy
8:1-10).
4 “Do not think to yourself after
the Lord your God has run them out before you, ‘Because of my own righteousness
the Lord has enabled me to possess this land, and because of the wickedness of
these nations he is dispossessing them from before me.’ 5 It is not because of
your righteousness, or even your inner uprightness, that you have come to
possess their land. Instead, because of the wickedness of these nations the
Lord your God is expelling them before you in order to confirm the promise he
swore to your ancestors, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. 6 Understand, therefore,
that it is not because of your righteousness that the Lord your God is about to
give you this good land as a possession, for you are a stubborn people!”
(Deuteronomy 9:4-6)
To help the Israelites
remember their past and the wondrous ways that God blessed them, God gave them
a number of memorials. The annual celebration of the Passover reminded the
Israelites of the way God had delivered them from their slavery in
It is true to say that the
blessings the Israelites experienced from the hand of God were in spite of
6 Understand, therefore, that it
is not because of your righteousness that the Lord your God is about to give
you this good land as a possession, for you are a stubborn people! 7
Remember—don’t ever forget—how you provoked the Lord your God in the desert;
from the time you left Egypt until you came to this place you were constantly
rebelling against him” (Deuteronomy 9:6-7; see also 9:8—10:11).
In spite of all these lessons
from the past, the Israelites will disregard them and become smugly
self-sufficient and arrogant. Through Moses, God warns the Israelites about the
future, assuring them that they will fail to heed these words of warning and
instruction, spelling out the consequences for their sin. The first warning is
found in Leviticus 26. The first warning about the future in Deuteronomy is
found in chapter 4:
25 “After you have produced
children and grandchildren and have been in the land a long time, if you become
corrupted and make an image of any kind and do other evil things before the
Lord your God that enrage him, 26 I invoke heaven and earth as witnesses
against you today that you will surely and swiftly be destroyed from the very
land you are about to cross the Jordan to possess. You will not last long there
because you will be totally devastated. 27 Then the Lord will scatter you among
the peoples and there will be very few of you in the nations where the Lord
will drive you. 28 There you will worship gods made by human hands—wood and
stone that can neither see, hear, eat, nor smell. 29 But if you seek the Lord
your God from there, you will find him, if, indeed, you seek him with all your
heart and soul. 30 In your distress when all these things happen to you in the
latter days, if you return to the Lord your God and listen to him 31 (for he is
a merciful God), he will not let you down or destroy you, for he cannot forget
the covenant with your ancestors that he swore to them” (Deuteronomy 4:25-31).
There is a lengthy
pronouncement of blessings and cursings in the closing chapters of Deuteronomy.
In chapter 27, the Israelites erect stones on which the law was inscribed. Half
of the people gathered on
In chapter 28, the first 14
verses outline the blessings that God will shower upon His people if they obey
the Lord by keeping His commandments. The remaining verses (54 of them)
describe the curses which will come upon the Israelites for disobeying God’s
commandments. The proportions certainly reflect the fact that the Israelites
will not obey God’s commandments and will experience these curses.
47 “Because you have not served
the Lord your God joyfully and wholeheartedly with the abundance of everything
you have, 48 instead in hunger, thirst, nakedness, and lack of everything you
will serve your enemies whom the Lord will send against you. They will place an
iron yoke on your neck until they have destroyed you. 49 The Lord will raise up a distant nation against you, one from the other
side of the earth as the eagle flies, a nation whose language you will not
understand, 50 a nation of stern appearance that will have no regard for the
elderly or consideration for the young. 51 They will devour the offspring of
your cattle and the produce of your soil until you are destroyed. They will not
leave you with grain, new wine, olive oil, increased herds, or larger flocks
until they have demolished you. 52 They will besiege all of your villages until
all of your high and fortified walls collapse—those in which you put your
confidence throughout the land. They will put under siege all your gates in all
parts of the land the Lord your God has given you. 53 You will then eat your
own offspring, the flesh of the sons and daughters the Lord your God has given
you, because of the stressful siege in which your enemies will constrict you… .
64 The Lord will scatter you among all nations, from one end of the earth to
the other. There you will worship other gods that neither you nor your
ancestors have known, gods of wood and stone. 65 Among those nations you will
have no rest nor will there be a place of peaceful rest for the soles of your
feet, for there the Lord will give you an anxious heart, failing eyesight, and
a spirit of despair. 66 Your life will hang in doubt before you; you will be
terrified by night and day and will have no certainty of surviving from one day
to the next. 67 In the morning you will say, ‘If only it were evening!’ And in
the evening you will say, ‘I wish it were morning!’ because of the things you
will fear and the things you will see. 68 Then the Lord will make you return to
Chapters 28-30 of Deuteronomy
are the key to understanding the history of
1 “Now when all these things
happen to you—the blessing and the curse I have set before you—and you remember
them in all the nations where the Lord your God has exiled you, 2 if you turn
to the Lord your God and listen to him just as I am commanding you today—you
and your descendants—with your whole mind and being, 3 then the Lord your God
will reverse your captivity and have pity on you. He will turn and gather you
from all the peoples among whom he has scattered you. 4 Even if any of your
dispersed are under the most distant skies, from there the Lord your God will
gather and bring you back. 5 Then he will bring you to the land your ancestors
possessed and you also will possess it; he will do better for you and multiply
you more than he did your ancestors. 6 The Lord your God will also cleanse your
heart and the hearts of your descendants so that you may love him with all your
mind and being, in order to live. 7 Then the Lord your God will put all these
curses on your enemies, on those who hate you and persecute you. 8 You will
return and pay attention to the Lord, keeping all his commandments I am giving
you today. 9 The Lord your God will make the labor of your hands abundantly
successful—in your offspring, the offspring of your cattle, and the crops of
your fields. For the Lord your God will once more rejoice over you for good
just as he rejoiced over your ancestors, 10 if you obey the Lord your God and
keep his commandments and statutes that are written in this book of the law,
that is, if you turn to him with your whole mind and being” (Deuteronomy
30:1-10).
Moses concludes by presenting
the Israelites with a choice, urging them to choose to trust and obey God:
11 “For this commandment that I
am giving you today is not too awesome for you, nor is it too remote. 12 It is
not in heaven, as though one must say, “Who will go up to heaven to get it for
us so that we may hear and obey it?” 13 And it is not across the sea, as though
one must say, “Who will cross over to the other side of the sea and get it for
us so that we may hear and keep it?” 14 For the thing is
very near you—it is in your mouth and mind so that you can do it. 15 “Look! I have set before you today life and prosperity on
the one hand, and death and disaster on the other. 16 What I am commanding you
today is to love the Lord your God, to walk in his ways, and to obey his
commandments, his statutes, and his ordinances. Then you will live and become
numerous and the Lord your God will bless you in the land where you are going
to take possession of it. 17 However, if you turn aside and do not obey, but
are lured away to worship and serve other gods, 18 I declare to you this very
day that you will certainly perish! You will not extend your time in the land
you are crossing the
The Book of Deuteronomy
concludes with the “song of Moses” in chapter 32, a blessing pronounced by
Moses (chapter 33), and a description of the death of Moses (chapter 34). One
might conclude that the Book of Deuteronomy ends in a very depressing way. Even
before the Israelites have set foot in the Promised Land, they are told that
they will fail and that they will be cast out of the land. Where is the “good
news” in all of this? Consider the following truths that we find in the Book of
Deuteronomy.
First, God has given man a
choice to serve God and live, or to disobey and die:
15 “Look! I have set before you today life and prosperity on
the one hand, and death and disaster on the other. 16 What I am commanding you
today is to love the Lord your God, to walk in his ways, and to obey his
commandments, his statutes, and his ordinances. Then you will live and become
numerous and the Lord your God will bless you in the land where you are going
to take possession of it. 17 However, if you turn aside and do not obey, but
are lured away to worship and serve other gods, 18 I declare to you this very
day that you will certainly perish! You will not extend your time in the land
you are crossing the
Second, the Book of
Deuteronomy makes it clear that, left to himself, man
can never merit God’s blessings on the basis of law-keeping. The problem with man is that he is fallen and he
does not have a heart to serve God:
28 “When the Lord heard you
speaking to me he said to me, ‘I have heard all that these people have said to
you—they have spoken well. 29 If only it would really be their desire to fear
me and keep all my commandments forever, so that it may go well with them and
their descendants eternally’” (Deuteronomy 5:28-29).
But to this very day the Lord has
not given you an understanding mind, perceptive eyes, or discerning ears!
(Deuteronomy 29:4)
Third, the Israelites,
left to themselves, will only bring divine judgment
upon themselves.
16 And the Lord said to Moses,
“You are about to die, and then these people will begin to prostitute
themselves with the foreign gods of the land into which they are going. They
will leave me and break my covenant that I have made with them. 17 On that day
my anger will flare up against them and I will leave them and hide myself from
them until they are devoured. Many hurts and distresses will overcome them so
that they will say at that time, ‘Have not these difficulties overcome us
because God is not among us?’ 18 But I will certainly hide myself on that day
because of all the wickedness they will have done by turning to other gods. 18
But I will certainly hide myself on that day because of all the wickedness they
will have done by turning to other gods. 19 Now compose for yourselves the
following song and teach it to the Israelites—put it into their very mouths!—so
that this song may serve me as a witness against the Israelites. 20 For after I
have brought them to the land I promised to their ancestors—one flowing with
milk and honey—and they eat and become satisfied and fat, then they will turn
to other gods to worship them and will reject me and break my covenant… . 29
For I know that after I die you will totally corrupt yourselves and turn away
from the path I have commanded you to walk. Disaster will confront you in the
days to come because you will act wickedly before the Lord, inciting him to
wrath because of your works” (Deuteronomy 31:16-20, 29).
Fourth,
6 The Lord your God will also
cleanse your heart and the hearts of your descendants so that you may love him
with all your mind and being, in order to live. 7 Then the Lord your God will
put all these curses on your enemies, on those who hate you and persecute you.
8 You will return and pay attention to the Lord,
keeping all his commandments I am giving you today” (Deuteronomy 30:6-8).
39 “See now that I, indeed I, am
he!” says the Lord,
“and there is no other god besides me.
I am the one who kills and brings to life.
I smash and I heal,
and none can deliver from my power.
40 For I raise up my hand to heaven,
and say, ‘As I live forever,
41 I will sharpen my lightning-like sword,
and my hand will grasp hold of judgment;
I will execute vengeance on my foes,
and repay those who hate me!
42 I will satisfy my arrows fully with blood,
and my sword will eat flesh;
with the blood of the slaughtered and captured,
from the chief of the enemy’s leaders!’”
43 Cry out, O nations, with his people,
for he will avenge his servants’ blood;
he will direct vengeance against his enemies,
and make atonement for his land and people (Deuteronomy 32:39-43,
emphasis mine).
26 There is no one like God, O
Jeshurun,
riding the heavens to help you,
and in his lofty clouds.
27 The everlasting God is a dwelling place,
and underneath are eternal arms;
he has driven out enemies before you,
and he has said, “Destroy!”
28
the fountain of Jacob quite secure,
in a land of grain and new wine;
indeed, its heavens rain down dew.
29 Most happy are you,
A people delivered by the Lord,
your helpful shield
and your exalted sword;
may your enemies cringe before you,
but may you trample on their backs (Deuteronomy 33:26-29).
At this point in time, the
warnings that are so clear and emphatic in Deuteronomy are not taken seriously enough, in spite of Moses’ best efforts. This moment in time
is very much like a wedding ceremony. Everyone is happy, and the couple feels
so much in love. As a preacher and an elder of a local church, I know all too
well that time will present these newlyweds with many challenges. I know that
some of the weddings at which I officiate will end up in failed marriages. I
also know what it is that will destroy them. I instruct, I warn, and I
encourage those being married to carry out God’s instructions, yet I know that
many marriages will not survive because of sin and disobedience.
How much easier it is to
understand Moses’ words in Deuteronomy from our vantage point. We understand
that the Law of Moses was not given to save men, but as a standard of holiness
that no man can meet:
19 Now we know that whatever the
law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be
silenced and the whole world may be held accountable to God. 20 For no one is
declared righteous before him by the works of the law, for through the law
comes the knowledge of sin (Romans 3:19-20).
Only one person has ever
fulfilled the Law completely – the Lord Jesus Christ:
15 For we do not have a high
priest incapable of sympathizing with our weaknesses, but one who has been
tempted in every way just as we are, yet without sin… . 26 For it is indeed
fitting for us to have such a high priest: holy, innocent, undefiled, separate
from sinners, and exalted above the heavens (Hebrews 4:15; 7:26; see also
Matthew 5:17-18; 27:4; Luke 23:4, 14, 22; 23:47; John 7:19; 8:46; 1 Peter
1:18-29).
It was His death in the
sinner’s place that made salvation possible. He bore the penalty we deserve as
sinners; His righteousness is imputed to all those who trust in Him. It is in
Christ and Christ alone that the requirements of the Law have been satisfied.
3 For God achieved what the law
could not do because it was weakened through the flesh. By sending his own Son
in the likeness of sinful flesh and concerning sin, he condemned sin in the
flesh, 4 so that the righteous requirement of the law may be fulfilled in us,
who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit (Romans
8:3-4).
This is what the prophet
Jeremiah foretold:
31 “Indeed, a time is coming,”
says the Lord, “when I will make a new agreement with the people of
It is also what the Apostle
Paul proclaimed as the gospel in the Book of Romans. Taking up the words of
Deuteronomy 30, Paul writes:
4 For Christ is the end of the
law, with the result that there is righteousness for everyone who believes. 5
For Moses writes about the righteousness that is by the law: “The one who does
these things will live by them.” 6 But the righteousness that is by faith says:
“Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’” (that
is, to bring Christ down) 7 or “Who will descend into the abyss?” (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). 8 But what does
it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the
word of faith that we preach), 9 because if you confess with your mouth that
Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you
will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes and thus has righteousness
and with the mouth one confesses and thus has salvation. 11 For the scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to
shame.” 12 For there is no distinction between the Jew and the Greek, for the
same Lord is Lord of all, who richly blesses all who call on him. 13 For
everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved (Romans 10:4-13).
No wonder the Book of
Deuteronomy is so often quoted in the New Testament. It foretells the history
of the nation
Moses called upon the second
generation of Israelites to enter into a covenant relationship with God, just
as the first generation had done. New Testament saints do not live under the
old covenant, but rather under the new, but we must embrace the New Covenant in
order to enter into its blessings. This we do by faith in Jesus Christ. In our
church, we celebrate and remember the New Covenant each week by the celebration
of the Lord’s Table (communion).
To many, the Book of
Deuteronomy is a book of duty and obligation. While this is true, I want to
remind you that “love” is emphasized in this book as well. It is not a
teeth-gritting kind of obedience that God desires, but an obedience prompted by
love:
12 Now,
The Book of Deuteronomy
reminds us that every generation must enter into a covenant relationship with
God. It is not enough that your mother or father trusted in Jesus Christ for
salvation; you must personally embrace Christ’s work on the cross of
133 This is the edited manuscript of a message delivered
by Robert L. Deffinbaugh, teacher and elder at Community Bible Chapel, on
February 11, 2001.
134 Henrietta C. Mears, What the Bible Is All
About (Ventura, California: Regal Books, revised edition, 1983), p. 75.
135 Bruce Wilkinson and Kenneth Boa, Talk Thru The Old Testament (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers,
1983), p. 37.
136 Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations
are from the NET Bible. The NEW ENGLISH TRANSLATION, also known as THE NET
BIBLE, is a completely new translation of the Bible, not a revision or an
update of a previous English version. It was completed by more than twenty
biblical scholars who worked directly from the best currently available Hebrew,
Aramaic, and Greek texts. The translation project originally started as an
attempt to provide an electronic version of a modern translation for electronic
distribution over the Internet and on CD (compact disk). Anyone anywhere in the
world with an Internet connection will be able to use and print out the NET
Bible without cost for personal study. In addition, anyone who wants to share
the Bible with others can print unlimited copies and give them away free to
others. It is available on the Internet at: www.netbible.org.
137 Joseph was sought after by Mrs. Potiphar, but this was
obviously an exception. The general disdain for Hebrews can even be seen in her
own words – see Genesis 39:17.
138 There was a very great difference between the
“worship” of the people before the golden calf and that of the elders on the
mountain. The people not only ate and drank, they “rose up to play”
(32:6). This term “play” refers to illicit and immoral sex play. The
same expression is used in Genesis 26:8, where Abimelech “looked out through
a window, and saw, and behold, Isaac was caressing his wife Rebekah”
(emphasis mine). Thus, this “worship” had turned into an orgy. /docs/ot/books/exo/deffin/exo-25.htm
Lesson 16 —
The Book of Joshua
Introduction
There
is a picture in my parents’ family collection that will always stand out in my
mind. It was taken during a family vacation that included a few days in
Our
family picture was taken late in the afternoon, posing cheerfully in front of
our tent. The sky was blue and virtually cloudless. It looked like the perfect
family vacation. It was after we were all inside the tent for the evening,
curled up in our sleeping bags, that the unexpected
occurred. A summer storm suddenly engulfed us. There were torrential rains,
accompanied by thunder and lightning. The rains blew in the door of our tent,
which faced the storm. The waters collected in the hollow, where we had pitched
our tent. Soon, there were at least of couple of inches of rainwater inside the
tent. Our sleeping bags were soaking wet, and my younger brother was singing
“Jesus Loves Me” as loudly as possible. We hurriedly wadded up our tent,
sleeping bags and all, stuffed them into the truck of our car, and drove to a
motel where we could dry out.
Some
things that start very well end up in a very different manner. This part of our
family vacation reminds me of the relationship of the Book of Joshua to the
following book, the Book of Judges. Joshua is the “high water mark” of success
in
How
could this be? How could
The Structure of the Book of Joshua
The
structure of the Book of Joshua is quite transparent:
|
Chapters 1-12 |
Occupying the
Land and Overcoming the Canaanites |
|
Chapters 13-21 |
Dividing the Land |
|
Chapters 22-24 |
Concluding Events
and Joshua’s Words of Exhortation and Warning |
In
this study, we shall give our attention to the first and final sections of the
book. The first section is filled with exciting events describing the crossing
of the
An Overview of the Taking of the
Joshua 1:1—12:24
Chapter 1
The
first chapter of Joshua is filled with words of instruction and encouragement.
God directs Joshua to lead the Israelites across the
3
“I am handing over to you every place you set foot, as I promised
Moses. 4 Your territory will extend from the wilderness in the south to
Along
with God’s assurances, there were exhortations and commands. Joshua was to be
strong and brave (1:6, 7); he was not to be afraid
(1:9). He was to lead the people across the
Joshua
then gave instructions to the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh – those
tribes that had chosen to dwell on the eastern side of the Jordan – reminding
them that they must help their brethren possess the land on the western side of
the Jordan before they could join their families on their own land east of the
Jordan. The response of these Israelites to the words of Joshua is amazing:
16
They told Joshua, “We will do everything you say. We will go wherever you send
us. 17 Just as we obeyed Moses, so we will obey you. But may
the Lord your God be with you as he was with Moses. 18 Any man who
rebels against what you say and does not obey all your commands will be
executed. But be strong and brave!” (Joshua 1:16-18)
Moses
had commanded their fathers to occupy the
Chapter 2
This
time Joshua sends out only two spies (2:1), which is surely linked to the
failure of the first generation at Kadesh when only 2 of the 12 spies had a “good
report.” Joshua’s actions made it clear what kind of report he expected
from these two spies. God intervened in such a way that it was certain to be a “good
report.” The two spies made their way to
The
spies found a woman of faith in Rahab. The king of
9
She said to the men, “I know the Lord is handing this land over to you. We are
absolutely terrified of you, and all who live in the land are cringing before
you. 10 For we heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea before you
when you left
Rahab
bargained with the spies to spare her and her family, if she would protect
them. They agreed, and the spies escaped from the city, lowered down the wall
by a rope from Rahab’s window (2:15). The spies fled to the hills and then made
their way back to the Israelites’ camp. They came to Joshua bearing good news:
They
told Joshua, “Surely the Lord is handing over all the land to us! All who live
in the land are cringing before us!” (Joshua 2:24)[143][141]
Rahab’s
report was not only the means of her own deliverance; it also played a
significant role in giving the Israelites the courage to attack
Chapter 3
This
was to be a great day in
The
Lord told Joshua, “This very day I will begin to honor you before all
As
they were preparing to cross the
9
Joshua told the Israelites, “Come here and listen to the words of the Lord your
God!” 10 Joshua continued, “This is how you will know the living God is among
you and that he will truly drive out before you the Canaanites, Hittites,
Hivites, Perizzites, Girgashites, Amorites, and Jebusites. 11 Look! The ark of
the covenant of the Ruler of the whole earth is ready to enter the
When
the priests stepped into the waters of the
Chapter 4
God
commanded Joshua to build a memorial, a reminder to this and future generations
of what a great thing God had done for His people. Twelve men (one from each
tribe) were to go to the riverbed and remove a stone. These stones were to be
carried to their campsite on the western side of the
That
day a mighty miracle was performed, one that was intended to encourage the
Israelites that God was going before them to enable them to defeat the
Canaanites and possess the land (see 3:9-13). It was also God’s means of
honoring Joshua, so that the people would respect and follow him, as they had
Moses:
That
day the Lord brought honor to Joshua before all
It
was also God’s way of encouraging the Israelites to obey Him and of terrorizing
the Canaanites who would oppose His people:
4:24
He has done this so all the nations of the earth might recognize the Lord’s
power and so you might always obey the Lord your God.” 1 When all the Amorite
kings on the west side of the Jordan and all the Canaanite kings along the
seacoast heard how the Lord had dried up the water of the Jordan before the
Israelites while they crossed, they lost their strength and could not even
breathe for fear of the Israelites (Joshua 4:24-5:1).
Chapter 5
Once
they were on the other side of the
When
all the men had been circumcised, they stayed there in the camp until they had
healed (Joshua 5:8).
It
reminds us of an earlier incident, recorded in the Book of Genesis:
24
All the men who assembled at the city gate agreed with Hamor and his son
Shechem. Every male who assembled at the city gate was circumcised. 25 In
three days, when they were still in pain, two of Jacob’s sons, Simeon and Levi,
Dinah’s brothers, each took his sword and went to the unsuspecting city and
slaughtered every male. 26 They killed Hamor and his son Shechem with
the sword, took Dinah from Shechem’s house, and left. 27 Jacob’s sons killed
them and looted the city because their sister had been violated. 28 They took
their flocks, herds, and donkeys, as well as everything in the city and in the
surrounding fields. 29 They captured as plunder all their wealth, all their
little ones, and their wives, including everything in the houses (Genesis
34:24-29, emphasis mine).
When
Shechem forced himself on Dinah, the sister of Simeon and Levi, these angry
brothers deceitfully entered into a treaty with the men of Shechem, on the
condition that all the Shechemite men submit to the rite of circumcision. In
that three-day healing period, when the Shechemites were greatly in pain and in
a weakened condition, the sons of Jacob slaughtered the men and took their
wives, children, and cattle as spoils of war.
This
informs us that, when the Israelites submitted to circumcision immediately
after crossing the
Following
their circumcision, the Israelites observed Passover on the plains of
A
very strange thing now happens. As Joshua approaches
14
He answered, “Truly I am the commander of the Lord’s army. Now I have arrived!”
Joshua bowed down with his face to the ground and asked, “What does my master
want to say to his servant?” 15 The commander of the Lord’s army answered
Joshua, “Remove your sandals from your feet, because the place where you
stand is holy.” Joshua did so (Joshua 5:14-15, emphasis mine).
Many
people feel this is a manifestation of the pre-incarnate Christ, and I am very
much inclined to agree. No wonder Joshua was quick to remove his sandals and to
fall on his face before this “Commander-in-chief.” Once again, we are reminded
of an earlier incident in the Pentateuch:
3
So Moses thought, “I will turn aside to see this amazing sight, why the bush
does not burn up.” 4 And when the Lord saw that he had turned aside to look,
God called to him from within the bush and said, “Moses, Moses!” And Moses
said, “Here I am.” 5 And God said, “Do not come near here. Take your
sandals off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.”
6 He also said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of
Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” Then Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to
look at God (Exodus 3:3-6, emphasis mine).
And
so Joshua has his own version of the “burning bush;” he has a direct encounter
with God. He receives his battle instructions from none other than the
“Commander-in-chief” of
Chapter 6
I
love this story. The chapter begins with a description of a real military
problem:
Now
How
would the Israelites deal with the fact that
God
had the perfect solution, one that no one would have considered, because it was
a miracle. The divine messenger never actually told Joshua how the Israelites
would enter the city or how the people of
By
faith the walls of
The
Commander-in-chief told Joshua that the Israelites were to march around the
city once each day for six days. Armed men were to go first, blowing horns. The
priests were to follow, carrying the ark of the covenant
and blowing horns. Then the rest of the troops followed behind, blowing their
horns. The people, however, were to remain quiet. What an amazing sight this
would have been! You can imagine that the people of
To
the amazement of all (those marching outside the city, and those standing on
the walls looking out) the walls of the city collapsed. It is my opinion that
many (if not most) of the armed soldiers of Jericho were either standing on top
of the wall or close to it, ready to fend off the Israelites if they stormed
the city. When the walls collapsed, this must have killed a great many of the
soldiers of
There
was yet another miracle, at least as I read the account. God destroyed the city
by causing the walls to fall down, and yet He spared Rahab and her family whose
home was in (or on) a part of the wall. Surely this one section of the wall did
not collapse, as did the rest. And so the two spies were sent into Rahab’s
house to bring she and her family out safely, under
Chapter 7
There
was one problem with the victory of
But
the Israelites disobeyed the command about the city’s riches. Achan son of
Carmi, son of Zabdi, son of Zerah, from the tribe of
Achan
had disobeyed the instructions Moses had given earlier:
22
He, the God who leads you, will expel the nations little by little. You must
not overcome them all at once lest the wild animals overrun you. 23 The Lord
your God will give them over to you; he will trouble them with great difficulty
until they are destroyed. 24 He will hand over their kings to you and you will
erase their very names from memory. Nobody will be able to stand before you
until you annihilate them. 25 You must burn the images of their gods, but
do not covet the silver and gold that covers them so much that you take it for
yourself and thus become ensnared by it; for it is abhorrent to the Lord your
God. 26 You must not bring any detestable thing into your
house and thereby become an object of divine annihilation like it is. You must
absolutely abhor and detest it, for it is an object of divine annihilation
(Deuteronomy 7:22-26, emphasis mine).
More
than this, Achan disobeyed Joshua’s very specific instructions, given just
before the Israelites captured
17
The city and all that is in it must be set apart for the Lord, except for Rahab
the prostitute and all who are with her in her house, because she hid the spies
we sent. 18 But be careful when you are setting apart the riches for the Lord.
If you take any of it, you will make the Israelite camp subject to annihilation
and cause a disaster. 19 All the silver and gold, as well as bronze and iron items, belong to the Lord. They must go into the Lord’s
treasury” (Joshua 6:17-19, emphasis mine).
Achan’s
sin brought great calamity, not just upon himself and his family, but also upon
the whole Israelite nation. This would soon be apparent. The next city that the
Israelites must deal with is the city of
They
returned and reported to Joshua, “Don’t send the whole army. About two or three
thousand men are adequate to defeat Ai. Don’t tire out the whole army, for Ai
is small” (Joshua 7:3).
It
may have been that two or three thousand men could have taken the city,
particularly with God’s help. But it was not to be, not this time. When the
Israelites engaged the people of Ai in battle, their adversaries gained the
upper hand and sent the Israelite forces running for their lives. Thirty-six
men were lost in this battle. Joshua and all
10
The Lord responded to Joshua, “Get up! Why are you lying there face down? 11
Joshua
then put the Israelites through a process of elimination, until it was revealed
that Achan was the guilty party. Joshua urged Achan to come clean with his sin,
and he did:
20
Achan told Joshua, “It is true. I have sinned against the Lord God of
You
have to give Achan credit for openly admitting his sin, without making any
excuses. But his sin was serious; it had cost
Chapter 8
God
encouraged Joshua not to fear and to be of good courage. He instructed him to
take the whole army and attack the city of
The
LORD then instructed Joshua to hold out his sword toward Ai, because He was
giving him the city (8:18). He held out his sword until the victory was
complete (8:26). Once again, we are reminded of an earlier incident in the Pentateuch
involving Moses and Joshua:
8
Amalek came and attacked
Just
as Moses had instructed (Deuteronomy 27), Joshua built an altar to the LORD on
Chapter 9
In
chapter 9, we read of one of the failures of Joshua and the leaders of
The
Gibeonites must have cleaned out every Salvation Army and Goodwill store in the
area, finding old worn-out garments and sandals. They also acquired old,
dried-out bread. These things were used to convince the Israelites that the
Gibeonites had come a long distance, from a far away
place. It would seem that these people had some knowledge of the law, or at least of
10
When you approach a city to wage war against it, offer it terms of peace. 11 If
it accepts them and submits to you, all the people found in it will
become compulsory servants to you. 12 But if they do not accept terms
of peace but make war with you, then you are to lay siege against their city.
13 The Lord your God will deliver it over to you and you must kill every single
male by the sword. 14 However, the women, little children, cattle, and anything
else in the city—all its plunder—you may take as your booty. You may
appropriate the spoils of your enemies that the Lord your God has given you. 15
This is how you are to deal with all those cities very distant from you,
those that do not belong to nearby nations. 16 As for the cities
of these peoples which the Lord your God is going to give you as an
inheritance, you must not allow a single living thing to survive. 17
Instead you must put them under the divine curse—the Hittite, Amorite,
Canaanite, Perizzite, Hivite, and Jebusite, —just as the Lord your God has
commanded you, 18 so that they cannot teach you to do the detestable things
they do to their gods and you thereby sin against the Lord your God
(Deuteronomy 20:10-18).
Counting
on the fact that the Israelites would live by God’s laws, the Gibeonites passed
themselves off as those “very distant” from
Chapter 10
The
Gibeonite saga is not over. The alliance of Amorite kings mentioned first in
Joshua 9:1-2 is now dealt with in greater detail in chapter 10. These kings
were greatly distressed to learn that the Gibeonites had entered into a treaty
with the Israelites because
Joshua
assembled his whole army and set out for
all-night march (an uphill climb of nearly 25 miles,
and from sea level to about 4,000 feet) brought them to
12
The day the Lord delivered the Amorites over to the Israelites, Joshua prayed
to Lord before
“O
sun, stand still over
O moon, over the
13
The sun stood still and the moon stood motionless while the nation took
vengeance on its enemies. The event is recorded in the Scroll of the Upright
One. The sun stood motionless in the middle of the sky and did not set for
about a full day (Joshua 10:12-13).
The LORD fought for
Did
God employ the forces of nature to part the
40
Joshua defeated the whole land, including the hill country, the
Chapter 11
All
that was left for Joshua and the combined army of the Israelites was to defeat
the kings to the north. From that point on, defeating the Canaanites would be
the task of each individual tribe. (This is a task that they will fail to
accomplish, as we see in the Book of Judges.) An alliance of northern kings was
established, but it did not spare them from defeat at the hand of Joshua and
the Israelites. Joshua’s victory is summed up in a way that links his obedience
to God’s commands with his victory over
15
Moses the Lord’s servant passed on the Lord’s commands
to Joshua, and Joshua did as he was told. He did not ignore any of the commands
the Lord had given Moses.
16
Joshua conquered the whole land, including the hill country, all the Negev, all
the land of Goshen, the lowlands, the Arabah, the hill country of Israel and
its lowlands, 17 from Mount Halak on up to Seir, as far as Baal Gad in the
Lebanon Valley below Mount Hermon. He captured all their kings and executed
them. 18 Joshua campaigned against these kings for quite some time. 19 No city
made peace with the Israelites (except the Hivites living in Gibeon); they had
to conquer all of them, 20 for the Lord determined to make them obstinate so
they would attack
21
At that time Joshua attacked and eliminated the Anakites from the hill
country—from
Concluding Events of Joshua
Joshua 22-24
Chapters
13-21 of Joshua concern the distribution of the land. The great powers of the
Promised Land had been defeated, but much remained to be conquered (13:1-6).
This would be the task of the individual tribes and not the duty of the
combined forces of
In
chapter 13, we find a very brief, but significant, anecdote:
The
Israelites killed Balaam son of Beor, the omen-reader, along with the others
(Joshua 13:22).
Balaam’s
payday finally arrived. This brief remark must, in some way, undergird the
comment we find in Joshua 22:17, to which we will refer shortly.
Joshua
is now very old (13:1; 23:1). The time of his departure is drawing near. Now
that the major powers of
1
Then Joshua summoned the Reubenites, Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh 2
and told them: “You have carried out all the instructions of Moses the Lord’s
servant, and you have obeyed all I have told you. 3 You have not abandoned your
fellow Israelites this entire time right up to this very day. You have
completed the task given you by the Lord your God. 4 Now the Lord your God has
made your fellow Israelites secure, just as he promised them. So now you may
turn around and go to your homes in your own land which Moses the Lord’s
servant assigned to you east of the
When
they returned, these tribes built an altar near the
12
When the Israelites heard this, the entire Israelite community assembled
at
We
soon learn that the concerns of the western tribes were unfounded, and that
this altar was merely a memorial to keep their hearts and minds turned toward
their God. The encouraging thing about this incident is that God’s people were
fully committed to obeying God, and thus they were willing to fight their
fellow-Israelites, if need be, to keep from sinning against God. The words
above demonstrate that the Israelites had learned not only from God’s commands,
but also from history. They were alert to any signs of disobedience to God’s
commands. They remembered the way that Balaam had corrupted them (verse 17),
and they remembered the consequences of the sin of Achan (verse 20). They were
determined to obey God and to deal with those who rebelled against Him
according to the Law. What an encouraging incident this is.
The
words of Joshua in the final two chapters of the Book of Joshua are similar to
the words of Moses in the closing chapters of Deuteronomy. Like Moses, Joshua
was very old (23:1), and the time of his death was near (23:14). Joshua
assembled the Israelites to deliver one last message. Joshua reminded the
Israelites of all that God had done – things that they had seen with their own
eyes (23:3). Like Moses, Joshua urged the Israelites to carefully obey the law
of God and not to depart from it in any way (23:6). They must be careful not to
associate with the Canaanites, nor to embrace any of their idolatry (23:7-8,
11-13). Joshua reminded the people that not one of God’s promises had been
unfulfilled (23:14-15a). They must also remember that every one of God’s
promised judgments would come upon them if they failed to obey God’s commands
(23:15b-16).
In
chapter 24, Joshua reminded the Israelites of their roots, roots that
predisposed them toward idolatry. He reminded them that Abraham’s roots were
idolatrous:
Joshua
told all the people, “Here is what the Lord God of
God
judged the Egyptians and their gods at the exodus, and yet it is apparent that
at least some of the Israelites embraced the worship of
“Now
obey the Lord and worship him with integrity and loyalty. Put aside the
gods your ancestors worshiped beyond the river and in Egypt and worship
the Lord” (Joshua 24:14, emphasis mine).
Joshua
challenges the new generation of Israelites to embrace God’s covenant as their
own. They must choose to follow Him:
If
you have no desire to worship the Lord, choose today whom you will worship,
whether it be the gods whom your ancestors worshiped
beyond the river, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living. But
I and my family will worship the Lord!” (Joshua 24:15)
The
people responded by assuring Joshua that they fully intended to follow God:
16
The people responded, “Far be it from us to abandon the Lord so we can worship
other gods! 17 For the Lord our God took us and our fathers out of slavery in
the
One
would think that Joshua would have been overjoyed at their response, and that
he would have praised and encouraged them. Instead, Joshua warned them that
they could not possibly keep their promise:
19
Joshua warned the people, “You won’t keep worshiping the Lord, for he is
a holy God. He is a jealous God who will not forgive your rebellion or
your sins. 20 If you abandon the Lord and worship foreign
gods, he will turn against you; he will bring disaster on you and destroy you,
though he once treated you well” (Joshua 24:19-20, emphasis mine).
The
Israelites were not willing to accept Joshua’s words. Even though Joshua
cautioned them, they insisted that they would remain faithful to God:
21
The people said to Joshua, “No! We really will worship the Lord!” 22 Joshua
said to the people, “Do you agree to be witnesses against yourselves that you
have chosen to worship the Lord?” They replied, “We are witnesses.” 23 Joshua
said, “Now put aside the foreign gods that are among you and submit to the Lord
God of
Joshua
drew up an agreement between the people and their God, but his words of warning
were clear. Their agreement would serve as a witness against them (24:27). Just
as Moses had warned of
There
is much significance to the death of the Joshua generation, because things
would never be the same again:
Conclusion
The
Book of Joshua is a great success story. In stark contrast to the first
generation of Israelites, who refused to engage the Canaanites in battle, and
who threatened to kill Moses and return to Egypt, this generation boldly
attacked the enemy. They went to war “in faith” (Hebrews 11:30). The
only defeat this generation suffered on the battlefield was that one small
defeat (36 killed) at Ai, due to the sin of Achan.
This
was a generation marked by their obedience. They faithfully followed Joshua’s
orders, and they obeyed God’s commands (see 4:10; 8:27, 30-31; 11:15; 22:2).
They did not rebel against God or against Joshua. They even encouraged Joshua
to be bold and courageous (1:16-18). They complained but once, and in this
case, their complaint was valid (9:18). They took a situation that appeared to
be the beginnings of idolatry very seriously (22:10-34).
God
caused even the failures of the Israelites to “work together for good”
(Romans 8:28). When Achan sinned, the men of Ai won an initial victory over the
Israelites. But it was this failure that set the stage for
The
foolish decision to make a treaty with the Gibeonites was also used of God for
good. Because of this treaty, the five Amorite kings formed an alliance and
attacked
The
question we should ask ourselves is this: “How do we explain
3
I am handing over to you every place you set foot, as I promised Moses.
4 Your territory will extend from the wilderness in the south to
43
So the Lord gave
14
“Look, today I am about to die. You know with all your heart and being that not
even one of all the faithful promises the Lord
your God made to you is left unfulfilled; every one was realized, not one
promise is unfulfilled! (Joshua 23:14, emphasis mine)
I
am reminded of the words of Moses, recorded for us in the Book of Deuteronomy:
“But
to this very day the Lord has not given you an understanding mind, perceptive
eyes, or discerning ears!” (Deuteronomy 29:4)
I
believe, therefore, that God gave this generation of Israelites hearts to
believe and the will to obey, so that He could bless them with this land, as He
promised, and in accordance with His covenant. The key to
If
this generation was so successful, then why does Joshua come across in such a
negative manner in the final chapter of Joshua? I believe the answer is
consistent with what we have just observed. It is not man’s faithfulness to God
that brings about God’s blessings, but it is God’s faithfulness to men that is
the cause of all our blessings. Joshua urged a new generation to follow God,
and rightly so. But their confidence was in themselves, in their own
faithfulness. And it was because of their self-confidence that Joshua sounded a
strong word of warning. They would never be able to live up to their promise,
and Joshua knew it, as did Moses. The Israelites would forget all that God had
done for them, things that their own eyes had seen. They would forsake God and
turn to idols. And because of their rebellion, God would bring judgment upon
the nation.
Lessons for Christians Today
There
are many lessons for us to learn from this text. First, let us learn never to
take credit for our apparent successes in life. If our “successes” truly are
successes, then these have come from the hand of God. They are nothing for
which we dare to take credit:
For
from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be
glory forever! Amen. (Romans 11:36)
For
who concedes you any superiority? What do you have that you did not receive?
And if you received it, why do you boast as though you did not? (1 Corinthians
4:7)
We
need to be very careful that we do not presume that we will remain faithful.
The Scriptures are clear in their warnings about overconfidence:
12 So let the one who thinks he is standing be
careful that he does not fall. 13 No trial has overtaken you that is not faced by others. And God is faithful: he
will not let you be tried too much, but with the trial will also provide
a way through it so that you may be able to endure. 14
So then, my dear friends, flee from idolatry (1 Corinthians 10:12-14, emphasis
mine).
We
should strive to be faithful. But we dare not presume that we will be faithful.
It is God alone who is completely faithful, and we must place our trust in His
faithfulness, not our own.
God
is not only faithful, He is also exceedingly powerful. The Book of Joshua is
filled with examples of the power of God. He who is faithful is also the One
who is all-powerful. In the Book of Joshua, we see God stopping the flow of the
We
are reminded by the Book of Joshua that national failure is always a generation
away (and sometimes sooner!). Each generation has to choose whether or not it
will serve God (see Deuteronomy 29:9-15; 30:15-20; Joshua 24:15). The
Israelites were emphatically told that they must be diligent to teach their
children the ways of the Lord (Deuteronomy 4:5-6, 10, 40; 31:12-13; Joshua 4:6,
21-22; 14:9). We, too, must be careful to teach our children the ways of the
Lord (Ephesians 6:4). Each generation must be encouraged to follow God. Each
generation must choose whether or not it will do so.
Another
matter for thought and discussion is that of deception, or to put the matter
more bluntly, lying. In the Book of Joshua (and in the New Testament), we find
that Rahab, the prostitute, is listed in the hall of faith (Hebrews 11:31; see
James 2:25) and even in the genealogy of our Lord (Matthew 1:5). How do we
explain the fact that she lied to her own people about the spies? And then
there is the deception of the Gibeonites. It is not surprising to read of a
Canaanite lying, but the basis for the lies of each is the truth that God will
give
The
Book of Joshua reminds us of the devastating consequences of “sin in the camp.”
The sin of Achan may seem trivial to some, but not to God. In the first place,
it was disobedience to very clear and emphatic instructions (see Deuteronomy
7:25-26; Joshua 6:17-19). Sin not only corrupts the sinner, it also corrupts
the
1
It is actually reported that sexual immorality exists among you, the kind of
immorality that is not permitted even among the Gentiles, so that someone is
cohabiting with his father’s wife. 2 And you are proud! Shouldn’t you have been
deeply sorrowful instead and removed the one who did this from among you? 3 For
even though I am absent physically, I am present in spirit. And I have already
judged the one who did this, just as though I were present. 4 When you gather
together in the name of our Lord Jesus, and I am with you in spirit, along with
the power of our Lord Jesus, 5 turn this man over to Satan for the destruction
of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord. 6 Your
boasting is not good. Don’t you know that a little yeast affects the whole
batch of dough? 7 Clean out the old yeast so that you may be a new batch of
dough, since you are, in fact, without yeast. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. 8 So then, let us celebrate the
festival, not with the old yeast, the yeast of vice and evil, but with the
bread without yeast, the bread of sincerity and truth. 9 I wrote you in my
letter not to associate with sexually immoral people. 10 In no way did I mean
the immoral of this world, or the greedy and swindlers and idolaters, since you
would then have to go out of the world. 11 But now I am writing to you not to
associate with anyone who calls himself a Christian who is sexually immoral, or
greedy, or an idolater, or verbally abusive, or a drunkard, or a swindler. Do
not even eat with such a person. 12 For what do I have to do with judging those
outside? Are you not to judge those inside? 13 But God will judge those
outside. Remove the evil person from among you (1 Corinthians 5:1-13).
Joshua
is surely a prototype of our Lord Jesus Christ. It was he who led the people of
God into the Promised Land. It was he who never suffered defeat. It was to him
that God promised not one word he spoke would fail (Joshua 23:14). Is it any
wonder that the name given to our Lord – Jesus – was but the name “Joshua”:
The
name Joshua, a contracted form of Jehoshua (yehoshua`), which also appears in
the form Jeshua (yeshua`, Neh. 8:17), signifies “Yahweh is deliverance” or
“salvation, … .”[148][146]
In
Joshua 24:31, we are told,
God’s
people were secure so long as Joshua remained alive. Are you and I not
eternally secure since our “Joshua” is alive forevermore?
15
And this is even clearer if another priest arises in the likeness of
Melchizedek, 16 who has become a priest not by a legal regulation about
physical descent but by the power of an indestructible life. 17
For here is the testimony about him: “You are a priest forever in
the order of Melchizedek.” 18 On the one hand a former command is set aside
because it is weak and useless, 19 for the law made nothing perfect. On the
other hand a better hope is introduced, through which we draw near to God. 20
And since this was not done without a sworn affirmation—for the others have
become priests without a sworn affirmation, 21 but Jesus did so with a sworn
affirmation by the one who said to him, “The Lord has sworn and will not change
his mind, ‘You are a priest forever’”— 22 accordingly Jesus has
become the guarantee of a better covenant. 23 And the others who became
priests were numerous, because death prevented them from continuing in office,
24 but he holds his priesthood permanently since he lives forever.
25 So he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because
he always lives to intercede for them (Hebrews 7:15-25, emphasis mine).
Jesus
Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever! (Hebrews 13:8)
Finally,
I note that
I
could not help but think of this in relation to our own church. In the past
several years, we have lost several key leaders to death. It will not be too
many years before the first generation of leaders are all gone. What will
become of our church then? We need not fear, for God will provide for us, just
as He did for
Lesson 17 —
The Book of Judges
Introduction
A
number of years ago I was preaching through the Book of Judges. Our custom was to have one of the men in the church read the Scripture
text and then pray before I would preach. The text was Judges 19. This
text is so distressing that something happened for the first time in my
preaching ministry – my request to read the biblical text and to pray was
declined. Mind you, this did not happen just once; it happened two or three
times, until one man finally agreed to read it. On Sunday morning, when it was
time for him to read the passage, he said something like this: “I know it is
customary for one to read the text and then pray, but if you don’t mind, I’d
like to pray before I read.”
The
Book of Judges is a very troubling book, and it is not just this one incident,
either. The whole book is distressing. Just recently, I received an e-mail from
someone about another passage. It went something like this:
I
read something in my Bible that really disturbed me and shook the very
foundation of my faith. I never thought I would read where God accepted a human
sacrifice. I kept expecting God to stop Jephthah and tell him not to sacrifice
his daughter. Is there anywhere else in the Bible where this is mentioned? Did
God condone this? How could God allow this?
The
writer was referring to yet another story from the Book of Judges, where
Jephthah made a very foolish vow:
30
Jephthah made a vow to the Lord, saying, “If you really do hand the Ammonites
over to me, 31 then whoever is the first to come through the doors of my house
to meet me when I return safely from fighting the Ammonites—he will belong to
the Lord and I will offer him up as a burnt sacrifice” (Judges 11:30-31).[150][148]
A
little later in the story, we read that Jephthah’s daughter came out to meet
him, and that he fulfilled his vow, as foolish as it was (Judges 11:39-40).
The
Book of Judges depicts a very dark hour in the history of
The Structure of the Book of Judges
The
structure of the Book of Judges is very simple:
|
Chapters
1-3:6 |
Introduction
to the period of the judges |
|
Chapters
3:7—16:31 |
Description
of the reign of the judges |
|
Chapters
17-21 |
Prologue:
Two stories that characterize the period of the judges |
Understanding the Book of Judges
What is a Judge?
When
we come to a study of the Book of Judges it is important that we understand
what a judge is, and is not. At that time in
Judges
were not an early prototype of
The Book of Judges and the Mosaic Covenant
The
key to understanding the Book of Judges is the mosaic covenant that God made
with His people, the Israelites. The blessings and cursings of the Mosaic
covenant are first spelled out in Leviticus 26. They are then repeated in greater
detail in Deuteronomy 28. These blessings are summarized in verses
1 and 2:
1
“And if you indeed obey the Lord your God and are careful to observe all his
commandments I am giving you today, the Lord your God will elevate you above
all the nations of the earth. 2 And all these
blessings will come to you in abundance if you obey the Lord your God”
(Deuteronomy 28:1-2).
But
just as God promised His blessings for those who obeyed His commandments, there
were also curses for those who disobeyed:
15
“But if you pay no attention to the Lord your God and are not careful to keep
all his commandments and statutes I am relating to you today, then all these
curses will come and overtake you: 16 You be cursed in the city and cursed in
the field. 17 Your basket and your kneading trough will be cursed. 18 Your
children will be cursed, as well as the offspring of your livestock, the calves
of your cattle, and the lambs of your flock. 19 You will be cursed when you
come in and cursed when you go out” (Deuteronomy 28:15-19, see
also verses 20-68).
Joshua’s
final words to the Israelites repeated the warnings earlier conveyed to
9
“The Lord drove out from before you great and mighty nations; no one has been
able to resist you to this very day. 10 One of you makes a thousand run away,
for the Lord your God fights for you as he promised you he would. 11 Watch
yourselves carefully! Love the Lord your God! 12 But
if you ever turn away and make alliances with these nations that remain near
you, and intermarry with them and establish friendly relations with them, 13
know for certain that the Lord our God will no longer drive out these nations
from before you. They will trap and ensnare you; they will be a whip that tears
your sides and thorns that blind your eyes until you disappear from this good
land the Lord your God gave you. 14 “Look, today I am about to die. You
know with all your heart and being that not even one of all the faithful
promises the Lord your God made to you is left unfulfilled; every one was realized,
not one promise is unfulfilled! 15 But in the same way every faithful promise
the Lord your God made to you has been realized, it is just as certain, if
you disobey, that the Lord will bring on you every judgment until he destroys
you from this good land which the Lord your God gave you. 16 If you violate the
covenantal laws of the Lord your God which he commanded you to keep, and
follow, worship, and bow down to other gods, the Lord will be very angry with
you and you will disappear quickly from the good land which he gave to you”
(Joshua 23:9-16, emphasis mine).
The Introduction to the Book of Judges: Judges 1:1—3:6
In
Judges 1 and 2, we find an explanation for the spiritual decline of the
Israelites. The downfall of
14
Now obey the Lord and worship him with integrity and loyalty. Put aside the
gods your ancestors worshiped beyond the river and in
In
spite of their expressed determination to serve God, Joshua warned that they
would not be able to fulfill their commitment. They simply could not live up to
the standards of a Holy God:
Joshua
warned the people, “You won’t keep worshiping the Lord, for he is a holy God.
He is a jealous God who will not forgive your rebellion or your sins” (Joshua
24:19).
It
does not take long for us to see the truth of Joshua’s words. The fulfillment
begins early in the Book of Judges, in chapter 1. While the strength of the
Canaanite kings had been crushed under Joshua, it remained for the individual
Israelite tribes to completely annihilate the remaining Canaanites from the
land. In chapters 1 and 2, the author supplies the reader with an explanation
for the downfall of the nation, as well as the reason why God left the Canaanites
in the land. In these two chapters, we observe the following sequence.
Step One: Partial Victory
The
tribes of Judah and Simeon enjoyed moderate success (1:17), but they were not
completely successful (1:19). The Benjamites did not completely drive out the
Jebusites living in
19
The Lord was with the men of
The
men of
Step Two: Co-existence with the Enemy
Because
the Israelites did not completely wipe out the Canaanites, they had to co-exist
in the land with them. In some cases, the Canaanites were made slaves, but they
were not exterminated:
33
The men of Naphtali did not conquer the people living in Beth Shemesh or Beth
Anath. They live among the Canaanites residing in the land. The
Canaanites living in Beth Shemesh and Beth Anath were forced to do hard labor
for them. 34 The Amorites forced the people of Dan to live in the hill country.
They did not allow them to live in the coastal plain (Judges 1:33-34, emphasis
mine).
Step Three: Cooperation with the Enemy
When
one lives among another people, it becomes “necessary” to enter into agreements
and formal associations with them. For example, we find that Heber the Kenite
(a descendant of Moses’ father-in-law) became an ally with King Jabin of
1
The Lord’s angelic messenger went up from Gilgal to Bokim. He said, “I brought
you up from
To
formalize agreements with the Canaanites was to legitimize them; it was to
acknowledge their right to exist when God had commanded the Israelites to
exterminate them.
Step Four: Being Corrupted by the Canaanites
6
When Joshua dismissed the people, the Israelites went to their allotted
portions of property, intending to take possession of the land. 7 The
people worshiped the Lord throughout Joshua’s lifetime and as long as the
elderly men who outlived him remained alive. These men had witnessed all the
great things the Lord had done for Israel. 8 Joshua son of Nun, the
Lord’s servant, died at the age of one hundred and ten. 9 The people buried him
in his allotted land in Timnath Heres in the hill country of Ephraim, north of
The
very thing God had warned the Israelites about so frequently and fervently, the
Israelites did. From merely tolerating the Canaanites, the Israelites came to
imitate them. They began intermarrying with them and worshipping their gods.
The nation that was to be holy and to remain separate from the sinful ways of
the Canaanites now embraced the very sins that had brought God’s wrath upon
them.
Step Five: Divine Discipline
14
The Lord was furious with
The
curses of the Mosaic Covenant were now implemented against the nation
Step Six: Divine Deliverance
16
The Lord raised up leaders who delivered them from these robbers.
17 But they did not obey their leaders. Instead they
prostituted themselves to other gods and worshiped them. They quickly
turned aside from the path their ancestors had walked. Their ancestors had
obeyed the Lord’s commands, but they did not. 18 When the Lord raised up leaders for them, the Lord was with each leader
and delivered the people from their enemies while the leader remained alive.
The Lord felt sorry for them when they cried out in agony because of what their
harsh oppressors did to them (Judges 2:16-18, emphasis mine).
In
response to their suffering, the Israelites cried out to God for relief. God,
in His grace, would raise up a deliverer, a judge, who would deliver the
Israelites from the oppression of their enemies. That deliverance normally
lasted the length of the deliverer’s life.
Step Seven: Advancing in Apostasy
19
When a leader died, the next generation would again act more wickedly
than the previous one. They would follow after other gods, worshiping
them and bowing down to them. They did not give up their practices or their
stubborn ways (Judges 2:14-19, emphasis mine).
One
would certainly hope that after a painful cycle of sin, judgment, and relief,
the Israelites would have learned their lesson and would live according to
God’s commands. This was not the case at all. After the death of the deliverer,
the Israelites went back to their sinful ways. They did not merely take up
where they left off; they became even more wicked than before. Their sins
compounded. Things went from bad to worse.
Left Behind: A Statement of Divine Purpose
Judges 2:20—3:6
20
The Lord was furious with
1
These were the nations the Lord permitted to remain so he could use them to
test
5
The Israelites lived among the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites,
Hivites, and Jebusites. 6 They took the Canaanites’ daughters as wives and gave
their daughters to the Canaanites; they worshiped their gods as well (Judges
2:20-3:6).
We
would be wrong to think Joshua totally broke the back of the Canaanite
opposition, and then left the “clean-up” operations to the individual tribes.
As we see from the verses above and from the text below, God had a purpose for
leaving the Canaanites in the land:
20
Furthermore, he will release the hornet among them until the very last ones who
hide from you perish. 21 You must not tremble in their presence, for the Lord
your God, who is present among you, is a great and awesome God. 22 He,
the God who leads you, will expel the nations little by little. You must not
overcome them all at once lest the wild animals overrun you. 23 The
Lord your God will give them over to you; he will trouble them with great
difficulty until they are destroyed. 24 He will hand over their kings to you
and you will erase their very names from memory. Nobody will be able to stand
before you until you annihilate them (Deuteronomy 7:20-24, emphasis mine).
Moses
told the Israelites that God would remove the Canaanites little by little,
because otherwise wild animals would overrun the land. I take this to mean that
the population would not have been sufficient to “rule over” this land, and
thus it would overrun with wild animals. As the population grew, the Israelites
would expel the Canaanites and thus control the entire land. Until then, the
Canaanites would be allowed to remain.
In
Judges 2, we are given yet another reason why God left the Canaanites in the
land for a time. It was to test and to teach
The
first generation of Israelites had been tested by God in the wilderness, as
Moses reminded them:
1 You must keep carefully the entire commandment I am
giving you today so that you may live, multiply, and go in and occupy the land
that the Lord promised to your ancestors. 2 Remember the whole way by which he has brought you these forty years
through the desert so that he might, by humbling you, test to see whether deep
within yourselves you would keep his commandments or not. 3 So he
humbled you by making you hungry and feeding you with unfamiliar manna to make
you understand that mankind cannot live by food alone, but also by everything
that comes from
the Lord’s mouth. 4 Your clothing
did not wear out nor did your feet swell all these forty years (Deuteronomy
8:1-4, emphasis mine).
The
Israelites failed these tests. They constantly grumbled and complained whenever
they lacked anything that they needed, or just wanted (like meat). They were
driven by their fleshly appetites and not by a commitment to trust and obey God
by keeping His commandments (see 1 Corinthians 10:1-13).
This
generation also failed the test of the Canaanites who were “left behind.”
Instead of remaining separate from them and removing them from the land
altogether, they began to intermarry with them and to worship their gods
(3:5-6). And because of this, God left these nations in the land to discipline
the Israelites for their disobedience.
Four Case Studies: Deborah and Barak, Gideon, Jephthah,
and Samson
The
author of Judges writes of the deliverance of
Deborah and Barak
Judges 4:1–5:31
She
summoned Barak son of Abinoam from Kedesh in Naphtali. She said to him, “Is it
not true that the Lord God of
The
NET Bible renders the first part of this verse as a question, as does the KJV
and the NKJV, and some others. It is possible, of course, that this is simply a
command, “Behold, the LORD, the God of
In
one sense, Barak had good cause for concern. King Jabin’s army, under the
command of Sisera, had 900 chariots with iron-rimmed wheels (Judges 4:13; see
also 1:19). Barak was certainly weak in faith. Even though commanded to attack
Sisera’s forces by a prophetess, Barak would not do so alone. It wasn’t because
he lacked respect for Deborah, because he insisted that he would only go to war
if Deborah were with him. Here was a woman, not a warrior, a wife and mother,
not a military mastermind. Deborah consented to go with him, but indicated that
the victory would not bring him fame:
8
Barak said to her, “If you go with me, I will go. But if you do not go with me,
I will not go.” 9 She said, “I will indeed go with you. But you will not gain
fame on the expedition you are taking, for the Lord will turn Sisera over to a
woman.” Deborah got up and went with Barak to Kedesh (Judges 4:8-9).
Barak Goes to Jael[151][149]
Barak
and his forces overcame the enemy, and all were slaughtered, except for Sisera,
who fled on foot. Sisera ran until he was completely exhausted, and then he
sought sanctuary at the home of Heber the Kenite, who had made a treaty with
King Jabin whom Sisera served. Heber was not home, however, but his wife, Jael,
was. Her allegiance was rightly with the people of God and not with this
Canaanite king and his commander-in-chief.
Jael
welcomed the terrified and exhausted Sisera into her tent. He asked for water,
but she gave him warm milk. She reassured him that he was safe, and then
covered him with a blanket so that he could get some needed rest. When he was
deep in sleep, Jael knelt beside Sisera with a tent peg and hammer, driving the
peg through his skull, killing him instantly. When Barak arrived, Jael showed
him her trophy lying dead in her tent. King Jabin was humiliated that day, but
so was Barak, because the victory was really due to two women: Deborah and
Jael.
The
song in Judges 5 speaks of Deborah, Barak, and Jael and the part they played in
this victory. It also honors God, who was the real source of the victory. We
are told in poetic fashion that God employed all of nature to bring about the
defeat of
4
O Lord, when you departed from Seir,
when you marched from Edom’s plains,
the earth shook, the heavens poured down,
the clouds poured down rain.
5 The mountains trembled before the Lord, the God of Sinai;
before the Lord God of
20 From the sky the stars fought,
from their paths in the heavens they fought against Sisera.
21 The Kishon River carried them off;
the river confronted them—the
Step on the necks of the strong! (Judges 5:20-21)
What
is of great interest is that this song emphasizes who did and who did not
participate in this battle:
14
They came from Ephraim, who uprooted Amalek,
they follow after you, Benjamin, with your soldiers.
From Makir leaders came down,
from Zebulun came the ones who march carrying an officer’s staff.
15 Issachar’s leaders were with Deborah,
the men of Issachar supported Barak,
into the valley they were sent under Barak’s command.
Among the clans of Reuben there was intense heart searching.
16 Why do you remain among the sheepfolds,
listening to the shepherds playing their pipes for their flocks?
As for the clans of Reuben—there was intense heart searching.
17 Gilead stayed put beyond the
As for Dan—why did he seek temporary employment in the shipyards?
Asher remained on the seacoast,
he stayed put by his harbors.
18 The men of Zebulun were not concerned about their lives;
Naphtali charged on to the battlefields (Judges 5:14-18).
23 ‘Call judgment down on Meroz,’ says the Lord’s angelic messenger;
‘Be sure to call judgment down on those who live there,
because they did not come to help in the Lord’s battle,
to help in the Lord’s battle against the warriors’ (Judges 5:23).
Having
said that Deborah, Barak, and Jael are referred to in this song, it is not
Barak who is the great hero of this battle, but rather Jael. She is the one
whose actions are most emphasized. The honor goes to Deborah and to Jael when
it could (and should) have gone to Barak. Nevertheless, God gave the land rest
for 40 years.
Here
is a victory that is less than complete victory. It is a victory over
Gideon, Mighty Man of Valor
Judges 6-8
Once
again the Israelites are guilty of practicing what is evil in the sight of God.
This time God uses the Midianites as His chastening rod. Then, the Israelites
cry out to God for deliverance, and God raises up a man named Gideon. An
angelic messenger comes to Gideon while he is threshing wheat in a winepress
(6:11). Normally one would thresh wheat on high ground, where the wind could
blow away the chaff. Gideon cannot do this because he would then be in open
view to the Midianites, who could be expected to come and steal his grain.
I
see a very fearful fellow threshing his wheat, looking to and fro for any sign
of the Midianites. It is certainly sounds ironic when the angelic messenger
comes to Gideon with the words, “The LORD is with you, courageous warrior!”
(6:12). I used to think the angel must have had difficulty keeping a straight
face without bursting out in laughter. I now see these words as prophetic. The
angel spoke to Gideon, not as he was at the moment, but according to what he
would be in the future. And lest we find this difficult to grasp, it is
something like the Word of God calling us “saints.” That we may be
(indeed, we are), but not due to any “saintliness” on our own part.
Gideon’s
first response was to ask God where He has been in the midst of His people’s
suffering:
13
Gideon said to him, “Pardon me, but if the Lord is with us, why has such
disaster overtaken us? Where are all his miraculous deeds our ancestors told us
about? They said, ‘Did the Lord not bring us up from
God’s
answer was not the one that Gideon expected or wanted! God informed Gideon that
He was now bringing deliverance to His people, through him.
Then
the Lord himself turned to him and said, “You have the strength. Deliver
Gideon
wants assurance that it is really God speaking to him. Gideon asks for a sign
(6:17) and gets it – the angelic messenger ignites Gideon’s offering. In
response, Gideon builds an altar there to the Lord.
It
seems that God gave Gideon a few hours to ponder what he had experienced before
the angelic messenger returned with another challenge to his faith. (Up till
now, God has only disclosed in a general way that Gideon is to deliver his
people.)
Building
that first altar was Gideon’s “baby steps” of faith, but now God calls for
greater faith and obedience. That same night the Lord instructed Gideon to tear
down the Baal altar and the Asherah pole that his father had erected. He was
then to build an altar to the Lord in its place and offer a sacrifice there.
Gideon obeyed, but late at night in the cover of darkness. It was not until morning
that the men of the city discovered what had happened that night and who had
done it. They demanded that Gideon’s father put his son to death, but his
father refused, insisting that Baal ought to be powerful enough to protect his
own interests. Great logic!
It
is a most amazing thing, is it not, that the people of that city were eager to
see Gideon put to death for his worship of
Next,
God commanded Gideon to engage the eastern nations in battle (6:33). Empowered
by God’s Spirit, Gideon blew a trumpet, summoning the surrounding tribes to
follow him (6:34-35). Gideon feels the need for further confirmation, and so he
requests a two-fold sign. This is the famous sign of Gideon’s fleece. First,
the fleece was to be wet, but the ground was to remain dry. Next, the fleece
was to be dry, but the surrounding ground was to be wet. God fulfilled both
requests and Gideon was now willing to go to war.
God
was not yet ready, however. Thirty-two thousand Israelite men showed up for
battle, and this was to face an army of well over 100,000 men (see 8:10). God
knew that an army of
The
initial victory of Gideon and his 300 men is a most amazing story. He divided
his 300 men into 3 units of 100 men. He gave each man a trumpet and a jar with
a torch inside. The 3 units surrounded the enemy camp. The text gives us a very
specific detail at this point:
Gideon
took a hundred men to the edge of the camp at the beginning of the middle
watch, just after they had changed the guards. They blew their trumpets
and broke the jars they were carrying (Judges 7:19, emphasis mine).
Why
would we be told that this happened in the middle of the night and at the
beginning of the middle watch? This was apparently 10:00 p.m. Since the guards
had just changed, the new guards would have just come on duty, and the other
guards would still be returning to their tents. In other words, this was the
precise moment during the night hours when the greatest number of Midianite
warriors would be awake and about. It is my theory[152][150]
that if the Israelite soldiers had swords, they did not have them in hand. How
could they, holding a jar in one hand and a trumpet in the other? After they
blew their trumpets, they broke the jars, exposing the torches. The Midianites
then panicked and began killing each other. How could this happen? It is my
opinion that the trumpets completely startled the already frightened army
(7:13-14) and that the light then blinded them. Their eyes had become
accustomed to the darkness, and these lights blinded them, like a deer in the
headlights. They believed they were under attack, and not being able to see
clearly, they began to thrash about with their swords. The only ones standing
nearby were their fellow-Midianites. The 300 Israelite soldiers were standing
around the outside of the camp, safely away from this thrashing. The more the
Midianites thrashed about (and were cut by their fellow-soldiers), the harder
they fought – one another. The end result was that the Midianites killed
themselves off while the Israelites looked in wonderment in the light their
torches provided. Realizing that they were being destroyed (though not aware
that they were killing themselves), the Midianites sought to escape into the
night. This meant that they did not have all of their weapons or supplies,
leaving these behind for Gideon and his men. It may not have happened precisely
this way, but I would venture a guess that it was something like this.
Now
was the time for their fellow-Israelites to join in and finish this battle:
Israelites
from Naphtali, Asher, and Manasseh answered the call and chased the Midianites
(Judges 7:23).
The
Ephraimites, however, were indignant. They protested that they had been
summoned so late in the conflict (7:24—8:1). It was Gideon’s prudent and calm
response that calmed them down (8:2-3). This is but the first of the hostile
responses of the Ephraimites. There were others, however, who would not
cooperate at all:
4
Now Gideon and his three hundred men had crossed over the
Succoth
and Penuel were two Israelite cities in the
After
Gideon defeated his fleeing foes, he returned to Succoth and Penuel, where he
punished their leaders and then executed them. He also tore down the
The
men of
Jephthah
Judges 10:6—12:7
Passing
over a number of judges, we come to Jephthah, one of the great enigmas of the
Book of Judges. Unlike Gideon in his early days, Jephthah was a mighty warrior.
He was also the son of a prostitute (11:1). When Jephthah’s
half-brothers grew up, they forced him to leave the family, but when the
Ammonites began to oppress them, the people of
When
negotiations finally broke down, Jephthah led the Israelites against the
Ammonites. Before he went to battle, Jephthah made a very foolish vow:
30
Jephthah made a vow to the Lord, saying, “If you really do hand the Ammonites
over to me, 31 then whoever is the first to come through the doors of my house
to meet me when I return safely from fighting the Ammonites—he will belong to
the Lord and I will offer him up as a burnt sacrifice” (Judges 11:30-31).
Jephthah
and his forces defeated the Ammonites, and when he returned home, his daughter
ran to greet him. As a result, Jephthah fulfilled his foolish vow concerning
his daughter. Because it is so difficult to believe that this father would
sacrifice his daughter, other explanations have been suggested, but no
explanation leaves one with a good felling about this father or his vow.
Once
again we read of conflict with the Ephraimites (see 8:1-3). They seem to have
had a chip on their shoulder. They disputed with Jephthah because he had not
summoned them to the battle (so they could share in the glory?). The end result
of this conflict was war between Jephthah’s forces and the Ephraimites
(12:1-7). Things have gone from bad to worse. Initially, the Israelites were
fighting together, against their common enemies. Now, the Israelites are
fighting among themselves.
Samson
Judges 13-16
As
with Gideon, much attention is devoted to Samson in the Book of Judges. He is
an especially significant figure. First of all, Samson is the final judge of
the Book of Judges. Second, Samson is a tragic figure, a man totally enslaved
to the flesh. Third, Samson is a picture of the nation
While
Jephthah delivers
Why
spend so much time on Samson’s failure? Because he climaxes
the message of Judges. His life matches that of the nation itself.
Samson, like
I
differ with some of Baylis’ comments,[154][152]
but I certainly concur with his main thoughts here. Samson was the “bottom of
the barrel” so far as
The
weaknesses in Samson’s character are apparent in his first romance with a
Philistine woman in chapter 14. Here was a woman whose only quality was her
appearance, and that was enough for Samson. Samson erred at every turn, from
eating honey from a dead lion’s carcass to disregarding his parents’ counsel
about choosing a wife. His bride-to-be tricked Samson into revealing his secret
to her (the answer to his riddle), because she was fearful of those who
threatened her if she did not disclose this information to them (14:15-17).
When Samson realized he had been tricked, he struck out at the Philistines in
anger. He did not destroy them for the sake of his fellow-Israelites, but
rather to bolster his injured pride. When this woman was given to his best man
for a bride, Samson again struck out in anger. He was completely self-occupied
and self-serving. What a terrible thing it is to see one so empowered by the
Spirit of God, and yet so dominated by the flesh.
One
might hope that Samson learned his lesson from his first disaster at acquiring
a wife from the Philistines, but when he meets Delilah, he repeats his folly to
the degree that he once again is coaxed into telling a foreign woman his inner
secrets (the source of his power). This leads to Samson’s captivity and
blindness. It is only after his hair has grown back and he calls to God for
enablement that he is able to avenge himself by collapsing the temple where he
was on display.
Epilogue: The Story of Two Levites
Judges 17-21
The
final chapters of Judges are an epilogue. Instead of focusing on the sins of
the people, or of the judges who delivered them, the final five chapters look
closely at the lives of two Levites. What is happening to the religious
leadership of the nation? We shall see that the religious leadership was not
holding the nation accountable for its sin, but was, instead, blazing its own
trails of sinful conduct. The spiritual vacuum to which I am alluding has been
implied in the earlier chapters of Judges. In Judges 2:1-4, it is an “angelic
messenger” who rebukes the nation for its sin. Once again in 2:20-21 God
speaks. Only the prophetess Deborah (4:4ff.) and one unnamed prophet (6:7-10)
seems to have spoken for God in the Book of Judges. Where are the priests or
the prophets? Is there no man who will stand up for God? Apparently not! As
Paul would later write,
19
Now I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you quickly, so that I too may
be encouraged by hearing news about you. 20 For there is no one here like him
who will readily demonstrate his deep concern for you. 21 Others are busy with
their own concerns, not those of Jesus Christ (Philippians 2:19-21).
The
two Levites in our text are men who are not seeking God’s interests, or the
interests of others, but only their own.
Unemployed Priest For Hire to
Highest Bidder
Judges 17-18
What
an amazing story. The young priest, a Levite from
LORD” for her son’s benefit. She then commissions a silversmith to make an
idol. A shrine for the idol is made in Micah’s house. Micah then creates a
collection of idols, including an ephod, and hires one of his sons as a priest.
There
was a young Levite who had been living temporarily in
Micah
said, “Now I know God will make me rich, because I have this Levite as my
priest” (Judges 17:13).
The
Danite tribe was looking for a place to settle, and so they sent out five men
to spy out the land. In their journey, they came across the house of Micah,
where they spent the night. When they heard the young priest speaking, they
recognized his accent and knew he was not from this part of the country. He
told them how Micah had employed him as his personal priest. Learning that he was
a priest, they requested that he seek divine revelation concerning their quest
for a dwelling place. The young priest assured them of success (What priest for
hire doesn’t do this?), and they went their way.
When
these spies returned home, they had good news about Laish, a peaceful place of
abundance that was remote and defenseless. The Danites then made their way
toward Laish, stopping at the home of Micah on their way. As they approached
Micah’s house, the five spies informed the others about the idols and ephod,
and the young Levite priest. If they were about to steal Laish, surely they
might as well steal Micah’s idols too (Was the ephod not the instrument by
which they learned of their success?). They engaged the young priest in
conversation while they stole the idols. When the priest realized what they
were doing, he challenged them, but was quickly silenced. Besides, they offered
him a better job, serving with these same idols as their priest. It was a
chance for a promotion, and he quickly accepted the offer. Micah, who had been
like a father to the young priest (17:11), protested, but he was completely
outnumbered and gave up. The Danites, accompanied by the young Levite priest,
then went on to Laish, destroying the city and possessing this place for
themselves. There, they worshiped Micah’s carved image, even though
The
story of the Levite is a window into the moral and religious character of the
nation
A Look at a Second Levite
Judges 19-21
For
the third time in this epilogue, we read the words:
In
those days
The
story of a second Levite is then told. This fellow was living temporarily in
the hill country of Ephraim. He, too, seems to be unemployed or displaced. He
is not at
Finally,
the Levite and his concubine were able to tear themselves away from this
woman’s father and set out for home. They did not get away until late in the day,
and darkness was threatening to close in on them while they were still on their
journey. As they approached Jebus (
The
old man offered his virgin daughter to the mob, along with the Levite’s
concubine. The men of the city refused this offer, but the Levite seized his
concubine and forced her outside, where the men of the city abused her all
night. In the morning, the Levite was ready to set out on his way. When he
opened the door, he found his concubine lying on the ground, her hands on the
threshold. Without a note of compassion, the Levite ordered his concubine to
get up so they could leave. He did not yet realize that she was dead. When he
did, he loaded her body on his donkey and took her home, where he cut her body
into 12 pieces, sending a piece and a message to each tribe of
Everyone
who saw the sight said, “Nothing like this has happened or been witnessed
during the entire time since the Israelites left the
The
Benjamites refused to deal with their wayward brothers in Gibeah, and thus the
rest of the Israelites found it necessary to go to war with the entire tribe.
At the Lord’s instruction,
The
Israelites also took an oath that day not to allow any of their daughters to
marry one of the Benjamite men (21:1). It was not long before the magnitude of
this tragedy began to sink in and the Israelites regretted the fact that one of
their tribes was almost complete wiped out. The next day the Israelites offered
up sacrifices to the Lord, and then sought to find some way to save this tribe
from extinction. They inquired as to who had not gone to war against the
Benjamites, and who thus had not sworn to keep their daughters from marrying a
Benjamite man. In short, the Israelites repented of their zeal in dealing with
the wickedness of the Benjamites.
The
people of Jabesh Gilead had not gathered to fight with their fellow-Israelites
against the Benjamites (21:8-9). Consequently, 12,000 Israelite warriors were
sent to exterminate the men, women, and children of Jabesh Gilead for not
participating in the conflict with the Benjamites. Any virgin women were to be
left alive, as wives for the surviving Benjamites. Four hundred young women
were spared, and they were taken to
Conclusion
Time
will not permit an extensive effort to show all of the practical ramifications
and applications of this incredible book. I will, however, make some general
comments and suggest some crucial themes for further thought and study.
First, we should
recognize the unique contribution of the Book of Judges to the canon of
Scripture. Here is a book that describes a tragic period in
Second, I find it
necessary to emphasize the fact that the Book of Judges is not the place to
find men and women whose example we should follow. As a general rule,
There
are several themes that prevail in the Book of Judges. Let me mention a few of
these and make some suggestions for further consideration.
UNITY. I find in the Book
of Judges that the longer the Israelites dwell among the Canaanites, the more
intimate their association with the Canaanites becomes. The Israelites become
more and more like the Canaanites and more and more united with them. They
began to intermarry with the Canaanites, and they embraced their idol worship.
In certain ways (as in the perversion of the Gibeonites – chapter 19), they
even surpass the Canaanites in impurity. I am reminded of the words of Paul to
the Corinthians regarding the sins that are found in the Corinthian church:
1
It is actually reported that sexual immorality exists among you, the kind of
immorality that is not permitted even among the Gentiles, so that someone is
cohabiting with his father’s wife. 2 And you are proud! Shouldn’t you have been
deeply sorrowful instead and removed the one who did this from among you? (1
Corinthians 5:1-2)
The
unity of the Israelite forces, under Joshua’s leadership, quickly disintegrates
in the Book of Judges. While the Israelites pursue unity with the Canaanites
(e.g., Heber’s[156][154]
treaty with King Jabin), their unity with one another dissolves. At the
beginning of the book,
DISREGARD
FOR THE WORD OF GOD.
This is a period of time when men disregard and disobey the Word of God. To “do
what is right in their own eyes” is synonymous with
disregarding God’s law:
1
These are the statutes and commandments that you must be careful to obey in the
land that the Lord, the God of your ancestors, has given you to possess for as
long as you live in the land. 2 You must by all means destroy all the places
there where the nations you are about to dispossess worship their gods—on the
high mountains and hills and under every leafy tree. 3 You must tear down their
altars, smash their sacred pillars to pieces, burn up their sacred Asherah
poles, and hack up the images of their gods; you must eliminate their very
memory from that place. 4 You must not worship the Lord your God they way they
worship. 5 But you must seek only the place that he has chosen to establish his
name, his place of residence, and you must go there. 6 And there you must take
your burnt offerings, your sacrifices, your tithes, the personal offerings you
have prepared, your votive offerings, your freewill offerings, and the firstborn
of your herds and flocks. 7 Both you and your children must feast there before
the Lord your God and rejoice in all the output of your labor with which he has
blessed you. 8 You must not do like we are doing here
today, with everyone doing what seems best to him” (Deuteronomy 12:1-8,
emphasis mine).
The
men of Gideon’s city are about to execute him for obeying God, while they seek
to protect and preserve the worship of Baal.
The
spirit of that age was a spirit of personal autonomy and a strong rebellion against
God’s laws. It is almost frightening to realize how much like the people of
that day our culture has become. For example, it is now the cherished “right”
of a woman to be sovereign over her body. This applies to her sexual conduct
(as it does to men – homosexual or heterosexual). This also applies to the
killing of her unborn child. The Roe v. Wade ruling of the Supreme Court was
based upon the principle of privacy, which I would prefer to
call the principle of personal autonomy. “There is no authority (of law) in our
day, and every man and woman does what is right in their own eyes, including
the killing of their innocent, unborn children.”
VIOLENCE. This book is
filled with violence of all kinds. I don’t doubt that some parents would be
uneasy about their young children reading some portions of the Book of Judges.
Perhaps the most ugly violence in the book is found in
chapter 19, where the Levite throws his concubine out to the men of the city of
LEADERSHIP. The theme of
leadership seems to pervade this book. There seems to be a persistent
deterioration of
I
think it is also legitimate to infer that God gave
We
may not like to admit it, but I believe the Book of Judges informs us (as we
find elsewhere) that God is not restricted to “good leaders” in order to
achieve His purposes. God used hard-hearted Pharaoh (Romans 9:17) just as He
used Moses. God is not restricted to using only pious, godly people. It is
certainly to our advantage to live godly lives, but God can use ungodly people
to accomplish His purposes, too. Believe it or not, God used Jephthah, Samson,
and other undesirable characters to bring about His purposes.
THE ROLE OF WOMEN IN THE BOOK OF JUDGES. One of my friends,
Hampton Keathley IV, has written an excellent article on the subject of the
“Role of Women in the Book of Judges.”[157][155]
I would highly recommend it to the reader. The Canaanites certainly were a
corrupt culture, and this manifested itself in their attitudes and actions
toward women. But when we come to the Book of Judges, we find that a decadent
nation like
May
God grant that we learn those lessons from the Book of Judges that the
Israelites of long ago did not learn.
Lesson 18 — A Light in Dark Days[158][156]
The Book of Ruth
Introduction
Several
years ago, I found myself in the middle of a theological dispute regarding
tithing. A church many miles away was seeking to discern just how much its leaders should be required to tithe. Should a
leader be required to tithe? How much? Should the tithe be of his “net” or
“gross” income? When invited to give my opinion, I jumped right into the
debate, fully convinced that I had the biblical answer. I thought I did have
the right answer from a technical point of view, but then my attention was
directed to the Book of Ruth. After considering the message of this great
little book, and especially the example of Boaz, I realized that my whole
approach to this debate was fundamentally flawed. I had to write one of the men
with whom I had been communicating and tell him about my change of heart and
mind.
Ruth
is a most amazing book. It is a mere four chapters in length, but it tells a
most heart-warming story about a Jewish widow, her Gentile daughter-in-law, and
an older Jewish gentleman with a very big heart. Short though it may be, this
is a very important story. It had implications for the Jews of old, and it continues
to have a great deal to say to saints today as well. We should listen well to
this book, asking the Holy Spirit to open our hearts and minds to its message
for us.
The
story of Ruth takes place during the dark days of the judges (1:1). The Book of
Judges is a most disturbing book, for it describes the days when
Before
we go any farther, I must say a word about the Moabites. Ruth, the heroine of
our story, is a Moabite woman. The Moabites were the race that resulted from
the union of
My
approach in this lesson will be to give a brief overview of the story of the
Book of Ruth, and then to consider each of the three main characters. Finally,
we shall seek to find the contribution of this book to the Bible, and explore
its relevance and application to men and women today.
The Story of the Book of Ruth
The
Book of Ruth begins with a famine in the
Naomi
was left with only her two daughters-in-law, Ruth and Orpah. She heard that God
had visited His people and that there was once again grain in
When
they arrived in Naomi’s hometown of
Ruth
immediately set out to provide for Naomi’s needs. She began to glean in the
nearby field of a man who “just happened” to be a near relative of Elimelech
(2:3). Ruth quickly caught the eye of those laboring in the field because she
worked diligently, hardly stopping to rest (2:7). Boaz noticed her as well and
made sure that Ruth was protected and provided with grain to glean as she
sought to care for her mother-in-law.
Naomi
realized that Boaz was showing great kindness to Ruth, and so she acted as a
matchmaker, seeking to arrange the marriage of Ruth and Boaz. Naomi devised a
plan whereby Ruth could indicate her need for a husband and her desire to marry
Boaz. The plan worked, and Boaz indicated that he would be delighted to marry
Ruth, except that he was not the nearest kin. Boaz met with the nearest
relative in the city gate, giving him the opportunity to purchase Elimelech’s
land, and to acquire Ruth as a wife. The nearest kin was willing to purchase
Elimelech’s land but did not want Ruth’s hand in marriage, and so Boaz acquired
both the land and Ruth. They married, and the child Ruth bore to Boaz was named
Obed. Obed was the grandfather of David.
The Three Main Characters of the Book of Ruth
Naomi
I
might as well confess to my readers that Naomi is not one of my favorite Bible
characters. She is certainly not a heroine, like Ruth. I think of her as a kind
of blend of Jacob, Job, Jonah, and Esther. Naomi could easily have merited the
title as one of the “Bad Girls of the Bible.” I fear that many Christians have
been misled by some of the popular propaganda that seeks to “sanctify” Naomi.
Let me point out some of my concerns about Naomi.
In
chapter 1, we are told that Naomi’s husband died, leaving Naomi and her two
sons alone (1:3). I get the impression that Elimelech died fairly soon after
they arrived in
When
Naomi does finally decide to return to
What
is distressing is that Naomi insists that her daughters remain in
Then
Naomi said, “Look, your sister-in-law has returned to her people and to her
god. Follow your sister-in-law back home!” (Ruth 1:15)[159][157]
One
cannot know what Naomi’s motives were here, but if she understood the evils of
idolatry, she would realize that urging her daughters-in-law to stay in
Finally
in chapter 1 Naomi blames God for her suffering:
“Would
you wait until they were grown? Would you remain unmarried all that time? No,
my daughters, you must not come with me. For you should not
have to experience my intense suffering. After
all, the Lord has attacked me” (1:13, emphasis mine).
20
Naomi replied to them, “Don’t call me ‘Naomi’! Call me
‘Mara’ because the Sovereign One has treated me very harshly. 21
I left here full, but the Lord has caused me to return empty-handed.
Why do you call me ‘Naomi,’ seeing that the Lord has opposed me and the
Sovereign One has made me suffer?” (1:20-21,
emphasis mine).
When
Naomi returns to her hometown of
In
chapter 2, we see Ruth working hard to provide for her mother-in-law and for
herself, but we do not read of Naomi going out into the fields to glean. One
has the impression that Elimelech and Naomi were fairly well to do before the
famine (they “went out full” – 1:21). Did Naomi not work because she was
elderly in infirmed? Perhaps. But is it not also
possible that she did not do as Ruth did because she felt this was beneath her,
because she was too proud? Many times in
In
chapter 3, Naomi’s actions raise a number of concerns. Naomi takes it upon
herself to see to it that Ruth has a husband and a home. In and of itself, this
doesn’t seem like such a bad thing. But her method of bringing this to pass is
questionable, at best. First, while some have sought to show that the
method Naomi proposed was a familiar custom of that day, I don’t believe this
is the case at all. Consider the words of Leon Morris:
“We
have very little knowledge of the customs prevalent in
“The
context makes it clear that this describes a way whereby Ruth signified to Boaz
her desire to marry him. Ordinary methods of approach were no doubt difficult
and this provided a suitable medium. But why it should be done in this way we
do not know. Nor do we know whether this was a widely practiced custom or not. It
is not attested other than here.”[161][159]
Second, Boaz was not the
nearest kin to Elimelech. I doubt very much that Ruth knew this until Boaz
informed her of the fact (3:12); but surely Naomi knew. Why, then, did Naomi
seek to arrange Ruth’s marriage to Boaz, rather than the nearest kin?
Third, it seems unusual
that Ruth would have to be the one proposing marriage. Why didn’t Naomi ask
Boaz if he would take Ruth as his wife?
Fourth, Naomi chose a
time, place, and method of approach that appealed to sensual desires, rather
than to a reasoned commitment. Naomi instructed Ruth to go to Boaz while they
were threshing, a joyous time of celebration. It was at a similar occasion that
“Wash and perfume yourself, and put on your best clothes.
Then go down to the threshing floor, but don’t let him know you are there until
he has finished eating and drinking” (Ruth 3:3, NIV, emphasis mine).
When Boaz had finished eating and drinking
and was in good spirits, he went over to lie down at the far end
of the grain pile. Ruth approached quietly, uncovered his feet and lay down
(Ruth 3:7, NIV, emphasis mine).
Someone might suppose that I am reading too much between
the lines. Not at all! You can see virtually the same expression (literally,
“to have a good heart” – to be merry) in Judges 19:6, 9, where the concubine’s
father extends great hospitality to his son-in-law. It is used of Nabal, when
he became drunk (1 Samuel 25:36). We find it in 2 Samuel 22:11, 13, where David
attempts to get Uriah drunk, so that he will go home and sleep with his wife,
thereby coving David’s sin of adultery. Then there is 2 Samuel 13:28 where
Absalom instructs his servants to get Amnon drunk and then to kill him. The
expression is also found in Esther 1:10 where the king of
Fifth, Naomi intended Ruth’s approach
to Boaz to be one that would appeal to him on a physical level:
3 So bathe yourself, rub on some perfumed oil, and get
dressed up. Then go down to the threshing floor. But don’t let the man know
you’re there until he finishes his meal. 4 When he gets ready to go to sleep,
take careful notice of the place where he lies down. Then go, uncover his legs,
and lie down beside him. He will tell you what you should do” (Ruth 3:3-4).
Stop and think about this. Boaz has been working hard in
the harvest, and it is a time of eating and drinking. His heart is merry, not only because of the festive occasion, but because
of the wine he has been drinking. A beautiful young woman comes and lies near
him, wearing perfume and her finest dress. Would you not agree that this is far
from a platonic setting?
Sixth, Naomi tells Ruth that whatever
Boaz tells her to do, she should do it (3:4).
Now if anyone finds my suspicions a bit overreaching, let
me point out how Boaz responded. He tells Ruth no one must know that she has
been to the threshing floor that night (3:14). If this were a standard method
of proposing marriage, then why wouldn’t everyone understand Ruth’s presence
and her actions? Why would Ruth’s being there threaten the reputation of Boaz,
or of Ruth? No wonder Morris points out the dangers of the approach Naomi
proposed:
The
narrator uses the utmost delicacy, but it is clear that Naomi’s plan was not
without its dangers. The fact that she was prepared to urge this course on Ruth
is the measure of her trust in both the participants. All the more is this the case since in the Ancient Near East immoral
practices at harvest-times were by no means uncommon, and indeed, appear to
have been encouraged by the fertility rites practised by in some regions.[162][160]
I must conclude from all these facts that Naomi was
seeking to bring about Ruth’s marriage in a provocative and manipulative way,
rather than in a principled way. In my opinion, this does not speak well for
Naomi.
Ruth
I’m sure that when we read about the “wife of noble
character” in Proverbs 31 that we tend to think of a Jewish woman. As I
read the Book of Ruth, I think of her as a “wife of noble character,” as
a “Proverbs 31 kind of woman.” Ruth is surely a woman of noble character, as we
shall see.
In chapter 1, Ruth attaches herself to Naomi, in spite of
the fact that her mother-in-law strongly urges her to return home to her parents,
her homeland, and her pagan god(s):
15 Then Naomi said, “Look, your sister-in-law has
returned to her people and to her god. Follow your sister-in-law back home!” 16
But Ruth replied, “Stop urging me to abandon you and to leave you! For wherever
you go, I will go. Wherever you stay, I will stay. Your people will be my
people, and your God will be my God. 17 Wherever you die, I will die and I will
be buried there. The Lord will punish me severely if I do not keep my promise!
Nothing but death will separate you and me” (Ruth 1:15-17).
Naomi is a bitter old woman, who thinks that her God has
treated her harshly. She urges Ruth to return to her own
11
… “I have been given a full report of all that you have done for your
mother-in-law following the death of your husband—how you left your father,
your mother, and your homeland and came to live among people you did not know
before. 12 May the Lord reward your efforts! May your wages be paid in full by the Lord God of
In chapter 2, it is Ruth who takes the initiative in
seeking to support Naomi by gleaning in the fields. This is not only an
evidence of the fact that she was a hard worker; it is also evidence of her
faith. What she proposed to do was dangerous. A young, beautiful, single,
foreign woman was vulnerable. There were those who would not hesitate to take
advantage of her (remember the men of the city of
8
So Boaz said to Ruth, “Listen carefully, my daughter. Don’t leave to gather
grain in another field. You need not go beyond the limits of this field. You
may go along beside my female workers. 9 Take note of the
field where the men are harvesting and follow along after the female workers.
I will tell the servants to leave you alone. When you get
thirsty, you may go to the water jars and drink some of the water the servants
draw” (Ruth 2:8-9; see comments of Naomi in 2:22).
Boaz warned Ruth that she should work only in his field,
and that she should work only alongside his female workers. In addition, Boaz
warned his servants not to bother her; indeed, they were not even to raise
their voice to her (2:16). In spite of the risks involved, Ruth was willing to
work in the fields, so that she might provide for Naomi and herself.
When
Ruth went into the field of Boaz to glean, she worked hard the entire day,
hardly stopping to rest. The workers inform Boaz:
“She
asked, ‘May I go behind the harvesters and gather grain among the bundles?’ She
has stayed here since she arrived. From this morning until
right now, she has taken only a brief rest” (2:7).
When
she was invited to sit at the table with the Boaz and his servants, she kept
some of the roasted grain for her mother-in-law, rather than eating it all
herself (2:14, 18).
Although
Ruth was an attractive young woman, she did not use her looks in a seductive
way, but was humble and unassuming:
10
Ruth knelt before him with her forehead to the ground and said to him, “Why are
you so kind to me and so attentive, even though I am a foreigner?” … 13 She
said, “You really are being kind to me, my master, for you have reassured me
and encouraged your servant, though I could never be equal to one of your
servants” (Ruth 2:10, 13).
When
we come to chapter 3, we see Ruth obediently following the instructions that
Naomi had given her, acting in faith and with modesty and humility. She was no
seductress. The response of Boaz is one that focuses on her godly character:
He
said, “May you be rewarded by the Lord, my daughter! This latter act of
devotion is greater than what you did before. You have not pursued one of the
young men, whether poor or rich” (Ruth 3:10).
Overall,
Ruth was regarded as a noble and worthy woman:
“Now,
my daughter, don’t worry! I intend to do for you everything you propose, for
everyone in town knows that you are a worthy woman” (Ruth 3:11, emphasis
mine).
14
The women said to Naomi, “May the Lord be praised because he has not left you
without a guardian today! May he be famous in
Boaz
Boaz is a most remarkable man. It would seem fairly
self-evident that he was an older man (3:10), and that he was a man of
considerable means. He was also a man of integrity and great character. There
are some who would be inclined to think that Boaz showed favoritism toward Ruth
primarily because of her beauty. I strongly disagree. In my opinion, Boaz was
kind and gracious to everyone, and not just to Ruth. We can see that there is a
mutual respect between Boaz and his workers:
Now Boaz arrived from
When he first takes note of Ruth, Boaz views her not as
someone who is “available,” but as someone who is already taken:
Boaz asked his servant, the one in charge of the
harvesters, “To whom does this young woman belong?”
(Ruth 2:5)
His concern for Ruth is a “fatherly” concern. At least
twice (2:8; 3:10) Boaz refers to Ruth as “my daughter,” as
opposed to “honey,” “sweet thing,” “dear,” and the like. Boaz recognizes that
Ruth is a woman of character, and that she is seeking to provide for Naomi.
Consequently, Boaz deals with Ruth generously. He lets her sit at his table and
drink the water that was provided for his servants (2:9, 14). He takes extra
measures to see to it that no one harms Ruth (2:8-9, 16). He instructs his
servants to leave extra grain for her to glean (2:15-16). He delights in her
godly character, her faithfulness to Naomi, and in the fact that she has
entrusted herself to the God of Israel. He invokes God’s blessings upon her
(2:11-12).
The
godly character of Boaz is particularly evident in chapters 3 and 4. Boaz acts
honorably toward Ruth when he discovers that she is lying near to him,
symbolically asking him to marry her. He does not take advantage of her. He
tells Ruth that he is not the nearest kinsman, so that he cannot take her as
his wife until he has publicly resolved this matter. He protects her honor by
sending her away before anyone sees her. In chapter 4, Boaz settles this matter
publicly at the city gates. He does not in any way attempt to slant or distort
the proceedings, so as to dissuade the nearest kinsman from purchasing
Elimelech’s property and taking Ruth as his wife. Everything he does is honest
and above board.
Conclusion
What
a wonderful, heart-warming story the Book of Ruth is. It is not just a romantic
story, however; it is a story with lessons for
First,
the Book of Ruth provides us with a genealogy of David, one of the most
famous Israelite kings of all time. Leon Morris writes:
It
is an interesting fact that though David is the greatest king spoken of in the
historical books, and though he is looked on by subsequent generations as the
ideal king, there is no genealogy of him in I Samuel. There he is simply ‘the
son of Jesse’. The book of Ruth closes with a genealogy running back to Pharez,
the son of
Second,
we see that no matter how dark the days may be, God
always preserves a righteous remnant. Some years later, Elijah only thought “he
alone was left” (1 Kings 19:10, 14). The fact was that God had preserved
7,000 who had not “bowed the knee to Baal” (1 Kings 19:18). It is in
times of great darkness that the “light” of the gospel shines most brightly
through the lives and testimonies of the saints:
You
must actively help the hungry
and feed the oppressed.
Then your light will dispel the darkness,
and your darkness will be transformed into noonday (Isaiah 58:10).
The
night has advanced toward dawn; the day is near. So then we must lay aside the
works of darkness, and put on the weapons of light (Romans 13:12).
For you were at one time darkness, but now
you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of the light (Ephesians
5:8).
14
Do everything without grumbling or arguing, 15 so that you may be blameless and
pure, children of God without blemish though you live in a crooked and perverse
society, in which you shine as lights in the world 16 by holding on to the word
of life so that on the day of Christ I will have a reason to boast that I did
not run in vain nor labor in vain (Philippians 2:15-16).
Third,
we are reminded by our text that our actions can impact future generations. The
godly lives of Ruth and Boaz not only were a blessing to Naomi, they were a
blessing to all subsequent generations. The child born to Ruth and Boaz would
become the grandfather of King David (Ruth 4:18-22). Little do we realize how
much our decisions and actions may impact those who come after us.
Fourth,
Boaz is a wonderful illustration of “true religion.”
9
“‘When you gather in the harvest of your land, you
must not completely harvest the corner of your field, and you must not gather
up the gleanings of your harvest. 10 You must not pick your vineyard bare, and
you must not gather up the fallen grapes of your vineyard. You must leave them
for the poor and the foreigner. I am the Lord your God’” (Leviticus 19:9-10).
17
For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God and
awesome warrior who is unbiased and takes no bribe, 18 who acts justly toward orphan
and widow, and who loves resident foreigners, giving them food and clothing. 19
You, therefore, love the resident foreigner because you were foreigners in the
Whenever
you reap your harvest in the field and leave some unraked grain there, you must
not return to get it; it should go to the resident foreigner, orphan, and widow
so that the Lord your God may bless every work you do (Deuteronomy 24:19).
Learn
to do what is right!
Promote justice!
Give the oppressed reason to celebrate!
Take
up the cause of the orphan!
Defend the rights of the widow! (Isaiah 1:17)
He
has told you, O man, what is proper,
and what the Lord really wants from you:
He wants you to promote justice, to be faithful,
and to live obediently before your God (Micah 6:8).
What
a remarkable man Boaz is. The Law of Moses required him to leave the corners of
his field uncut, and not to pick up any bundles of grain that fell by the
wayside. Boaz instructed his servants to deliberately leave grain behind for
Ruth to find. Boaz also provided Ruth with water and food. He treated her as
one of his employees. He sought to protect her from those who would harm or
abuse her. Boaz was not a brother to Ruth’s deceased husband, and thus as I see
it, he was not legally obligated to take Ruth as his wife. Nevertheless, he did
so, going the extra mile in almost every instance to care for Naomi, and for
Ruth.
My
point in all of this is that Boaz did not look at the law as a requirement that
he must begrudgingly meet, somewhat the way we look at paying our income taxes
(we don’t intend to give the government one penny more than the law requires).
Boaz looked upon the law as the minimum standard. He looked upon even greater
compassion and generosity as his privilege, and his pleasure. Here was a man
who truly loved God’s law, and who lived his life in a spirit that delighted in
serving God and others.
Fifth,
the Book of Ruth is an excellent commentary on Christian charity. What a contrast
the charity of Boaz is to the welfare of our own day. All too often, welfare
programs actually discourage (or even penalize) hard work. Welfare programs
also degrade people, rather than to provide them with an honorable means of
providing for their own needs and the needs of their families. Ruth was not
just given a handout; she was given the opportunity to work, and she gladly
seized the opportunity. Her hard work earned her the respect of the entire
community. That is the kind of charity we should strive to practice in our own
time.
The
question that I am personally wrestling with is this: “In this technological
age, what constitutes the ‘corner of my fields’?” I am not a farmer, and
neither are most of you. How, then, do we practice the principle of charity in
a way that provides for the needs of the poor, yet in a way that maintains (and
even promotes) their dignity? This is a real challenge, and the answer for each
of us may be a little different. I realize that not everyone is capable of
working, but these are the minority. For those who are able to work, we should
facilitate their doing so. There are no quick and easy answers here, but the
principles are clear, and I believe that the answers are there for those who
would sincerely seek them.
Sixth,
the Book of Ruth provides us with tremendous insight into the role of the
Gentiles in God’s “unfolding drama of redemption.” Boaz was
perceptive enough to realize that a Gentile woman who embraced the God of
Israel by faith could enter into the blessings of the Jews. This is implied in
the blessing he pronounced on Ruth in 2:11-12. It was for this reason that Boaz
had no reservations about marrying Ruth and bearing children with her. Thanks
to the insight and maturity of Boaz, the elevation of a Gentile saint is
grasped, in some measure, by the people of the city:
11
All the people who were at the gate and the elders replied, “We are witnesses.
May the Lord make the woman who is entering your home like Rachel and
Leah, both of whom built up the house of
It
took me a while to see this, but it is really quite obvious once you see it. In
blessing Ruth, the people of
We
have now seen God “integrate” a number of Gentiles into the line of the
promised “Messiah.” First of all, we saw Rahab embraced by
Seventh,
Naomi, Ruth, and Boaz each symbolize a particular person or group. Naomi personifies
Ruth
is a picture of those believing Gentiles that God grafts into the “vine”
of His covenant blessings (John 10:16; Romans 11:17ff.). She makes no claim to
these blessings, as though she deserved of them, but humbly accepts them as a
manifestation of God’s grace. She is an example of one who is a true Israelite,
not by virtue of her ancestry, but by virtue of her faith:
26
For in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God through faith. 27 For all of you
who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. 28 There is
neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male
nor female—for all of you are one in Christ Jesus. 29 And if you belong to
Christ, then you are Abraham’s descendants, heirs according to the promise
(Galatians 3:26-29; see also 3:7; 6:16; Romans 9:6; Philippians 3:3).
As
God united Ruth (a Gentile) and Boaz (a Jew) in marriage, so God has united
Jews and Gentiles in Christ:
11
Therefore remember that formerly you, the Gentiles in the flesh—who are called
“uncircumcision” by the so-called “circumcision” that is performed in the body
by hands—12 that you were at that time without the Messiah, alienated from the
citizenship of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope
and without God in the world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who used to be far
away have been brought near by the blood of Christ. 14 For he is our peace, the
one who turned both groups into one and who destroyed the middle wall of
partition, the hostility, in his flesh, 15 when he nullified the law of commandments
in decrees. He did this to create in himself one new man out of two, thus
making peace, 16 and to reconcile them both in one body to God through the
cross, by which the hostility has been killed. 17 And he came and preached
peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near, 18 so that
through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. 19 So then you are
no longer foreigners and non-citizens, but you are fellow citizens with the
saints and members of God’s household, 20 because you have been built on the
foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the
cornerstone. 21 In him the whole building, being joined together, grows into a
holy temple in the Lord, 22 in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling
place of God in the Spirit (Ephesians 2:11-22).
Boaz
is a picture of God, and more particularly of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is he
who, like Christ, welcomed Gentiles into the family of faith (see, for example,
Luke 4:16-30, especially verses 23-27). He is the kinsman redeemer, who “saves”
Naomi and Ruth in their time of need. As Boaz became “one flesh” with Ruth,
continuing the line of the promised Messiah, so our Lord Jesus took on human
flesh, becoming one with us in our humanity, so that we might become one with
Him by faith, and thus be saved. Boaz set aside his own self-interest (unlike
the nearest kin), so that he might be a blessing to those in need.
Eighth,
Ruth and Boaz exemplify the kind of loyal love that we should show toward the
unlovely. I
have made it quite clear that I view Naomi as a bitter old woman, who finds God
to blame for her difficulties in life. This is not the kind of person that you
or I would care to be around. The cheerful comments of Naomi’s friends and
neighbors are “put down” by Naomi’s very negative response (1:19-21). If I were
Ruth, I would have been tempted to obey her instructions to leave her and go to
my own family. But Ruth persevered, not because Naomi was so lovely (as her
name would normally suggest) or loveable, but because of her love for the
unlovely. Ruth’s love for Naomi was not in response to Naomi’s loveliness, but
in spite of her bitterness. Her love was prompted by Naomi’s need.
Ruth’s
endurance and persistence is absolutely amazing, not only in her time, but in
ours. How many husbands and wives have parted ways because of some irritation
with their mate? Ruth had no legal obligation to Naomi, only the obligation of
love. Because Ruth remained loyal and faithful to her mother-in-law, she was
greatly admired and greatly rewarded by God.
I
wonder if you, my reader friend, have been considering parting ways when you
should be persevering? Who is your Naomi? It may be a
friend, or a relative (a mother-in-law?), or even your spouse. What does the
Book of Ruth have to say to you about persevering? I think it rebukes us for
our selfish attitudes and our lack of servanthood and commitment to those
around us. Let us learn to endure in our relations with others, just as God has
persisted in His faithfulness to us, even when we are faithless (see 2 Timothy
2:13).
Ninth,
we see that Naomi’s sins did not keep Ruth from trusting in the God of
Lesson 19 —
1 Samuel 1:1–16:23
Introduction
Years
ago, our family went to an amusement park, along with another family from
church. It was a beautiful day, and so many other families had chosen to do
likewise. There were lines waiting for the “good” rides. After spending several
hours at this, I turned to our friends and said, “You know, this is an
excellent illustration of sin – the ride is short, and the price is high!” I
have since thought of another dimension: “If the ride is any good, it will
scare you to death.” As we come to the reign of King Saul, I find the above
words to be an apt description. The ride was short, and the price was high, and
frightening.
When
we come to the Book of 1 Samuel, we move from the period of the judges (Judges,
Ruth,
1 Samuel 1-7) to the monarchy (1 Samuel 8ff.). At
1 Samuel 13:7; 14:15).
As
I have indicated, our text takes us from the period of the judges to the
monarchy – the reign of
The
Book of 1 Samuel describes a number of “turning points,” for individuals like
Saul, and for the nation
The End of the Era of the Judges
1 Samuel 1-7
Originally
Samuel was but one book, not two, and it immediately followed the Book of
Judges. This means that the words that immediately precede 1 Samuel would be:
In
those days
In
those days, men and women did not live according to the Law of Moses, the
revealed Word of God; they lived in accord with their own standards, their own
sense of right and wrong – and it was a disaster. Consequently, God was silent
for a time:
Now
the boy Samuel continued serving the Lord under Eli’s supervision. Word from
the Lord was rare in those days; revelatory visions were infrequent (1 Samuel
3:1).
The
birth of Samuel, much like the birth of John the Baptist, was a divine
initiative whereby God’s silence was broken. Elkanah had two wives, Hannah and
Peninnah. Hannah was the most beloved wife, but she was childless, and Peninnah
took full advantage of this, deeply wounding Hannah’s spirit by flaunting the
fact that she could bear children, while Hannah could not. (It is apparent that
Peninnah had no grasp of the fact that God had purposely prevented Hannah from
conceiving children, up to this point in time – see 1:6, 19-20.) Although
Elkanah sought to comfort his wife, she suffered much.
It
was out of the agony of her heart that she cried out to the Lord, petitioning
Him for a child. She promised that if God would give her a male child she would
dedicate him to the LORD, and that (like Samson – see Judges 13) he would be a
Nazarite (1 Samuel 1:11). Eli saw this distraught woman and mistook her
demeanor for that of someone who was drunk. When he rebuked her, she quickly
explained her circumstances, and in response, Eli blessed her with the
assurance that she would have a son. Not long after this, Hannah became
pregnant, and when her son, Samuel, was weaned, she took him to the Lord’s
house at
The
author then includes this psalm of praise, composed by Hannah:
1
Hannah prayed,
“My heart rejoices in the Lord;
my horn is exalted high because of the Lord.
I loudly denounce my enemies,
for I am happy that you delivered me.
2 No one is holy like the Lord!
There is no one other than you!
There is no rock like our God!
3 Don’t keep speaking so arrogantly,
letting proud talk come out of your mouth.
For the Lord is a God who knows;
he evaluates what people do.
4 The bows of warriors are shattered,
but those who stumble find their strength reinforced.
Those who are well-fed hire themselves out to earn food,
but the hungry no longer lack.
Even the barren woman gives birth to seven,
but the one with lots of children withers away.
6 The Lord both kills and gives life;
he brings down to the grave and raises up.
7 The Lord impoverishes and makes wealthy;
he humbles and exalts.
8 He lifts the weak from the dust;
he raises the poor from the ash heap
to seat them with princes
and to bestow on them an honored position.
The foundations of the earth belong to the Lord,
and he has placed the world on them.
9 He watches over his holy ones,
but the wicked are made speechless in the darkness,
for it is not by one’s own strength that one prevails.
10 The Lord shatters his adversaries;
he thunders against them from the heavens.
The Lord executes judgment to the ends of the earth.
He will strengthen his king
and exalt the power of his anointed one” (1 Samuel 2:1-10).
We
cannot attempt to expound this wonderful psalm in a survey like this, but I do
wish to make a few observations, which should serve to enhance our appreciation
of this psalm of praise, and as a result enhance our own worship.[167][165]
First, this is a prayer.
Second, this prayer is
poetry, a psalm of praise to God.
Third, it is a
divinely-inspired psalm. It has become a part of Scripture, and so we are
assured of its divine inspiration (2 Timothy 3:16). As such, we know that God
has included it in Scripture for our edification and instruction (2 Timothy
3:16-17).
Fourth, this psalm is a
psalm of praise and thanksgiving, prompted by God’s answer to Hannah’s prayers
for a son.
Fifth, it is a psalm
that is God-centered. Unlike Jonah’s “psalm” in Jonah 2:2-9, Hannah does not
dwell on her experiences; she dwells upon God, His sovereignty, His power, and
His grace. Here is a lesson we could all take to heart in our worship. How much
of our testimonies and worship are self-centered?
Sixth, it is a psalm
that is quite similar to Mary’s magnificat in Luke 1:46-55. It would certainly
seem that Mary’s words were influenced by Hannah’s psalm.
Seventh, this psalm of
praise looks beyond Hannah’s personal experience to
Hannah
was barren, and greatly distressed. Peninnah was Hannah’s enemy, who would
harass her constantly about her inability to bear children. God heard Hannah’s
prayer, giving her not just one child, but several. From her experience, Hannah
could see and rejoice in the sovereignty of God. She could see that God is a
God who elevates the humble and the broken, and who humbles the powerful and
the proud. What God had done for her, she knew God would do for others. God
will humble
What
faith Hannah had, as she penned this psalm. She saw God’s hand in her life, and
knew that it was but a sample of God’s work among His people. While the Book of
Judges ends with, “In those days
I
wonder if Hannah lived long enough to see the reason for her suffering?
In her childless days, with Peninnah constantly “rubbing salt in her wounds,”
Hannah could only trust that God would somehow cause her circumstances to turn
out for good. And so they did, in time. Hannah was so eager for a son that she
vowed she would dedicate this boy to God, that she
would give him up. It must have been difficult for her to place Samuel into the
hands of Eli, knowing how he had failed to deal with his own sons. Little did
she know that God had purposed for Samuel to be raised by Eli and to grow up in
the house of the Lord, so that he might be Eli’s replacement. It is only as we
look back that we can see how God used Hannah’s suffering for her good, and for
His glory.
Eli’s
sons were exceedingly wicked. They refused to wait and eat the boiled beef that
was rightfully theirs, and instead forcibly took the meat before it was cooked,
even before the fat was offered to God. Our author sums it all up when he tells
us that they “treated the LORD’s offering with contempt” (2:17). Not only did
they sin in regard to the offerings, they also sinned
by having sexual relations with the young women who worked at the entrance of
the tent of meeting (2:22). Samuel verbally chastised his sons, but he never
followed through. At the very least Samuel should have dismissed his sons from
their duties, and by law he should have stoned them (Deuteronomy 21:18-21).
Parents today would do well to consider Eli’s foolishness in raising his sons. There is a time when mere words are not sufficient, and when more aggressive action is required. Some parents are so committed to “reasoning” with their children that they never move beyond mere talk. If words do the job, then words are sufficient. When words fail to accomplish the task, something more than words is required. This most certainly does not justify abuse. Our generation is characterized by children who don’t know the meaning of the word “No,” and who are convinced that if they disobey, their parents will merely throw up their hands and give up. That was Eli’s problem: