The Son of Promise is Born

From the very beginning as God initiated His plan of redemption, He began to lay down a pattern of revelation about a “special son”. The wisdom of God is such that He often reveals His plan by developing a series of patterns instead of directly stating His intentions. I assume that this is due to the fact that He well knows the human capacity to wrongly interpret something that is being said. He lays down a pattern, repeats it in different ways so that a discerning heart and soul can understand what is being communicated. This is true concerning Abraham and the promise of a “special son”.

“for all the land which you see, I will give it to you and to your descendants forever. And I will make your descendants as the dust of the earth; so that if anyone can number the dust of the earth, then your descendants can also be numbered.” (Genesis 13:15-16)

Still, Abram and Sarai remained childless for another 25 years.

Eventually Abram and Sarai became desperate for children and utilized the practice common in their society. The handmaiden of Sarai, Hagar, was given to Abram in order to raise descendants and therefore fulfill the promise. Obviously, Abram and Sarai had no clue as to what God was doing through them. This step of “helping God” led to the requirement for Abram and his descendants to confess surrender of the reproductive system to the purpose of God which was manifested through the sign of circumcision. Nevertheless, the existence of Ishmael clouded the picture that God was beginning to reveal.

Now when Sarai was too old to bear children (menopause), God was ready to act. God changed Abram’s name to Abraham (father of a multitude) and Sarai to Sarah (princess). He was 99 years old and she was 89. Now God revealed Himself to Abraham and announced that Sarah would bear his son within the coming year. This seemed so absurd to them that they both laughed as they heard this word. But,

“So Sarah conceived and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at the appointed time of which God had spoken to him.” (Genesis 21:2)

Many years later, God commanded Abraham to take his son, Isaac, to Mt. Moriah and made a burnt offering (an offering wholly consecrated to God) of him there. Please note the unusual language used by God.

“And He said, “Take now your son, your only son, whom you love, Isaac, and go to the land of Moriah; and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I will tell you.”” (Genesis 22:2)

We know from previous passages that Abraham had another son, Ishmael. For the purpose of God’s revelation, God ignored Ishmael. Also, the language used by God, “your son, your only son, whom you love” reminds us of the language used by John in his gospel concerning Jesus. I maintain that this entire episode was the beginning revelation of the unique, virgin conception of Messiah Jesus which would occur some 2000 years later.

An additional point must be considered in this line of revelation. On two occasions, Abraham misrepresented his relationship to Sarah when exposed to foreign forces which he feared. This happened with the Pharaoh in Egypt and with King Abimelech in the Negev. In both cases God intervened to protect the purity of Sarah. The obvious reason was to counter any question as to who the father of the “special son” was. Again, God left no room for speculation here. The obvious reason for this is the charge that would be lodged against Mary when she conceived and bore Jesus. The Holy One of Israel wanted no confusion as to who the Father was in this case and also of the faithfulness of the mother.

We do not know precisely how old Isaac was at the time Abraham brought him to the mountain of Moriah (Jerusalem) to make an “olah”. However, the next event recorded in the Bible is the death of Sarah. She was 127 at the time of her death. Isaac was 37 years old. If God intended for Isaac to be a prophetic type of Jesus, then Jesus would be near this age at the time of His death. Most scholars believe that the crucifixion occurred in the year 31 CE/AD. Modern dating places King Herod’s death at 4 BCE/BC. Herod had the children of Bethlehem who were two years old and younger killed. So this would place Jesus’ birth between 4-6BCE/BC. Hence, Jesus would have been 37 at the time of His death. This we believe corresponds to the age of Isaac when Abraham intended to make him an “olah” on mountain of Moriah.

This revelation concerning the “special son” should be sufficient to cause any discerning person to rejoice with the love of God for the human community. He has painstakingly laid down a picture of a loving Father who is intimately involved in our lives in spite of our frequent indifference to His love. May God continue to show mercy to us!

God Limits Evil in the Earth

In this section of the Bible dealing with the period between the “fall of man” and the initiation of the first “redemptive covenant” (with Abraham), God acted to limit the manifestation of evil in mankind due to the influence of Satan. He reduced the “gene pool” of mankind by causing all future generations to be descended from one righteous family. He reduced the lifespan of man by an order of magnitude (from 900 + years to a theoretical limit of 120 years). Finally, He confused the language at Babel making human cooperation very difficult.

The account of Noah presents us with some insight into way that God views “human progress”. It appears that God has predetermined limits on such development. During the days of Noah, mankind (daughters of Adam) was evidently interactive with spiritual beings (sons of god) resulting in offspring referred to as “Nephilim” or “fallen ones”. These are the “men of renown” from ancient times, literally, from eternity. Since God acted to destroy these “mighty men” we must consider them as evil relative to God’s purpose. Only Noah and his immediate family were survived the flood.

God used the mechanism of the “great flood’ to accomplish His purpose. Noah, his immediate family, and pairs of the various species of the animal kingdom were preserved in the ark. From these the earth was repopulated. The sign of the rainbow was given to assure man that God would not intervene in this same way again. We must understand that God did not indicate that He would not intervene in some other way.

God’s appraisal of the progress being made by mankind was:

“Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” (Genesis 6:5)

We presume that the reason for this assessment and God’s subsequent intervention is a result of the interaction between the “daughters of man” and the “sons of god” previously stated. Judging from the whole Biblical account, I speculate that man was on the verge of destroying himself at least in the sense of God’s creative purpose for him. He intervened for this reason.

From my study of the Bible both from a historic perspective and from a prophetic perspective, I will set forth the hypothesis that God will intervene in human affairs in order to prevent man from self-annihilation. Later, in the Genesis account, God again intervened to retard human progress at Babel (Genesis 11:1-9). This, I believe, prevented man from reestablishing contact with the “sons of god” as had occurred in the pre-flood generations.

Will God intervene in the future? I believe that He is in the process of doing so and has been for millennia. Indeed the whole of Biblical revelation paints such a picture. I believe that we are very late in this intervention. In what way will He intervene? Well, we know that it won’t be by a great flood. Instead, Bible prophecy indicates that God is in the process of establishing a king over all of mankind who will,

“And He shall rule them with a rod of iron”. (Revelation 2:27a)

This is the rule of the Messiah coming to Israel who is “King of Kings and Lord of Lord”. (Revelation 19:16b)

Four thousand years ago God began preparing to establish a king over the human community. We can see it in the revelation through Abraham. Gradually, over long periods of time, the prophetic picture was laid down. Two thousand years ago, God intervened through the person of Jesus. Subsequently, He has chosen individuals to be “born from above” who walk in the Holy Spirit in a manner like that of Jesus. This is the true church that follows Jesus in the Spirit. Now, in our own days, Israel has been gathered in from the nations and dwells in their own land as an independent nation once again. Soon, we believe that Jesus will return from the heavenly realm and establish His rule on the throne of David in Jerusalem in the midst of Israel. God has chosen Israel to be the “host” country for His kingdom and Jerusalem to be the seat of His government.

In the book of revelation, these events are seen as the ultimate judgment on the rebellious human community. John declared:

“The kingdom of the world has become the Kingdom of our Lord and of His Messiah and He will reign forever and ever.” (Revelation 11:15b)

So we see that God has and will intervene in the human community to limit and ultimately eliminate the manifestation of evil from the world He created. He limited man’s lifespan, reduced the “gene pool” for the generations following Noah and limited human cooperation at Babel. He is now in the process of establishing a reigning King on the throne of David in Jerusalem. God:

“is coming to judge the earth; He will judge the world with righteousness and the peoples with equity”. (Psalm 98:9b)

Judge in the Hebrew sense means to “rule over” as in the period of the Judges of Israel. The Great King will rule over the house of Israel and through them the whole world population.

Praise the Holy One of Israel. His redemption is near.

The final words of Moses to Israel reveal that he understood what would happen in their future.  Obviously, God revealed to Moses, the prophet, these things.  God knew that Israel would act unfaithfully after they had entered the land that He was giving them (Deuteronomy 31:16-18).  We know now, due to hindsight, that this would lead to Israel being dispersed from the land.  This happened about 800 years after the days of Moses.  Jeremiah was the prophet who functioned at the time when Israel was being judged leading to their dispersion.  He declared the reason for the judgment:

The Lord said, “Because they have forsaken My law which I set before them, and have not obeyed My voice nor walked according to it.”

Jeremiah 9:13

As a result, God’s people were driven from the land.

We have previously summarized our position concerning the addendum to the Sinai covenant announced by God at Mt. Nebo.  This is sometimes referred to as the “Covenant in Moab” or “the Palestinian Covenant”.  This latter label is absurd but is commonly used.  The Covenant made at Mt. Sinai dealt with the relationship between God and His people.  This was an extension of the previous covenant made with Abraham and is eternal (Genesis 17:19).  The covenant addendum made at Mt. Nebo established what would be required of Israel to occupy and continuously possess the land of Israel.  This was Israel’s work of ministry and was conditional upon their faithfulness.  If they were unfaithful, they would be judged.  The ultimate judgment if they continued in unfaithfulness would be their exile from the land.   When Israel failed with regard to this addendum, God did not want anyone to conclude that He had cut off His people.  Jeremiah understood this.  He declared at the time of the dispersion:

Thus says the Lord, who gives the sun for light by day and the fixed order of the moon and the stars for light by night, who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar; The Lord of hosts is His name; “If this fixed order departs from before Me, declares the Lord, “Then the offspring of Israel also will cease from being a nation before Me forever,  Thus says the Lord, “If the heavens above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth searched out below; Then I will also cast off all the offspring of Israel for all that they have done, declares the Lord.”

Jeremiah 31:35-37

Note that Jeremiah is referring to the relationship aspect of the covenant.

Paul, in his letter to the church at Rome, declared the same message.  He wrote,

I say then, God has not rejected His people, has He? May it never be! ; and “I say then, they did not stumble so as to fall, did they? May it never be!.”

Romans 11:1a; Romans 11:11a

Clearly, Paul understood the distinction between the relationship aspects of Israel’s covenant and the ministry aspects of it.  It is unfortunate that the Church Fathers of subsequent centuries did not grasp what Paul understood.  They concluded that God revoked His relationship with Israel and replaced them with the Church.  This is the unscriptural doctrine of “Replacement Theology” common in Christian thought today.

God is calling real, committed believers to recognize the simple truth of Israel’s election and to identify with Israel rather than with the “universal church” and to function alongside of Israel in the quest for the Kingdom of God coming to planet earth.  A famous rabbi once prayed:

Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven….”

Matthew 6:10