So what is the real difference between the Old and the New Covenants? It is the difference between flesh and faith, between works born of the natural, un-renewed mind of man and works born of the Holy Spirit.  It is the difference between man’s strange fire born of his fleshly mind and God’s fire which consumes the flesh. Remember Nadab and Abihu!

Amazingly, though, this covenant of faith has always been available to God’s people.  Consider how Hebrews affirms that “the gospel” was preached to the entire nation of Israel which left Egypt with Moses. “For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it.” (Hebrews 4:2 KJV)

So, why did the gospel not profit those Israelites under Moses to whom it was preached? Hebrew 4:2 says it is because the word of the gospel was not mixed with faith. Now let’s consider the rest of this passage from Hebrews.

4 Therefore, while the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us fear lest any of you should seem to have failed to reach it. ² For good news [gospel] came to us just as to them, but the message they heard did not benefit them, because they were not united by faith with those who listened.^[a] 3 For we who have believed enter that rest, as he has said,

although his works were finished from the foundation of the world. ⁴ For he has somewhere spoken of the seventh day in this way: “And God rested on the seventh day from all his works.” ⁵ And again in this passage he said,

⁶ Since therefore it remains for some to enter it, and those who formerly received the good news [gospel]  failed to enter because of disobedience, ⁷ again he appoints a certain day, “Today,” saying through David so long afterward, in the words already quoted,

⁸ For if Joshua had given them rest, God^[b] would not have spoken of another day later on.⁹ So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, ¹⁰ for whoever has entered God’s rest has also rested from his works as God did from his.

¹¹ Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience. ¹² For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. ¹³ And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account. (Hebrews 4:1-13)

Pay close attention to verses 2 and 6 above. Verse two says that Israel heard the gospel but that the gospel did not benefit them because they did not mix the word of the gospel with faith. But verse six says that those who heard the gospel did not benefit from it because of their disobedience. Applying logic to these two verses we see that failing to mix the word of God with faith is the same as disobedience. This means one of two things, either lack of faith equals disobedience or disobedience results in lack of faith. The latter, I think, makes more sense. This means that Israel’s disobedience to God’s word resulted in a lack of faith which then caused them to fail to enter into God’s rest, into the good of the gospel. According to the Book of Hebrews this very thing can happen to Christians as well.

Nevertheless, we find that it is faith not good works that establishes our standing in Christ and with God. Remember Paul’s words,

3 O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified. ² Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith? ³ Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by^[a] the flesh? ⁴ Did you suffer^[b] so many things in vain—if indeed it was in vain? ⁵ Does he who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you do so by works of the law, or by hearing with faith— ⁶ just as Abraham “believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”?

⁷ Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham. ⁸ And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify^[c] the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “In you shall all the nations be blessed.” ⁹ So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith. (Galatians 3:1-9, ESV)

So, how do we get the faith to mix with God’s word which we need to be able to enter into his rest and thus into his Kingdom? Can I simply decide to believe and then suddenly become a man who is profited by the gospel? This seems to me to be the crux of the mystery of the gospel. What is it exactly which separates the overcomer in God from the one that does not overcome? How and why is it that one Christian receives the crown of life and the other rewards Jesus mentions in Revelation 2 and 3 and the other Christian has his name blotted out of the Book of Life according to Revelation 3:5?

I believe the passage quoted from Hebrews 4 above reveals the answer. Anyone who would be an overcomer must act upon the word of God which he has received, which he knows to be true. He must obey Jesus Christ. These acts of obedience will lead to ever more revelation of God’s word and will, in turn, lead to more good works. This is what Paul means when he says,

¹² Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, ¹³ for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure. (Philippians 2:12-13)

Even though Paul does exhort us to work out our own (soul) salvation we must remember that it is God himself who actually works his will within us in order to accomplish this. This is the New Covenant, the covenant which is from faith to faith. “For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.” (Romans 1:17 KJV)

God called Moses in the wilderness in order to do a specific work with respect to his “firstborn.” The Scripture says,

²¹ And the Lord said to Moses, “When you go back to Egypt, see that you do before Pharaoh all the miracles that I have put in your power. But I will harden his heart, so that he will not let the people go. ²² Then you shall say to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says the Lord, Israel is my firstborn son, ²³ and I say to you, “Let my son go that he may serve me.” If you refuse to let him go, behold, I will kill your firstborn son.’” (Exodus 4:21-23)

Recall that later, at the first Passover, Moses instructed all Israel to select a lamb for slaughter and to place some of its blood on the door posts and lintel of each house. Blood had to be applied there or else the death angel of God would strike and kill every firstborn person and beast in that household. Since none of the Egyptians observed this Passover every Egyptian household suffered death of their firstborns, both human and beast.

For I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: I am the Lord. (Exodus 12:12)

At midnight the Lord struck down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn of the captive who was in the dungeon, and all the firstborn of the livestock. (Ex. 12:29)

Immediately after this first Passover the LORD spoke to Moses saying, “Consecrate to me all the firstborn. Whatever is the first to open the womb among the people of Israel, both of man and of beast, is mine.” (Exodus 13:2) After this Moses instructed the People:

¹¹ “When the Lord brings you into the land of the Canaanites, as he swore to you and your fathers, and shall give it to you, ¹² you shall set apart to the Lord all that first opens the womb. All the firstborn of your animals that are males shall be the Lord’s. ¹³ Every firstborn of a donkey you shall redeem with a lamb, or if you will not redeem it you shall break its neck. Every firstborn of man among your sons you shall redeem. ¹⁴ And when in time to come your son asks you, ‘What does this mean?’ you shall say to him, ‘By a strong hand theLord brought us out of Egypt, from the house of slavery. ¹⁵ For when Pharaoh stubbornly refused to let us go, the Lord killed all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both the firstborn of man and the firstborn of animals. Therefore I sacrifice to the Lord all the males that first open the womb, but all the firstborn of my sons I redeem.’ ¹⁶ It shall be as a mark on your hand or frontlets between your eyes, for by a strong hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt.” (Ex. 13:11-16)

Later, when Moses begins to expound God’s revealed laws to his redeemed nation he says, “You shall not delay to offer from the fullness of your harvest and from the outflow of your presses. The firstborn of your sons you shall give to me.” (Ex. 22:29) Later he says again, “All that open the womb are mine, all your male livestock, the firstborn of cow and sheep.” (Ex. 34:19)

Egypt is a “type of” (represents) the world in Scripture. Pharaoh represents Satan in the “parable” of the ten judgments upon Egypt (although Pharaoh represents God in the parable of Joseph feeding all the world during the seven year famine. Joseph himself is a type of Christ and a type of the overcomer in that parable). So, God’s passing over, or saving, the firstborn Israelites in the first Passover has prophetic meaning as well. In the past we have only considered that Passover related to spiritual salvation which comes by simple faith in the blood of Jesus for the forgiveness of our sins. Now, as we consider the fifteen or more regulations which God imposed upon observing Passover,  we see that Passover really relates mainly to the firstborn. Passover does affect everyone else in the household as well, though, because they are kept safe by the presence of the firstborn who believes in the efficacy of Christ’s blood (the lamb) and who obeys the Passover regulations. An example of this is seen in Rahab of Jericho. Everyone who gathered in her house, based upon her faith in the God of Israel (displayed in the red cord hanging from her window), was saved from slaughter when Israel killed every living thing in Jericho. The question we face today is who the firstborn represents with respect to our Christian faith.

Before Israel’s second Passover, however, the LORD does a very strange thing. He substitutes an entire tribe of Israel, the Levites, for all of the firstborn males of Israel.

⁵ And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ⁶ “Bring the tribe of Levi near, and set them before Aaron the priest, that they may minister to him. ⁷ They shall keep guard over him and over the whole congregation before the tent of meeting, as they minister at the tabernacle.⁸ They shall guard all the furnishings of the tent of meeting, and keep guard over the people of Israel as they minister at the tabernacle. ⁹ And you shall give the Levites to Aaron and his sons; they are wholly given to him from among the people of Israel. ¹⁰ And you shall appoint Aaron and his sons, and they shall guard their priesthood. But if any outsider comes near, he shall be put to death.”

¹¹ And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ¹² “Behold, I have taken the Levites from among the people of Israel instead of every firstborn who opens the womb among the people of Israel. The Levites shall be mine, ¹³ for all the firstborn are mine. On the day that I struck down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, I consecrated for my own all the firstborn in Israel, both of man and of beast. They shall be mine: I am the Lord.” (Numbers 3:5-13)

Moses expounds upon this two more times in the book of Numbers.

¹⁴ “Thus you shall separate the Levites from among the people of Israel, and the Levites shall be mine. ¹⁵ And after that the Levites shall go in to serve at the tent of meeting, when you have cleansed them and offered them as a wave offering. ¹⁶ For they are wholly given to me from among the people of Israel. Instead of all who open the womb, the firstborn of all the people of Israel, I have taken them for myself. ¹⁷ For all the firstborn among the people of Israel are mine, both of man and of beast. On the day that I struck down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt I consecrated them for myself, ¹⁸ and I have taken the Levites instead of all the firstborn among the people of Israel. ¹⁹ And I have given the Levites as a gift to Aaron and his sons from among the people of Israel, to do the service for the people of Israel at the tent of meeting and to make atonement for the people of Israel, that there may be no plague among the people of Israel when the people of Israel come near the sanctuary.”

²⁰ Thus did Moses and Aaron and all the congregation of the people of Israel to the Levites. According to all that the Lord commanded Moses concerning the Levites, the people of Israel did to them. ²¹ And the Levites purified themselves from sin and washed their clothes, andAaron offered them as a wave offering before the Lord, and Aaron made atonement for them to cleanse them. ²² And after that the Levites went in to do their service in the tent of meeting before Aaron and his sons; as the Lord had commanded Moses concerning the Levites, so they did to them. (Numbers 8:14-22)

⁶ And behold, I have taken your brothers the Levites from among the people of Israel. They are a gift to you, given to the Lord, to do the service of the tent of meeting.⁷ And you and your sons with you shall guard your priesthood for all that concerns the altar and that is within the veil; and you shall serve. I give your priesthood as a gift,^[a] and any outsider who comes near shall be put to death.” (Numbers 18:6-7)

This idea of substitution is something we see time and again in Scripture for, as a rule, the actual firstborn child of a Biblical character is usually disqualified. Adam was the firstborn son of God, Cain the firstborn of Adam, Ishmael the firstborn of Abraham, Esau the firstborn of Isaac, Reuben the firstborn of Jacob, and Manasseh the firstborn of Joseph. David was the last born, not the first of Jesse, and David’s firstborn, Amnon, was rejected in favor of Solomon, the second son of David’s infamous treachery and adultery with Bathsheba. Every single one of these firstborn sons was disqualified for spiritual rule for one reason or another.

Finally, when we come to the Biblical record of Jesus, God calls him his “only begotten son,” forgetting Adam altogether (but remember, Adam is called a “type” of Christ; I believe Adam will be found to be an overcomer in the end). Later, the apostles Paul and John call Jesus the firstborn from the dead.

For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. (Romans 8:29)

¹⁵ He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. ¹⁶ For by^[f] him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. ¹⁷ And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. ¹⁸ And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent.¹⁹ For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, ²⁰ and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. (Colossians 1:15-20)

Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne, ⁵ and from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth. (Revelation 1:4-5)

And now we come to the mystery. The Bible reveals that only two men exist in God’s mind concerning his creation, Adam and Jesus Christ.

⁴⁵ Thus it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being”;^[a] the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. ⁴⁶ But it is not the spiritual that is first but the natural, and then the spiritual. ⁴⁷ The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven. ⁴⁸ As was the man of dust, so also are those who are of the dust, and as is the man of heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. ⁴⁹ Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall^[b] also bear the image of the man of heaven.

⁵⁰ I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. ⁵¹ Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep,but we shall all be changed, ⁵² in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. ⁵³ For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. ⁵⁴ When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written:

A further application of the principle of applying the lamb’s blood at Passover is found in the Book of Deuteronomy.

Therefore shall ye lay up these my words in your heart and in your soul, and bind them for a sign upon your hand, that they may be as frontlets between your eyes. And ye shall teach them your children, speaking of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. And thou shalt write them upon the door posts of thine house, and upon thy gates: That your days may be multiplied, and the days of your children, in the land which the LORD sware unto your fathers to give them, as the days of heaven upon the earth. For if ye shall diligently keep all these commandments which I command you, to do them, to love the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, and to cleave unto him. (Deuteronomy 11:18-22 KJV)

Notice that God commanded his people to write his words upon the door posts of their house, door posts which would have been smeared with the Passover lamb’s blood. John tells us that Jesus himself is the Word of God who was made flesh and dwelt among us. Paul calls Jesus our Passover, so of course, the lamb’s blood represents Jesus’ blood. Now recall Jesus’ testimony when he revealed that he was the bread of life. He said in part,

“Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. 54 Whoever feeds on 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 Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. 57 As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever feeds on me, he also will live because of me. 58 This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like the bread the fathers ate, and died. Whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.” (John 6:53-58, ESV)

Returning to the Feast of Passover now, first the people of Israel applied the lamb’s blood, representing Jesus, to the door posts of their houses. Later they wrote Jesus’ words upon their homes. These actions symbolically and prophetically represent spiritual salvation through the blood of Jesus, which reconciles us to God, and then soul salvation by eating Christ’s blood (applying Jesus’ words to our lives) which brings us into the full status of being a son of God.

Now recall what Peter says concerning us, “Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.” (1 Peter 2:5 KJV) And consider what Hebrews says concerning this:

Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus; Who was faithful to him that appointed him, as also Moses was faithful in all his house. For this man was counted worthy of more glory than Moses, inasmuch as he who hath builded the house hath more honour than the house. For every house is builded by some man; but he that built all things is God. And Moses verily was faithful in all his house, as a servant, for a testimony of those things which were to be spoken after; But Christ as a son over his own house; whose house are we, if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end. Wherefore (as the Holy Ghost saith, To day if ye will hear his voice, Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness: When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my works forty years. Wherefore I was grieved with that generation, and said, They do alway err in their heart; and they have not known my ways. So I sware in my wrath, They shall not enter into my rest.) (Hebrews 3:1-11 KJV)

The passages directly above thus show us that even the houses in ancient Israel prophetically pointed to each of us individual believers in God (Jesus Christ). We become believers when we believe that Jesus died for our sins and shed his blood for our reconciliation with God. We eat his blood (spiritually) when we eat his words, when we assimilate his words into our lives and make them part of us. This is a progressive salvation. It begins in our “most holy place,” our spirits, and moves outward to what is supposed to become our “holy place,” our souls. The final, or third salvation, is the salvation of our bodies which occurs at our glorification, our resurrection from the dead. This can only occur after we each achieve the second salvation (the one of which Paul says, “work out your salvation in fear and trembling”). Jesus Christ has already effected the first salvation, but most people remain in the prison of their unbelief and cannot begin to walk the path of “becoming” a son of God yet.

God guarantees all men the salvation of their spirits, although few have understood this presently. Consider the following verse which I believe irrefutably proves this. “For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.” (1 Cor. 15:22) Clearly it is the same “all” who die in Adam who shall be made alive in Christ. It makes no sense to say that this refers to two different groups of people or to say that Paul really meant to add the words “who believe in Jesus Christ as Savior” after the second use of the word. (What exactly was it that God said would happen to people who added to Scripture? Look it up if you can’t remember!)

Now look at a couple obscure verses from the Gospel of John. Just before Jesus’ betrayal he said, “While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light.” (John 12:36) In the beginning of his book John said, “to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.“ (John 1:12) Both Jesus and John make the point that believing in Jesus as Savior is only the beginning. That is the step that everyone must take before he can even begin to walk on the path to “becoming” a son of God.

So, if believing in Jesus as Savior (putting the lamb’s blood on our door posts) only gives us the initial right to become a son of God, what must we do make it a reality? We must also “drink” that blood… we must write his word on our door posts as well.

In the previous posts in this series we examined the purposes for which God gave his Law to Israel. Today we look into the actual or final goal for implementing those laws.

I still remember a major point of a sermon I heard back in the year 2000. That was one of the last times my wife and I ever attended an established church. The preacher read the account of the man stoned for picking up sticks on the Sabbath. His point was that this occurred under the covenant of legalism and that Moses was legalistic. He condemned God’s Law because he did not understand it. He pitted grace against law and thus fell into lawlessness. Friends whom we had been home-churching with also attended that service, saw us at the end of it, and exclaimed, “That was a great message, wasn’t it?” My wife and I just looked at them in amazement and walked away. We never saw our old friends or that church again. In fact we moved 250 miles away from the entire area within a year of that church meeting.

But, why did God command Moses to stone (kill) the man caught picking up sticks on the Sabbath? Why was this a capital offense within the Law of God? Was God offended? Did this man snub his LORD and thus bring about his own execution? What does Jesus say?

²³ One Sabbath he was going through the grainfields, and as they made their way, his disciples began to pluck heads of grain. ²⁴ And the Pharisees were saying to him, “Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath?” ²⁵ And he said to them, “Have you never read what David did, when he was in need and was hungry, he and those who were with him: ²⁶ how he entered the house of God, in the time of^[d] Abiathar the high priest, and atethe bread of the Presence, which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and also gave it to those who were with him?” ²⁷ And he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man,not man for the Sabbath. ²⁸ So the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath.” (Mark 2:23-28, ESV)

Jesus makes it very clear that God instituted the Sabbath for man’s sake, not his. So, what’s the big deal about a man picking up sticks on the Sabbath? You may assume that he was picking up sticks to keep his forge going so that he could continue his business of repairing metal implements or that he was gathering wood to keep his family from freezing. It makes no difference. According to God’s law regarding the Sabbath this man was “working” and the Sabbath laws forbade men from working in Israel. So why did God demand his death?

The reason for the death penalty requirement is that the Sabbath represents (typifies or prophetically points to) man’s ultimate goal of coming to rest in and unity with God. This story reveals that a person who fails to obey the Sabbath will in fact die, but the death in view prophetically is the death of the soul. The New Testament calls this death “the second death.” The man caught picking up sticks suffered “the third death,” physical death, as his immediate penalty. The story teaches that so long as a person fails to enter God’s rest then he must yet take part in the second death, the lake of fire. The story of the man picking up sticks on the Sabbath, like all Biblical stories, is a parable, a story which portrays spiritual truth. This story prophetically reveals that a person who fails to come into God’s rest will die the second death, the death of his soul. This is the story’s primary purpose.

Anyone, therefore, who would call Moses legalistic and denounce God’s Law as mere legalisms does not understand the Word of God. All of the Law served and still serves a purpose in God’s plan. I have tediously taught in past posts that God does not expect or intend Christians to observe any of the Old Testament laws except his moral laws which are summarized in the Ten Commandments and later condensed by Jesus in the one law, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Today I am not suggesting that you begin to obey the Old Testament laws concerning the Sabbath with exacting detail. If you want to pick up sticks on Sunday (or Saturday if you regard Saturday as your Sabbath day), then go ahead. But if picking up sticks is part of your regular work or job, then I would advise you to rest on the Sabbath and do your work the other six days of the week, for I believe that honoring the Sabbath is still relevant.

Honoring the Sabbath remains relevant to Christians because it expresses our trust in God. I related in a post a week or two ago how I began to take a Sabbath during law school 27 years ago. By faith I trusted God that I could study enough in the other six days and I did. Now I trust God that I can prepare for trials and do all the things I need to to sustain my law practice in six days. But (and this is a big but!) if I discover a witness I need to interview for a trial that I have the day after my Sabbath, I will work on the Sabbath in order to prepare for my case. I have not sinned.

One must always keep in view the purpose of God in creating man and the goal of the Bible with respect to that creation. God created man in his own image and likeness. He could not program man to be perfect for then he would not have possessed a free will. Therefore God planned that man would have to learn to discern good and evil and then willingly choose the good. Faith in Jesus gives a man the initial power to go on to become a “Son of God.” After he comes to faith he needs to begin to exercise his will in order to become conformed to God’s image, the image we see revealed in Christ. A son learns to trust his father. So should we learn to trust our Father in heaven.

Jesus said that God ordained the Sabbath for man’s benefit, not his. He gave us the Sabbath so that we would learn to trust in him for our provision, rest in him for our peace, and ultimately come into oneness with him. We come into oneness with God when our mind, will, and emotions (our soul) becomes totally conformed to his image. This is the reason God implemented such severe punishment for breaking the Sabbath. To break the Sabbath indicates that we have failed to come into rest in God, have failed to trust him, and have, therefore, failed to believe in him. Thus, like almost all Israel we too would fail to enter the promised land of our salvation. God killed the man picking up sticks on the Sabbath to show us that if we do not learn to trust in him and obey his ways, then we too will be killed, but it will not be just our bodies which die this time. Jesus said,

And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. (Matthew 10:28)

It was one of the Hebraic Roots ministries, 119 Ministries I think, which really got my blood boiling concerning this new push to teach Christians to obey every jot and tittle of the Torah (Old Testament law, Mosaic law). They taught that the only legitimate day to honor the Sabbath on is Saturday, that Christians ought to obey all the laws concerning it, including not picking up sticks (properly understood of course), and that if Christians lawfully honored the true Saturday Sabbath, then that would dramatically help lead the Jews to finally accepting Christ. I listened as one amazed. These were men who seemed honorable and appeared to understand the basic truths of God’s Word… and they were teaching gross, rank heresy!

Many years ago, 26 to be exact, during my first year of law school God taught my wife and I to honor the Sabbath. Law school is difficult, very difficult if you want to do well, and I am a person that wants to do all things well. Law school consists of study and classes and that’s about it. All of my colleagues studied seven days a week and I did too, at first. Then one day while reading the Bible and talking things over with my wife we really realized that God would be blessed and would bless us if we observed a 24 hour period of rest. We did not analyze the Old Testament in order to determine its specific laws for Sabbath observance. We relied upon the Holy Spirit to lead us in this, and He did. Because our society is based upon a Monday through Saturday work week, including the fact that the Law library was open on Saturday and not Sunday, we decided to take our rest beginning at 6:00 P.M. Saturday and ending at 6:00 P.M. Sunday. Usually we did not go to church on Sunday morning.  Instead we took our two young children to parks, beaches, canoe rides in wilderness areas, and picnics. Although I worked six hard days every week during those three years my entire family enjoys sweet, sweet memories of our family time and of law school. My grades were always good, sometimes the best in the class, and I did not study seven days a week like our valedictorian did! We honored the Sabbath and God honored us.

As I grew older the concept of God’s Sabbath became even bigger. The LORD impressed me that the Book of Hebrews’ teaching on entering his rest involved something much bigger than taking a 24 hour day of rest once a week. He showed me that entering his rest is a way of life, 24 hours a day seven days a week, not just one day out of the week. He taught me that coming into his rest means to come to the end of my own carnal striving and my own selfish ambitions. Am I there yet? Have I learned to put away all of my fleshly thoughts and desires? Do I perfectly walk in God’s ways and in his rest? No, but that is my goal and that will one day be my reality.

Learning to rest in God does not consist of a set of do’s and don’t's. I live on a cattle ranch. If a cows gives birth on my Sabbath day, then I may have to work to help it. A cow might get through a fence and out on the road, and I might have to go get it back into my field. I’m a lawyer and I do jury trials. I might get wind of critical evidence on the Sabbath, just before my trial. I will follow up that lead. And, the day after the trial ends may be Wednesday and I may just take a day or two of rest then. In fact, during the trial itself I pray and try to maintain my rest in God. The point is that God desires the Sabbath to be our way of life, not just a day of special religious duty to God. The Sabbath, entering God’s rest, is a state of being, not a special mode of doing.

Therefore, while the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us fear lest any of you should seem to have failed to reach it. ² For good news came to us just as to them, but the message they heard did not benefit them, because they were not united by faith with those who listened.^[a] 3 For we who have believed enter that rest, as he has said,

although his works were finished from the foundation of the world. ⁴ For he has somewhere spoken of the seventh day in this way: “And God rested on the seventh day from all his works.” ⁵ And again in this passage he said,

⁶ Since therefore it remains for some to enter it, and those who formerly received the good news [the Gospel] failed to enter because of disobedience, ⁷ again he appoints a certain day, “Today,” saying through David so long afterward, in the words already quoted,

⁸ For if Joshua had given them rest, God^[b] would not have spoken of another day later on.⁹ So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, ¹⁰ for whoever has entered God’s rest has also rested from his works as God did from his.

¹¹ Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience. ¹² For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. ¹³ And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account. (Hebrews 4:1-13, ESV)

The passage above makes it very clear that the “Sabbath” rest which God intends his people to come into involves far more than observing a Saturday Sabbath according to the Torah laws. Coming into God’s rest is part of the Gospel and something we do by faith and obedience to that Gospel. The obedience required is Spirit-led and founded upon the Word of God as verse 12 above makes clear. This verse teaches that God’s Word will divide our soul and spirit, will separate our fleshly attempts to please God from the truly Spirit-led life. But, we do not teach a Spirit-led mysticism which ignores the teaching of God’s Word. Neither do we teach a dead legalism which ignores the Holy Spirit and all of the Word of God and then drives us back to Old Jerusalem and Hagar, its Mother.

⁵ One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike.Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. ⁶ The one who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord. The one who eats, eats in honor of the Lord, since he gives thanks to God, while the one who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God. ⁷ For none of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself. ⁸ For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s. ⁹ For to this end Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord bothof the dead and of the living.

¹⁰ Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God; ¹¹ for it is written,

¹² So then each of us will give an account of himself to God. (Romans 14:5-12)

So, let us discern the teaching of the Word of God by relying upon God’s Spirit, and not the heretical teachings of men. Let us continue walking together in God’s ways toward New Jerusalem, our eternal home.

Paul told Timothy, ”I charge you in the presence of God … to keep the commandment unstained and free from reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Timothy 6:13-14) The question we face today is what “commandment” does Paul exhort Timothy to keep? Many today teach that Christians should keep all of the Old Testament commandments, at least the ones which do not command animal or food sacrifices. They would teach us that we must (or, “out of love for God”) obey every jot and tittle of the Law concerning Sabbath observance, which foods to eat, and what clothing to wear. Is this what Paul meant?

First, notice that the word “commandment” used by Paul in this passage is singular, not plural, as in “the ten commandments.” Just before charging Timothy he said, “Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness. ¹² Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.” (1 Timothy 6:11b-12) Yesterday we discussed the good confession which Timothy and Jesus both made. Today we consider the commandment Jesus desires us to keep. Whatever the commandment is I believe that it includes pursuing righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, and gentleness.

When Jesus dwelt among us he said, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.” (John 13:34) James calls this “the royal law” in James 2:8 and says that if we keep this commandment, then we are doing well. If we fail to keep this law, however, he tells us that “the law,” meaning the Old Testament Law of Moses, convicts us as transgressors, for “whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become accountable for all of it.” (James 2:10) Strangely, James then calls this new commandment “the law of liberty.” (James 2:12) How can this possibly be? If I fail to perfectly obey the law of liberty, then I become convicted by the Old Testament Law of Moses as a transgressor of that law? Is this really what James says? Is this why Martin Luther wanted to expunge the Book of James from the canon of Scripture, because it seems to contradict the rest of the teaching of the New Testament, and especially Paul’s doctrine? I believe the answers to these last three questions are yes, yes, and yes! But, Paul does provide the answer to this seeming contradiction.

Recall that Paul wrote the Book of Galatians specifically to tell new Christian converts that they did not need to become circumcised or submit to the manifold regulations of Old Testament law. He warned them that if they began to submit to those regulations then they would become accountable to all the Law. He said,

 Look: I, Paul, say to you that if you accept circumcision, Christ will be of no advantage to you. ³ I testify again to every man who accepts circumcision that he is obligated to keep the whole law. ⁴ You are severed from Christ, you who would be justified^[a] by the law; you have fallen away from grace. (Galatians 5:1-4)

Yet, Paul makes it clear through all of his writings that he highly honored the Law. He does not disparage it. In fact he even tells the Galatians that “the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.” (Gal. 3:24) Strong’s tells us that this Greek word translated “schoolmaster” here means “a servant whose office it was to take the children to school.” The Law is the servant and we are the children. The Law takes us to school in the sense that it teaches us right from wrong. It teaches us how to relate to God (the first five of the Ten Commandments) and to men (the second group of five of the Ten Commandments). The Word of God further tells us that these first five commands define what God means by the word “righteousness” and that the word “justice” sums up the second group of five. Paul takes this idea even further and says, “All the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself,” (Gal. 5:14) which, as we have seen above, is the new command Jesus gave us.

Clearly, then, Paul exhorts Timothy to keep this particular command. Just prior to telling him so he tells him how to do this. He says, “pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness.” When we pursue these Godly attributes then we become empowered to love others. Paul does not tell Timothy to “go and learn the Old Testament laws and do them.” Similarly, James does not tell his Christian hearers to submit to the Old Covenant laws. He simply tells them that if they fail to perfectly obey Christ’s new command, then the Mosaic laws will convict them as transgressors. This is the function of the Law, to convict us of sin. This is its function as a schoolmaster. It convicts us, we acknowledge our sin, we come to Christ for forgiveness of our sins.

No New Testament writer ever teaches us to submit ourselves to the specific Old Testament commands which demand outward signs of inward truth, signs like circumcision, tassels, garments, days of the week, weeks of the year, and natural food that we eat. Instead, each writer focuses upon spiritual reality within our hearts, spiritual reality which becomes part of our very being. Jesus taught of love, mercy, and perfection, even as God is perfect.  Paul spoke of righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, and gentleness. James spoke of impartiality toward the rich and poor within our churches and of mercy, for “mercy triumphs over judgment.” (James 2:13)

This is “the perfect law,” “the law of liberty,” “the royal law,” the “new commandment” which Jesus and all his apostles taught. This law takes us well beyond the Old Testament Law, for that law made nothing perfect. Christ’s Law takes us to perfection itself, but it does not do this by putting us back under Moses’ law, nor by suggesting we ought to keep all the jots and tittles of that law in order to please him. Rather than demanding that we keep the Law which he gave fifteen hundred years before his birth, Jesus gives us his Spirit and says,

⁷ Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. ⁸ And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment:⁹ concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; ¹⁰ concerning righteousness,because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; ¹¹ concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.

¹² “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. ¹³ When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. ¹⁴ He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you.¹⁵ All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you. (John 16:7-15)

When Jesus made his good confession to Pilate he said, “You say that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth hears my voice.” (John 18:37 KJ2000) When we come to Jesus, when we accept and acknowledge him as LORD and Savior, then we come to the truth. So long as we follow him, so long as we “obey the Gospel” (obey the good confession that Jesus is our King), then he will reveal his truth to us and we will walk in that truth he reveals to us. He does not put us back under Old Covenant Law. He declares a New Covenant, and so long as we walk in this New Covenant we walk toward that perfection he desires for us.

As we continue to wait upon Jesus establishing his kingdom, let us rest in peace in his loving arms.

A Song of Ascents.

1 Remember, O Lord, in David’s favor,
all the hardships he endured,
2 how he swore to the Lord
and vowed to the Mighty One of Jacob,
3 “I will not enter my house
or get into my bed,
4 I will not give sleep to my eyes
or slumber to my eyelids,
5 until I find a place for the Lord,
a dwelling place for the Mighty One of Jacob.” (Psalm 132:1-5, ESV)

The promise of God’s eternal kingdom, God’s house, came to David, but God did not allow David to see its fulfillment. Why not?

6 Then he called for Solomon his son and charged him to build a house for the Lord, the God of Israel. 7 David said to Solomon, “My son, I had it in my heart to build a house to the name of the Lord my God. 8 But the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ‘You have shed much blood and have waged great wars. You shall not build a house to my name, because you have shed so much blood before me on the earth. 9 Behold, a son shall be born to you who shall be a man of rest. I will give him rest from all his surrounding enemies. For his name shall be Solomon, and I will give peace and quiet to Israel in his days. 10 He shall build a house for my name. He shall be my son, and I will be his father, and I will establish his royal throne in Israel forever.’ ( 1 Chronicles 22:6-10)

David was a man of action and a man of blood. He conquered kingdoms in the name of the LORD. He was a man after God’s own heart and his ministry was great indeed! Yet, he remained a man of flesh, a carnal man subject to sin, and the Scripture declares, “flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God.” (1 Cor. 15:50) David could not inherit the Kingdom, but today we can. Why? Because yesterday we made the twelfth ascent, the step into God’s rest. Yesterday we laid down our own plans, our own designs for great ministries for God. Yesterday we quieted our souls before him, determined to hope only in him, and ceased to occupy ourselves with matters too great for us. Yesterday we gave up our guns and our bows and arrows and determined that we would not be men of blood. I will not die with a man’s blood on my hands… will you? I am not a man of blood… are you?

Today we become sons, the prophetic fulfillment of Solomon, son of David.

Lo, we heard of it at Ephratah: we found it in the fields of the wood. We will go into his tabernacles: we will worship at his footstool. (Psalms 132:6-7 KJV)

Ephratah is Bethlehem, the place of our LORD’s birth. We know of Jesus and we know he was born in Bethlehem Ephratah. We always heard that the word Immanuel, which means God with us, referred only to him. But, no, the prophecy concerns us. God is with us, within us, and soon we will become the very habitation of God as the rest of this wonderful psalm makes clear.

8 Arise, O Lord, and go to your resting place,
you and the ark of your might.

When we fully and completely enter God’s rest, then we will literally become his resting place. At that moment of complete rest he will transform these lowly bodies into immortal bodies. At that moment the “ark of his might” permeates our entire being. His Law will become part of our very being and we will be enabled to obey it perfectly. Rather than consuming it any longer, his Word, his manna, will consume us and we will become living expressions of the Word of God. We, now the dead in our sins, a dead tree, will have budded like Aaron’s almond branch into new eternal life!

9 Let your priests be clothed with righteousness,
and let your saints shout for joy.

It is at this time that God clothes us with righteousness. Finally we will become the priests of the Most High which he has ordained us to be. Our ordination comes not from man, for only God can ordain his priests who arise in the Order of Melchizedek, just as Jesus was of that Order.

10 For the sake of your servant David,
do not turn away the face of your anointed one. 

This promise is sure because God made particular promises to David concerning the eternal nature of his throne. We who believe in Jesus and have determined to obey the Gospel he has given us are the anointed ones spoken of here. God will not turn his face from us. In fact, the songs of ascent are all about ascending into the very presence of God where we will actually see God’s face. Verses 11 and 12 tell us God’s specific promise regarding this.

11 The Lord swore to David a sure oath
from which he will not turn back:
“One of the sons of your body[a]
I will set on your throne.
12 If your sons keep my covenant
and my testimonies that I shall teach them,
their sons also forever
shall sit on your throne.”

What follows is, in my opinion, one of the most interesting spiritual concepts in all Scripture, which is that God’s people literally become New Jerusalem, the eternal dwelling place of God and the Lamb of God.

13 For the Lord has chosen Zion;
he has desired it for his dwelling place:
14 “This is my resting place forever;
here I will dwell, for I have desired it.
15 I will abundantly bless her provisions;
I will satisfy her poor with bread.
16 Her priests I will clothe with salvation,
and her saints will shout for joy.
17 There I will make a horn to sprout for David;
I have prepared a lamp for my anointed.

This passage also makes it clear that no one is fully “saved” until the time of their glorification, until the time when God has completed his work upon their souls and clothes them with righteousness and salvation. At this time his chiseling upon us, his affliction of us, ceases and takes us and places us into the eternal city, the city we have sojourned toward all our lives. Then we will shout for joy and then our horn, our strength will become evident to all. At that time these overcomers will begin to rule with a rod of iron and will begin to bring the entire earth into the subjection of their King. So, this song ends,

18 His enemies I will clothe with shame,
but on him his crown will shine.

The prophecies given to Anna show that this event is about to take place. Months ago God was showing Anna that she was going to go through tribulation in her flesh. As she began to obey what he showed her that revelation changed from that given to carnal Christians to that given to overcoming spiritual Christians. God took her a long way in a short time. I believe that her words affected other sleeping Christians and that they too have now awakened. The time is upon us. If you do not understand these words, then it is probably too late to avoid tribulation. Nevertheless, the LORD will provide you protection through the overcomers who will soon be glorified. If you just woke up, then pray that God will hide you in the shadow of his wing.

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