But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, Lord, who has believed our report? So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. (Romans 10:16-17)

I have known since I wrote the last post on the New Covenant that the theme of this post would be based upon Romans 10:17, the truth that faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. But it was not until this morning that it occurred to me that I really ought to examine the verse that Paul quotes from Isaiah before I wrote about it. So today I read Isaiah 53:1, the source of this Scripture. I did not just read that verse though. I began at Isaiah 52:13 and read through Isaiah 55:13. And once again I saw an amazing thing… how the Book of Isaiah so often sheds light upon truths revealed in the New Testament.

First, this passage from Isaiah prophesies and predicts the centuries later suffering and crucifixion of our Savior, Jesus Christ. It is here where we first learn that God will send a particular servant who will be cruelly despised and tortured by men, a servant who will offer himself up as a living sacrifice and offering for the sins of all mankind. Yes, here resides the wonderful verse which reveals that all men have gone astray from their Creator, but that God laid mankind’s iniquity upon Jesus instead of the sinners themselves.

All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned everyone to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. (Isaiah 53:6)

And it is just before this where Isaiah says, “Who has believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed?” the verse which Paul quotes in Romans 10. Now consider what Paul says next.  ”So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” Interestingly, Isaiah talks about this very thing within the passage of Scripture from 52:13 to 55:13. Before considering the particular verses remember that in the Book of John Jesus calls him “the water of life” in chapter 4 and “the Bread of Life” in chapter 6. Also recall from many previous teachings on this site that the Biblical definition of “food” is God’s Word, or true doctrine. The following verses make this abundantly clear:

⁸ Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. ⁹ Do not be led away by diverse and strange teachings, for it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace, not by foods which have not benefited those devoted to them.¹⁰ We have an altar from which those who serve the tent have no right to eat. (Hebrews 13:8-10)

Amazingly, then, later in this passage under consideration in Isaiah, the prophet speaks directly about food. He says,

“Come, everyone who thirsts,
    come to the waters;
and he who has no money,
    come, buy and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk
    without money and without price.
² Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread,
    and your labor for that which does not satisfy?
Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good,
    and delight yourselves in rich food.
³ Incline your ear, and come to me;
    hear, that your soul may live;
and I will make with you an everlasting covenant (the NEW COVENANT!),
    my steadfast, sure love for David. (Isaiah 55:1-3)

And now we have come full circle.  Isaiah has given us the secret for obtaining faith from God. We have to come to Christ for food and water, that is, come to him for the truth of His Word. Then we have to “buy” that food (truth) from him.  But, we don’t buy it with the money of men like we do “for that which is not bread.” We spend our dollars, our silver, and our gold for the natural foods, wants, and pleasures our flesh desires. But that is not true bread, says Isaiah. Instead we need to buy Christ’s water, bread, wine, and milk. But, these are spiritual things and we “buy” them “without money and without price!” How?

We buy Christ’s food, Christ’s truth, by “listening diligently.” Do you really care about the things of God? Or do you pretend you are a “good Christian” because you regularly attend church, say your prayers, and retain friendships with a few other “Christians?” Paul says that “faith comes by hearing.” You can only hear, says Isaiah, if you come to Christ, incline your ear to him, listen diligently for what he has to say to you, and then eat (take to heart) that which he says. THIS IS what it means when Paul says that “hearing comes by the Word of God.”

And this is why Paul begins his statement concerning faith by referring us to Isaiah 53:1. To have faith means that we become obedient to that “word of faith” each of us individually receives. “But they have not all obeyed the gospel.” No, we Christians have not all obeyed the gospel, nor have we obeyed the individual words of instruction God has given us. Instead, many of us have turned the doctrine of faith into a gospel of “grace to sin.” Others of us turned the true gospel of grace into a set of laws that bar many from salvation. This is why Paul says that whatever we do which does not proceed from faith is sin (Romans 14:23) and is also why he says not to quarrel over many doctrinal opinions (Romans 14). As we diligently listen to Christ, then he will lead us into all truth, “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)

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)

In my last series on the meaning of Passover we discovered that the prophetic implications of that feast relate specifically to God’s group of overcomers called the manchild or the sons of God. We further learned that this group has been called to become the spiritual fulfillment of the tribe of Levi. Specifically, God has called and chosen them to become guardians of “the testimony.” “The testimony” itself speaks of “the seamless garment,” the totality, of God’s truth. This particular group of Christians has affirmed and made the following passage of Scripture a part of their lives:

¹¹ For the Lord spoke thus to me with a strong hand, and instructed me that I should not walk in the way of this people, saying:

The question we must ask ourselves now is why is it possible for some people to succeed in becoming overcomers when almost the entire Levite tribe failed to do so and, in fact, became complicit in crucifying Jesus himself? The answer, I believe, is found in the difference between the New and the Old Covenants. The Book of Hebrews, I believe, reveals the differences between the Old and New Covenants better than any other book in Scripture.

Hebrews is a mysterious book which remains totally misunderstood by almost all of Christianity. I do not believe that Paul wrote it because it contains none of Paul’s typical signature statements.  I do not believe that John wrote it because it does not sound like John’s writing either.  The book never says it was written to “Hebrews” or to “Jews.” The book was written to Christians and it fulfilled two main purposes. First, Hebrews reveals how it is that the Christian faith arose out of the faith of Israel, which we call Judaism. Second, Hebrews exhorts Christians to walk in their new faith unto the salvation of their souls. The book does not at all deal with coming to initial faith in Jesus Christ as the savior of your spirit. It assumes you have done so. It deals entirely with the salvation of the soul instead. This is why Christians misunderstand it. Any time the book says that a person will be destroyed or suffer loss because of sin or lack of faith they immediately assume that the person in mind never believed in Jesus Christ. Thus they miss the entire purpose of this profound work.

The word “covenant” (διαθηκη diatheke dee-ath-ay’-kay) is used 33 times in ten books in the New Testament. Seventeen of these 33 uses occur in the book of Hebrews alone. The first use of the word in Hebrews occurs in chapter 7.

¹¹ Therefore, if perfection were through the Levitical priesthood (for under it the people received the law), what further need was there that another priest should rise according to the order of Melchizedek, and not be called according to the order of Aaron? ¹² For the priesthood being changed, of necessity there is also a change of the law. ¹³ For He of whom these things are spoken belongs to another tribe, from which no man has officiated at the altar.

¹⁴ For it is evident that our Lord arose from Judah, of which tribe Moses spoke nothing concerning priesthood.^[a] 15 And it is yet far more evident if, in the likeness of Melchizedek, there arises another priest ¹⁶ who has come, not according to the law of a fleshly commandment, but according to the power of an endless life. ¹⁷ For He testifies:^[b]

¹⁸ For on the one hand there is an annulling of the former commandment because of its weakness and unprofitableness, ¹⁹ for the law made nothing perfect; on the other hand,there is the bringing in of a better hope, through which we draw near to God.

²⁰ And inasmuch as He was not made priest without an oath ²¹ (for they have become priests without an oath, but He with an oath by Him who said to Him:

²² by so much more Jesus has become a surety of a better covenant.

²³ Also there were many priests, because they were prevented by death from continuing.²⁴ But He, because He continues forever, has an unchangeable priesthood. ²⁵ Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.

²⁶ For such a High Priest was fitting for us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and has become higher than the heavens; ²⁷ who does not need daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for His own sins and then for the people’s, for this He did once for all when He offered up Himself. ²⁸ For the law appoints as high priests men who have weakness, but the word of the oath, which came after the law, appoints the Son who has been perfected forever. (Hebrews 7:11-28)

From this passage we learn one major thing about this new covenant of which the New Testament writers speak. It is a “better covenant.” It is better because the high priest of the New Covenant, Jesus Christ, has been perfected forever. He has no weaknesses, unlike the Levitical priests who came before him. For this reason he is able to “save to the uttermost” those who come to God through him. Remember that in the time of Moses God substituted the Levites for the firstborn. The Levites then became intercessors between the rest of the Israelites and God. All Israelites had to approach God through them, but they were weak by reason of their sinful flesh. They could not save Israel “to the uttermost.” Next, we will begin to discover what this means.

²⁰ And the Lord said to Aaron, “You shall have no inheritance in their land, neither shall you have any portion among them. I am your portion and your inheritance among the people of Israel.

²¹ “To the Levites I have given every tithe in Israel for an inheritance, in return for their service that they do, their service in the tent of meeting, ²² so that the people of Israel do not come near the tent of meeting, lest they bear sin and die. ²³ But the Levites shall do the service of the tent of meeting, and they shall bear their iniquity. It shall be a perpetual statute throughout your generations, and among the people of Israel they shall have no inheritance. (Numbers 18:20-23 ESV)

I have never really understood this before because I only compared this promise to things in the natural. I considered woods and mountains, streams and fields and always felt like the Levites were being left out. After all, God is spirit. What does it mean to be alive in the natural and have no land ownership, even if God is my “inheritance?” Isn’t he everyone’s inheritance? Ah, there is the key! He is everyone’s inheritance, but in a particular order. The Levites represent the first people of all creation who come into their full inheritance. Thus God calls them his “firstfruits.”

Remember from the last post in this series that God specifically chose the Levites to guard and protect the Testimony. The reason for setting a guard about the tabernacle and the arc of the testimony  was not to protect God’s things from men’s unclean hands. Rather, it was to protect unclean men from being consumed by God’s presence. At least three times God instructed the Levites to kill any person who attempted to break through to gaze upon the holy places within the tabernacle. This command uses natural consequences to illustrate spiritual realities. We first see this idea clearly illustrated when God prepared to reveal the Ten Commandments to Israel at Mount Sinai.

⁹ And the Lord said to Moses, “Behold, I am coming to you in a thick cloud, that the people may hear when I speak with you, and may also believe you forever.”

When Moses told the words of the people to the Lord, ¹⁰ the Lord said to Moses, “Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow, and let them wash their garments ¹¹ and be ready for the third day. For on the third day the Lord will come down on Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people. ¹² And you shall set limits for the people all around, saying, ‘Take care not to go up into the mountain or touch the edge of it. Whoever touches the mountain shall be put to death. ¹³ No hand shall touch him, but he shall be stoned or shot;^[a] whether beast or man, he shall not live.’ When the trumpet sounds a long blast, they shall come up to the mountain.” ¹⁴ So Moses went down from the mountain to the people and consecrated the people; and they washed their garments. (Exodus 19:9-14)

God warned Moses to so instruct the people in order to put the “fear of God” into them. The stark reality was that if the Levites, or someone else, did not physically kill the person presumptuously attempting to peer at or into the presence of God, then God himself would destroy him. Moses then wrote,

¹⁶ On the morning of the third day there were thunders and lightnings and a thick cloud on the mountain and a very loud trumpet blast, so that all the people in the camp trembled.¹⁷ Then Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God, and they took their stand at the foot of the mountain. ¹⁸ Now Mount Sinai was wrapped in smoke because the Lord had descended on it in fire. The smoke of it went up like the smoke of a kiln, and the whole mountain trembled greatly. ¹⁹ And as the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke, and God answered him in thunder. ²⁰ The Lord came down on Mount Sinai, to the top of the mountain. And the Lord called Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up.

²¹ And the Lord said to Moses, “Go down and warn the people, lest they break through to the Lord to look and many of them perish. ²² Also let the priests who come near to the Lord consecrate themselves, lest the Lord break out against them.” ²³ And Moses said to the Lord, “The people cannot come up to Mount Sinai, for you yourself warned us, saying, ‘Set limits around the mountain and consecrate it.’” ²⁴ And the Lord said to him, “Go down, and come up bringing Aaron with you. But do not let the priests and the people break through to come up to the Lord, lest he break out against them.” ²⁵ So Moses went down to the people and told them.

The reality was that the people of Israel were not ready to behold God face to face as was Moses. Over a long period of time of dwelling outside the camp of his own people God had worked deep humility into Moses’ soul. Moses thus became a prophetic picture of the one who has “worked out his salvation in fear and trembling,” of the one who has saved his soul. The Book of Hebrews deals exclusively with the salvation of the soul (versus the salvation of the spirit by faith in Jesus Christ). The writer of that Book alludes specifically to the awesome event at Mount Sinai described by Moses, saying,

¹⁸ For you have not come to what may be touched, a blazing fire and darkness and gloom and a tempest ¹⁹ and the sound of a trumpet and a voice whose words made the hearers beg that no further messages be spoken to them. ²⁰ For they could not endure the order that was given, “If even a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned.” ²¹ Indeed, so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, “I tremble with fear.” ²² But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, ²³ and to the assembly^[a] of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect,²⁴ and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.

²⁵ See that you do not refuse him who is speaking. For if they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less will we escape if we reject him who warns from heaven. ²⁶ At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised,“Yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.” ²⁷ This phrase, “Yet once more,” indicates the removal of things that are shaken—that is, things that have been made—in order that the things that cannot be shaken may remain. ²⁸ Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, ²⁹ for our God is a consuming fire. (Hebrews 12:18-29)

This passage from Hebrews speaks to God’s overcomers, to “the assembly of the firstborn  who are enrolled in heaven.” This is the group which the Old Testament Levites typify. These are the ones who first come “to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem.” They are also the ones who teach and prepare others to come into the City of God, New Jerusalem, while at the same time they protect them from destruction by attempting to come in to the presence of God too soon. This also explains why the Levites had no natural inheritance. Their inheritance lies within the spiritual realm of heaven itself wherein they will dwell in the very presence of God. God used the tribe of Levi to illustrate the spiritual inheritance of a people who willingly submitted to and obeyed the God of the universe. Spiritual Levites inherit nothing less than New Jerusalem itself!

²² And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. ²³ And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb. ²⁴ By its light will the nations walk, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it, ²⁵ and its gates will never be shut by day—and there will be no night there. ²⁶ They will bring into it the glory and the honor of the nations.²⁷ But nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s book of life. (Revelation 21:22-27)

This inheritance, however, does not belong exclusively to prophetic Levi. He simply represents all of the first ones who come into oneness with God. Malachi prophesies Levi’s still future role:

“Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts. ² But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap. ³ He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, and they will bring offerings in righteousness to the Lord.^[a] 4 Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the Lord as in the days of old and as in former years.  (Malachi 3:1-4)

Once Levi has been fully purified, refined, and prepared by his LORD, he will prepare the rest of the world for also coming into Christ’s presence. For if it were not so the decree of utter destruction found in the final verse of the Old Testament would be fulfilled.

 ^[a] “For behold, the day is coming, burning like an oven, when all the arrogant and all evildoers will be stubble. The day that is coming shall set them ablaze, says the Lord of hosts, so that it will leave them neither root nor branch. ² But for you who fear my name,the sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings. You shall go out leaping like calves from the stall. ³ And you shall tread down the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet, on the day when I act, says the Lord of hosts.

⁴ “Remember the law of my servant Moses, the statutes and rules^[b] that I commanded him at Horeb for all Israel.

⁵ “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of theLord comes. ⁶ And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with a decree of utter destruction.” (Malachi 4)

Thus we see Christ’s Passover worked out in its fullness. The first Passover saved only the  firstborn of Israel. God then substituted the entire tribe of Levi for these firstborn and placed upon them the mantel of bringing all Israel into God’s presence. These Levites then foreshadowed the manchild of Revelation, the firstborn sons of God in the exact image of their Creator and Father. They will become the messengers who are fully empowered to bring the entire earth into the knowledge and obedience of God. For otherwise the LORD would, as most suspect, come and strike the land with a decree of utter destruction. How wonderful and how merciful is our God!

The reason why it is important to understand that Passover relates to the firstborn instead of all people (at the present time) is because the entire Scripture was written for the chosen overcomers, not for the whole world. Jesus spoke in parables for this reason… to hide the truth from the general masses of humanity, not to explain it to them. Matthew says,

¹⁰ Then the disciples came and said to him, “Why do you speak to them in parables?” ¹¹ And he answered them, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. ¹² For to the one who has, more will be given, and he will have an abundance, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. ¹³ This is why I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. ¹⁴ Indeed, in their case the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled that says:

¹⁶ But blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear. ¹⁷ For truly, I say to you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it. (Matthew 13:10-17 ESV)

Later in this same chapter Matthew said,

³⁴ All these things Jesus said to the crowds in parables; indeed, he said nothing to them without a parable. ³⁵ This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet:^[e]

The question we face now is, “Why does God make this so hard?” We have to turn back to Isaiah chapter 6, the chapter Jesus quoted above, in order to understand. Following is that chapter in its entirety.

6 In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train^[a] of his robe filled the temple. ² Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. ³ And one called to another and said:

⁴ And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. ⁵ And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!”

⁶ Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. ⁷ And he touched my mouth and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.”

⁸ And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here I am! Send me.” ⁹ And he said, “Go, and say to this people:

This chapter begins with God revealing himself to the prophet Isaiah. Immediately upon receiving that revelation Isaiah “mourns” over his sinful condition and realizes he is “poor in spirit,” so poor in fact that he even calls his lips unclean. By responding in this way Isaiah shows that he, initially at least, qualifies to begin walking as an overcomer. In response to his heart’s cry “without guile” God sends a seraphim to touch his lips with a live, hot coal. This represents (is a type of) the baptism of fire (roasting the lamb) that every overcomer must go through. At this point Isaiah qualifies for the ministry of the word of God. God asks who will go to preach for Elohim and Isaiah volunteers. Then God gives him his marching orders. Isaiah will indeed preach the word of God (it is sweet in his mouth), but its outworking will be bitter (eating bitter herbs) because no one will understand him.

Then Isaiah wonders, how long will this go on? How long will it be until people will finally begin to understand your Word? God answers that this will not occur until judgments come and until the holy seed (firstborn, firstfruits, overcomers) are a mere stump in the land, all that is left of that huge tree today which sees itself as the Kingdom of God on earth, the Church. The overcomers will have been the only ones:

1. Who applied the blood of the Passover lamb to the doors and lintel of their lives (souls),
2. Who ate the lamb with unleavened bread (representing a soul without guile and hyprocrisy which has embraced the true doctrine of Christ, or as Paul says, “not with the old leaven, the leaven of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.”
3. Who ate the lamb with bitter herbs (they submitted to a life of travail and bitterness of soul as they worked out their soul’s salvation in fear and trembling)
4. Who ate the lamb roasted in the fire, not boiled in water or eaten raw (the overcomers submitted to the baptism of fire allowing God’s word to burn the dross, the sin, out of their souls)
5. Who roasted and ate the lamb whole, with its head, legs, and inner parts (they did not pick and choose the words of God they would apply to their lives; to them the Word of God is as a seamless garment which conveys one truth, God’s truth, and one law, and all of it is to be eaten)
6. Who ate the lamb without breaking its bones (Of course the people of Israel did not pick up the whole lamp and pass it around for each person to take a bite of it; they cut the joints and marrow with a sharp knife. This represents the truth of Hebrews 4:12, “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.” Overcomers learn to discern the word of God and submit to the Spirit’s work in them. They understand that the Word seeks to convert their souls, not just bring their spirits a one-time salvation that does not affect their earthly lives)
7. Who ate all the lamb in one night (who consumed Christ’s flesh and blood during their one life time, that is, who assimilated his word into their very souls and made it part of them during their earthly life, thus becoming one flesh with Christ; since they attempted to eat all of Christ what remains of him that was not eaten (not understood or assimilated during their lives) will be “burned in the fire;” it will be imputed to them by faith at their judgment just before their glorification)
8. Who ate the Passover lamb (Christ) with their loins girded (according to Ephesians 6:10-18 they learned of and submitted to Christ having their most vulnerable body parts protected with the belt of truth)
9. Who ate the Lamb with their feet shod with the Gospel of peace (again according to Ephesians 6)
10. Who ate the Lamb with his staff in his hand (the staff or rod represents the blossoming almond tree rod of Jeremiah 1:11; this speaks of new life, resurrected life, which will first be displayed in each overcomer, each firstborn manchild, the firstfruits of God)
11. Who ate the Lamb in haste (in some mystery I don’t understand the obedience of the overcomers hastens the coming of the Day of the LORD according to Peter,
    

    ⁸ But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. ⁹ The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you,^[a] not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. ¹⁰ But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies^[b] will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.^[c]

    ¹¹ Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, ¹² waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn! ¹³ But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. (2 Peter 3:8-13)

12. Who became circumcised by faith in Christ before they ate of him, their Lamb (“For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power: In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ: Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead. And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses; Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross; And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it. (Colossians 2:9-15)
13. Who came out of Babylon and refused to eat the Passover Lamb with uncircumcised foreigners (overcomers did not fellowship in Christ with those who refused to acknowledge, accept, and consume Christ in faith also)
14. Who ate the Lamb in One House, God’s House, as a firstborn son of God (“Therefore, holy brothers,^[a] you who share in a heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the apostle and high priest of our confession, ² who was faithful to him who appointed him, just as Moses also was faithful in all God’s^[b] house. ³ For Jesus has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses—as much more glory as the builder of a house has more honor than the house itself. ⁴ (For every house is built by someone, but the builder of all things is God.) ⁵ Now Moses was faithful in all God’s house as a servant, to testify to the things that were to be spoken later, ⁶ but Christ is faithful over God’s house as a son. And we are his house if indeed we hold fast our confidence and our boasting in our hope.” (Hebrews 3:1-6, ESV)

Yes, many are called, but few, very few are chosen. For the vast majority of those called the word of God spoken to Isaiah and quoted by Christ has proved true:

“‘Keep on hearing,^[c] but do not understand;
keep on seeing,^[d] but do not perceive.’
¹⁰ Make the heart of this people dull,^[e]
    and their ears heavy,
    and blind their eyes;
lest they see with their eyes,
    and hear with their ears,
and understand with their hearts,
    and turn and be healed.”

I didn’t say it. The LORD said it.

¹⁹ You will say to me then, “Why does he still find fault? For who can resist his will?” ²⁰ But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, “Why have you made me like this?” ²¹ Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use? ²² What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, ²³ in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory— ²⁴ even us whom he has called, not from the Jews only but also from the Gentiles? ²⁵ As indeed he says in Hosea,

²⁷ And Isaiah cries out concerning Israel: “Though the number of the sons of Israel^[c] be as the sand of the sea, only a remnant of them will be saved, ²⁸ for the Lord will carry out his sentence upon the earth fully and without delay.” ²⁹ And as Isaiah predicted,

³⁰ What shall we say, then? That Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness have attained it, that is, a righteousness that is by faith; ³¹ but that Israel who pursued a law that would lead to righteousness^[d] did not succeed in reaching that law. ³² Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as if it were based on works. They have stumbled over the stumbling stone, ³³ as it is written,

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)

We saw in yesterday’s post that God established one law to be observed by natural born Israelites and aliens from other nations which wanted to become part of God’s chosen nation. God referred to his one law as follows:

And when a stranger shall sojourn with thee, and will keep the passover to the LORD, let all his males be circumcised, and then let him come near and keep it; and he shall be as one that is born in the land: for no uncircumcised person shall eat thereof. One law shall be to him that is homeborn, and unto the stranger that sojourneth among you. (Exodus 12:48-49 KJV)

God purposed to teach his people several things from this one law. The basic principles he wanted to establish were the following:

1) First, God established that he is a holy God and that he may not be approached by anyone stained with the filthiness of the sins of the flesh. First, in order to teach this principle, he commanded Moses to build a tabernacle. The tabernacle itself was built in three sections, and outer court where the general public of Israel could offer their sacrifices, a “holy place” behind a veil which only priests could enter into in order to minister to God, and a “most holy place” behind a second veil symbolizing actual identification with and perfection before God. Concerning this tabernacle Hebrews says,

Now even the first covenant had regulations for worship and an earthly place of holiness. 2 For a tent was prepared, the first section, in which were the lampstand and the table and the bread of the Presence. It is called the Holy Place. 3 Behind the second curtain was a second section called the Most Holy Place, 4 having the golden altar of incense and the ark of the covenant covered on all sides with gold, in which was a golden urn holding the manna, and Aaron’s staff that budded, and the tablets of the covenant. 5 Above it were the cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy seat. Of these things we cannot now speak in detail.

6 These preparations having thus been made, the priests go regularly into the first section, performing their ritual duties, 7 but into the second only the high priest goes, and he but once a year, and not without taking blood, which he offers for himself and for the unintentional sins of the people. 8 By this the Holy Spirit indicates that the way into the holy places is not yet opened as long as the first section is still standing 9 (which is symbolic for the present age). According to this arrangement, gifts and sacrifices are offered that cannot perfect the conscience of the worshiper, 10 but deal only with food and drink and various washings, regulations for the body imposed until the time of reformation.

2) Second, the one law established a system of sacrifices which prophetically portrayed five different spiritual goals and potential realities. God gave instructions concerning these five specific and different types of sacrifices in Leviticus 1-5.

a) The fifth offering, the one introduced in Leviticus chapter five, is the first one we apprehend in our approach to God. It is the “trespass” offering one makes because he is ashamed of his sins. It is the offering of repentance for sin. This is the first thing that person does when he comes to true faith in Jesus Christ as Savior.

b) Leviticus chapter four deals with the “sin offering,” and offering made for having committed “unintentional” sins. The fact that a sin offering was made, however, implies that the offeror had recently come into a knowledge of his sin. This speaks of the ongoing nature of our relationship with God. “To whom much is given much is required.” (Luke 12:48) As a believer continues his journey with God he will come to understand more of God’s truth. With truth comes accountability. Mature believers are responsible for greater holiness before God than the babe in Christ.

c) The peace, the grain, and the burnt offerings, those offering commanded in Leviticus 3, 2, and 1 all teach about God’s sovereignty. God requires us to obey Him, yet He wants us to do so willingly and not under compulsion. The idea of willing obedience presents us with another one of the great tensions or mysteries of Scripture, man’s free will versus God’s sovereignty. This also brings us to the distinction between the Old and New Covenants. Under Moses’ law, or the Old Covenant, strict obedience to God’s Law established fellowship with God. This covenant failed and history proves that man cannot obey God from his own strength. On the other hand, the New Covenant teaches that fellowship with God, by faith in Jesus Christ, brings us into obedience to Him. God Himself, sovereignly by His Spirit, moves us to believe in and obey Him. At this time, however, even under the New Covenant we cannot perfectly obey God. We still live in carnal bodies of flesh.

The third altar sacrifice is the “peace offering” and was offered as “food, an offering made by fire for a sweet aroma” to God. (Lev. 3:16) This offering corresponds to a believer’s trusting walk with God in the assurance of faith that he stands clean before God. Having repented of all known intentional and unintentional sins, as represented by the trespass and sin offerings, he now walks in peace with God. Leviticus 7:11-21 reveals that the peace offering was offered for “thanksgiving,” (vs. 12), or as a “vow or voluntary offering.” (vs. 16). Davidwrites, “I will freely sacrifice to You; I will praise Your Name, O Lord, for it is good.” (Psalm 54:6) Hebrews proclaims, “Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name.” (Heb 13:15) The peace offering foretells true praise and worship of God, offered thankfully and voluntarily by His own people. The peace offering also speaks of the purpose, or goal, of true worship, which is to convey our love to our Beloved.

d) Moses announced the grain offering second in Leviticus, but this is now the fourth offering we will study. The grain offering represented both a voluntary and a mandatory offering. The firstfruits aspect of the offering, Lev. 2:12-16, had to be offered by each Israelite according to Exodus 23:19 and 34:26. Other grain offerings could be made as freewill offerings. These were made by free choice, not compulsion. The grain offering, therefore, speaks of voluntary obedience to God. It means that we desire the ways of God from our heart! When the grain offering was offered voluntarily, not like a tithe or a tax, it became a “sweet aroma to the Lord.” (Lev. 2:2). This conveys the preciousness in God’s sight of the one who willingly lays down his life for his God in a life of joyful obedience. However, the mandatory firstfruits offering “shall not be burned on the altar for a sweet aroma.” (Lev. 2:12) Mandatory obedience does not bring the same reward or render the same “flavor” as willing obedience. This is one lesson of law versus grace, the Old Covenant versus the New Covenant. “And the law is not of faith, but `the man who does them shall live by them.’” (Gal. 3:4) Does the life of grace, then, nullify the law? Paul asked this same question and answered emphatically, “Not at all! Rather, we uphold the law.” (Romans 3:31) The law is holy and good, says Paul. It is an instructor that teaches us the ways of God and leads us to Christ. (Gal. 3:24)

When we must obey a strict set of rules to please God, we find ourselves under law, but this is not bad or evil. It simply is not the best way. One of the purposes of the law is to train us to want to live God’s way. It is when we voluntarily obey God because we love Him and His ways that we fully live by grace and faith. This was as true in Old Testament days as it is in New Testament times. This ability to voluntarily obey, however, comes from the Holy Spirit. Grace describes life by the Spirit of God and comprises a major theme of Paul’s books. Before we believed in Jesus as our Savior, we possessed no power to serve God. We owned no independent desire to obey Him. After we believed in Him and received the “earnest” of the Holy Spirit, however, we held within us the seed of the power to obey Him. The problem then became one of exercising our own will to obey Him by and through His power in us. God desires that which indwells our spirit, the Holy Spirit, to affect our souls (mind, will, and emotions). The voluntary nature of the grain offering represents a transition in the Christian life from mandatory obedience to Gods Law to voluntary obedience. Here we learn that we obey Him because we desire to obey Him. Ultimately this desire even comes from God and evidences His sovereignty over us because it originates from the Spirit within us. Now we find that we want to obey Him because our will aligns with His. We come to know His ways as right, full of peace, and the best way to live.

This also illustrates the difference between the Old and New Covenants. Under the Old Covenant we approach God and can only fellowship with Him by obeying His commands. In
the New Covenant we obtain fellowship with God by faith in Jesus Christ. Then He gives us His gift of the Holy Spirit which enables us to begin to obey His commands. In other words, obedience does not bring fellowship, but fellowship brings obedience. Even so, God still requires our wills to become molded to His. In essence our “free will” becomes His will and
ultimately we will only do what we see our Father doing. This is the mystery of sanctification and growing in Godliness.

e) Moses first expounds the burnt offering in Leviticus 1. The burnt offering was the only offering wherein fire consumed the entire body of the sacrificial beast. Nothing remained to be eaten. The burnt offering represents an offering for God’s consumption alone, but Psalm 50 makes it clear that God is not really concerned about eating cattle and sheep. The Law is prophetic and so is every single offering God required.

 “If his offering is a burnt offering from the herd, he shall offer a male without blemish. He shall bring it to the entrance of the tent of meeting, that he may be accepted before the Lord. 4 He shall lay his hand on the head of the burnt offering, and it shall be accepted for him to make atonement for him. 5 Then he shall kill the bull before the Lord, and Aaron’s sons the priests shall bring the blood and throw the blood against the sides of the altar that is at the entrance of the tent of meeting. 6 Then he shall flay the burnt offering and cut it into pieces, 7 and the sons of Aaron the priest shall put fire on the altar and arrange wood on the fire. 8 And Aaron’s sons the priests shall arrange the pieces, the head, and the fat, on the wood that is on the fire on the altar; 9 but its entrails and its legs he shall wash with water. And the priest shall burn all of it on the altar, as a burnt offering, a food offering[a] with a pleasing aroma to the Lord. (Leviticus 1:3-9)

Believers presented this offering “at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting” because it specifically represented Jesus Christ. Jesus is, was, and always will be our only way into the tabernacle of God. The fact that the offeror “lay his hand on the head of the burnt offering” symbolized the transfer of the offeror’s sin to Christ and Christ’s atonement to the sinner. This offering also made a “sweet aroma” to God because of the voluntary nature of Christ’s sacrifice that it represented. This offering does not represent our initial salvation, but instead denotes the goal of our faith which is conformity to the image of Christ. We reach this goal only through faith in Christ’s atonement and the gift of the Holy Spirit working out His salvation through us. We must never lose sight of this truth.

The burnt offering represents total identification with Christ. It is a picture of offering ourselves as living sacrifices to God, of voluntarily giving up our lives (souls) in this world so that we may gain a better a resurrection. (to be continued…)

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.