In the beginning God created each plant so that it would reproduce itself with its own particular seed. God purposed that each plant would produce its own seed and thereby, from that seed, create its own particular fruit. Genesis recounts this part of creation as follows:

¹¹ And God said, “Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants^[e] yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind, on the earth.” And it was so.¹² The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed according to their own kinds, and trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. (Gen. 1:11-12)

And when he created animals he created each one so that it too would create its own seed and then reproduce “after its own kind.”

²⁰ And God said, “Let the waters swarm with swarms of living creatures, and let birds^[g] fly above the earth across the expanse of the heavens.” ²¹ So God created the great sea creatures and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarm, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.²² And God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.” ²³ And there was evening and there was morning, the fifth day.

²⁴ And God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kinds—livestock and creeping things and beasts of the earth according to their kinds.” And it was so. ²⁵ And God made the beasts of the earth according to their kinds and the livestock according to their kinds, and everything that creeps on the ground according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. (Gen. 1:20-25)

Finally he created man “in his own image” and this created being also produced his own seed (sperm) so that he would thereafter propagate “after his own kind” as well.

²⁶ Then God said, “Let us make man^[h] in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”

²⁸ And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” ²⁹ And God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food. (Gen. 1:26-29)

Later, God revealed to Moses that his eternal law forbids the mixing of one plant seed with another type of plant seed, one type of animal seed with another type of animal’s seed, and man’s seed with any other type of seed, whether plant or animal.

You shall keep my statutes. You shall not let your cattle breed with a different kind. You shall not sow your field with two kinds of seed, nor shall you wear a garment of cloth made of two kinds of material. (Leviticus 19:19)

This profound truth revealed in Leviticus 19:19 betrays the motives of much of science in these later years. More and more we see scientists mix and change seeds through genetic manipulations.  We see large corporate interests, like Monsanto, create new organisms by genetic modification which do not reproduce their own seeds. We see governments around the world outlaw the possession of natural seeds, beginning years ago with beneficial plants like hemp, (Just watch some YouTube videos about the health benefits of hemp oil), and continuing today with the European Union’s new proposed law to outlaw the possession of any seeds not approved by the government.

Today we live in a world of “chimeras,” bizarre mutations of animals which scientists create through their callous disregard of God’s Law. The ancient books of Jasher and the Bible reveal that this type of genetic manipulation of God’s creation first became common in the days of Noah and led to God’s destruction of that world by water. Jesus said that the time just before his second coming would be “as the days of Noah” with respect to sin and lawlessness. Clearly the signs that these are as the days of Noah appear everywhere now, which means that the end of this age is at hand. And since we now see the end of the age approaching it seems to me that we ought also see signs of God’s main purpose for creating this world, and in particular, for creating us. This means that we should now be able to observe God’s fruit in the earth.

For many years I have taught that God’s primary purpose for creating man was to re-create himself, to “have children” so to speak. We call our children the “fruit of the womb.” God’s children, then, represent God’s fruit. This is why the Bible calls the sons of God the “firstfruits of creation.” They are the overcomers revealed in Revelation 14.

Then I looked, and behold, on Mount Zion stood the Lamb, and with him 144,000 who had his name and his Father’s name written on their foreheads. ² And I heard a voice from heaven like the roar of many waters and like the sound of loud thunder. The voice I heard was like the sound of harpists playing on their harps, ³ and they were singing a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and before the elders. No one could learn that song except the 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth. ⁴ It is these who have not defiled themselves with women, for they are virgins. It is these who follow the Lamb wherever he goes. These have been redeemed from mankind as firstfruits for God and the Lamb, ⁵ and in their mouth no lie was found, for they are blameless. (Revelation 14:1-5 ESV)

 So now let us begin to examine how the Bible describes this special fruit we should now be able to see.

Moses was the grandson of Levi, one of the twelve sons of Jacob, whom God renamed Israel. Moses wrote the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. Moses led the people of Israel out of Egypt. God appointed his brother, Aaron, as the first high priest of Israel when he established the nation of Israel after freeing them from Pharaoh’s hand. From that time Aaron’s sons served as the priests of Israel. But Aaron’s sons were only part of only one of the eight clans of the Levite tribe.

¹⁴ And the Lord spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, saying, ¹⁵ “List the sons of Levi, by fathers’ houses and by clans; every male from a month old and upward you shall list.”¹⁶ So Moses listed them according to the word of the Lord, as he was commanded. ¹⁷ And these were the sons of Levi by their names: Gershon and Kohath and Merari. ¹⁸ And these are the names of the sons of Gershon by their clans: Libni and Shimei. ¹⁹ And the sons of Kohath by their clans: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel. ²⁰ And the sons of Merari by their clans: Mahli and Mushi. These are the clans of the Levites, by their fathers’ houses. (Numbers 3:14-20)

Aaron’s descendants formed only a small part of the Levite tribe and they were given a very special role in their service to God by being chosen as priests of the Most High. But, as we have seen, the rest of the Levites were not forgotten by God. He chose them to replace all of the firstborn sons of Israel and then consecrated them in order that they might serve him. As we saw in previous posts these Levites serve as a prophetic type of all overcomers who will one day comprise the Biblical “manchild” revealed in Revelation 12. Now we will consider another function of these overcomers in their very high position in the government of God.

⁴⁷ But the Levites were not listed along with them by their ancestral tribe. ⁴⁸ For the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ⁴⁹ “Only the tribe of Levi you shall not list, and you shall not take a census of them among the people of Israel. ⁵⁰ But appoint the Levites over the tabernacle of the testimony, and over all its furnishings, and over all that belongs to it. They are to carry the tabernacle and all its furnishings, and they shall take care of it and shall camp around the tabernacle. ⁵¹ When the tabernacle is to set out, the Levites shall take it down, and when the tabernacle is to be pitched, the Levites shall set it up. And if any outsider comes near, he shall be put to death. ⁵² The people of Israel shall pitch their tents by their companies, each man in his own camp and each man by his own standard. ⁵³ But the Levites shall camp around the tabernacle of the testimony, so that there may be no wrath on the congregation of the people of Israel. And the Levites shall keep guard over the tabernacle of the testimony.” ⁵⁴ Thus did the people of Israel; they did according to all that the Lord commanded Moses. (Numbers 1:47-54, ESV)

Moses makes something very clear in this passage. He doesn’t just say the Levites shall be responsible for “the tabernacle.” Three times he uses the phrase “the tabernacle of the testimony.” Anyone can build a tent or a tabernacle, but only God can oversee the building, caring for, and protection of the “the tabernacle of the testimony.” What is this testimony?

Strong’s says that the word testimony is translated from the Hebrew word ”`eduwth” (ay-dooth’) and is translated as either testimony or witness in the King James Version. Further he says that the word comes from the Hebrew word “`ed” (ayd) and means, “concretely, a witness; abstractly, testimony; specifically, a recorder, i.e. prince.” Yet, the King James Version only translates this word as “witness.” The context within the verses where this word is used shows that it typically means “to be a witness for the truth” of some particular matter. If we think in terms of a court trial a witness gives testimony concerning the truth of some particular matter or matters.

The word translated “testimony” first occurs in Exodus 16:34 in the following passage:

³¹ Now the house of Israel called its name manna. It was like coriander seed, white, and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey. ³² Moses said, “This is what the Lord has commanded: ‘Let an omer of it be kept throughout your generations, so that they may see the bread with which I fed you in the wilderness, when I brought you out of the land of Egypt.’” ³³ And Moses said to Aaron, “Take a jar, and put an omer of manna in it, and place it before the Lord to be kept throughout your generations.” ³⁴ As the Lord commanded Moses, so Aaron placed it before the testimony to be kept. (Exodus 16:31-34)

Verse 34 looks forward to the time when Aaron actually placed the jar of manna next to the testimony within the “ark of the testimony,” for at this particular time in history God had not yet given the testimony to Moses.  The following passage first reveals God’s commands concerning this ark.

¹⁰ “They shall make an ark of acacia wood. Two cubits^[b] and a half shall be its length, a cubit and a half its breadth, and a cubit and a half its height. ¹¹ You shall overlay it withpure gold, inside and outside shall you overlay it, and you shall make on it a molding of gold around it. ¹² You shall cast four rings of gold for it and put them on its four feet, two rings on the one side of it, and two rings on the other side of it. ¹³ You shall make poles of acacia wood and overlay them with gold. ¹⁴ And you shall put the poles into the rings on the sides of the ark to carry the ark by them. ¹⁵ The poles shall remain in the rings of the ark; they shall not be taken from it. ¹⁶ And you shall put into the ark the testimony that I shall give you.

¹⁷ “You shall make a mercy seat^[c] of pure gold. Two cubits and a half shall be its length, and a cubit and a half its breadth. ¹⁸ And you shall make two cherubim of gold; ofhammered work shall you make them, on the two ends of the mercy seat. ¹⁹ Make one cherub on the one end, and one cherub on the other end. Of one piece with the mercy seat shall you make the cherubim on its two ends. ²⁰ The cherubim shall spread out their wings above, overshadowing the mercy seat with their wings, their faces one to another; toward the mercy seat shall the faces of the cherubim be. ²¹ And you shall put the mercy seat on the top of the ark, and in the ark you shall put the testimony that I shall give you. ²² There I will meet with you, and from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim that are on the ark of the testimony, I will speak with you about all that I will give you in commandment for the people of Israel. (Exodus 25:10-22)

God gave Moses the first writing of his “testimony” at the end of Moses’ first 40 day visitation with God on the Mountain of God. Scripture says,  “And he gave to Moses, when he had finished speaking with him on Mount Sinai, the two tablets of the testimony, tablets of stone, written with the finger of God.” (Ex. 31:18) It was during this time that Israel fell into idolatry with her golden calf because the nation did not know what had become of him. Moses was so outraged when he came down the mountain and saw their sin and idolatry that he threw down and broke the two tablets God had given him. After this ordeal God invited Moses up the mountain again. In the following passage Moses reveals the testimony which God gave him to put into the ark of the testimony which in turn was put in the tabernacle of the testimony.

The Lord said to Moses, “Cut for yourself two tablets of stone like the first, and I will write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke. ² Be ready by the morning, and come up in the morning to Mount Sinai, and present yourself there to meon the top of the mountain. ³ No one shall come up with you, and let no one be seen throughout all the mountain. Let no flocks or herds graze opposite that mountain.” ⁴ So Moses cut two tablets of stone like the first. And he rose early in the morning and went up on Mount Sinai, as the Lord had commanded him, and took in his hand two tablets of stone.⁵ The Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the Lord. ⁶ The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, ⁷ keeping steadfast love for thousands,^[a] forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.” ⁸ And Moses quickly bowed his head toward the earth and worshiped. ⁹ And he said, “If now I have found favor in your sight, O Lord, please let the Lord go in the midst of us, for it is a stiff-necked people, and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for your inheritance.”

¹⁰ And he said, “Behold, I am making a covenant. Before all your people I will do marvels, such as have not been created in all the earth or in any nation. And all the people among whom you are shall see the work of the Lord, for it is an awesome thing that I will do with you.

¹¹ “Observe what I command you this day. Behold, I will drive out before you the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. ¹² Take care, lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land to which you go, lest it become asnare in your midst. ¹³ You shall tear down their altars and break their pillars and cut down their Asherim ¹⁴ (for you shall worship no other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God), ¹⁵ lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, and when theywhore after their gods and sacrifice to their gods and you are invited, you eat of his sacrifice, ¹⁶ and you take of their daughters for your sons, and their daughters whore after their gods and make your sons whore after their gods.

¹⁷ “You shall not make for yourself any gods of cast metal.

¹⁸ “You shall keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, as I commanded you, at the time appointed in the month Abib, for in the month Abib you came out from Egypt. ¹⁹ All that open the womb are mine, all your male^[b] livestock, the firstborn of cow and sheep. ²⁰ The firstborn of a donkey you shall redeem with a lamb, or if you will not redeem it you shall break its neck. All the firstborn of your sons you shall redeem. And none shall appear before me empty-handed.

²¹ “Six days you shall work, but on the seventh day you shall rest. In plowing time and in harvest you shall rest. ²² You shall observe the Feast of Weeks, the firstfruits of wheat harvest, and the Feast of Ingathering at the year’s end. ²³ Three times in the year shall all your males appear before the Lord God, the God of Israel. ²⁴ For I will cast out nations before you and enlarge your borders; no one shall covet your land, when you go up to appear before the Lord your God three times in the year.

²⁵ “You shall not offer the blood of my sacrifice with anything leavened, or let the sacrifice of the Feast of the Passover remain until the morning. ²⁶ The best of the firstfruits of your ground you shall bring to the house of the Lord your God. You shall not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk.”

²⁷ And the Lord said to Moses, “Write these words, for in accordance with these words I have made a covenant with you and with Israel.” ²⁸ So he was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights. He neither ate bread nor drank water. And he wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the Ten Commandments.^[c]

²⁹ When Moses came down from Mount Sinai, with the two tablets of the testimony in his hand as he came down from the mountain, Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because he had been talking with God. (Exodus 34:1-29)

Verse 28 above says that the writing on the tablets of the testimony was the “the Ten Commandments.” It is not clear whether the tablets of the testimony included only the Ten Commandments, which are recounted in Exodus 20, or if they included the other laws mentioned in Exodus 34 above or the many laws Moses wrote down in Exodus 21-24. One thing, however is clear, and that is that these tablets contained the very words of God which included commands for how Israel was to to live in consecration and holiness before him. They defined the standard of relationship he demanded from his people. These tablets, therefore, were the testimony to the covenant or relationship between God and man.

Thus we see that God specifically chose the Levites to guard and protect not only the physical structure of the tabernacle, but the literal testimony, or truth, of God’s covenant with Israel. This written testimony resided within the ark which itself stood in the Most Holy Place of the tabernacle of testimony. And it is exactly this which defines the work of those currently called to overcome and become part of the manchild. They have come out of Babylon, the defiled mixture of Christian and all religion. They do not hold to Babylon’s doctrines and are thus cast out or shunned within churches where they dare to speak the truth they know. The very words of God have been and still are being written upon their hands, their minds, and their hearts. And like Phinehas, son of Eleazar, son of Aaron, grandson of Levi, who slew the fornicating idolators of Israel, they will not rest until all carnal flesh has been destroyed by God’s word. These are the ones who rule with a “rod of iron,” the very word of 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,

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.

Continuing now with the prophetic implications of the festival of Passover…

The English Standard Version renders Exodus 12:6 as 6 “and you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of this month, when the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill their lambs at twilight.[a]” Footnote a says that the word “twilight” literally means “between the two evenings” which evidently means between the time that the sun begins to set at or about noon and its actual setting at dusk. The Orthodox Jewish Bible confirms this meaning by translating the verse as “And it will be with you for mishmeret (examination, checking for blemishes) up until the fourteenth day of the same month; and kol Kehal Adat Yisroel shall slaughter (shachat) it in the afternoon [before dark].”

This is important to understand because the Scriptures testify that Jesus was in fact crucified on the Preparation Day of Passover (Nisan 14) and that the crucifixion occurred just after noon and that Jesus died right at 3:00 P.M. See John 19:14 and Luke 23:44 and remember that the “sixth hour” means 12:00 noon and the “ninth hour” means 3:00 P.M. Thus the lamb of God who was chosen on Nisan 10 was in fact slaughtered in the afternoon (between the two evenings) on Nisan 14. Since Jesus was our Passover Lamb everything had to occur exactly as prophesied.

Another important aspect of this crucifixion is that Jesus’ legs were not broken whereas the others crucified that day had their legs broken in order to quicken their death. John, an eyewitness, testifies,

The Jews therefore, because it was the preparation, that the bodies should not remain upon the cross on the sabbath day, (for that sabbath day was an high day,) besought Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away. Then came the soldiers, and brake the legs of the first, and of the other which was crucified with him. But when they came to Jesus, and saw that he was dead already, they brake not his legs: But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water. And he that saw it bare record, and his record is true: and he knoweth that he saith true, that ye might believe. For these things were done, that the scripture should be fulfilled, A bone of him shall not be broken. And again another scripture saith, They shall look on him whom they pierced. (John 19:31-37 KJV)

John references Exodus 12:46, Numbers 9:12, and Psalm 34:20 with respect to none of Christ’s bones being broken. Also notice that John specifically tells his readers that he saw these events, that he speaks the truth, and that all these things occurred in a particular way so that “the scripture should be fulfilled.” He says these things as if he were testifying in a court of law for one reason… that we might believe!

Moses next commands concerning the Passover, “And they shall take of the blood, and strike it on the two side posts and on the upper door post of the houses, wherein they shall eat it.” (Exodus 12:7 KJV) Concerning this blood God says, “And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt.” (Exodus 12:13) Then when Moses instructed the elders of Israel concerning this command he said,

Draw out and take you a lamb according to your families, and kill the passover. And ye shall take a bunch of hyssop, and dip it in the blood that is in the bason, and strike the lintel and the two side posts with the blood that is in the bason; and none of you shall go out at the door of his house until the morning. For the LORD will pass through to smite the Egyptians; and when he seeth the blood upon the lintel, and on the two side posts, the LORD will pass over the door, and will not suffer the destroyer to come in unto your houses to smite you. And ye shall observe this thing for an ordinance to thee and to thy sons for ever. And it shall come to pass, when ye be come to the land which the LORD will give you, according as he hath promised, that ye shall keep this service. And it shall come to pass, when your children shall say unto you, What mean ye by this service? That ye shall say, It is the sacrifice of the LORD’S passover, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt, when he smote the Egyptians, and delivered our houses. And the people bowed the head and worshipped. (Exodus 12:21-27 KJV)

Consider the application of the blood of the Passover lamb upon each home. First one had to splash blood upon the lintel of the door which is the load bearing beam across the top of the door. Next he had to apply the blood on each of the two posts that supported the lintel. Walk over to a door and do this. If you put the blood in the middle of the lintel and then draw your hand to the left doorpost at about your shoulder’s height and apply the blood, and then move your hand over to the right doorpost and do the same, you will see that you have just created an imaginary “cross.” Now remember that God commanded every person to make this sign of the cross with the Passover lamb’s blood upon their houses so that the death angel would pass them by, so that they would be “saved” from death. Clearly this prophetically speaks of applying the blood of Jesus to our sinful souls (the doors of our lives) so that we too will be saved.

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)

Now continuing with God’s specific purposes for giving Israel his Law,

3) Third, God gave men his law so that they would have an objective standard for discerning good and evil, for making good judgments. He established laws of morality which defined his character and which explained to the people the character he expected of them. These laws were designed to enable Israel to establish an ordered society that would not fall into chaos and depravity as we now witness in America who has forsaken them. Of course Israel itself fell into the same sorts of depravity and lawlessness. These laws were also designed to establish justice whereby men could live in peace and harmony in an ordered society.

This discernment of good and evil is what Hebrews calls “the teaching about righteousness.” Understanding it explains why God ever created the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil to begin with.

 {6} So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate. {7} Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings. (Gen 3:6-7 NKJV)

Some things are hard to understand. For example, why did God create man if He knew that man would sin soon after his creation? And, why does God hold man accountable for that sin if He knew that man would sin? God also knew that man would eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, didn’t He? He knows everything, the end from the beginning. God is sovereign and does as He pleases. He also knew the result of man’s eating of the tree, that he would “become like one of Us, to know good and evil” (Gen. 3:22).
Man’s eyes were “opened” as a result of eating that unlawful fruit. This doesn’t mean that he could see the natural world for the first time, for Eve “saw that the tree was good for food and that it was pleasant to the eyes” before she ate of it. (Gen. 3:6) This opening of man’s eyes related to the moral and the spiritual, not the physical and the natural. Adam and Eve became moral beings when they ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Immediately, “they knew that they were naked” and they knew that their nakedness had to be covered. (Gen. 3:7) They had seen that they were naked before, in Genesis 2:25, but then they were not ashamed.
In the New Testament we learn that the doctrine of discernment of good and evil concerns only the very mature. This becomes particularly interesting when we consider the fact that God initially told mankind not to eat of that tree. Why, for example, does God even esteem this type of discernment? The Hebrews’ writer could barely discuss this topic with his people. He said:

{11} [Melchizedek] of whom we have much to say, and hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing. {12} For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food. {13} For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. {14} But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil. (Heb 5:11-14 NKJV)

The same is true today. One usually cannot even discuss the Biblical doctrine of discerning good and evil, i.e. of judgment, without being called legalistic, arrogant, unloving, proud, self-righteous, and on and on. Today, as in the days of Paul; almost all Christians remain unskilled in the word of righteousness, and thus, remain babes in Christ. Because they cannot understand they either turn to lawlessness or back to the Old Testament Law itself.

Let us determine to grow up now and redeem the time because the days are evil and the time is very short. Melchizedek, whose name means “King of Righteousness and Justice,” is first introduced in Genesis 14:18. The Book of Jashur identifies Melchizedek as Shem, son of Noah. Most Christians believe he is an earthly manifestation of the preincarnate Christ. Regardless of his actual identity, it is no coincidence that the King of Righteousness and Justice also appears here in the passage that speaks of discerning good and evil. Mature Christians should be able to eat the meat of the Word of God. Then, by constantly using the Word, their senses should be so exercised that they can discern both good and evil. This means that they should be able to righteously judge the issues of life, but rarely can we find a Godly man competent to do justice, i.e., to judge righteously. To do justice means to separate between the good and the evil with a righteous understanding that can only be provided by God.

The teaching about righteousness includes the doctrine that one will do the good instead of the evil when he becomes capable of discerning between the two. The ability to do good comes about by receiving a new heart from our heavenly Father. Our new heart is the gift of the Holy Spirit. Hebrews explains this when quoting Jeremiah: “For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put My laws in their mind and write them on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people” (Heb. 8:10) None of us have as yet received an entirely “new heart.” We still walk about in bodies of flesh that remain subject to and do sin. Now, though, is the time to bring our minds into agreement with God.

All of us still retain parts of our old hard heart of unforgiveness and bitterness, but we are exhorted by Christ in Romans 12:1-2 to renew our minds by adhering to His Word and by refusing conformity to this world. If we do not obey His commands we will forever remain hard-hearted. God would say to the hard-hearted: {3} “For thus says the LORD to the men of Judah and Jerusalem: “Break up your fallow ground, And do not sow among thorns. {4} Circumcise yourselves to the LORD, And take away the foreskins of your hearts, You men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem, Lest My fury come forth like fire, And burn so that no one can quench it, Because of the evil of your doings.” (Jer 4:3-4 NKJV) Jeremiah prophetically warns Christians in words similar to those we see in the book of Hebrews.

We find the major theme of Hebrews in verse 5:13. It is the “teaching (word) about righteousness” which is defined in verse 14 as the Christian ability to “discern between good and evil.” The Greek word translated “discern” here is the noun form of the verb diakrino. Vines says that diakrino signifies “to separate, discriminate” and “to learn by discriminating.” He goes on to say that the word means “trying oneself, `discerning’ one’s condition, and so judging any evil before the Lord.” He also states that “regarding oral testimony in a gathering of believers, it is used of `discerning’ what is of the Holy Spirit.” The noun form, diakrisis, is used here in verse 13 to speak “of those who are capable of discriminating between good and evil.” In Rom. 14:1 the word has its other sense of decision or judgment….” To discriminate means “to judge,” so this word literally speaks of judgment between good and evil.

The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, therefore, typologically points to the ministry of Melchizedek, which is the ministry of justice and righteousness. It also speaks of the judgment (separation) of good and evil. These are the defining characteristics of the Teaching about Righteousness discussed in Hebrews. Separation, then, also speaks of the mature ability to discern (judge) between good and evil. Hebrews teaches us that one must exercise his senses by constant use of the meat of the Word of God before he can so judge. Most people do not do this and this explains why judgment of sin in the church rarely occurs today. It also further explains the doctrine of separation, this time in terms of discernment and judgment. Even man’s judgment and separation from God for originally eating of this tree points typologically to this prophetic discernment and judgment.

4) Fourth, God established laws of separation which taught Israel to be a people separated from the ways of the world. In order to teach this lesson he established laws which in the natural, on an external, observable level, made Israel appear different than the other nations of the earth. This explains why he established so many laws for which most people see no good reason today, laws like wearing garments made of only one type of cloth, laws forbidding the eating of “unclean” animals and allowing one to eat “clean” animals, laws mandating the wearing of tassels on ones garments, and so on. These laws actually establish the doctrine of the carnal (natural) vs. the spiritual.

We see from Genesis 3:9-19 and 4:3-15 that God still spoke directly to man even after Adam ate from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. This is because there is still ground for relationship by virtue of the blood sacrifice for sin, which speaks of spiritual salvation. God Himself shed the first animal blood which was a type of the blood sacrifice of Jesus. Spiritual salvation, effected by the blood of Jesus, brings with it a “clear conscience.”

{13} For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh, {14} how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? (Heb 9:13-14 NKJV)

God makes it clear to mankind, through Abel’s accepted sacrifice, that He must have a blood (animal) sacrifice in order to accept man into His presence. Cain, however, would have none of it. God was showing through His demand for a blood sacrifice that He requires a man’s true life (soul) to be separated from his physical existence. This is the meaning of the blood, the life (soul), being separated from the body. Rather than offering the sacrifice that God requires, which is a sacrifice that requires a separation of the life (blood) from the body, Cain killed his brother instead. This prophetically showed the separation among men, even saved men, which sin causes. This is a picture in the natural of the separation of the spiritual from the carnal believer. Here is Paul’s description of these two types of believers:

{13} These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. {14} But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. {15} But he who is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is rightly judged by no one. {16} For “who has known the mind of the LORD that he may instruct Him?” But we have the mind of Christ. And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ. {2} I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able; {3} for you are still carnal. For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men? (1 Cor 2:13-3:3 NKJV)

It is normal for a babe in Christ to be carnal. Such a one needs the milk of the Word in order to mature. But, it is abnormal and unhealthy when believers, after five, ten, twenty, or more years, still exhibit the carnal thoughts and attitudes of a babe in Christ. The picture of the carnal vs. the spiritual Christian is further illustrated by Jesus’ parable in Luke:

{42} And the Lord said, “Who then is that faithful and wise steward, whom his master will make ruler over his household, to give them their portion of food in due season? {43} “Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes. {44} “Truly, I say to you that he will make him ruler over all that he has. {45} “But if that servant says in his heart, ‘My master is delaying his coming,’ and begins to beat the male and female servants, and to eat and drink and be drunk, {46} “the master of that servant will come on a day when he is not looking for him, and at an hour when he is not aware, and will cut him in two and appoint him his portion with the unbelievers. {47} “And that servant who knew his master’s will, and did not prepare himself or do according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes. {48} “But he who did not know, yet committed things deserving of stripes, shall be beaten with few. For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required; and to whom much has been committed, of him they will ask the more. (Luke 12:42-48 NKJV)

Here we see the principle of the separation of Cain and Abel prophetically applied by Jesus in the teaching of the separation of the carnal from the spiritual Christian. The wicked servant in the parable above is a Christian. Just as Cain beat and killed Abel, so the carnal, wicked Christian “beats” the spiritual, faithful servant of God. How? By unwarranted criticisms and by social and business ostracism. The carnal Christian holds on to sin and justifies his doing so while the spiritual Christian repents of sin and relies upon the power of the Holy Spirit to enable him to forsake the sin totally. The carnal Christian refuses to separate himself from the world’s pleasures, sinful relationships and the allure of mammon. The spiritual Christian comes out from worldly ways and maintains a life of holy separation to God. This separation of the spiritual from the carnal in the book of Genesis looks all the way forward to the end of the Bible, to the culminating Scriptures regarding the Doctrine of Separation.

{14} Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness? {15} And what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever? {16} And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will dwell in them And walk among them. I will be their God, And they shall be My people.” {17} Therefore “Come out from among them And be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, And I will receive you.” {18} “I will be a Father to you, And you shall be My sons and daughters, Says the LORD Almighty.” (2 Cor 6:14-18 NKJV)

And I heard another voice from heaven saying, “Come out of her, my people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues.” (Revelation 18:4)

Paul and Jesus also teach us how we must ultimately relate to the Christian who refuses to grow up and continues doing the things of the world. Paul teaches us to separate ourselves from the “evil” Christian, saying,

 {10} Yet I certainly did not mean with the sexually immoral people of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world. {11} But now I have written to you not to keep company with anyone named a brother, who is sexually immoral, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; not even to eat with such a person. {12} For what have I to do with judging those also who are outside? Do you not judge those who are inside? {13} But those who are outside God judges. Therefore “put away from yourselves the evil person.” (1 Cor 5:10-13 NKJV)

Jesus makes it clear that such a separation must even reach to one’s own family if necessary when He says,

{49} “I came to send fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! {50} “But I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how distressed I am till it is accomplished! {51} “Do you suppose that I came to give peace on earth? I tell you, not at all, but rather division. {52} “For from now on five in one house will be divided: three against two, and two against three. {53} “Father will be divided against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter- in-law and daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.” (Luke 12:49-53 NKJV)

Jesus says that this kind of separation will be necessary just before His second coming. This is why he tells the story of the faithful and wicked servants at the time of His second coming right before he says that He came to bring division (separation), not peace! Then He explains that His wicked servants should be able to discern the times, but that they cannot do so because of their hypocrisy:

 {54} Then He also said to the multitudes, “Whenever you see a cloud rising out of the west, immediately you say, ‘A shower is coming’; and so it is. {55} “And when you see the south wind blow, you say, ‘There will be hot weather’; and there is. {56} “Hypocrites! You can discern the face of the sky and of the earth, but how is it you do not discern this time? {57} “Yes, and why, even of yourselves, do you not judge what is right? (Luke 12:54-57 NKJV)

Finally, He warns those who refuse to repent of their sins and hypocrisy that not only will they be subject to separation in fellowship by His faithful servants, but also by Him when He judges them at His judgment seat:

{58} “When you go with your adversary to the magistrate, make every effort along the way to settle with him, lest he drag you to the judge, the judge deliver you to the officer, and the officer throw you into prison. {59} “I tell you, you shall not depart from there till you have paid the very last mite.” (Luke 12:58-59 NKJV)

In this final parable of Luke chapter 12 the adversary is the faithful Christian who has been slandered, reviled, or otherwise wronged by the carnal (evil) Christian. The magistrate is the “first in rank and power,” i.e., Jesus Christ. As magistrate He is the Judge who delivers the evil Christian to His officer, who could be a powerful angel or, more likely, a glorified saint. The prison is the place of “weeping and gnashing of teeth” that Jesus warns believers about in Matthew 24:51. This warning from Matthew 24:51 culminates a parable which is quite similar to that of Luke 12:42-48. All three pictures, the weeping and gnashing of teeth, the casting into prison, and the beating with many stripes describe Christ’s judgment and punishment of His own servants. The separation of the spiritual from the carnal is the Word of the Lord for all of his people RIGHT NOW. If we refuse to heed Christ’s word of separation, then we will be punished by Him.

The laws of Moses taught these things in the natural, but obeying them could not bring them into spiritual reality. Thus Jesus had to come in person to explain what he meant and to empower us to accomplish these things in reality, i.e., spiritually.

Conclusion

These four aspects of God’s one law explained above were meant to teach his people the principles of his kingdom, a kingdom founded upon righteousness and justice, grace and truth, mercy and law. But, as Jesus told them, they failed to understand and correctly apply the Old Covenant laws. Instead they made God’s good laws into traps for the unwary, preventing others from coming into the fruit of God’s kingdom, and never coming into the spiritual understanding of those truths themselves. Jesus finally rebuked them saying,

“Go and learn what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.” (Matthew 9:13)

“And if you had known what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the guiltless.” (Matthew 12:7)

5) And finally, Jesus summed up all of the Old Covenant laws with exactly one law, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” He explained this one law like this, “Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets.“ (Matthew 7:12 KJV)

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.

17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. 18 For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. 19 Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20 For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 5:17-20, ESV)

In my last post I argued that “one of the least of these commandments” meant the commandments which Jesus was about to proclaim and that he did not specifically mean all of the Old Testament laws.  I believe this interpretation is bolstered by Jesus’ last statements in this sermon when he said, “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock.” (Mat. 7:24) In the last post I also showed that Jesus did in fact change the lex talionis, the law of an eye for eye, in this sermon. He taught that we should have mercy and love toward those who abuse us and that we should not think in terms of retaliation toward them.

Immediately after saying that he did not come to abolish the Law Jesus said “You have heard that it was said” five times relating to five specific Old Testament laws (or interpretations thereof) which the people had indeed heard before. Five is the Biblical number of grace (mercy, righteousness). Each time he said this he changed men’s understanding of the way a particular law was to be interpreted. Even though Jesus here interprets the Law in terms of God’s grace, he actually made the Law more difficult to obey, and he knew it. He said, “unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” (Mat. 5:20) But, he did not even leave it there. A little later he said, “You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” (Mat. 5:48)

These statements as well as all of the apostles’ writings prove that grace does not imply lawlessness or a lax standard of righteousness as many churches now teach. On the other hand, a careful reading of the sermon on the mount also disproves the Hebraic Roots movement’s push to compel people to obey “every jot and tittle” of God’s Law. Jesus did not say, “not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until my people perfectly obey it.” He said that nothing will pass from the Law until it is fulfilled or accomplished. The question we now have to answer is “which laws were fulfilled by Christ and his work in us and, therefore, no longer need to be physically observed by us and which laws have not been?”

Since the New Testament writers and I have already written thousands of words concerning this last question, I will leave it at that and end here with Paul’s poignant response to those who would enslave us once again to every jot and tittle of Old Covenant law, “If I, brothers, still preach circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? In that case the offense of the cross has been removed. 12 I wish those who unsettle you would emasculate themselves!” (Galatians 5:11-12)