In the days of the Roman emperors, God set up a kingdom,
which would last forever.
…in the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that
shall never be destroyed, nor shall this kingdom be left to another people. It
shall crush all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, and it shall stand
forever;[1]
As a young Christian I was taught that history was divided
into three periods; the patriarchal era, the Mosaic era, and the Christian era.
Had the teaching specified that those eras pertained only to Judeo/Christian history
it would have been better. A naïve understanding of the exclusivity of the three
religious periods can cause a myopic view of world history. From the position
that the three periods were global in application, the majority of humanity was
beyond the interest of God.
The consequence, for gaining the knowledge of right and
wrong by eating the forbidden fruit, was banishment and death. For the
deception of Eve, Satan was cursed by God. He was also told that one of Eve’s
descendants would strike a decisive blow to him. Jesus was the one indicated by
God. “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring
and hers; he will strike your head, and you will strike his heel.”[2] The promise was made
to Eve –the mother of humanity. The indication was that all people would be
advantaged by the action of Jesus.
Many years later, God made a covenant with Abraham in which
it was promised that one of his descendants would provide blessing for all
nations. “In your seed all the nations of the earth
shall be blessed.”[3] This theme was picked up
by the apostle Paul, “Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to
his seed. He does not say, ‘And to seeds,’
as referring to many,
but rather to one, ‘And to your seed’, that is, Christ.”[4] Paul
also pointed out that the Law came some four hundred years after God made the
covenant with Abraham. The promise of blessing through Jesus was made before
the children of Israel were chosen to be God’s special people.[5] The promise was to all
nations of the earth. Eve’s offspring, and Abraham’s seed –Jesus.
Israel was not the promise, it was the protector of the
promise through the lineage of Abraham. The people of Israel were under their
own covenant with God. The law was given to Israel only –to the people at Horeb
and their descendants. “The LORD our God made a covenant
with us at Horeb.”[6] Moses spoke to Israel about the
covenant that God made with them, saying that those there at that time were the
recipients of the Covenant and Law.[7] Israel was chosen because God loved the
people, as well as to keep the promise he gave Abraham. The promise that
through Abraham’s descendants Jesus would come.[8] The children of
Israel were to be separate from other nations. They were exclusive, they were
God’s children, they were to live by God’s law, and they were the family
through which Jesus would come.
The prophets of Israel spoke about the future, they relayed
God’s word to the people. The prophets provided communication from God to Israel.
To the captives in Babylonian the prophet Jeremiah wrote saying, “’Behold, days are coming,’ declares the LORD, ‘when I will make a
new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah…’”[9] That covenant would be
very different to the one given to Israel after being rescued from Egypt. In
the future God’s law would be written on their hearts, as opposed to being
written on stone. The crowning feature of the new Covenant would be that God
said, “I will forgive their
iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.”
The author of the book of Hebrews connects the prophecy of
Jeremiah to the work of Jesus. Jesus when compared to priests ministering to
the tabernacle, is said to have had, “a
more excellent ministry.” In addition, “he
is the mediator of a better covenant, which has been enacted through
better promises.”
One doesn’t have to read much of the letter to the Hebrews to appreciate that
the new covenant with Jesus as its mediator was better in every way to the
covenant given to Israel. Jesus abolished the first covenant to establish the
second. The sacrifices under the old covenant were removed, so that we are sanctified through the offering of
the body of Jesus Christ once for all.[10]
The Hebrew Scriptures focus on Hebrew history, Hebrew
religion, Hebrew life, and Hebrew hope. Israel was God’s special people while
they obeyed his commands. If one follows the history of Israel it becomes
evident that God nurtured obedience and devotion. Throughout the period of the
judges, when Israel was disobedient, God allowed it be conquered by a Gentile
nation. At some point the people of Israel called on God. God at that point
picked a leader to lead Israel into battle and defeat their Gentile overlords.
That cycle seems to have been repeated a number of times. Later as the result
of Solomon’s sins the ten northern tribes were severed from the south. The
first king of the northern tribes had the dubious distinction of being
nominated, “Jeroboam son of Nebat, who
caused Israel to sin”. In 721 BCE Samaria and the northern tribes were
destroyed by the Assyrians. The people that weren’t killed in that conquest
were exiled. In 586 BCE the southern tribes fell to the Babylonians. The temple
and city of Jerusalem were sacked and burned. A number of people from the south
were taken as captives to Babylon. 606 BCE was the first deportation, 597 BCE
the second deportation, then in 586 BCE –the final attack and destruction,
people captured at that time were mostly to be slaves. Jeremiah prophesied that
the captivity would last seventy years. “For thus says the LORD: Only when
Babylon's seventy years are completed will I visit you, and I will fulfill to
you my promise and bring you back to this place.”[11]
The Lord made good his promise by bringing a remnant back from
captivity. “Therefore, the days are surely coming, says
the LORD, when it shall no longer be said, ‘As the LORD lives
who brought the people of Israel up out of the land of Egypt,’ but ‘As the LORD lives who brought the
people of Israel up out of the land of the north and out of all the lands where
he had driven them.’ For I will bring them back to
their own land that I gave to their ancestors.”[12] In the first repatriation close to
50,000 people returned to the decimated city of Jerusalem. Their task was to
rebuild the temple of God –that however, took second place to their personal
requirements. It was over twenty years before the temple was finally completed.
The promise to Abraham that through his seed all nations would be blessed was
still on track. The consistency of that line was protected by God. Israel from
the captivity forward would have no legitimate king until the coming of Jesus.
From the time of the Maccabean revolt there was no legitimate high priest until
Jesus. Matthew provides the genealogy of Jesus going back to Abraham, “So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations;
from David to the deportation to Babylon, fourteen generations; and from the
deportation to Babylon to the Messiah, fourteen generations.”[13] Peter spoke to Jewish worshipers in
the temple, drawn together by witnessing the healing of a lame man. He gave
glory to Jesus, and told the crowd that they and their leaders had killed the
Prince of life. He went on to say:
…the things which God announced beforehand by the mouth of all the
prophets, that His Christ would suffer, He has thus fulfilled. Repent
therefore, and turn to God so that your sins may be wiped out, so that times of
refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Messiah
appointed for you, that is, Jesus, who must remain in heaven until the time of
universal restoration that God announced long ago through his holy prophets.
Moses said, 'The Lord your God will raise up for you from your own people a
prophet like me. You must listen to whatever he tells you. And it will be that
everyone who does not listen to that prophet will be utterly rooted out of the
people.' And all the prophets, as many as have spoken, from Samuel and those
after him, also predicted these days. You are the descendants of the prophets
and of the covenant that God gave to your ancestors, saying to Abraham, 'And in
your descendants all the families of the earth shall be blessed.' When God
raised up his servant, he sent him first to you, to bless you by turning each
of you from your wicked ways."[14]
Peter focused on the anticipated promises Jews expected to
be fulfilled. Times of refreshing; the Messiah, restoration; a prophet like
Moses; and blessings through a descendent of Abraham. Peter specified that the
Jews to whom he spoke were the recipients of God’s promises. Further to that
Peter told them, that God would send “the Messiah”, “that is, Jesus, who
must remain in heaven until the time of universal restoration that God
announced long ago through his holy prophets.” Here, Peter referred to the second
coming of Jesus –the coming of the Messiah. Jesus came in human form teaching
the nearness of the kingdom. This theme is found in the Hebrew letter, “…so Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will
appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin, to those who
eagerly await Him.”[15] In the first instance Jesus on earth
was in human form, as a servant, in the second coming Jesus came to earth in
his glory and kingdom –the Messiah. Matthew wrote that Jesus didn’t come to
earth to be served, but to serve. He gave the ultimate act of service by giving
himself as the ransom for many.[16]
Jesus came to earth as a servant, at his second coming Jesus came as King.
The Mosaic period only governed Israel. That period was
strictly Hebrew, other nations are mentioned, but Israel alone was God’s
special nation. Being the chosen nation, did not however, give them exclusive
right to God’s blessings, but it did give them a special relationship with God.
Of great importance to Israel was that God’s Presence resided in the temple. To
the displeasure of the Jews, Jesus pointed out that God had long ago helped
people who were not Israelites.[17] Jesus showed that
Israel while special, did not hold a monopoly on God’s blessings. Jesus taught
Jews that they should love their enemies. In that context he reminded them that,
God “causes his sun to rise on the evil and the
good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.”[18] Paul’s teaching to Jews in Rome caused some to ask, “…what advantage has the Jew? Or
what is the value of circumcision?”[19] To which Paul replied, “Much, in every way. For in the first place the Jews were entrusted with
the oracles of God.”[20] God’s oversight included more than the Hebrew nation. His
promise to Eve was global, not to Israel alone. The promise through Abraham was
that all nations would be blessed, not just Israel. The Jews interpreted being
God’s special people as having exclusive right to any blessings. They were
blessed with a special relationship, but that didn’t prevent God from interacting
with other people.
God promised David that he would have a son to rule on the
throne of Israel forever. “When your days are complete and
you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your descendant after you, who
will come forth from you, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a
house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his
kingdom forever.”[21]
At the time of Jesus, the common Jew believed that at some point
the son of David would come as prophesied.[22] The angel who spoke to Mary stated
that Jesus was the expected son of David, and that Jesus would rule over the
house of Jacob forever. The angel said, “…of his kingdom there will be no
end.”[23] As we read the scriptures
it becomes obvious that the successor of David throne was Jesus. It is also evident
that as the monarchy changed from being material to spiritual, so too did
Israel change from an earthly kingdom to the spiritual kingdom. John the
Baptist announced that the kingdom was near. Jesus taught about the kingdom,
and like John pointed to its proximity.[24]
Many of the parables Jesus taught were about the kingdom.
The Jews were not looking for a spiritual kingdom. Their
interpretation of prophecy was for the physical kingdom of Israel to be
restored to its former glory. Jews were looking for a king who would liberate
Israel. The Jews under the new king would vanquish the Roman Empire. Jesus made
an effort to enlighten people to the spiritual nature of the kingdom. He told
them not to look around the country for the kingdom, because the kingdom was
within them.[25] Those closest to him, those who had
been with him throughout his ministry didn’t understand. After the resurrection,
gathered with Jesus for the last time before he ascended, they asked him, “Lord, is it at this time you are restoring the kingdom to Israel?”[26]
Confused about the nature of the kingdom, those who heard Jesus nevertheless
understood, that the coming of the kingdom was imminent. Jesus did not give a
precise time, but he definitely gave the span of time in which the kingdom
would come –within the lifetime of some of those listening to him.[27] At his second coming Jesus did away with the old Israel,
and established the kingdom of God on earth. Jesus was on earth during the early
days of the end of age. The scripture said, “The Revelation of
Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show to His bond-servants, the things which
must soon take place; and He sent and communicated it by His angel to His
bond-servant John.[28] Addressing
the seven congregations in Asia the revelation begins:
…from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and
the ruler of the kings of the earth. To him who loves us and freed us from our
sins by his blood, and made us to be a kingdom, priests serving his God and
Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. Look! He is coming
with the clouds; every eye will see him, even those who pierced him; and on his
account all the tribes of the earth will wail. So it is to be. Amen.[29]
All things were accomplished, not one thing of what God
promised was left undone.
The scripture says that all who are in Christ are the
children of promise. It also says, that those who are in Christ live by faith.
The promise to Abraham was made long before the Law of Moses was given to
Israel. The children of Abraham are not under law, but under grace. The return
of Jesus answered the prayer he taught his disciples, the kingdom would be on
earth as it was in heaven. The kingdom of Israel, the children of Israel were
God’s people. Israel lived under law. The kingdom of God, the children of God,
are not under law, but live under grace. In fact the scripture shows that those
in Christ are children of God by faith, and as such they are the children of
Abraham, and heirs of the promise.[30]
Now, concerning the following; our individual relationship
with God as his children, or being subject to the king in his kingdom, is the
most important relationship we have. Being a member in a Church, or a religious
institution has no bearing in our relationship with God. The Church has nothing
to do with the kingdom. The Church is a human institution. The children of God,
are not subject to regulations designed to segregate them into different
groupings. The Church is a material institution with material goals and
regulations. The structure of the Church is both political and legal. The
children of God are not under any religious law. Believers are subject to the
king as citizens of the kingdom. The called out (ekklesia) of Jesus make up his
kingdom. Churches offer a variety of beliefs and doctrines which work against
the coherence of the kingdom. People who claim to represent God with special
authority or status, are usurpers not legitimate representatives. The subjects
of Christ are presented as a body having many parts, yet working harmoniously
under the head, which is Christ. Compared to a body, the Church is disjointed
and fractious. The Church has substituted its plans and purposes in place of individual
responsibilities. We need to keep in mind what God said through the prophet, “’For My thoughts are not your
thoughts, nor are your ways my ways,’ declares the LORD.
‘For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your
thoughts.’”[31]
The synagogue was established by Jews in exile, and became a
part of everyday life. It was not the temple and didn’t detract from temple
ceremonies or sacrifices. It was a humanly designed institution which Jesus
validated by his attendance. The early Christian gatherings followed the
pattern of the synagogue, which was what the apostles knew. Christianity was
recognized as a sect of Judaism. The Church has gone beyond the synagogue
having established hierarchies, reinstating priests, and developing rituals.
Paul’s constant fight against believers who were going back to Judaism, was a
fight for grace. Some will want to designate Paul’s writing as being opposed to
the Law of Moses, but a closer look will verify it was against “law” of any
kind. Where law, or rituals exist, grace cannot. “May you be made
strong with all the strength that comes from his glorious power, and may you be
prepared to endure everything with patience, while joyfully giving thanks to
the Father, who has enabled you to share in the inheritance of the saints in
the light. He has rescued us from the power of darkness and transferred us into
the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of
sins.”[32]
And in the days of those kings the
God of heaven will set up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed, nor shall
this kingdom be left to another people. It shall crush all these kingdoms and
bring them to an end, and it shall stand forever.
Going back to where I started -the three divisions related
to Judeo/Christian history. The divisions while historical, more than anything represent
the terms by which God relates to people, and how people connect with God.
There is a gross oversight concerning “the end of the age.” The three periods
taught when I was young should actually be four. The patriarchal, the Mosaic,
the end times, and the Christian. There were no prophets in Israel from the
death of Malachi to John the Baptist. John ushered in the “Last days.”[33] He
was the forerunner of Jesus, preparing the way for the Messiah. Paul looked
back to the people of old as examples for believers –“on whom the ends of the ages have come.”[34] The Hebrew letter starts with
reference to the “last days”. Following the day of Pentecost Jews continued to
connect with God through the temple and its ceremonies, temple sacrifice was at
that time still the means of atonement. At the same time for believers, Jesus
was the only means of atonement. This overlap continued up to the destruction
of the temple, which brought to an end temple sacrifices. The period from
Pentecost to the end of sacrifices was a period of transition. The destruction
of the temple and Jerusalem marked the “end of the age”. Through the period
called the end of the age there were two means by which God related to people,
and two systems connecting people with God. For traditional Jews, the temple
and law remained the way they associated with God. For Jewish believers and
Gentiles, the only connection with God was through Jesus. The period of the end
of the age, does not fit into the Mosaic period, or, the Christian period. The
end of the age period stands as a unique period. The end of the age was the
final chapter of scriptural history. What God started, he brought to a close. As
Peter noted, all the prophets spoke of those days. That was a period like no
other. In it Jesus dealt a crushing blow to Satan. Jesus was born into
Abraham’s family. Jesus was born king of Israel. At the conclusion of that
period Jesus returned to earth, in the glory of his kingdom.
The biblical scriptures cover three periods of
Judeo/Christian history; patriarchal, Mosaic, and, the last days. The Christian
age according to scripture, is the age of faith. The relationship people have
with God in this age is through Christ. As Paul concluded his discourse on
love, he spoke of the primary attributes of the Christian age as being; faith,
hope, and love. The scriptures from Genesis to Revelation offer insights into
God’s relationship with people, as well as God’s expectations of his people.
Regulations from one period do not cross to another. However, examples are without
boundaries.
