The Journey from Merit to Mercy

September 24, 2023 / kdmiller55 / Leave a comment

¹⁸For you have not come to what may be touched, a blazing fire and darkness and gloom and a tempest ¹⁹and the sound of a trumpet and a voice whose words made the hearers beg that no further messages be spoken to them. ²⁰For they could not endure the order that was given, “If even a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned.” ²¹Indeed, so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, “I tremble with fear.” ²²But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, ²³and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, ²⁴and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel. – Hebrews 12:18-24 ESV

The author of Hebrews compares the Christian life to that of a long and arduous journey. Because of his Hebrew audience, he most likely had in mind the more than 40-year journey the people of Israel took to get to the land promised by God to their forefather, Abraham.

That trek had ended up being an ultra-marathon, covering thousands of miles and four decades, and it required incredible endurance and a constant awareness that there truly was a goal in mind. They were headed somewhere. The seemingly endless journey had an actual destination. Even on those days when it all felt pointless and mind-numbingly repetitious, they had to keep walking and trusting that God knew what He was doing and that Moses knew where he was going. At times, they had their doubts and felt free to make them known.

In these verses, the author contrasts Mount Sinai with Mount Zion. The first mountain was from their past. It was the place, early on in the Exodus story, where God had met with Moses and given him the Ten Commandments and the Book of the Covenant. That fateful day, when Moses prepared to ascend Mount Sinai had been a terrifying and life-changing moment for the people of God.

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

The physical manifestations that accompanied the presence of God on the pinnacle of the mountain had left the people in a state of fear and anxiety. The Exodus account goes on to say, “when all the people saw the thunder and the flashes of lightning and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking, the people were afraid and trembled, and they stood far off and said to Moses, ‘You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, lest we die’” (Exodus 20:18-19 ESV).

The dramatic pyrotechnic display they witnessed that day left them terrified. None of them missed the significance or symbolism of it all. Their God was powerful, holy, transcendent, and not to be trifled with. The dramatic display on the top of Mount Sinai was intended to reinforce in their minds the holiness of God. It was also a reminder of their own sinfulness. That fact would be reinforced by God’s giving of the Ten Commandments to Moses.

But as the book of Exodus recounts, the first time Moses returned from the top of the mountain with the tablets in his hands, he found the people worshiping the golden calf. Just days after the dramatic and frightening display of God’s presence on the mountain that had left them trembling in fear, they had determined to make their own god. Moses had been gone for 40 days and the people began to doubt that he would ever return. So, in his absence, they convinced Aaron, Moses’ older brother, to fashion a false god out of their trinkets of gold.

When the people saw how long it was taking Moses to come back down the mountain, they gathered around Aaron. “Come on,” they said, “make us some gods who can lead us. We don’t know what happened to this fellow Moses, who brought us here from the land of Egypt.” – Exodus 32:1 NLT

Angered by the actions of His rebellious people, God informed Moses of His intentions to destroy them.

“I have seen how stubborn and rebellious these people are. Now leave me alone so my fierce anger can blaze against them, and I will destroy them. Then I will make you, Moses, into a great nation.” – Exodus 32:9-10 NLT

But Moses interceded on behalf of the people, pleading with God to remember the covenant He had made with Abraham.

“Change your mind about this terrible disaster you have threatened against your people! Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. You bound yourself with an oath to them, saying, ‘I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars of heaven. And I will give them all of this land that I have promised to your descendants, and they will possess it forever.’” – Exodus 32:12-13 NLT

But their sinful actions produced painful consequences. That very day, God used the Levites to execute 3,000 individuals who had instigated the rebellion. So, from that day forward, the remaining Israelites would always view Mount Sinai as a symbol of God’s holiness and their own unrighteousness, and the Law God gave them would prove to be a constant reminder of their own sinfulness and incapacity to live obediently.

But for the believer, Mount Zion is a radically different mountain that represents an altogether different encounter with God. Mount Sinai was physical in nature and could be seen and touched, albeit on pain of death. Yet Mount Zion is a spiritual mountain. There is no smoke, fire, thunder, lightning, or ban against drawing near. Mount Zion is not only approachable, it is preferable. It is our final destination. It represents “the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem” (Hebrews 12:22 ESV).

During the reigns of David and Solomon, Jerusalem was a powerful city, the capital of the Jewish empire. It was in Jerusalem that Solomon built the temple. It was there that the people came each year on the Day of Atonement to make sacrifices to God. As the people journeyed from the surrounding areas up to Jerusalem, they would sing the Songs of Ascent found in the Psalms. One of them says, “Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion, which cannot be moved, but abides forever. As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the Lord surrounds his people, from this time forth and forevermore” (Psalm 125:1-2 ESV).

Jerusalem, the royal city, sat on the top of Mount Zion, where it represented the presence of God. It was there that God dwelt in the Holy of Holies of the temple. It was to Zion that the people walked in order to celebrate the various feasts and festivals. It was to Mount Zion they ascended to receive forgiveness of sin and to have their relationship with God restored.

For those who have placed their faith in Jesus, Mount Zion is the final destination on their spiritual journey. It represents the believer’s heavenly home – “the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem.” Christ-followers are on a journey to a place where they will encounter God, but rather than experiencing fear and trembling, they will enjoy peace, acceptance, joy, and freedom from sin and sorrow. There will be no condemnation. There will be no need for the law to remind us of God’s holy expectations. We will be holy.

There will be no conviction of sin or any need for the law to expose our sin anymore because we will be sinless. In a sense, the Christian life is a journey from one mountain to another. It is a long, sometimes difficult trip away from the mountain where man’s relationship with God was marked by law, rule-keeping, disobedience, fear, and failure. It is a daily walk toward another mountain where we will find complete forgiveness, the redemption of our bodies, and our final glorification.

Paul reminds us, “But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body” (Philippians 3:20-21 ESV).

We are on our way to Mount Zion. That is our final destination. It is our home. And while the journey there may seem long and at times difficult, we must keep our eye on the prize. We must never turn back to Mount Sinai, marked by rules and a constant reminder of our guilt and sin. Mount Zion is our home, where we will be with all those who have gone before us and enjoy unbroken fellowship with God and “Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant” (Hebrews 12:24 ESV).

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Faith or the Fleeting Pleasures of Sin

September 13, 2023September 14, 2023 / kdmiller55 / Leave a comment

²⁴By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, ²⁵choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. ²⁶He considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward. – Hebrews 11:24-26 ESV

In an attempt to preserve his life, Moses’ mother, Jochebed, placed him in a basket and set him afloat on the Nile. This mother of a three-month-old baby boy was attempting to save her son’s life by protecting him from Pharaoh’s edict to cast all newborn Hebrew male infants into the Nile.

She had no idea what was going to happen next but somehow understood that God had plans for her son. Rather than sacrifice her son to the Egyptian god of the Nile, she placed him in the hand of Yahweh, the God of Israel. As her daughter, Miriam, looked on, the infant was found by the daughter of the Pharaoh, the very man who had ordered that all Hebrew baby boys be thrown into the Nile. One of the truly miraculous outcomes of Jochebed’s act of faith was that she was hired by Pharaoh’s daughter to nurse her own child. Moses would grow up at home until the day he was weaned, and then he would become a part of Pharaoh’s household.

In the book of Exodus, Moses records his own life story:

When the child grew older, she brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter, and he became her son. She named him Moses, “Because,” she said, “I drew him out of the water.” – Exodus 2:10 ESV

As a member of Pharaoh’s household, Moses would receive an Egyptian education. He would be raised to know all about Egyptian culture and would become familiar with their pantheon of gods. This Hebrew boy would grow up in the palace and wear fine clothes. But evidently, Moses never forgot his Hebrew heritage. The book of Exodus records, “One day, when Moses had grown up, he went out to his people and looked on their burdens…” (Exodus 2:11 ESV). His people, the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, had been relegated to slave status and their lot in life was drastically different than that of Moses. While he lived in luxury, they suffered. While he dressed like an Egyptian prince, they wore the tattered clothes of a slave. He enjoyed fine food, while they managed on a subsistence diet.

Moses was appalled at what he saw, and something within him led him to do something about it. The book of Exodus tells us what happened: “he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his people. He looked this way and that, and seeing no one, he struck down the Egyptian and hid him in the sand” (Exodus 2:11-12 ESV). Moses, enraged by the injustice he witnessed, decided to take matters into his own hands. He sided with the oppressed Hebrew and killed the Egyptian.

At that very moment, Moses had made a conscious and somewhat rash decision. The author of Hebrews says he “refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God” (Hebrews 11:24-25 ESV). It would appear that his action was the result of a premeditated decision to reject his title as “son of Pharaoh’s daughter” and associate himself with his own people. He was a Hebrew and he knew it. His people were being oppressed and he was not okay with it. He felt the need to do something about it. But his initial action would get him in trouble. Even though he buried the body, his crime had not gone unnoticed. Word of his murder soon spread. Perhaps the man whose life he spared was afraid that he would be blamed for the death of the Egyptian and so he pointed the finger at Moses.

The very next day, Moses came across two Hebrews fighting with one another and when he attempted to intervene, they responded, “Who made you a prince and a judge over us? Do you mean to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?” (Exodus 2:14 ESV). They didn’t view Moses as their savior. They didn’t even seem to acknowledge him as one of their own. These two men questioned Moses’ right to intervene in their affairs. And to make matters worse, when news of Moses’ crime reach the ears of Pharaoh, “he sought to kill Moses. But Moses fled from Pharaoh and stayed in the land of Midian” (Exodus 2:15 ESV).

Moses was forced to flee for his life. And yet, the author of Hebrews paints a slightly different picture. He states that Moses turned his back on the pleasures of life as an Egyptian prince. His crime was part of a conscious decision to give up his 40-year-long existence as a privileged member of Pharaoh’s family and rejoin his own people. And that choice came with serious consequences that would result in him being “mistreated with the people of God” (Exodus 11:25 ESV). He would not longer “enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin” (Hebrews 11:25 ESV) that were associated with life among the wealthy, ungodly, and immoral ruling class of Egypt.

But the author of Hebrews adds another interesting point of clarification concerning Moses’ decision.

He considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward. – Hebrews 11:26 ESV

How did Moses consider the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt when Christ had not yet come? What was the reward for which he was looking? It seems clear that Moses knew of the promises that God had made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He knew about the land of promise. He was fully aware of what God had told his forefather Abraham.

Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed. – Genesis 12:1-3 ESV

Jochebed, his mother, must have shared with him the stories of his patriarchal ancestors. He must have known about the story of Joseph and how God had sent him to be a savior for the people of Israel. He had heard the stories of Joseph’s miraculous rise to power. He must have seen himself as a kind of savior as well, having been placed by God in his elevated position for the purpose of rescuing his fellow Israelites.

All during his days growing up in Pharaoh’s court, Moses must have remembered the promise that God had given to Abraham:

“I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make you into nations, and kings shall come from you. And I will establish my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you. And I will give to you and to your offspring after you the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession, and I will be their God.” – Genesis 17:6-8 ESV

He believed in the promises of God. He knew about the land. He knew about the “offspring” to come, who Paul said would be the Christ.

Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring. It does not say, “And to offsprings,” referring to many, but referring to one, “And to your offspring,” who is Christ. – Galatians 3:16 ESV

Moses believed. And he was willing to forego the pleasures of life in Pharaoh’s court in order to be faithful to the promises of God, even if it meant suffering. It’s interesting to note that Joseph remained a part of Pharaoh’s court until the day he died. Daniel remained a part of the Babylonian court until the day he died. But Moses was being called by God to reject the fleeting pleasure of sin and the treasures of Egypt. This was part of God’s plan for his life, and he would spend the next 40 years of his life in Midian as a common shepherd until the day God appeared to him in the burning bush.

Moses left his former life behind. He turned his back on his old identity as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter in order that he might be who God had called him to be, a son of Abraham and the future representative whom God would use to redeem His people from their bondage in Egypt.

Moses had a future-focused faith. His attention was on the hoped-for and the unseen. What was promised by God meant more to him than the present pleasures of life. His faith in God would lead to his exile, but also to the exodus. He would find himself a shepherd of sheep and, eventually, the shepherd of God’s people.

Saved by Faith

September 3, 2023 / kdmiller55 / Leave a comment

⁷By faith Noah, being warned by God concerning events as yet unseen, in reverent fear constructed an ark for the saving of his household. By this he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith. – Hebrews 11:7 ESV

Can things get any worse? That’s a question every person living on planet earth seems to be asking themselves these days. With each passing day, the global state of affairs seems to be on a decidedly downward spiral. But as bad as things may seem to be in our day and age, there was a time when things were far worse. In fact, according to the book of Genesis, the moral conditions on earth had degraded to such a degree that God decided to do something about it. Dissatisfied with the degenerated moral state of humanity, He vowed to wipe out everything and start over.

The Lord observed the extent of human wickedness on the earth, and he saw that everything they thought or imagined was consistently and totally evil. So the Lord was sorry he had ever made them and put them on the earth. It broke his heart. And the Lord said, “I will wipe this human race I have created from the face of the earth. Yes, and I will destroy every living thing—all the people, the large animals, the small animals that scurry along the ground, and even the birds of the sky. I am sorry I ever made them.” But Noah found favor with the Lord. – Genesis 6:5-8 NLT

Now before we get smug and pat ourselves on the back for not being near as bad as our antediluvian ancestors, we should consider that the only reason we haven’t experienced the same fate is because of the covenant God made with Noah promising to never destroy the world by water again. But the apostle Paul gives us another reason we should refrain from thinking that we are somehow better than our pre-flood relatives.

…even though God has the right to show his anger and his power, he is very patient with those on whom his anger falls, who are destined for destruction. He does this to make the riches of his glory shine even brighter on those to whom he shows mercy, who were prepared in advance for glory. – Romans 9:22-23 NLT

It is simply because of God’s desire to shower His mercy through the gift of His Son that He has not chosen to destroy each and every one of us.

But back to Noah. Notice what it says at the end of the passage in Genesis: “But Noah found favor with the Lord.” In the midst of all the human wickedness on the earth, Noah had managed to remain in a right standing with God. We might ask ourselves how Noah stayed the course while everyone else was headed in the opposite direction morally and spiritually. How was he able to stay faithful in the face of such rampant wickedness? What kept him from giving up and giving in to the constant peer pressure? The author of Hebrews tells us. As he did when speaking about Enoch, he opens his short essay on Noah with the words, “By faith…”

Noah was a man of faith. He believed God existed and was a rewarder of those who seek Him (Hebrews 11:6). Moses, under the inspiration of the Spirit, wrote, “Noah was a righteous man, the only blameless person living on earth at the time, and he walked in close fellowship with God.” (Genesis 6:9 NLT). Noah wasn’t perfect or sinless. The word “blameless” simply means that he was whole or complete in his devotion to God. He lived his entire life before God with no hidden areas. He kept no secrets from God. He practiced complete transparency, rather than trying to compartmentalize his life into secular and sacred categories.

He had managed to remain faithful to God because he believed God was faithful. Noah was well aware of the wickedness of the culture in which he lived, and he knew that God was aware as well. So, when Noah was “warned by God concerning events as yet unseen,” he listened and believed. God shared with him the bad news concerning His decision to destroy mankind.

Now God saw that the earth had become corrupt and was filled with violence. God observed all this corruption in the world, for everyone on earth was corrupt. So God said to Noah, “I have decided to destroy all living creatures, for they have filled the earth with violence. Yes, I will wipe them all out along with the earth! – Genesis 6:11-13 NLT

In one sense, God was not telling Noah anything he did not already know. He knew the world around him was corrupt and filled with violence. He knew his neighbors well. He had been living his life in an ever-increasing climate of sin. But the news of God’s plan to wipe out everything and everyone must have left him shocked and surprised. God’s divine decision to destroy all that He had made would have been difficult to understand. So, God followed up the bad news with some very good news. He was going to spare Noah and his family, and this is the part where Noah’s faith comes into play. God gave Noah one more detail concerning His plan that was going to have a dramatic, life-altering impact on Noah.

“Build a large boat from cypress wood and waterproof it with tar, inside and out. Then construct decks and stalls throughout its interior. Make the boat 450 feet long, 75 feet wide, and 45 feet high. Leave an 18-inch opening below the roof all the way around the boat. Put the door on the side, and build three decks inside the boat—lower, middle, and upper. “Look! I am about to cover the earth with a flood that will destroy every living thing that breathes. Everything on earth will die. But I will confirm my covenant with you. So enter the boat—you and your wife and your sons and their wives. Bring a pair of every kind of animal—a male and a female—into the boat with you to keep them alive during the flood. Pairs of every kind of bird, and every kind of animal, and every kind of small animal that scurries along the ground, will come to you to be kept alive. And be sure to take on board enough food for your family and for all the animals.” – Genesis 6:14-21 NLT

There are a number of things we have to keep in mind when reading this all-too-familiar account. First of all, Noah had never seen a boat before. In fact, there is no indication that Noah had even seen a body of water large enough to float a boat before. And there are those who believe that Noah had never seen rain before. They arrive at this conclusion from a passage found earlier in Genesis that describes conditions on the earth before God had made man.

When no bush of the field was yet in the land and no small plant of the field had yet sprung up—for the Lord God had not caused it to rain on the land, and there was no man to work the ground, and a mist was going up from the land and was watering the whole face of the ground. – Genesis 2:5-6 ESV

On top of all this, we know that Noah was nearly 600 years old when he received this devastating news from God. He was being asked by God to build a massive boat and collect two of every kind of animal, all under a looming deadline that was bringing the destruction of the entire planet. Oh, and as if there wasn’t enough pressure on Noah, this boat was going to be his only means of salvation. So, how did Noah respond to this unbelievable and seemingly impossible assignment from God? Moses tells us, rather matter-of-factly: “So Noah did everything exactly as God had commanded him” (Genesis 6:22 NLT).

What was the description of faith given to us in verse one of Hebrews 11? “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” In the Genesis account, there is no indication that Noah questioned God or tried to talk Him out of His plan. He didn’t complain about the scope of the project or the impossibility of the assignment. He simply did what God told him to do. Why? Because he had faith in God. In “reverent fear” he went about constructing the ark that would prove to be the means of his salvation. It all sounded implausible and impossible. The task before him had to feel overwhelming and insurmountable. This was not a typical do-it-yourself project. He wasn’t adding a deck onto the back of his house. He was building a massive boat, and all on blind faith. Yet he had an assurance of what he was hoping for – that he and his family would survive the flood. He had a conviction of things unseen – that this boat would float and that this entire project would not end in disaster. Because he had faith in God.

When all is said and done, Noah was saved by faith, not a boat. Actually, Noah was saved by God. But it took belief in the plan of God for Noah to experience that salvation. Had he never built the boat, he would have died, along with his entire family. But he listened, believed, and obeyed. And he was saved. Noah had to believe in the wrath of God as well as the mercy of God. He had to believe that God, in His justice, would destroy mankind because of their sin. But he also had to believe that God was offering him a way of escape, a means of salvation – by faith. And we read the sobering words in Genesis:

All were destroyed. The only people who survived were Noah and those with him in the boat. – Genesis 7:23 NLT

God kept His word. He did what He said He would do. Including to provide Noah and his family with salvation from death. Noah’s actions, based on his faith in God, resulted not only in his salvation but in him becoming “an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith” (Hebrews 11:7b). His example of faith and trust in the promises of God was a foreshadowing of the salvation that God would make possible for all those who would eventually place their hope in the promise of eternal life through faith in His Son. Noah provided a model of faithfulness for generations of his own descendants. He wasn’t saved because he built an ark. He wasn’t saved because he was righteous. He was saved because he believed God and stepped out in faith and obeyed God.

Salvation has always been accomplished through faith. It was true in Noah’s day and it remains true even now. No matter how bad things may get in this world, there is always hope in the promises of God, and the apostle Paul provides us with a much-needed reminder of God’s power to save – by faith.

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.” – Romans 1:16-17 ESV

The Ultimate Reward

September 2, 2023 / kdmiller55 / Leave a comment

⁵By faith Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death, and he was not found, because God had taken him. Now before he was taken he was commended as having pleased God. ⁶And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him. – Hebrews 11:5-6 ESV

We don’t know a whole lot about Enoch. Other than what we read about him here in Hebrews, the only other mention of him is found in the book of Genesis. He’s part of a genealogical list that shows the line of mankind from Adam all the way to Noah.

When Enoch had lived 65 years, he fathered Methuselah. Enoch walked with God after he fathered Methuselah 300 years and had other sons and daughters. Thus all the days of Enoch were 365 years. Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him. – Genesis 5:21-24 ESV

Enoch lived to the ripe old age of 365, but his time on earth was short compared to that of his father (962 years) and son (969 years). Enoch, as the genealogical list suggests, lived in the days before the flood. While there have been many suggestions to explain why men lived so much longer in those days, no one really knows why. But we do see that, over time, the longevity of man diminished dramatically; most likely as a result of the ongoing effects of sin and the curse of death on the human body.

But Enoch lived over three centuries. In our day, it is rare for anyone to make it to the single-century mark. But the remarkable thing about Enoch was not his lifespan, but his departure from this earth. The Genesis account tells us “Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him.” The Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Old Testament, says he “was not found.”

He was on this earth for 365 years and then, one day, he was gone. But unlike every other man listed in the genealogical record found in Genesis 5, Enoch didn’t die. He is the only one on the list whose name is not followed by the words, “and he died.” Enoch was taken. He could have lived longer, but God decided to remove Enoch from the earth and transport him to heaven. The author of Hebrews adds another strange twist to this already bizarre tale.

By faith Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death. – Hebrews 11:5 ESV

Verse 5 stands in direct contrast to verse 4 and the life of the first character in the great “hall of faith.” Abel, the son of Adam and Eve, is commended for his faith but recognized for his untimely death.

…he was commended as righteous, God commending him by accepting his gifts. And through his faith, though he died, he still speaks. – Hebrews 11:4 ESV

Abel exhibited faith but died at the hands of his own brother. Yet, Enoch was spared the fate that all men have faced ever since the fall. He was glorified and received his redeemed body without having to suffer the inevitable and inescapable reality of death. He was there one day and gone the next. The Scriptures simply tell us “he was not found, because God had taken him.”

But why was Enoch rewarded with this one-of-a-kind experience? The text simply states that it was because of his faith. Living in a time of unparalleled evil and immorality, Enoch remained faithful to God. When everyone else around him was pursuing wickedness and involved in rampant evil, this man had chosen to believe in the promises of God. To fully understand Enoch’s status as a righteous man living among the unrighteous, one must consider the sorry state of affairs on earth at the time. Ever since the fall, the moral decline of mankind had spiraled out of control. Some 669 years after the “rapture” of Enoch, things had become so bad that God decided to wipe out all of humanity.

The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And the Lord regretted that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart. So the Lord said, “I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens, for I am sorry that I have made them.” – Genesis 6:5-7 ESV

At that point in the human story, there was only one man left who remained faithful to God, and that was Noah. The Genesis account states that “Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord” (Genesis 6:8 ESV), and then it adds that “Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation. Noah walked with God” (Genesis 6:9 ESV). Notice that last sentence. It is the same thing said of Enoch.

Enoch walked with God… – Genesis 5:22 ESV

Two times in the Genesis passage, we are told that “Enoch walked with God.” The Hebrew word translated as “walked” is hālaḵ and it can be used to refer to the physical act of movement or to living one’s life. Another way of translating this statement is that Enoch lived his life in communion with God. It is the same idea expressed by God to Abraham in Genesis 17. “When Abram was ninety-nine years old the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, ‘I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless’” (Genesis 17:1 ESV).

Abraham was to live his life with an awareness that he was doing so under the watchful eye of God Almighty. Every aspect of his life was being conducted in the presence of the all-knowing, all-seeing God. But when God told Abraham to “be blameless,” He was not demanding perfection. The Hebrew word for “blameless” is tamiym and it means “complete, whole, entire, sound” (Hebrew Lexicon :: H8549 (KJV). Blue Letter Bible). Abraham was being told to live his entire life, his whole life, with the constant awareness that God was watching. There was to be no compartmentalization, no hidden areas. He was to live as if God was with him at all times because He was.

And that is how Enoch lived. He lived by faith, believing that God was with Him every day and in every circumstance. Enoch couldn’t see God, but he believed in Him. The author of Hebrews explains that “without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him” (Hebrews 11:6 ESV).

Enoch believed that God existed even though many around him did not. That genealogical record found in Genesis 5 gives us an abbreviated glimpse of mankind’s trajectory from the fall of Adam to the days of Noah. In the very next chapter of Genesis, we read, “The Lord observed the extent of human wickedness on the earth, and he saw that everything they thought or imagined was consistently and totally evil. So the Lord was sorry he had ever made them and put them on the earth. It broke his heart” (Genesis 6:5-6 NLT).

By the time we get to the days of Noah, we find that “God saw that the earth had become corrupt and was filled with violence. God observed all this corruption in the world, for everyone on earth was corrupt.” (Genesis 6:11-12 NLT). The path from Adam to Noah was not an easy one. It was filled with increasing sin, violence, godlessness, and wickedness. The further man got away from the garden, the dimmer his recollection of God became. And in the midst of this downward spiral, Enoch stood out like a bright light. He was a beacon of faith in the midst of the darkness of man’s increasing sinfulness. He believed God existed and that He would reward those who pleased Him.

The text tells us, “before he was taken he was commended as having pleased God.” He had lived a life that pleased God – by faith. He was not self-seeking, but God-pleasing. He lived as if God existed and as if God was walking with him every moment of every day. His God was not distant or disinterested in his life. His God was near and lovingly involved in every aspect of his daily walk. He lived to please God – by faith. He lived to obey God – by faith. He lived to bring glory and honor to God – by faith.

To walk with God requires faith in God. You have to believe that He exists and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him (Hebrews 11:6). You have to believe that He sees and that He cares. Enoch longed and hoped for the reward of God without ever really knowing exactly what the reward might be. It is likely that Enoch would have lived many more years on this earth, just like his father and son. But God rewarded Enoch by taking him in mid-life, and by sparing him the suffering and pain associated with death. He also didn’t have to endure what would have likely been a prolonged period of old age. In those days before the flood, men enjoyed long lives, but they still had to face the inevitable reality of sin.

Enoch had faith in God and he was rewarded by God with escape from the curse of death.

By faith Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death. – Hebrews 11:5a ESV

Enoch provides a foreshadowing of the hope that is found in Jesus Christ. There is an ultimate reward for all those who place their faith in God by trusting in His Son’s sacrifice on the cross on their behalf. As Jesus told Mary and Martha at the graveside of their brother, “I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying. Everyone who lives in me and believes in me will never ever die” (John 11:25-26 NLT). Enoch was raptured and never died. Because of his faith, he was rewarded with his immediate glorification and entrance into God’s presence. He went to be with the LORD. And that same hope awaits all those who place their faith in Christ. That is why the author opened this chapter with the reassuring words: “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1 ESV).

Every child of God is to live their life on this earth believing that God is a rewarder of those who seek Him and that His ultimate reward is a death-defying escape from this world into His eternal Kingdom. Whether by death or by rapture, every saint will experience the fulfillment of God’s promise of eternal life, but that reward can only be accessed by faith.

Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him. – Hebrews 11:6 NLT

Faith That Endures

August 30, 2023 / kdmiller55 / Leave a comment

²⁶For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, ²⁷but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries. ²⁸Anyone who has set aside the law of Moses dies without mercy on the evidence of two or three witnesses. ²⁹How much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the one who has trampled underfoot the Son of God, and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has outraged the Spirit of grace? ³⁰For we know him who said, “Vengeance is mine; I will repay.” And again, “The Lord will judge his people.” ³¹It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

³²But recall the former days when, after you were enlightened, you endured a hard struggle with sufferings, ³³sometimes being publicly exposed to reproach and affliction, and sometimes being partners with those so treated. ³⁴For you had compassion on those in prison, and you joyfully accepted the plundering of your property, since you knew that you yourselves had a better possession and an abiding one. ³⁵Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. ³⁶For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised. ³⁷For,

“Yet a little while,
and the coming one will come and will not delay;
³⁸but my righteous one shall live by faith,
and if he shrinks back,
my soul has no pleasure in him.”

³⁹But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls. – Hebrews 10:26-39 ESV

Because of all that Jesus has done for us and made available to us, we should have confidence, a secure assurance that we have access into God’s presence because we have been right with God. But we must “hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering” (Hebrews 10:23 ESV). We have a part to play. Among all the distractions and difficulties of this world, we must keep our eyes focused on the hope to come: the return of Christ and our final glorification. As followers of Christ, we will find the going tough at times on this side of heaven. Living as a Christian requires faith because so much of what we have been promised in Christ is yet to be fulfilled. Chapter 11 will give a glimpse of what faith looked like for the Old Testament saints. Each of the ones mentioned is recognized for having had faith – “the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1 ESV).

This section of chapter 10 is difficult. There are many different interpretations as to what the author is saying and who he is referencing in these verses. There are those who use this passage to prove that Christians can lose their salvation. There are others who say it is referring to Christians who “fall away” from the faith (Hebrews 3:12) and risk losing their rewards at the judgment seat of Christ.

I am not sure either view is correct. The author is writing to a congregation made up primarily of Jews who have heard the good news of Jesus Christ and expressed faith in Him as their Messiah and Savior. Up until this point, the author has been diligently attempting to help his Jewish audience to understand the superior value of Jesus and His sacrifice on their behalf. He has spent nine chapters contrasting the old and new covenants, presenting Jesus and the new covenant in His blood as not only superior but singular in its effectiveness. Through His death on the cross, Jesus accomplished for man what the Law could never have done. His sacrifice provided a means by which sinful men could be made right with a holy God.

But there were evidently those in the author’s audience who were having second thoughts about the efficacy of the saving work of Jesus. They were having doubts as to whether His death was enough. So they were reverting back to their old habits of relying on the Law. Evidently, they had returned to offering sacrifices in an attempt to hedge their bets and “cover over” any sins they had committed. Perhaps they preferred the sacrificial system because they viewed it as an easy way to continue in sin and receive atonement. With Christianity, their behavior was expected to change.

It is likely that they had heard the words of the apostle John.

Anyone who continues to live in him will not sin. But anyone who keeps on sinning does not know him or understand who he is.…Those who have been born into God’s family do not make a practice of sinning, because God’s life is in them. So they can’t keep on sinning, because they are children of God. – 1 John 3:6, 9 NLT

They were probably familiar with the words of the apostle Paul as well.

What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? – Romans 6:1 ESV

But unwilling or unable to change their behavior, they had decided to use the sacrificial system as a stopgap; an easy alternative that allowed them to sin and receive atonement at any time. That’s why the author begins this section with a warning against deliberate sinfulness.

…if we deliberately continue sinning after we have received knowledge of the truth, there is no longer any sacrifice that will cover these sins. – Hebrews 10:26 NLT

What he has in mind are those sins that are willful and planned, not those that are committed out of ignorance or weakness. It would seem that there were those who were sinning on purpose, and relying on the old sacrificial system to atone for those sins. The author accuses them of having “trampled underfoot the Son of God” and having “profaned the blood of the covenant” (Hebrews 10:29 ESV).

In falling back to the old covenant as an alternative source of atonement, they were saying the sacrifice of Jesus had not been enough. They were essentially rejecting His offering as insufficient and not having fully appeased the wrath of God. The author warns them that if they reject Christ’s sacrifice, there “no longer remains a sacrifice for sins” (Hebrews 10:26 ESV). In other words, if the sacrifice of the sinless Son of god was not enough, then all that remains is judgment. A return to the old covenant was not an option.

So to whom is the author referring? Is he warning Christians from falling away from the faith and losing their salvation? That interpretation would contradict a host of other passages that promise believers the assurance of their salvation. Jesus Himself made several unambiguous promises regarding the believer’s assurance of salvation.

“And this is the will of God, that I should not lose even one of all those he has given me, but that I should raise them up at the last day.” – John 6:39 NLT

“I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one can snatch them away from me, for my Father has given them to me, and he is more powerful than anyone else. No one can snatch them from the Father’s hand.” – John 10:28-29 NLT

The apostle Paul wrote with unwavering confidence: “And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns” (Philippians 1:6 NLT).

Jesus’ sacrifice was fully sufficient and completely effective. It accomplished the will of the Father by fully satisfying the debt that was owed as a result of humanity’s sin. Jesus died once and no other sacrifice was needed. The problem the author is warning about is the very real possibility of someone hearing the good news regarding Christ’s sacrificial death, seemingly accepting it, but then later determining it was not enough. The issue is one of confidence. The author uses this word two times in chapter ten.

Therefore brothers, since we have this confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus…let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith…” – Hebrews 10:19, 22 ESV

Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward…” – Hebrews 10:35 ESV

Saving faith is an enduring faith. It lasts. But there have always been those who seem to express faith in Jesus and then, when the troubles and trials come, they turn away. They reject the truth. They determine that Jesus is not enough and the promise of salvation is not sufficient. Unwilling to wait for the final fulfillment of God’s promise they seek their satisfaction and security in this life. They refuse to believe that their sins are forgiven and revert back to a life of works and self-righteousness. Some simply reject the idea that they can be made right with God at all.

The author warns that these individuals face the judgment of God. He gives the very sobering warning, “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (Hebrews 10:31 ESV). It would seem that his talk of God’s vengeance and judgment has nothing to do with believers, but with those who never fully believed in the first place. He makes this clear when he reminds his readers of the days immediately after their salvation.

Think back on those early days when you first learned about Christ. Remember how you remained faithful even though it meant terrible suffering. Sometimes you were exposed to public ridicule and were beaten, and sometimes you helped others who were suffering the same things. – Hebrews 10:32-33 NLT

They had experienced difficulty in the past and were able to endure and remain faithful because they believed in the hope of eternal life.

You suffered along with those who were thrown into jail, and when all you owned was taken from you, you accepted it with joy. You knew there were better things waiting for you that will last forever. – Hebrews 10:34 NLT

These people had not rejected the saving work of Jesus at the first sign of trouble. Why? Because their faith was real. Their hope was in something greater than a trouble-free life. Their confidence was in the promise of God of a great reward to come, not their best life now. So the author encourages them not to throw away their confident trust in the Lord. They didn’t need the safety and security of the sacrificial system; they needed endurance.

Patient endurance is what you need now, so that you will continue to do God’s will. Then you will receive all that he has promised. – Hebrews 10:36 NLT

The one who “shrinks back” will receive no reward. God takes no pleasure in those who hear the good news of the gospel but then refuse to believe it. But the author makes it clear that true believers “are not like those who turn away from God to their own destruction,” but instead, they “are the faithful ones, whose souls will be saved” (Hebrews 10:39 NLT).

True believers hold on to the truth and faithfully endure. They place their confidence in the once-for-all-time sacrifice of Jesus and continue to persevere even in the midst of temptations, trials, and tests. Even their sins don’t derail them because they believe in the reality of the promise: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9 ESV).

Full Assurance of Faith

August 29, 2023August 29, 2023 / kdmiller55 / Leave a comment

¹⁹Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, ²⁰by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, ²¹and since we have a great priest over the house of God, ²²let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. ²³Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. ²⁴And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, ²⁵not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near. – Hebrews 10:19-25 ESV

There should be a proper response when considering all that Jesus accomplished on behalf of sinful humanity. For ten chapters, the author of Hebrews has labored diligently to point out all the ways in which Jesus’ incarnation, crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension have provided not only a better way for sinful men to be made right with God, but He has made possible the only way.

Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered. And being made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him, being designated by God a high priest after the order of Melchizedek. – Hebrews 5:8-10 ESV

…he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, this securing an eternal redemption. – Hebrews 9:12 ESV

And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him. – Hebrews 9:28 ESV

The all-sufficient nature of His sacrifice should produce in the believer the confidence to come into the very presence of God, with “our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water” (Hebrews 10:22 ESV).

At the moment of Jesus’ death, a number of supernatural events took place that signified the momentous nature of the occasion. In the dark recesses of the Temple the veil between the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies was torn in half.

Then Jesus shouted out again, and he released his spirit. At that moment the curtain in the sanctuary of the Temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. – Matthew 27:50-51 NLT

This elaborate tapestry served as the doorway into God’s presence and was accessible only by the high priest on one day out of the year, on the Day of Atonement. On no other occasion was it permissible for anyone to enter the Holy of Holies. To do so would result in divine judgment and certain death. For the high priest to pass through the veil into God’s presence, he had to obey all of God’s commands concerning personal purification and he had to perform every rite and ritual just as God had prescribed.

But when Jesus died, the veil was ripped in half from top to bottom, signifying that the barrier to God’s presence had been removed. That divine act symbolized what Jesus’ death had accomplished. The veil of separation between man and God had been removed – for all time. Up until that moment, only one man could gain access to God’s presence. But that all changed when Jesus died. The veil was torn, and the barrier to God was removed. It was a visible demonstration of the bold claim that Jesus had made.

“I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture.” – John 10:9 ESV)

Those who place their faith in Jesus as their sin substitute can enjoy access to God. As His sheep, they can enter into His presence without fear of death or rejection. Their sins are forgiven and they bear the righteousness of Christ, making them worthy of standing before a holy God.

But this newly available access to God, made possible by the sacrifice of Jesus, should create in us not only a confident assurance but a desire to live in obedience to His will. The author reminds his readers to “consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together” (Hebrews 10:24-25 ESV). They were to continue to pursue righteousness, not in the hopes of gaining God’s approval, but in gratefulness for the fact that they were already approved in His eyes. Their hearts had already been sprinkled clean. Their bodies had been washed with pure water, which allowed them to stand before God as holy and wholly righteous.

The apostle Paul understood the remarkable nature of his new standing before God, made possible by his faith in Jesus. He confidently asserted that his acceptance by God had nothing to do with himself and everything to do with the work of Christ.

…I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith. – Philippians 3:8-9 ESV

His past accomplishments, Hebrew heritage, attempts at keeping the Law, and even his circumcision did nothing to earn him favor with God. It was his faith in the saving work of Jesus. Paul knew that he stood before God as righteous, based solely on what Jesus accomplished on the cross.

But this did not mean that Paul was without sin. He knew he still retained his old sin nature. He was fully aware that he still had the capacity for and propensity to sin. But his sins could no longer keep him apart from God. He had been extended forgiveness. he had been fully acquitted. Paul believed wholeheartedly what the apostle John wrote.

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. – 1 John 1:9 ESV

Paul had access to the Holy of Holies, at all times, where he could receive mercy, grace, and forgiveness. He was free from condemnation and no longer had to fear death as the penalty for his sins.

The author of Hebrews wanted his Jewish audience to embrace the good news that Paul proclaimed and personally believed. That is why he told them to “hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful” (Hebrews 10:23 ESV).

This is the same thought he expressed back in chapter six.

So God has given both his promise and his oath. These two things are unchangeable because it is impossible for God to lie. Therefore, we who have fled to him for refuge can have great confidence as we hold to the hope that lies before us. This hope is a strong and trustworthy anchor for our souls. It leads us through the curtain into God’s inner sanctuary. – Hebrews 6:18-19 NLT

Earlier in that same chapter, he wrote, “Our great desire is that you will keep on loving others as long as life lasts, in order to make certain that what you hope for will come true. Then you will not become spiritually dull and indifferent. Instead, you will follow the example of those who are going to inherit God’s promises because of their faith and endurance” (Hebrews 6:11-12 NLT).

We must keep our focus on the promise to come. Our hope is to be based on the completed work of Christ. He is coming again. That is why the author tells us, “so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him” (Hebrews 9:28 ESV).

Jesus came, but our hope is based on the fact that He is coming again. And we are to hold fast to that reality. It should provide us with the motivation we need to remain faithful until the end. It should give us the encouragement we need to live obediently and not complacently. The apostle John reminds us, “And now, dear children, remain in fellowship with Christ so that when he returns, you will be full of courage and not shrink back from him in shame. Since we know that Christ is righteous, we also know that all who do what is right are God’s children” (1 John 2:28-29 NLT).

It is our hope in Christ that gives us the help we need to live godly lives as we wait for His return. It is our faith in His return that provides us with the determination to remain faithful till the end. We must hold fast. We must finish strong. We must fight the good fight and finish the race set before us – “for he who promised is faithful” (Hebrews 10:23 ESV).

New and Improved

August 22, 2023 / kdmiller55 / Leave a comment

¹TNow the point in what we are saying is this: we have such a high priest, one who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven, ²a minister in the holy places, in the true tent that the Lord set up, not man. ³For every high priest is appointed to offer gifts and sacrifices; thus it is necessary for this priest also to have something to offer. ⁴Now if he were on earth, he would not be a priest at all, since there are priests who offer gifts according to the law. ⁵They serve a copy and shadow of the heavenly things. For when Moses was about to erect the tent, he was instructed by God, saying, “See that you make everything according to the pattern that was shown you on the mountain.” ⁶But as it is, Christ has obtained a ministry that is as much more excellent than the old as the covenant he mediates is better, since it is enacted on better promises. ⁷For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion to look for a second. – Hebrews 8:1-7 ESV

A better covenant. A better high priest. A better ministry. A better promise. Everything about Jesus is better. To borrow from an age-old, tried, and true advertising slogan, you might say that everything about Jesus is “new and improved.” Jesus didn’t just provide man with one more option among many. No, He made possible the one and only means by which sinful men and women could be restored to a right relationship with God.

Unlike the priests who served in the Tabernacle in the wilderness and the Temple in Jerusalem, Jesus ministers in the divine Tabernacle of God located in heaven. His is not an earthly or temporal ministry, but a heavenly and eternal one. He is no longer offering up sacrifices to appease or propitiate God, because His death fully paid the penalty for sin and satisfied the just demands of a righteous God – once and for all.

In this first section of chapter eight, the author continues to establish Jesus as superior to all and everyone else. But he does so by contrasting the old covenant with the new covenant. In verses 22-28 of chapter seven, he pointed out that Jesus is “the guarantor of a better covenant.” This new covenant only requires one priest: Jesus. And what sets this new high priest apart is that He will never die or need to be replaced. Unlike Aaron and his successors, Jesus died but rose again. His earthly ministry ended in death but was followed by His resurrection and ascension. Now, He is seated at the right hand of God the Father and intercedes on behalf of all those who have placed their faith in Him as Savior.

Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. – Romans 8:34 ESV

The new covenant that Jesus inaugurated by the shedding of His blood on a Roman cross requires no more daily sacrifices for sin. Under the old covenant, the people of Israel were required to offer repeated sacrifices day after day and year after year because their sins never ceased and their atonement was never full or complete. They were in constant need of purification and forgiveness, “For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins” (Hebrews 10:4 ESV).

Under the old covenant, the rituals and rites performed by Aaron and his sons were incapable of providing inner purification. They were primarily ceremonial in nature and dealt with the external problem of uncleanness or impurity.

For the gifts and sacrifices that the priests offer are not able to cleanse the consciences of the people who bring them. For that old system deals only with food and drink and various cleansing ceremonies—physical regulations that were in effect only until a better system could be established. – Hebrews 9:9-10 ESV

During the days of the Tabernacle and the Temple, the simple act of touching a forbidden object or eating one of many prohibited foods could render someone unclean and unworthy to enter God’s presence. Purification was necessary but the process only produced a temporary state of acceptability before God. It could do nothing to change the condition of the human heart. The entire process could only make the individual acceptable to God but could not produce a permanent state of righteousness.

So, something better was needed and God provided it. This better covenant administered by a better high priest had been part of God’s plan from the very beginning. All that came before it was intended to be a foreshadowing of something better to come. The Mosaic Law, the Tabernacle, and the sacrificial system were earthly representations of the heavenly realm.

Chapter eight discloses that the high priest of the new covenant sits at the right hand of God in a heavenly Tabernacle, not an earthly one. The Tabernacle in the wilderness was a replica of the real thing, what the author describes as “a copy and shadow of the heavenly things” (Hebrews 8:5 ESV).

And over the centuries, the millions of animal sacrifices offered in both the Tabernacle and the Temple in Jerusalem were simply foreshadowings of a better sacrifice to come.

For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. – Hebrews 10:4 ESV

They could provide temporary atonement or relief from sin’s condemnation but were not intended to offer a permanent fix. That is why the sacrifices were “continually offered every year” (Hebrews 10:1 ESV). In his gospel, Luke records the words Jesus spoke to His disciples on the night He shared His last Passover meal with them.

After supper he took another cup of wine and said, “This cup is the new covenant between God and his people – an agreement confirmed with my blood, which is poured out as a sacrifice for.” – Luke 22:20 NLT

With the death of Jesus, a new covenant was made between God and man. It replaced the old covenant. Why? Because it provided a better way for men to be made right with God. In fact, it provided the only way for men to be made right with God. Under the old covenant, the shedding of blood provided temporary relief from the condemnation of sin. But with His death, Jesus provided a permanent solution to man’s sin problem. Rather than sinful men having to try and earn a right standing with God through self-effort, Jesus provided the gift of His own righteousness. He took on man’s sin and, in exchange, gave the formerly condemned His righteousness in return. That is why Paul wrote, “For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ” (2 Corinthians 5:21 NLT).

And Paul further elaborates on this point in his letter to the Romans.

The law of Moses was unable to save us because of the weakness of our sinful nature. So God did what the law could not do. He sent his own Son in a body like the bodies we sinners have. And in that body God declared an end to sin’s control over us by giving his Son as a sacrifice for our sins. He did this so that the just requirement of the law would be fully satisfied for us, who no longer follow our sinful nature but instead follow the Spirit. – Romans 8:3-4 NLT

In chapter nine, the author of Hebrews continues his elaboration on the point that Jesus was the better mediator of a better covenant.

Therefore he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, since a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant. – Hebrews 9:15 ESV

It was not that the old covenant was bad; it was simply that it was incomplete. It could reveal sin but could not remove it. It could display what righteousness looked like but was not able to produce righteousness in a man’s heart. It all pointed to something better to come. It was a foreshadowing of something greater to be revealed. It revealed man’s sinfulness so that he would understand his desperate need for a Savior.

It’s interesting to note that when Jesus walked this earth, He offered the following commentary on the spiritual state of man:

“Healthy people don’t need a doctor – sick people do. I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners.” – Mark 2:17 NLT

His point? Those who think they are without sin and in no need of a Savior will never turn to Him. It is those who are “weary and carry heavy burdens” (Matthew 11:29) who will find rest for their souls. The apostle John wrote, “If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth” (1 John 1:8 NLT). To deny the presence of sin is to live a lie, and the apostle warns that it is tantamount to calling God a liar.

If we claim we have not sinned, we are calling God a liar and showing that his word has no place in our hearts. – 1 John 1:10 NLT

Jesus offers a better ministry as a better high priest and the mediator of a better covenant based on better promises. But to take advantage of it, men must recognize their sin and their desperate need for a Savior. They must desire something better. They must turn from the old covenant with its laws, rules, and regulations. They must give up the hope of achieving righteousness in their own effort and receive by faith the new covenant that Christ has made possible through His blood.

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. – 2 Corinthians 5:17 ESV

The Sinless, All-Sufficient Sacrifice

August 21, 2023August 21, 2023 / kdmiller55 / Leave a comment

²³The former priests were many in number, because they were prevented by death from continuing in office, ²⁴but he holds his priesthood permanently, because he continues forever. ²⁵Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.

²⁶For it was indeed fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens. ²⁷He has no need, like those high priests, to offer sacrifices daily, first for his own sins and then for those of the people, since he did this once for all when he offered up himself. ²⁸For the law appoints men in their weakness as high priests, but the word of the oath, which came later than the law, appoints a Son who has been made perfect forever. – Hebrews 7:23-28 ESV

The sacrificial system of the Jews (and the priests who administered it) was designed to be temporary, not only in its duration but also in its efficaciousness. As the author clarifies in chapter ten, “The old system under the law of Moses was only a shadow, a dim preview of the good things to come, not the good things themselves. The sacrifices under that system were repeated again and again, year after year, but they were never able to provide perfect cleansing for those who came to worship” (Hebrews 10:1 NLT).

And the author explains why those repeated sacrifices were ultimately ineffective.

For it is not possible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. – Hebrews 10:4 NLT

He goes on to say that God never really wanted and was never pleased or satisfied by the sacrifices that consisted of the blood of bulls and goats – even though they were required by the law of Moses (Hebrews 10:12). They were intended to be a foreshadowing of something far greater to come. The blood offerings were meant to demonstrate the costliness of sin. This is why the author says, “under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins” (Hebrews 9:22 ESV).

Even the priests who ministered under the old covenant, the covenant of law, were impermanent, hampered by the reality of their own mortality. And as long as they lived, they had to continually offer sacrifices for their own sins before they could come into God’s presence on behalf of the people. Their own susceptibility to sin and vulnerability to death made them less-than-perfect representatives for the people. They couldn’t stop sinning and they couldn’t keep from dying. And eventually, with the destruction of Jerusalem and the captivity of the people in Babylon, the temple would become non-existent and the priesthood, non-essential.

This brings us back to chapter seven, where the author continues to present Jesus as the better high priest. While there were many priests under the old covenant, the new covenant requires only one. Jesus is enough. He is sufficient. And the sacrifice He made was a one-time sacrifice, never needing to be repeated. His offering, which required the shedding of His own blood, completely appeased or propitiated the requirements of a holy God.

He has no need, like those high priests, to offer sacrifices daily, first for his own sins and then for those of the people, since he did this once for all when he offered up himself. – Hebrews 7:27 ESV

His sacrifice was completely efficacious or effective. It accomplished exactly what was intended, paying the penalty for the sins of mankind and securing a verdict of “not guilty” from the lips of the Judge of the universe.

All the sacrifices under the old covenant were little more than bandaids on a much larger problem. They could not provide the sinner with complete and permanent absolution from sin. That’s they had to be offered repeatedly, year after year. God had given the law to the people of Israel in order to expose their sinfulness and to demonstrate His holiness. As the apostle Paul wrote, “the law itself is holy, and its commands are holy and right and good” (Romans 7:12 NLT). Paul would provide his young protégé, Timothy, with the following explanation of the law and its purpose.

We know that the law is good when used correctly. For the law was not intended for people who do what is right. It is for people who are lawless and rebellious, who are ungodly and sinful, who consider nothing sacred and defile what is holy, who kill their father or mother or commit other murders. The law is for people who are sexually immoral, or who practice homosexuality, or are slave traders, liars, promise breakers, or who do anything else that contradicts the wholesome teaching that comes from the glorious Good News entrusted to me by our blessed God. – 1 Timothy 1:8-11 NLT

Jesus came to change all that. With His death, burial, and resurrection, He inaugurated a new covenant that would be available to all – not just the nation of Israel.

In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” – 1 Corinthians 11:25 ESV

And this new covenant, made possible by the shedding of His blood, provided all of humanity with a remedy to the lingering problem of sin and the dark shadow of condemnation and death that came with it.

When Adam sinned, sin entered the world. Adam’s sin brought death, so death spread to everyone, for everyone sinned. Yes, people sinned even before the law was given. But it was not counted as sin because there was not yet any law to break. Still, everyone died—from the time of Adam to the time of Moses—even those who did not disobey an explicit commandment of God, as Adam did. Now Adam is a symbol, a representation of Christ, who was yet to come. But there is a great difference between Adam’s sin and God’s gracious gift. For the sin of this one man, Adam, brought death to many. But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and his gift of forgiveness to many through this other man, Jesus Christ. – Romans 5:12-15 NLT

With His sacrificial death, Jesus paid the penalty for sin – once and for all. And because He was sinless, He made the perfect sacrifice. His sinlessness meant that He needed to offer no sacrifice on His own behalf. And rather than offering the life of a bull or goat to pay for the sins of mankind, Jesus sacrificed His own life. He became both the priest and the offering. He gave His life so that we might live and never die.

Peter tells us, “Christ suffered for our sins once for all time. He never sinned, but he died for sinners to bring you safely home to God. He suffered physical death, but he was raised to life in the Spirit” (1 Peter 3:18 NLT).

The bulls, goats, and lambs that were sacrificed on behalf of the people of Israel died permanent deaths. But Jesus died, only to be raised again to life by the power of the Spirit of God. Paul reminds us, “Yet now he [God] has reconciled you to himself through the death of Christ in his physical body. As a result, he has brought you into his own presence, and you are holy and blameless as you stand before him without a single fault” (Colossians 1:22 NLT).

Jesus is the better high priest. He has accomplished what no other priest before Him could have ever hoped to do. He has reconciled sinful men to a righteous, holy God. He made possible the unbroken fellowship between a sinless God and sinful people. There would be no more need for anyone to try and earn their way into God’s good graces. No more striving to keep the law in an attempt to keep God satisfied.

Therefore he is able, once and forever, to save those who come to God through him. – Hebrews 7:25 NLT).

But there’s the rub. We have to come to God through Him. It has to be based on His efforts, not our own. Salvation is the result of the work of Christ, not our human effort. As Jesus told Thomas, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me” (John 14:6 NLT).

Jesus is our high priest. He has offered Himself as the perfect, sinless sacrifice. He has paid the debt we owed. And as John so clearly reminds us, “We also know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding so that we may know the true God. We are in union with the one who is true, his Son Jesus the Messiah, who is the true God and eternal life” (1 John 5:20 ISV).

We need no other priest. God requires no other sacrifice. There is no debt still owed. Jesus has taken care of our sin problem, once and for all.

Yet For All That…

August 1, 2023August 1, 2023 / kdmiller55 / Leave a comment

⁴⁰“But if they confess their iniquity and the iniquity of their fathers in their treachery that they committed against me, and also in walking contrary to me, ⁴¹so that I walked contrary to them and brought them into the land of their enemies—if then their uncircumcised heart is humbled and they make amends for their iniquity, ⁴²then I will remember my covenant with Jacob, and I will remember my covenant with Isaac and my covenant with Abraham, and I will remember the land. ⁴³But the land shall be abandoned by them and enjoy its Sabbaths while it lies desolate without them, and they shall make amends for their iniquity, because they spurned my rules and their soul abhorred my statutes. ⁴⁴Yet for all that, when they are in the land of their enemies, I will not spurn them, neither will I abhor them so as to destroy them utterly and break my covenant with them, for I am the Lord their God. ⁴⁵But I will for their sake remember the covenant with their forefathers, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt in the sight of the nations, that I might be their God: I am the Lord.”

⁴⁶These are the statutes and rules and laws that the Lord made between himself and the people of Israel through Moses on Mount Sinai. – Leviticus 26:40-46 ESV

The final judgment the people of Israel will face for breaking their covenant commitment with God will be their defeat by a foreign power and their expulsion from the land. It was during their captivity in Egypt that they had become a nation, and God had led them out of Egypt and was in the process of leading them to their promised land. Yet, at their temporary camp at the base of Mount Sinai, God was warning them about their need to remain faithful and keep the covenant He had made with them. If they failed to do so, they would end up the way they began – as captives in a foreign land. God would keep His promise to give them the land of Canaan as their inheritance, but they would be required to walk in His statutes and observe all His commandments (Leviticus 26:3). As long as they were faithful, Yahweh would continue to dwell among them and provide for and protect them.

Yet, God made it perfectly clear that their future would be filled with pain and suffering if they chose to disobey Him. He had set them apart as His own, but they were going to have to live up to that preferred status. Their behavior would need to come in line with the expectations of Yahweh. All the blessings and benefits that came with being God’s treasured possession came with conditions. There was a commitment and a cost to being God’s “kingdom of priests and a holy nation” (Exodus 19:6 ESV).

One of the greatest points of difference between Israel and all the other nations on earth was to be their behavior. God’s commandments provided His people with a blueprint for living as His set-apart people. The Decalogue and the Book of the Covenant contained all the rules and requirements that would regulate their lives and separate them from the rest of fallen humanity. The Israelites were no different than any other people group on the planet. They were just as sin-prone and wired to pursue self-reliance. Yet, God had set them apart to live in communion with Him. But to do so, they would need to live in compliance with His holy and righteous laws. If they did, they would reflect His nature and honor His name among the pagan nations of the world.

But as this chapter has shown, if they failed to keep His commands, their actions would be seen as an act of rebellion and a personal affront to the character of God. Rather than honoring God through their obedience, they would bring shame to His name by treating His laws with contempt. And God swore to bring judgment upon His covenant people if they persisted in violating their covenant commitment.

“…if you break my covenant by rejecting my decrees, treating my regulations with contempt, and refusing to obey my commands, I will punish you…” – Leviticus 26:15-16 NLT

But as harsh as God’s punishments would be, His grace would never fail, and His covenant commitment would remain firm. Despite their future rebellion, God would not abandon or forsake them. There was one last condition that would dictate the fate of God’s people. Verse 40 opens with two simple words: “But if….” They begin a conditional statement that outlines what God will do in response to an action on the part of His exiled people.

This section fast-forwards to the future when God’s people are living in adverse conditions in a foreign land because of their refusal to keep His commands. It is a time of great suffering and sorrow.

“You will die among the foreign nations and be devoured in the land of your enemies. Those of you who survive will waste away in your enemies’ lands because of their sins and the sins of their ancestors.” – Leviticus 26:38-39 NLT

Yet despite those desperate conditions, God provides His people with a glimmer of hope. If they will only confess their sins and humble themselves before Him, He will remember the covenant He made with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. It is not as if God will somehow forget what He promised to the patriarchs and need to be reminded. It is that He will hear their confession, see their humility, and renew His commitment to do all that He had promised to do. Their time in exile will function as a temporary delay in God’s covenant commitment. His blessings will be put on hold but He will remain firmly committed to keeping His covenant promises.

What is interesting to note is God’s promise to remember the land. During their time in exile, the land will go fallow and unattended. With no one to occupy them, many of the cities and villages will become virtual ghost towns. Fields will go unplowed and cultivated. Vineyards will return to their wild and untended states. But this imagery is in keeping with God’s commands concerning the Sabbath Year. When the people finally occupied the land of Canaan, they were commanded to set apart every seventh year as a time to allow the land to rest.

“For six years you shall sow your field, and for six years you shall prune your vineyard and gather in its fruits, but in the seventh year there shall be a Sabbath of solemn rest for the land, a Sabbath to the Lord. You shall not sow your field or prune your vineyard. You shall not reap what grows of itself in your harvest, or gather the grapes of your undressed vine. It shall be a year of solemn rest for the land.” – Leviticus 25:3-5 ESV

This law was just as binding as any other, but it seems that the Israelites failed to honor this command during their time in the land of Canaan. And God later warned the Israelites that their disobedience to all His commands would result in their expulsion from the land.

“Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts: Because you have not obeyed my words, behold, I will send for all the tribes of the north, declares the Lord, and for Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and I will bring them against this land and its inhabitants, and against all these surrounding nations. I will devote them to destruction, and make them a horror, a hissing, and an everlasting desolation. Moreover, I will banish from them the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the grinding of the millstones and the light of the lamp. This whole land shall become a ruin and a waste, and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years.” – Jeremiah 25:8-11 ESV

This future judgment is in perfect alignment with the warning God issued in Leviticus 26:33. He had predicted their failure to obey and had warned of the ramifications. And in the book of 2 Chronicles, we have recorded the fulfillment of these prophecies.

He took into exile in Babylon those who had escaped from the sword, and they became servants to him and to his sons until the establishment of the kingdom of Persia, to fulfill the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed its Sabbaths. All the days that it lay desolate it kept Sabbath, to fulfill seventy years. – 2 Chronicles 36:20-21 ESV

For more than 490 years, the Israelites failed to keep God’s commands concerning the Sabbath Year. They refused to allow the land to rest, choosing instead to treat that year just like any other year, plowing, cultivating, and harvesting as they always did. Ignoring God’s command, they decided to do what they deemed best, greedily gathering as much produce as they could and, in doing so, revealing their unwillingness to view God as their ultimate source of provision.

So, God decrees that the land will rest for 70 years and “enjoy its Sabbaths while it lies desolate without them, and they shall make amends for their iniquity, because they spurned my rules and their soul abhorred my statutes” (Leviticus 26:43 ESV). The land will rest while they suffer unrest. God’s land will be restored while God’s people endure hardship.

But when they finally come to an end of themselves and bow in humility before God, confessing their sins and crying out for deliverance, God promises to restore them as well.

“But despite all this, I will not utterly reject or despise them while they are in exile in the land of their enemies. I will not cancel my covenant with them by wiping them out, for I am the Lord their God. For their sakes I will remember my ancient covenant with their ancestors, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt in the sight of all the nations, that I might be their God. I am the Lord.” – Leviticus 26:44-45 NLT

Seven decades of suffering will be followed by forgiveness, restoration, and renewal. Despite their serial unfaithfulness, God will redeem His people from captivity yet again and return them to the land of Canaan. It was a God-ordained famine that led Jacob and his family to seek refuge in Egypt, and it was there that God transformed them into a mighty nation, causing Pharaoh to enslave them in an attempt to control them. But God heard their cries and delivered them from their suffering. He eventually led them to the land of Canaan, just as He had promised Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. But as Leviticus 26 predicts, God’s people would eventually suffer a spiritual famine, failing to nourish themselves on the blessings of God and choosing instead to feast on the tempting but malnourished delights of the world. And their decision to reject the food of God as revealed in the law of God would result in the judgment of God. But their actions would never negate the promises of God.

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.” – Matthew 5:6 ESV

And Now, the Bad News

July 31, 2023August 1, 2023 / kdmiller55 / Leave a comment

¹⁴“But if you will not listen to me and will not do all these commandments, ¹⁵if you spurn my statutes, and if your soul abhors my rules, so that you will not do all my commandments, but break my covenant, ¹⁶then I will do this to you: I will visit you with panic, with wasting disease and fever that consume the eyes and make the heart ache. And you shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it. ¹⁷I will set my face against you, and you shall be struck down before your enemies. Those who hate you shall rule over you, and you shall flee when none pursues you. ¹⁸And if in spite of this you will not listen to me, then I will discipline you again sevenfold for your sins, ¹⁹and I will break the pride of your power, and I will make your heavens like iron and your earth like bronze. ²⁰And your strength shall be spent in vain, for your land shall not yield its increase, and the trees of the land shall not yield their fruit.

²¹“Then if you walk contrary to me and will not listen to me, I will continue striking you, sevenfold for your sins. ²²And I will let loose the wild beasts against you, which shall bereave you of your children and destroy your livestock and make you few in number, so that your roads shall be deserted.

²³“And if by this discipline you are not turned to me but walk contrary to me, ²⁴then I also will walk contrary to you, and I myself will strike you sevenfold for your sins. ²⁵And I will bring a sword upon you, that shall execute vengeance for the covenant. And if you gather within your cities, I will send pestilence among you, and you shall be delivered into the hand of the enemy. ²⁶When I break your supply of bread, ten women shall bake your bread in a single oven and shall dole out your bread again by weight, and you shall eat and not be satisfied.

²⁷“But if in spite of this you will not listen to me, but walk contrary to me, ²⁸then I will walk contrary to you in fury, and I myself will discipline you sevenfold for your sins. ²⁹You shall eat the flesh of your sons, and you shall eat the flesh of your daughters. ³⁰And I will destroy your high places and cut down your incense altars and cast your dead bodies upon the dead bodies of your idols, and my soul will abhor you. ³¹And I will lay your cities waste and will make your sanctuaries desolate, and I will not smell your pleasing aromas. ³²And I myself will devastate the land, so that your enemies who settle in it shall be appalled at it. ³³And I will scatter you among the nations, and I will unsheathe the sword after you, and your land shall be a desolation, and your cities shall be a waste.

³⁴“Then the land shall enjoy its Sabbaths as long as it lies desolate, while you are in your enemies’ land; then the land shall rest, and enjoy its Sabbaths. ³⁵As long as it lies desolate it shall have rest, the rest that it did not have on your Sabbaths when you were dwelling in it. ³⁶And as for those of you who are left, I will send faintness into their hearts in the lands of their enemies. The sound of a driven leaf shall put them to flight, and they shall flee as one flees from the sword, and they shall fall when none pursues. ³⁷They shall stumble over one another, as if to escape a sword, though none pursues. And you shall have no power to stand before your enemies. ³⁸And you shall perish among the nations, and the land of your enemies shall eat you up. ³⁹And those of you who are left shall rot away in your enemies’ lands because of their iniquity, and also because of the iniquities of their fathers they shall rot away like them.” – Leviticus 26:14-39 ESV

After having listed the manifold blessings that accompany obedience, God now addresses the less attractive topic of divine discipline for disobedience. In these verses, God provides a five-stage outline of how things will turn out for His people should they refuse to remain faithful to Him, and the list of potential judgments is grim and intended to deter them from considering disobedience as a course of action. God wanted them to understand the gravity of the situation. He had set them apart as His chosen people and made a binding covenant with them.

“Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” – Exodus 19:5-6 ESV

This agreement between God and His people sometimes referred to as the Mosaic Covenant, was conditional in nature. In other words, it was binding and required the full compliance of both parties. Through their obedience to His covenant conditions, the Israelites would be guaranteed their status as God’s chosen people and assured of ongoing presence, power, and provision.

“If you walk in my statutes and observe my commandments and do them, then…I will make my dwelling among you, and my soul shall not abhor you. And I will walk among you and will be your God, and you shall be my people.” – Leviticus 26:3, 11-12 ESV

But the people needed to know that there was a potential downside to this covenant that they had so eagerly ratified (Exodus 19:8). Failure to keep all the conditions of the covenant came with serious consequences, and the list of judgments God describes in these verses goes from bad to worse. It will begin with divine attacks on their bodies in the form of “wasting diseases” and assaults by their enemies that will leave them defeated and demoralized. Other nations will plunder their crops and treat the Israelites as little more than slaves. The land that God had given the Israelites as their inheritance would no longer provide for their needs. Instead, it would fall into the hands of their enemies, leaving God’s people defeated and destitute.

Continued rebellion will result in drought and famine, “making the skies as unyielding as iron and the earth as hard as bronze” (Leviticus 26:19 NLT). Rain will be withheld and crops will cease to grow. The fruitfulness of the land of promise will become a distant and fading memory. And yet God forewarns His people that this judgment will not produce repentance and obedience. Despite all that they suffer, they will continue to spurn His calls to obey, forcing Yahweh to punish them “seven times over” (Leviticus 26:18 NLT) for their sins. God vows to break their proud spirit and bring them to their knees. Yet, God predicts that His people will prove to be stubborn and unwilling to give up their rebellious ways. That will usher in the next phase of their punishment.

“I will send wild animals that will rob you of your children and destroy your livestock. Your numbers will dwindle, and your roads will be deserted.” – Leviticus 26:22 NLT

The creation itself will turn against God’s people. Not only will they face the threat of enemy attacks, but wild animals will rise up against them. Their lawlessness will result in chaos. No one will be safe. The first judgments primarily affected the fruit of their fields, but this punishment will target the fruit of the womb: Their children.

To grasp the full effect of this judgment, one must understand that God has always called His people to “be fruitful and multiply.” It was the command given to Adam and Eve and passed down to Noah and his sons. And while the Israelites had been slaves in Egypt, God had miraculously multiplied their number. But now, God was warning them that because of disobedience, they could expect to see their number diminish. As King Solomon would later record, children were to be seen as a gift from God.

Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord,
the fruit of the womb a reward. – Psalm 127:3 ESV

But the Israelites needed to understand that their fruitfulness as a nation was directly tied to their faithfulness. At this point, it’s important to note what God said when He prepared to create man.

“Let us make human beings in our image, to be like us. They will reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, the livestock, all the wild animals on the earth, and the small animals that scurry along the ground.” – Genesis 1:26 NLT

And God gave the first man and women a mandate:

“Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth and govern it. Reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, and all the animals that scurry along the ground.” – Genesis 1:28 NLT

Now, in the case of His chosen people, God was warning that their fruitfulness and dominion over creation would come to an end should they choose to disobey His commands.

But God was far from done because He knew that His people would find it difficult to repent and return to Him. So, He outlines the next phase of His divine judgment. In response to their ongoing disobedience, God will get personally involved.

“I myself will be hostile toward you. I will personally strike you with calamity seven times over for your sins.” – Leviticus 26:24 NLT

God vows to deal with their rebellion on an intimate level, sending armies against them to mete out His divine judgment. If the people attempt to escape God’s wrath, they’ll only find themselves facing the devastation of a plague they can’t outrun. God’s judgment will be inescapable and unavoidable. God vows to inflict on the people of Israel what had been reserved for the nation of Egypt. This time, the plagues would be directed at God’s people, not their enemies. And God adds insult to injury by promising to destroy Israel’s food supply. No more protection. No more provision.

As the people of Israel heard Moses impart these dire warnings, they must have been dumbstruck and appalled at the severity of God’s words. But the worst was yet to come. In a foreshadowing of Israel’s less-than-stellar future, God predicts their stubbornness and obstinacy in the face of overwhelming judgment, and matter-of-factly states, “I will give full vent to my hostility” (Leviticus 26:28 NLT). And what He describes next is difficult to read and even harder to comprehend. Focusing His attention on the sin of idolatry, God promises to pour out His judgment with unfathomable and unrelenting fury. He describes Israelite cities filled with the destroyed altars of their false gods and the corpses of those who once worshiped them. Those left alive will have been taken captive by their enemies. But before their cities fell, the people of God would have resorted to cannibalism just to survive.

In the midst of their suffering and pain, the apostate people of Israel will attempt to call on God for rescue, but their efforts will prove too little, too late. He will not listen to their cries or accept their sacrifices for forgiveness and atonement. They will be forcibly removed from the land and returned to their former status as exiles and slaves. And God drops the final bombshell in His escalating prediction of future judgment.

God was serious. His call to obedience was not a suggestion but a command. His blessings were real and fully realizable, but they would require obedience. And if His people chose to break their covenant commitment, they needed to understand that the consequences were equally real and worse than anything they could ever imagine.

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