Deuteronomy 26:1-29:8, Ki Tavo, “When Youi Come”
Over the last few weeks, I have been feeling led to spending a lot of time in Hebrews 11-13, Romans 8-10, Galatians, and Ephesians. My journey has been one of contemplating the “promises” of God and what the New Testament authors are talking about when they discuss the “inheritance” and the fulfillment of those “promises”. My seeking has been to understand what the fulfillment of those things looks like to both the Jewish people and the gentiles who have been grafted into the family of Abraham.
At the beginning of this week’s parsha is a bit of scripture that at first glance may appear out of context with the balance of what God is calling Moses to share. However, on closer examination, it is incredibly relevant to not only what God is telling the people of Israel about their future, but just as important is what He is revealing to us in the prophetic insights of today.
This week’s parsha opens with 15 verses on the first tithe. What jumped out to me was the prayer that all the people of Israel and the aliens and foreigners who were amongst them were to say when they brought their tithe before the priests. The prayer begins with a several verse summary of how the person bringing the tithe acknowledges their relationship to Abraham, the people of Israel, the provisions God has provided, and the promises He has made.
I believe what God wants us to take from this is that we are a people. We are not individuals. The tithe is for the priest but it is also for the poor, the widow, and the orphan. It is for the alien and the foreigner. It is for the Israelite and for the gentiles. It is for all these people groups and at the same time it is also called as from each of these groups as well. Even the priest was to tithe on the tithe.
In other words, there is a spiritual image that “we are all in this together” for and with each other. At the same time, there is an image that “we are all in this together” in that since we are all spiritual children of Abraham, we are all “together” in the promises made to Abraham. We are all children of promise and co-heirs. Taking it a step further, we are all “in this together” through thick and through thin, through blessings and through curses, and through the journey and into the destiny. Can we let God make the point? He wants us to see that “we are all in this together”. He wants us to understand that this is a cumulative experience, a cumulative refinement, and that He is leading us to a cumulative promise.
As I read in Hebrews 11 and work my way through the “hall of faith”, I see the word “promise” come up several times. What is the author of Hebrews talking about? For most of my life as a believer I have been under the impression that the “promise” is heaven and eternal life. However, this isn’t what I read in these verses and I do not believe that this is what the author of Hebrews is getting at. Once I get into Hebrews 12-13 the image becomes even more clear.
In short, the image I see being painted out is this: In Hebrews 11 we are given a summary of some of the people who believed the promises that God made to Abraham extended to them. This summary of people includes both Jews and Gentiles. The promises that are mentioned are the promise of a great family, of a land of plenty, of being a blessing to the rest of the world, being a joy to God, and being established as His people for His own possession.
Sadly, by the time Jesus came these promises had not yet been fulfilled because the Jewish people have never been able to hold onto the land. The reason we have not been able to hold onto the land goes right back to what we are reading in this week’s parsha. In Galatians 3:15-19 Paul explains to us that the promises made to Abraham were not made contingent upon the Law that was given 430 years later. However, if the people of God are living in “transgression” they will be at odds with the land, and the land will spit them out. This is where last week’s blog ended.
This is also the state of Israel when Jesus came and why the temple was destroyed and why the people of God were sent into exile. This is what Deuteronomy 29 tells us. The exile has nothing to do with the Pharisees rejecting Jesus. It has everything to do with the people of God not living according to God’s ways, living in transgression, defiling the land, and either the land spitting them out, and/or God removing them from the land to protect it (and mature the people of God into His people).
Going back to Hebrews 11-13 we see that at the end of 11 we are told that the saints were not able to see the fulfillment of the promises, but in “us” they may be made perfect. The next two chapters of Hebrews is a strong word on what it looks like to walk in the fullness of God and the calling that He has upon our lives. I believe what the author is saying is this: All these saints had the faith that God would honor the promises, but, as a people, they were never able to walk in a way that would allow them to stay at peace with the land. However, we, in Christ Jesus, do have the ability to walk in a way that we will not defile the land. As we come together and live in harmony with each other, honoring God, honoring His ways, and living in accordance with all that He has commanded us, the promises will come to be. He will make us a great nation, He will allow us to stay in the land, He will allow us to be a blessing to all the people of the world, and we will become His people, and He will be our God. As such, the fullness of the promises will come to be during our lifetime and as such, the saints and all that they believed in will be perfected through us.” As predicted by the prophetic insights of Deuteronomy 29, this was not the destiny and the exile came and to this day we are still in this dispensation awaiting what comes next.
This leads me back into this week’s parsha where a few things really hit me. I have come to realize that, as followers of Christ, our belief should be in the same promises that all the saints of the Old and New Testaments have had. With this in mind, the next realization is that all believers in Christ are experiencing the same exile as all of Israel and none of us are living in harmony with the fullness of all the promises. As I share, I ponder how many of us would even want to be a part of the promises that all the saints of the faith have put their faith into for the last 4,000 years?
I ask this question for several reasons. Even though I hear followers of Christ sharing that they embrace being the bride of Christ, I don’t hear too many sharing the excitement of living with Him during the millennial kingdom. I don’t hear too many seeking to know what it will be like to visit Him and His priesthood at the temple. I don’t hear too many talking about what it will be like to honor His Laws, represent Him to the people, and to be a blessing to the nations. Finally, I don’t hear too many people seeking to understand what they will understand then that they don’t understand now and how they might start coming into those understandings in this lifetime.
Instead of seeking this future wisdom now, most of those that I talk to are looking more toward the time after the millennial kingdom. Our Christian theology has left us anticipating the time when things will be returned to a more spirit state, and when the perishable things of this world will give way to the imperishable. I am beginning to see that our teachings have left out a very important dispensation. The time period between the end of the exile and the creation of the new heaven and earth are for the most part ignored. Interestingly, it is this time period that has been the most anticipated by the Jewish people since God first entered into covenant with Abraham and is the fullness of the promises and inheritances spoken of throughout both the Old and New Testament scriptures.
Personally, I think the balance is the fullness of both. The time period of the millennial kingdom is referred to as the “redemption”. For thousands of years, the Jewish people have anticipated this time. Who can blame us for looking forward to a time when the rest of the world will finally see us for who we really are? After all, we have been the most misunderstood and persecuted people who have ever lived. At the same time, the millennial kingdom is not about us. It is a time in which the promises of God will finally be fulfilled.
From how I see it, of all the promises, the most important is that we will be a blessing to the nations. Sure, we will be a mighty nation. Sure, the land will be productive beyond anything we can imagine. Sure, the persecution will end. Sure, we will live in harmony with each other and peace for us will abound. Sure, the riches of the world will flow to us as the people of the world come to bring tithes and to honor Christ. But all these things are simply a means to an end and not the end unto itself. This is simply the fulfillment of what we had been called to do from the beginning so that God could use us to bless the nations. In the end, the millennial kingdom is simply another dispensation that God will use to bring His plan of salvation into full fruition. It is all about the time that most of my Christian friends talk about. That time when the perishable gives way to the imperishable and everything is filled with the knowledge of God.
I agree that this should be a time that we all look toward because this is the ultimate and the eternity. It is the fulfillment of what everything has been leading up to. But, let’s not get ahead of ourselves and miss what we have been called to. How about we come together and start looking forward to both dispensations and looking forward to who we will be in each? How about those that are looking forward to the redemption to look beyond that to a time when ALL things will be redeemed? And, how about those that are looking forward to that utopic time to slow down a little and get excited about the time when God will fulfill the promises that the entire Word of God focuses on? The time when all the world will be blessed through Abraham and his seed? The time when we are all living together in Jerusalem, serving that “seed”, and being a blessing to the nations who do not yet know Him?
I pray that this blog has been a blessing and an inspiration. Amen Amen
A good word and a clear perspective (as seen from God's vantage given us in Scripture) of this present age (the 'exile') and the ages yet to come.
ReplyDelete