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Romans 11:12, 18
Now if their trespass means riches for the world, and if their failure means riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their full inclusion mean!? Do not be arrogant toward the branches. If you are, remember it is not you who support the root, but the root that supports you. “You find that as long as Sarah lived, a cloud hung over her tent … her doors were wide open … there was a blessing on her dough, and the lamp used to burn from the evening of the Sabbath until the evening of the following Sabbath …" In this scrap of tradition, Sarah’s tent is homiletically compared to Jerusalem typified by the Temple. The cloud is symbolic of the Shekinah of God’s presence, the doors of the temple being wide opened is an invitation to the world to the house of prayer (as Yeshua called it); the blessed dough is the showbread which miraculously never spoiled, and the lamp is the seven-branches candelabrum which burned continuously in the Holy Place. In the Book of Galatians Paul builds on this illustration. Using the concept that Judaism views Sarah as the great matriarch he says, But the Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother. Then, using Isaiah’s allegory and adding the fact that that Sarah was barren (not Hagar) He quotes, "Rejoice, O barren one who does not bear; break forth and cry aloud, you who are not in labor! Though Paul doesn’t quote it, the rest of the oracle says, Enlarge the place of your tent, and let the curtains of your habitations be stretched out; do not hold back; lengthen your cords and strengthen your stakes (Isaiah 54:1-2; Galatians 4:26).This is an illustration that Jerusalem, (the center of Jewish religion) is one day to open its doors to all nations. The next chapter of Isaiah goes on to call all nations to drink and be fed from the fountain of Jerusalem (Isaiah 55; Zechariah 14:16). Referring to modern history, I now will build on this concept. In their impatience while waiting on God to fulfill the messianic promise of the birth of Isaac, Abraham and Sarah brought Hagar into the picture. As Hagar bore fruit she despised and boasted against Sarah who was still barren and dry. In His own time, Hashem miraculously caused Sarah to bear the fruit of the messianic promise. In the end, though blessed by God because of beloved Abraham, Hagar paid for her attitude having to leave Sarah’s presence. For 2,000 years while waiting for the 19th century when Jerusalem would miraculously birth the present-day world-wide Messianic movement, the nations of the world, who did bear fruit unto Yeshua have done so while ‘boasting’ against the ‘natural branches’ in a doctrine called ‘Replacement Theology’, and even subjecting these ‘natural branches’ to horrible persecutions (or were silent in the face of it). Will the nations suffer the same fate as Hagar? The Text tells us that not, but that in the end Jerusalem will return to its rightful original owners, and that the nations will come and serve and worship God in Jerusalem, bringing in their glory (Isaiah 66; Haggai 2:7). For what it’s worth, there is an ancient Jewish teaching which suggests that Keturah, Abraham’s second wife after Sarah died, is actually Hagar returned (Genesis 25:1-6).
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2 Corinthians 7:10
… For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret … At the time of Jechonias, the last Davidic king to ever sit on the throne of Jerusalem, we find the following words in an oracle pronounced by the prophet Jeremiah: Thus says Adonai: "Write this man down as childless, a man who shall not succeed in his days, for none of his offspring shall succeed in sitting on the throne of David and ruling again in Judah" (Jeremiah 22:30). These words are troubling because according to the prophets Samuel and Nathan, the lineage of David was to be never-ending culminating to the Messiah. If this Davidic king was to remain childless the hope of Israel was gone and with it the hope of the world. As we continue looking into the Davidic genealogy, we realize that Jechonias has a son, Salathiel who dies. Pediaiah, the brother of Salathiel fulfills the levirate law and marries his brother’s widow thus raising seed to him in Zerubabel whom God chooses to continue the Davidic line (Haggai 2:23). It is then fair to ask the question: did God reverse Jechonias’ curse? But we also should ask another question: Did God annul the blessing on the Davidic line and the world because of the iniquity of one? These are very serious question imbedded in the reading of the genealogies. It would not be the first time that because of our unfaithfulness towards our covenant made with Him God would decide to annul the whole thing. We have seen it happen in the Sinai desert. One thing we learn from our dear Hashem is that ‘though we are faithless, He remains faithful’: Blessed be His Name. Jewish sages knew that so in Talmudic literature they conclude that Jechonias repented while in exile, thus even though his son died, God reversed the curse through the accepted Toratic principle of levirate marriage. The repentance of Jechonias cannot be documented but what this shows us is that the people of Israel looked at God as a One of mercy who reverses the fruits of our disobedience because of our repentance. Repentance therefore becomes essential to renewal and fulfillment of God’s promises. Come to think of it, it is not the first time that levirate law comes to the rescue of the covenantal lineage. It happened with Judah and Tamar, Boaz and Ruth, and in the immediate family of the Master Himself (Julius Africanus). The Davidic Messianic line is filled with people of disrepute who desperately needed absolution and renewal through sincere and true repentance. So when you feel that you’ve really blown it this time and that there is no hope left for you, look at whom God chose; look at the descendance of Messiah and know that Hashem is a God who rewards true and sincere repentance. David, more than anyone else knew it. He was destined to death because of murder and adultery, so he said, If you, O Adonai, should mark iniquities, O Adonai, who could stand (Psalms 130:3)? Romans 11:28-31
… But as regards election, they are beloved for the sake of their forefathers. For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable … just as you were at one time disobedient to God but now have received mercy because of their disobedience, so they too have now been disobedient in order that by the mercy shown to you they also may now receive mercy. How wonderful that in spite of sin, disobedience, and rebellion, the Almighty Father of all compassions never leaves us without comfort and hope for renewal. The refusal to enter the Land and the Korah rebellion brought the Exodus generation to a physical and spiritual end. Would the future generations miss on the promises made to Abraham because of a few jealous and disgruntled Levite priests? Let us remember that the promises of God are irrevocable. The last words of the narrative concerning the Exodus generation are …..These may have been the narrative's last words, but not the last Words of He who actually has the proverbial 'last word'. When Moses' divinely appointed leadership was challenged, the humble prophet went along with it and told everyone, "let's ask God what He thinks" He then proceeded to collect the leadership staff of each tribe to place them in the Tabernacle. "The tribe whose staff buds overnight will be our leader," he said. Everyone agreed. The next day, the sight of dead wood resurrected to life confirmed the choice of the house of Levy with Aaron as the High-Priest. May we take the time to look at this miracle in a Messianic light? A generation questioned God's leadership and refused to follow the divine command to conquer the land. The Exodus generation Israelites was annihilated but not without the hope of inheriting through their children. Three days after a few disgruntled priests got together to challenge Moses, God confirmed His choice of leadership by resurrecting the stuff of the staff of Aaron to continue leading the Children of Israel to the eventual conquest of the Promised Land. In the same manner, 1,400 years later, another few disgruntled priests convened to challenge the leadership of the 'prophet like Moses'. Three days after His execution, life came back to His dead body to lead the fires of a new generation of Jewish Messianic believers, inheriting the promises leaving behind the corpses of the old generation forty years later! From the beginning of its turbulent history, Messianic Judaism has suffered near annihilation. After the model of Yeshua, it is now resurrecting in a worldwide fire spreading form country to country, even in Israel. May we never lose hope! God's Word is eternal and doesn't change. The Promises that escape us, our children will inherit! 1 Corinthians 15:53
For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. ‘Three days’ is such a repeated theme in Scripture. It is on the third day that Abraham and Isaac climbed the mountain (Genesis 22:4); Israel had purify itself then God came in their sight on Mt. Horeb (Exodus 19:16); Jonah was spewed out of the fish after three days (Jonah 1:17); Joshua crossed the Jordan as on dry land on the third day (Joshua 3:2,17), and the remainder of the flesh of any offering needed to be burned after three days (Leviticus 7:17). The theme of the third day denotes of resurrection, of corruptibility putting on incorruptibility (1 Corinthians 15;53). It is also on the third day that the Master rose (Matthew 16:21), that there was a wedding in Cana (John 2:1), and after three day and half that the two witnesses are raised up (Revelations 11:11). On the other hand, Yeshua waited four days to go to Lazarus (John 11:17). The Master wanted to wait that long because the third day is actually the time when unrefrigerated meat starts to decompose (John 11:39). The disciples hesitated to open the tomb not only because of the smell, but it represented a desecration and exposure to uncleanliness. Even in the Temple, meat from peace offerings was not allowed to remain on the altar more than three days; after that it had to be burned (Leviticus 7:16-18). The Master did that so the people would know that Lazarus was truly dead and not just ‘sleeping’. The ‘three days’ theme speaks to us of the most wonderful process and miracle in our redemption program: that of corruptibility putting on incorruptibility. The corruptible is transformed into an incorruptible state before it is allowed to decompose. This also represents the greatest promise God has made to His people. Through the prophet Hoseah came the following words for an apostate Israel who was facing soon exiles and deportations, "Come, let us return to the LORD; for he has torn us, that he may heal us; he has struck us down, and he will bind us up. After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will raise us up, that we may live before him (Hoseah 6:1-2). One day for God is 1,000 years. In the third millennia of exile, Israel is resurrected to its former Salomonic grandeur as when nations brought their glories to Jerusalem and came to learn from the wisest king in the world. We can see the beginning of it even now. All these scriptural themes foreshadow our passing from mortality to immortality, from the corruptible to the incorruptible, from death to resurrection. May we always live in the understanding of these things. No matter what life throws at us in what seems at times tsunamis of troubles, may we as Children of the Most-High be perfect (Matthew 5:48) and not have a morbid attitude towards the ending of our temporal passage in this dimension. May we always remember that the end of the vanity of our sad temporal life is fullness of eternal joy, that the end of death is life and that in due time, corruptibility puts on incorruptibility and death is swallowed up by life. |
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