#61 -- Gospel and Spiritual Growth

Valley – September 22, 2002 p.m.

 

 

PARALLEL OPERATIONS FOR GOVERNING THE SIN NATURE

When Israel arrived at Sinai, they were given two choices:  to believe the promises made to Abraham in the Genesis 15 Abrahamic covenant or to seek works that would please God.  Four covenants were made with Abraham and his seed.  Three were unconditional and one was conditional (circumcision in the last part of chapter 17).  Prior to Sinai the sin natures of the seed of Abraham were channeled by elements of the promises and faith in Jehovah.  Man's sin nature will seek to please deity by works and for its own gratification [religious works of the flesh].  Jehovah asked Israel to guard the Genesis 15 Abrahamic covenant by faith (Ex. 19:5, 6).  Instead they acted presumptuously volunteering to work in any way that Jehovah wanted them to work to gain His favor and acceptance.  They threw a challenge at Jehovah.  They could do anything that He placed before them to do. 

 

There was an opportunity for Israel to believe God and accept His governing through the covenants made with Abraham without works.  The whole purpose for bringing Israel out of the land of Egypt was to give them the promises of the covenants.  Instead Israel rejected the revelation of the exodus that demonstrated to them that Jehovah would take care of them.  This was very clear in the ten plagues, the destruction of Pharaoh's army at the Red Sea and the provision of water and food for their journey from the Red Sea to Sinai.  As a result of the presumption of Israel at Sinai, the nation was separated from God.  This included the people and the priests.  The irony of this circumstance was that the law brought a different kind of separation to Jehovah while it was also a separation from Jehovah.  Things would have been different with a theocracy under promise versus the theocracy that resulted under law. 

 

 

Jehovah expected Israel to be a nation that was separated from the governments and nations of the world system.  The world system was a different kind of enemy toward Israel that it is for spiritual Christians today.  Jehovah cut a covenant with Israel that isolated Israel from the nations and governments of the world system.  In Ex. 31:16 the fourth commandment is identified as a covenant.  This isolated Israel from other nations.  Their Sabbath keeping on the seventh day made them distinct from other nations.  It was one of the conditions of the whole covenant with Moses and the nation (Ex. 34:10, 11).  It was Jehovah's plan of isolation to keep the nation from spiritual adultery.  The cutting of the Mosaic covenant isolated Israel from the nations.  The testimony of those wonders was evident (Ex. 34:10).  With the giving of the Mosaic Law came the need for keeping that law.  A result was that Jehovah promised to drive out the nations of the world system that inhabited the land promised to Father Abraham (Ex. 34:11).  Exodus 34 continues with a set of prohibitions concerning the nations of the world system.  Jehovah told Israel to make no treaties with the nations.  They were to destroy the indigenous religions and their institutions.  They were to worship only Jehovah and not the gods of the nations of the world system.  Key to this was the prohibition of intermarriage with those nations and their peoples (Ex. 34:12-17).  In Numbers 23:9, 10 Balaam prophesied in his first prophecy concerning Israel that she was a nation isolated from other nations and superior to other nations.  In Deuteronomy 28:9, 10 Jehovah clearly instructs Israel to be isolated from the nations of the system by their behavior.  The purpose of this was to show all the people in the nations of the world system that Israel belonged to Jehovah and to cause the nations to fear Israel.  These promises are made in the blessings offer just before Israel entered into the Promised Land.  Following the blessings promised for obedience Jehovah promised the curses for disobedience.

 

III. illustrates the isolation that Jehovah expected for Israel from the nations.  Israel was not to incorporate governmental statues of the nations that had been cast our of the land (Lev. 20:22, 23).  They were to keep Jehovah's statutes and judgments as a condition for remaining in the land.  Israel was expected to keep the law as a mark of distinction that isolated the nation from other nations and thus to gain a distinct reputation among nations (Deut. 4:6-8).  The nation was not to borrow from other nations (Deut. 26:16-19) in order to avoid compromise.  Joshua reiterated the law and its isolating principles before his death (Josh. 23:6-8, 12, 13). There was to be no commerce with the nations in the land.  Israel was not to have anything to do with their gods.  Jehovah expected Israel to cling to Him.  They were not to cling to these nations nor intermarry with their people.  This maintained their isolation from the governments and practices of the nations of the world system.  Jehovah promised the nation that if she would keep the components of the law, He would elevate her above the nations and set her apart to Himself (Deut. 26:16-19). 

 

The government of Israel shifted from heads of household under promise to dictatorial divine leadership under the law.  Both were theocracies in their own way.  Both were designed to isolate and distinguish Israel from the governments of the nations of the world system.   The world system was a negative influence that could tantalize Israel with its government.  Immediately any involvement with the government of the world system led to religious compromise and the pursuit of the gods of the nations.  When one reads through the history of Israel, one can see the ongoing failure of Israel to maintain her isolation by keeping the law with consistency before the nations.

 

Eagerly waiting to welcome the happy hope,

 

DKS

PARALLEL OPERATIONS FOR GOVERNING THE SIN NATURE

 

1 John 2:15

Proposition:   To show the way that the presumption at Sinai established two different systems for governing the sin nature in the realm of human government.  The functioning under the theocracy of the dispensation of law was isolated from the government of the world system by the law itself.

        Introduction

              A.  Attention Directed to Jehovah by the Promises Made to Abraham

                    1.  A Majority Unconditional

                    2.  All Made with Sons of Abraham

              B.   Activities of Sin Nature Channeled by the Promises

 

              C.  Appetite of the Sin Nature for Works to:

                    1.  To Please God [Impossible!]

                    2.  Gratify Human Beings

              D.  Asking for Works to Gain and Maintain Divine Favor – Ex. 19:8

              E.   Arrangements for Works Conditions Rather Than Faith with Few Conditions [ex. Circumcision]

TRANS:     Jehovah made an offer to Israel at Sinai that involved the first Abrahamic covenant yet the nation refused to accept the offer by faith.  Rather they wanted a system by which they could do something to please God just as they had when they served the idols in Egypt.  Jehovah then accepted their challenge and gave them the law.

 

   I.  THE EXCHANGE OF TYPES OF THEOCRACIES AT MOUNT SINAI – TWO DIVINE OPTIONS OUTSIDE OF THE GOVERNMENT OF THE SATANIC WORLD SYSTEM – THE ISOLATION OF THE NATION OF ISRAEL FROM THE GOVERNMENT OF THE WORLD SYSTEM BY JEHOVAH – Exodus 19

        A.  The Reason for the Exodus:  To Bring Israel from Egypt to Give Them the Promises of Abrahamic Covenants One Through Three – Ex. 19:4-6

              1.  Spectacular Deliverance from Egypt – Vs. 4

                  a.  The Ten Plagues

                  b.  The Crossing of the Red Sea and Destruction of Pharaoh's Army

                  c.  The Provisions on the Way to Sinai

              2.  Special Dependence by Faith on Genesis 15 Abrahamic Covenant – Vs. 5

              3.  Specific Distinctiveness of a Nation Who Guarded the Covenant – Vs. 6

                  a.  Kingdom of Priests

                  b.  A Holy Nation

              4.  The Division of the Nation from the Nations of the World System

        B.   The Response of the Nation to Hearing and Keeping the Covenant:  All Jehovah Has Spoken We Will Do – Ex. 19:8

              1.   Presumption – Ex. 19:8

              2.   Repetition – Ex. 24:3, 7; Deut. 5:27

              3.   Separation of Israel from God

        C.  The Reality of a Separation to Jehovah While Being Separated from Jehovah

              1.  Separation of the People – Ex. 19:10, 14

              2.  Separation of the Priests – Ex. 19:22

              3.  Separation from Jehovah – Ex. 19:12, 13, 23

        D.  The Result in Separation Toward Jehovah from the Government and Nations of the World System

TRANS:  As the law was given clear directions were given concerning any relationship that the nation of Israel had toward the governments of the world system.  This was on a national level and on a personal level.

 

  II.  THE EVIDENCE OF THE ISOLATION OF ISRAEL'S THEOCRATIC GOVERNMENT FROM THE GOVERNMENTS OF THE WORLD SYSTEM – THE DIVINELY PROVIDED ORDER FOR ISRAEL DISTINCT FROM THE ORDER OF THE WORLD SYSTEM – THE IMPORTANCE OF ISRAEL'S ISOLATION FROM THE GOVERNMENT OF THE NATIONS

        A.    The Cutting of a Perpetual Covenant Isolates from the Nations

               1.  Ex. 31:16 – The Fourth Commandment Identified as a Covenant

               2.  Ex. 34:10, 11 – The Keeping of the Covenant a Condition

        B.   The Certainty of a Testimony Concerning Jehovah's Wonders – Ex. 34:10

        C.  The Condition of Guarding/Observing the Covenant – Ex. 34:11

        D.  The Clearing of the Land of Canaan of Governments and Nations by Jehovah – Ex.

              34:11

        E.   The Commands to Moses Concerning International Relationships – Ex. 34:12-17

              1.   No Treaties with Inhabitants of the Land – cf. Deut. 7:2; Judg. 2:2

              2.   Destroy Religion and Its Institutions

              3.   Worship Only Jehovah and Not the Gods of the Nations

              4.   Do Not Permit Intermarriage with the Nations

        F.    The Clarity of the Isolation of Israel from Nations in Balaam's First Prophecy –                                                   Num. 23:9, 10

        G.  The Confirmation of the Isolation in the Behavior of the Nation Under the Law – Deut. 28:9, 10

               TRANS:  Jehovah's expectations for Israel involved two major concepts.  There were things prohibited in her relationship with the nations of the world system.  And there were promises for the future of Israel that could be expected with obedience. 

 

III.  THE EXPECTATIONS OF JEHOVAH FOR THE NATION OF ISRAEL ISOLATED FROM THE WORLD SYSTEM – THE DIVINE OBJECTIVES FOR THE NATION APART FROM THE GOVERNMENTS OF THE WORLD SYSTEM – THE INSTRUCTIONS AND ANTICIPATION CONCERNING ISRAEL AND THE NATIONS

        A.  The Prohibition of Incorporating Statutes of the Nations of the World System by Israel – Lev. 20:22, 23

              1.  Keep Jehovah's Statutes and Judgments and Stay in the Land

              2.   Do Not Walk in the Statutes of the Cast Our Nations

        B.   The Program for Keeping the Law and a Reputation Among the Nations – Deut. 4:6-8

        C.  The Prohibition of Borrowing from Other Nations – Deut. 26:16-19

        D.  The Prohibition Concerning the Nation at the Time of Joshua's Death – Josh. 23:6-8, 12, 13

        E.   The Provision for an Elevation Above Nations – Deut. 26:16-19

TRANS:  The type of theocracy under the Mosaic Law was designed to isolate Israel from the nations of the world system.  It was a system of its own.  It was designed to display and defend the character of Jehovah the God of the universe.  It provided a contrast to the government of the Satanic world system.  Both were designed to curb the sin nature but with contrasting standards for doing so.

--DKS—

 

© by David K. Spurbeck

Valley Baptist Church

P. O. Box 99, Gaston, OR 97119