Genesis Principles Predate Moses

Several years ago I asked the Lord…How can we know which of His principles/laws apply to us today?

God impressed on me to look in His word prior to Moses to see which principles of God are evident that far back.  In the book of Genesis.  Before there was the nation of ancient Israel.  Before there was any Old Covenant (OC) or New Covenant (NC).  The name “Moses” doesn’t appear until Ex.2:10.

So I searched Genesis for (timeless) righteous principles of God…which we see carried-over into the OC in Exodus, and also apply to us Christians today and eventually to all mankind.

Predating Moses…God’s righteous standards for mankind and the Kingdom of God, and even glimpses of Christ’s gospel, are seen in the book of Genesis.  As we read between the lines of narrative, Genesis reflects examples of how to honor God and love our neighbor; how to live our lives, and how not to.  Lessons that apply to Christian living.

Reformed Church theologian Albertus Pieters’ Notes On Genesis “Whoever has learned the Genesis stories has learned all the chief things that can be known about God (apart from the incarnation of God in Christ)…of permanent institutions for the well-being of mankind; we have here the institution of the Sabbath, marriage, government, and worship.”  There’s much revealed between the lines of Genesis!

Genesis was written/compiled by Moses, inspired by the Holy Spirit (2Ti.3:16).  It tells of ancient gentiles.  Some of them applied God’s ways, while others violated principles of God and His Kingdom.

The Lord said of the gentile Abraham in Ge.26:5, “Abraham obeyed Me and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws”.  Also Wisdom of Sirach 44:20 KJV 1611 edition “Abraham kept the law of the Most High.”  Abraham was obedient to the Lord.  To be so consecrated in obedience, he surely had much faith/belief in God!  Jesus said to Jews who opposed Him in Jn.8:39, “If you were Abraham’s children, you would do the works of Abraham”.  Abraham the non-Jew applied God’s principles & laws, present in Genesis.  Long before Moses (400 years)!  Also ref the topic “Abraham Obeyed Which Commandments?”.

James Bruckner Implied Law in the Abraham Narrative, p.67 “Genesis is embedded with law.”

Later, God had Moses define, describe, elaborate on, and add to those godly moral principles/laws via codified injunctions.  Moses did so in the books of Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy.

The Old Covenant for Israel/Jews contained God’s moral precepts & laws existing in Genesis, which Abraham obeyed.  But added for Israel were pilgrim feasts, tabernacle/temple rituals, sin & guilt offerings, etc.  (see “Added in the Old Covenant”.)  We read of no regularly recurring animal sacrifices prior to Moses/Israel.

However, in Genesis there’s no nation of Israel!  The first Jew (Judah) isn’t even born until Ge.29:35!

So the acts we read the gentiles in Genesis doing/not doing relate to principles of conduct for mankind in general (not solely for Jews)…predating by centuries the Old Covenant Law of Moses for Israel.

Doug Ward The Law of God in the Book of Genesis “This beginning portion of the Bible has quite a lot to say about legal matters. However, it often addresses these matters indirectly rather than in the form of explicit commands.”  There are laws of God present in Genesis between the lines.  cf. Ro.4:15, 5:12-13.

Here I’ll go through the book of Genesis, noting God’s principles revealed in it.  Again, Genesis reflects the Lord’s guidelines for man before there was a nation of Israel.  As we read Genesis, we’ll see actions, both good and bad, righteous and unrighteous…done by those ancient gentiles and non-Jews.

(As an exercise or for reference, you might divide a sheet of paper into two columns.  On the left side, list things/actions to AVOID.  On the right side, list things/actions that are scripturally right to DO.)

Ge.1:11-12 “Plants and trees bearing seed after their kind.”  From creation, kind is to produce kind in biogenesis (cf. v.21, 24).  Vegetation which may be eaten.  Hybrid crops weren’t authorized, nor are GMOs.  Genetically Modified Organisms pose yet unknown health risks; they may also affect allergies.

Ge.1:29 “I have given you every seed-bearing plant that is on the surface of the earth, and every tree which has fruit with seeds. It shall be food for you.”  Seed-bearing land crops are for food.  These do photosynthesis.  These aren’t funguses or algae/seaweed.  Mushrooms are a fungus e.g.; they live on rot.  Some mushrooms are carcinogenic.

Ge.1:27-28 “Be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it. Have dominion.”  God gives to man the mandate to beget children (if physically able), and maintain the environment of the earth.

Ge.2:2-3 “God ceased [or rested, shabáth Hebrew] on the 7^th day from all His work. God blessed the 7^th day and sanctified it.”  It’s the first thing God made holy!  The sabbath is created for man, Mk.2:27.  Sabbath day rest is the recurring weekly sign which identifies that God/Christ is the Creator.  see the series “Sabbath 7^th Day”.

Ge.2:17 “The tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat. For in the day you eat it you shall surely die.”  To disobey God will result in death (cf. 3:6, 24).  God is to be obeyed.  see “Life and Death – for Saints” and “Tree Symbolism in Scripture”.

Ge.2:24-25 “A man shall join to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. They were both naked, the man and his wife.”  Marriage and sex between male & female is ordained.

Ge.4:4 “Abel offered the firstborn of his flock and their fat portions.”  This righteous gentile Abel (He.11:4) didn’t eat the fat portions.  Fat (and organ meats) wasn’t authorized for human consumption (ref Le.3:3-5, 17).  Eating fat is unhealthy.  see “Unclean verses Clean Food”.

Ge.4:8 “Cain killed his brother Abel.”  Murder is a crime.  We all know that.  Here, long prior to Mt Sinai and the codified law given to Moses/Israel.  (also see “War & Killing and the Bible Christian”.)

Ge.4:14-15 “The Lord said, ‘Whoever kills Cain, will suffer vengeance sevenfold’. The Lord set a sign for Cain, lest any finding him should smite him.”  Personal vengeance isn’t allowed (legal authorities determine who executes God’s vengeance, e.g. Ge.9:6 & De.17:6-11.  see “Governmental Loyalty for Christians”.)

Ge.5:22 “Enoch walked with God.”  The faithful (non-Jew) Enoch’s life pleased God, He.11:5.

Ge.7:1-3 “Take with you seven pairs of every kind of clean animal, a male and his mate; one pair of every kind of unclean animal, a male and his mate.”  The gentile Noah knew clean & unclean creatures differed.  God didn’t approve the unclean for sacrifice or as food; some are carcinogenic.  (Clean wild animals weren’t used for godly sacrifices…the six extra pairs of clean wild animals were for food!)  Ge.8:20-21 thanksgiving worship towards the Lord is done by Noah (through sacrifice).

Ge.9:3 “Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you, as the green plants.”  However, as some green plants are poisonous, some moving creatures are unclean/harmful.  The only creatures for “food” are (clean) moving/live creatures, properly bled.  Not creatures which die of themselves (“strangled”, Ac.15:29 KJV), not carrion or road kill, which attract parasites.  see “Acts 15 – Four Prohibitions”.

Ge.9:4 “You shall not eat the flesh with the life, the blood.”  God forbad blood as “food” (cf. Le.3:17, Ac.15:29).  “The life of the flesh is in the blood.” (Le.17:11)  Blood transmits disease.  Drinking blood is toxic to our system.

Ge.9:5-6 “Whoever sheds man’s blood, by man his blood shall be shed.”  A human justice system with governing law courts, even to include capital punishment, God authorized. (ref De.17:6-11, Ro.13:1-4.)

Ge.9:20-23 “Noah began farming and planted a vineyard. He became drunk.”  Farming and vineyards are fine.  But drunkenness/intoxication has bad consequences (cf. Pr.20:1).

Ge.9:24-26 “When Noah awoke from his wine, he knew what his youngest son had done to him.”  Dishonoring a parent or grandparent is wrong.

Ge.12:14-20 Pharoah.  Adultery is very wrong (cf. 20:1-18).  Adultery occurs when a married/betrothed woman has sexual relations with a man not her husband/fiancée.  see “Sexual Sins, Harlotry, Rape”.

Ge.13:13 “The men of Sodom were wicked, sinners against the Lord.”  Wicked sinners?!  Without law, there is no transgression/sin (Ro.4:15).  Evidently there was law and the transgression of it in Genesis!

Ge.14:18 “Melchisedek king of Salem brought out bread & wine; he was priest of the Most High God.”  Both king and priest.  This indicates there is no complete separation between state and church.  Here also is bread & wine, the forerunner of communion with Jesus.  (ref He.7:17 Jesus is priest forever in the order of Melchizedek.)  see “Melchisedek Order Priesthood” and “Bread and Wine in the Church”.

Ge.14:20 “Abram gave him [Melchisedek] a tenth of all.”  Tithing to God’s representative of church and state is done by the gentile Abram, the father of the faithful, Ro.4:16.  (cf. Ge.28:22 God hadn’t raised taxes in Jacob’s day; His rate is still just 10%.)  see “Tithe to Church and State”.

Ge.15:16 “The iniquity of the Amorites isn’t yet full.”  But if God didn’t have moral law in Genesis, they wouldn’t be guilty of iniquity.  Paul wrote, “Without law there’s no transgression”, Ro.5:12-13.

Ge.19:4-11 the men of Sodom said to Lot, “Where are the men [angels] who came to visit you tonight? Send them out so we can have sex with them’….Lot said to them, ‘Please don’t act so wickedly.”  Same-sex intercourse is wickedness (as is beastiality, sex with a different kind)!

Ge.20:7, 17-18 “Abraham prayed to God.”  Ge.25:21 so did Isaac.  Ge.24:63 Isaac meditated.  Prayer and meditation to God are good practices.

Ge.21:9-10, 14 Abraham sent away Hagár his wife (ref Ge.16:3) and their son Ishmaél.  Divorce may be done for just cause, as when continual disrespect/mockery or physical abuse is present. (cf. De.24:1)

Ge.25:8-10 “His sons buried him [Abraham].”  Isaac & Ishmael.  This reflects proper burial for the deceased.  Also seen in this passage is sons honoring their parents (ref Ex.20:12, Ep.6:2).

Ge.27:11-13, 19 Jacob lied to Isaac.  Lying is usually wrong; so is deception and notably false witness.  (cf. 27:34-36, 37:31-33, 39:14, 20, Ex.20:16, Col.3:9, Ac.5:1-11.)  see “Lying – Ananias & Sapphira”.

Ge.30:1-13 lists the four wives of Jacob (v.4), and their offspring.  Having plural wives simultaneously isn’t morally wrong, if they’re adequately provided for.  Jacob/Israel wasn’t an adulterer!  (see “Polygyny – Lawful in God’s Eyes?”.)

Ge.31:33 Jacob’s four wives had separate tents.  (However, having plural wives in most of today’s western world isn’t customary and isn’t recommended.)  Sexual orgies aren’t God’s way.

Ge.31:19 “Rachel stole the household idols that were her father’s.”  Stealing is wrong.  We know that.  Also, idolatry and having other gods is wrong (cf. Jsh.24:2)!

Ge.31:34-35 Labán wouldn’t search the saddlebags upon which Rachel sat during her period.  Again, blood transmits disease.  Contact with human uncleanness and sex during menstruation is to be avoided (ref Le.15:20, 20:18, Ac.21:25).  Menstrual sex can cause tubal pregnancy and cervical cancer.

Ge.31:32 “Anyone you find your gods with shall not live.”  Jacob was talking to Laban, Rachel’s father.  Speaking curses upon someone can have dire consequences…Rachel died young (Ge.35:16-19).

Ge.31:42 “The God of Abraham, the God of my father.”  The true God is noted here by Jacob.

Ge.34:1-2, 24-26, 30 Dinah.  Rape/seduction (not mutual consent or elopement) is wrong; violations may be a capital offense.  (see “Sexual Sins, Harlotry, Rape”.)  v.15-30 covenant-breaking is wrong.  (Here by Jacob’s sons; Shechemites did become physically circumcised.)

Ge.35:22 “Reuben lay with Bilháh his father’s concubine.”  She’s a secondary wife of Jacob, Ge.30:4.  Dishonoring your father is sin.  Sex with father’s wife is a wrong form of incest, Le.18:8 & 1Co.5:1.

{Sidelight: Yet lesser incest such as marrying your sister wasn’t disallowed.  Kindred endogamy was necessary for reproduction and environmental caretaking, as per Ge.1:28 & Ge.9:1.  However, it’s said that when Abrám married Sarah (his niece or half-sister), Ge.20:11-12, the gene pool was still deep and the risk of birth defects was less.  (Later, when the risk became greater, this too is prohibited, Le.18:9.)}

Ge.37:5-9 “Joseph had another dream.” (fulfilled in Ge.42:6.)  This shows that God gives valid dreams.

Ge.37:27-28 Joseph’s brothers sold him to traders.  Kidnapping is very wrong (cf. Ex.21:16).  Also, selling one into slavery against his will was evil (cf. Ge.50:20).

Ge.38:7-10 refusing to father a son for a deceased brother’s widow was a form of cruelty to women (the weaker sex).  A son would care for his mother in her old age.  Also seen here is wrong coveting.

Ge.39:7-12 adultery is a “great evil” (v.9).  Again, God’s moral laws existed in Genesis.  In this passage, a married woman tried to rape Joseph.  He knew adultery was sin (prior to the law of Moses).

Ge.45:4-15 Joseph and his brothers reconcile.  Forgiveness is seen; also respect and love of family.

Ge.48:5-6 from Jacob’s example, we see that inheritances for children/grandchildren are good.

Ge.50:21 “I will provide for you and your little ones.”  Joseph takes into account the welfare of others.

Ge.50:24-26 reflects honoring the memory of the deceased (Joseph, fulfilled in Jsh.24:32).

Even hints & prophecies of the Savior and the gospel predate Moses.  Ge.3:15 indicates the seed of the woman (not of the man) eventually would crush the serpent’s head…the future virgin birth of Christ the Lord is implied.  Also Ge.22:8, the Lord Himself to be the lamb/sacrifice.  That will be Jesus.

Also, 1Pe.3:20-21 relates baptism for Christian converts to the Genesis Flood (Ge.6–8).  By means of flood waters, Noah was saved from the evil so prevalent around him.  Peter ties this to the water of baptism saving believers, in the sense of figuratively cleansing their conscience.

Bruckner op. cit., p. 205 wrote, seen in Genesis is “…a full range of law implied and functioning from the beginning”.  Indicative of this are the three dozen godly principles I’ve noted in this topic survey.

These principles/laws are universal from Creation regarding gentiles; they predate Moses, the OC and the NC!  Since they are universal…Christians of all nations should ordinarily adhere to most today!

In Genesis we read of Godfearers who obeyed the Lord…non-Jewish men such as Abraham (Ge.22:12) and Joseph (Ge.42:18).  Job too was a Godfearer (Jb.1:8).  That was prior to the OC law for Israel, later codified in Exodus.  (also cf. Ac.10:1-2 Cornelius the gentile Godfearer.)

However, absent from Genesis (but part of the Levitical OC for Israel) were tabernacle procedures & ceremonies: e.g. sin/guilt offerings, pilgrim feasts, various washings.  Any such rituals aren’t seen or recorded by Moses in Genesis regarding righteous gentiles and non-Jews of old.

Yet God had moral laws from the beginning, in Genesis.  1Jn.3:8 “The devil sins from the beginning.”

This concludes our survey of God’s moral principles/laws seen in the book of Genesis.  The principles predate Moses’ later codification and they transcend the OC.

The topic “Ten Commandments in Genesis & Job” focuses specifically on the Decalogue/Testimony, as seen prior to Moses and the Old Covenant for Israel.

Melchisedek Order Priesthood

King David of ancient Israel was given a messianic prophecy in Ps.110:1-4.  v.4 “The Lord has sworn, ‘You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchisedek.”  The Lord (Jesus) would be ruling King and priest in the order of Melchisedek!  This topic discusses Melchisedek and priesthood.

True religion and the Judeo-Christian ethic includes the entire Bible.  Both the Old Testament (OT) and the New Testament (NT) speak of priesthood.

What is a priest?  A priest performs religious rites, and mediates between God and humans.

Ancient nations and heathen cultures had priesthoods (ref Ge.41:45, Ex.3:1).  Wayne Jackson Exploring the Concept of Priesthood “The ancient Assyrians had priests, as did the Babylonians.”  OT Israel’s priests were of the Levitical order, from the tribe of Jacob’s son Levi.

Moses was a priest and a mediator (Ps.99:6; Ex.24:6, 29:26; Nu.7:1; Ga.3:19).  Then Moses’ brother Aaron and Aaron’s male descendants from the tribe of Levi were Israel’s priests (Ex.28:1).  Prior to the Levitical (Lev) Aaronic order of priests, in ancient Israel families/clans performed priestly functions (Ex.24:5).  The Aaronic priesthood was established in the wilderness (Ex.40:13-15), after the Israelites left Egypt.  But this Levitical priesthood didn’t exist in the books of Genesis or Job.

Jesus and His NT believers are of the order of Melchisedek, which both predates and postdates the Levitical order.  The person of Melchisedek (Mel) goes back to Genesis.  What does the Bible tell us about Melchisedek, and how does the order of Melchisedek compare to the Levitical order?

The mysterious Melchisedek/Melchizedek is thought by many to be a theophany or Christophany, a pre-incarnate appearance of Jesus Christ the Son of God Most High (Lk.1:32).  The name “Melchisedek” means ‘king of righteousness’ (He.7:2).  And in Je.23:5, the Messiah/Branch (Jesus) is the prophesied righteous king.  Ge.18:1-33 the Lord as a Christophany appeared to Abraham.  Melchisedek appeared to Abrám in Ge.14.  Previously, in Ge.12:1-2 the Lord had said that He would bless Abram…“I will bless you.”  And then in Ge.14:18-21 Melchisedek said, “Blessed be Abram of God Most High”.  It is Mel who blessed Abram!  It appears that Mel was divine, as the pre-existent Word of God, the Lord Christ.  Jn.1:1, 14 identifies Jesus as “the Word” (the Lógos in Greek).

The Dead Sea Scrolls Melchizedek document 11Q13, dated circa 100 BC, indicates Melchisedek is divine.  Wikipedia: 11Q13 “11Q13 states that….Melchizedek is ‘Your Elohim [God]’ who will deliver the sons of righteousness from Belíal.”  In the 1st century AD, Philo said Melchisedek represented the Word/Logos and is a priest (Allegorical Interpretation 3:26:82, p.59).  Again, Jesus is the Word/Logos.

Melchisedek is the first priest mentioned in the OT.  In Ge.14:18, Mel served Abram (the father of the faithful, Ga.3:7) bread & wine.  Sharing bread & wine will become the sacred communion or eucharist for the NT church in the order of Melchisedek!  (also see the topic “Bread and Wine in the Church”.)

Ge.14:18 “Melchisedek, king of Salem brought out bread and wine; now He was priest of God Most High.”  Mel was both king and priest of God.  In ancient kingdoms there was no separation of church and state.  Their politics involved pleasing their deity, so the deity would protect them.  But Israel’s priestly Aaronites among Levites weren’t kings.  Judah, not Levi, became a kingly tribe (Ge.49:10).

The Lord changed Abram’s name to Abraham in Ge.17:5.  Was Abraham himself a priest, serving under Melchisedek?  Abraham knew the king of Sodom (Ge.14:21).  In Ge.18:23-24, it is plausible that Abraham was interceding to the Lord Christ as a priest on Sodom’s behalf.

The order of (King) Melchisedek includes the laws of the King.  e.g. in Ge.14 Abram tithed or paid 10% to the priest-king/church-state.  (see the topic “Tithe to Church and State”.)  Abraham obeyed God’s regulations.  The Lord said of Abraham in Ge.26:5, “Abraham obeyed Me and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws”.  Abraham had the faith to obey all that, without a codified Law of Moses!  (see “Abraham Obeyed Which Commandments?”.)

What are the laws taught by, or pertaining to, the order of Melchisedek?

Throughout Genesis, we read of gentiles (such as Abraham) obeying…or disobeying…God’s principles & instructions.  Also Job.22:22, God’s guidelines weren’t unknown to gentiles living prior to the Law of Moses.  (see “Genesis Principles Predate Moses” and “Ten Commandments in Genesis & Job”.)

1Enoch 99:2 “Woe to them who pervert the words of uprightness, and transgress the eternal law.”  1Eno.106:14 “Some of the angels of heaven…commit sin and transgress the law.” (ref 2Pe.2:4 & Jude 1:6.)  This indicates an eternal law existed even for the residents of heaven to obey, in order to dwell with God in harmony.  (Jude considered 1Eno.1:9 a prophecy, and quoted it in Jude 1:14.  1Enoch is included in a few Christian canons.)

Genesis reflects many similarities to the laws Christ later told Moses to codify & enact during the Levitical dispensation.  For example, in Genesis: 39:9 adultery is a great sin.  31:32 stealing is wrong.  2:2-3 God sanctified the 7^th day sabbath for mankind at Creation.  28:22 Abraham’s grandson Jacob also paid 10% to God.  7:2 only clean creatures are food.  Some try to claim the extra pairs of clean animals taken on Noah’s ark were for sacrifice.  But only domestic clean animals were sacrifices, not wild!  Yet Noah took seven pairs of wild clean animals too (there’d be plenty to eat)!  9:4 blood isn’t authorized as food (prohibited in the Ac.15:29 decree for the church.  see “Acts 15 – Four Prohibitions”.)

The Lord later commanded that the above laws (and other laws too), seen in Genesis for gentiles, be part of the Levitical code and Old Covenant for Moses/Israel.  (see “Added in the Old Covenant”.)

Albertus Pieters Notes On Genesis “Whoever has learned the Genesis stories has learned all the chief things that can be known about God (apart from the incarnation of God in Christ)…of permanent institutions for the well-being of mankind, we have here the institution of the sabbath, marriage, government, and worship.”  Yes, there’s much for the church found between the lines of Genesis!

The above examples from Genesis reflect some of the similarities between the order of Melchisedek and the Levitical order.  But there are also noticeable differences between them!  Such as…

In the order of Melchisedek, there’s no scriptural evidence of any physical tabernacle/temple ceremonial rituals (ref He.9:1, 10).  There’s no animal sin/trespass offerings.  There’s no Passover (before God ‘passed-over’ Moses’ Israel in Ex.12:23); there’s no other pilgrim feasts.  (Genesis does show voluntary non-temple burnt offerings.)  Also, we read of lesser incest…so they can obey God’s commands to reproduce (Ge.1:28, 9:1)…when the only humans available to marry there are relatives.

In the order of Melchisedek, there’s no lunar calendar (for determining pilgrim feast dates, e.g.).  Examining Ge.7:11 with Ge.8:3-4 indicates 30-day months of a solar calendar.  Also Re.11:2-3 reflects 30-day months of a prophetic solar calendar.  This calendar projects to add a 30-day leap-month seven times in each 40-year cycle…in years #6, 12, 18, 24, 30, 36, 40.  Its variance from 365.2422 days per year is said to be only 4 hours 2 min over a span of 11,560 years!  Also a form of solar calendar is used in 1Enoch.  But the lunar aspect of the Levitical dispensation had 29 or 30 day months (for feasts)…and it’s less accurate.  (As another comparison, the estimated variance of the Gregorian calendar over 11,560 years may be around 80 hours, or 3 ⅓ days.  It too is less accurate than the ‘prophetic calendar’.)

Various lunar calendar and new moon reckoning dogmas for Levitical festivals can cause unnecessary division within the order of Melchisedek!  In 1Co.14:33, Paul says God is not of confusion/disorder!  Attempting to use a Levitical calendar in the Melchisedek order has resulted in a measure of confusion.

There’s a significant prophecy in Zechariah.  Again, Je.23:5-6 referred to the Lord/Messiah as the Branch.  Zec.3:8-9 the then Levitical high priest, named Yehoshúa/Yeshúa (Iesous or Jesus in the Greek LXX), was a symbol.  Zec.6:11-13 is about that ancient Yeshua. “Behold, a man whose name is the Branch. He will be a priest on his throne [kingly], and the counsel of peace will be between the two offices.”  That Yeshua had the same name as the future Branch; and back in 500 BC was a symbol of the Melchisedek priest/king!  A full 500 years prior to the Messiah’s human birth, God knew the Savior’s Name would be…Yeshua (in Hebrew & Aramaic)!

Let’s now read through Hebrews 5–7.  It’s about priesthood and Jesus in the order of Melchisedek.  The Levitical and Melchisedek priesthoods are further contrasted in these chapters.

He.5:1-11 there was much to say regarding the order of Melchisedek.  He.6:13-20 Jesus is high priest in the order of Mel.  6:18 the two immutable things God swore with an oath are found in 6:13-14 and 7:21.  That is, the Lord surely would bless Abraham and multiply his descendants, and Jesus is priest in the order of Mel forever.  (also ref 1Eno.69 regarding oaths.)

He.7:1-8 the priest-king Melchisedek had no genealogy, no beginning of days or end of life, and was made like the Son of God.  v.8 “He [Melchisedek] lives on.”  In Hebrews, Melchisedek isn’t portrayed as a mortal man!  Abraham was a mortal man.  Aaronite priests were mortal men with genealogy.

Wikipedia: Priesthood of Melchizedek “The basis of the Aaronic priesthood was ancestry; the basis of the priesthood of Melchizedek is everlasting life. That is, there’s no interruption due to a priest’s death (Heb.7:8,15-16, 23-25).”  The Levitical priesthood was hereditary.  ISBE “Melchizedek, a priest of highest rank, had neither predecessor nor successor in his great office.”

He.7:17 “You [Jesus] are a priest forever in the order of Melchisedek.”  Got Questions – Who Was Melchizedek? “This term ‘order’ would ordinarily indicate a succession of priests holding the office. None are ever mentioned, however, in the long interval from Melchizedek to Christ, an anomaly that can be solved by assuming that Melchizedek and Christ are really the same person.”

He.6:20 “Jesus…having become a high priest forever according to the order of Melchisedek.”  Poole Commentary Ps.110:4 “Forever’, not to be interrupted or translated to another person.”  Jesus is high priest forever.  Yet He.7:3, speaking of Melchisedek, “…Being made like to the Son of God, does remain a priest continually [g1336].” (Youngs Literal Translation.)  According to the writer to the Hebrews, Melchisedek is priest on into perpetuity.  Vincent Word Studies He.7:3 “The tenure of his [Melchisedek’s] office is uninterrupted.”  Are we to believe there are two high priests serving continuously and uninterrupted?!  Taken literally…if Melchisedek isn’t Jesus, then there are presently two high priests simultaneously!

Hebrews 7 also compares Melchisedek to Abraham.  He.7:4 “Consider how great this [Being] was!”  (The term for ‘man’ isn’t in the Greek text of v.4.)  The Being Melchisedek is even called great!

Abraham was highly honored and eminent, the spiritual father of the faithful, according to Paul (Ga.3:7, 29).  The Lord had told Abram in Ge.12:2-3, “I will make you a great nation, and will magnify your name….In you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”  God would change Abram’s name to Abraham, magnify it, and his posterity would be renowned on earth!

Yet He.7:4 indicates Melchisedek is greater than Abraham!  He blessed Abram.  He.7:7 ESV “It is beyond dispute that the inferior [Abram] is blessed by the superior [Melchisedek].” (Other translations render the Greek term kreítton, Strongs g2909, as “better” or “greater”.)  Barnes Notes “Melchizedek was thus superior to Abraham.”  Cambridge Bible “The inferior is blessed by one who is the Superior.”

{Sidelight: Some think Melchisedek was a title (like Caesar or Czar), not a personal name.  A Jewish tradition says Melchisedek was Noah’s son Shem.  But according to Ge.5:32 & Ge.10:22, Shem did have a literal genealogy (unlike Melchisedek).  Shem had a beginning and an end, a mortal man.  Furthermore, in scripture Shem is of lesser status than Abraham (or Noah), not greater.  Shem’s name is seen less than 20 times in the Bible, whereas Abram/Abraham appears over 300 times!  Also, in the LXX and Samaritan Pentateuch chronologies, Shem was dead long before Mel met Abram in Ge.14.}

He.7:9-12 “The priesthood being changed, there takes place a change in the law also.”  A change has occurred in some written law/toráh; in the sacrificial & ceremonial aspects.  There’s no Levitical priesthood or temple; they’re now obsolete as far as the church is concerned.

It’s changed because…Jesus fulfilled all things written about Him (but not everything written in the OT).  Let’s first notice, in Mt.5:17-18 Jesus said, “I did not come to abolish, but to fulfill [g4137]”.  Then after His resurrection, Jesus’ words in Lk.24:44 refer back to the earlier Mt.5:17-18, with added detail. “My words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things which are written about Me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled [g4137].”  Jesus came to fulfill all things written about Him in the Law, etc.  Furthermore, Luke noted in Ac.13:29, “They carried out all that was written concerning Him”.  Jesus didn’t abolish or “fulfill” in our place the Lord’s moral principles (seen way back in Genesis for gentiles/non-Jews even)!

Just because Jesus obeyed God’s principles doesn’t imply that He did so in our stead, and we may act like the devil!  In 2Co.5:10, Paul said that each of us must appear before the judgment seat…Ro.14:12 to “give an account of himself to God”.

He.7:13-28 Jesus wasn’t a Levite; He was from the tribe of Judah.  v.14 “Our Lord descended from Judah.”  Jesus didn’t have to qualify genealogically in the sense of the Levitical priesthood.  The fact that He was from Judah (was Jewish) through Mary didn’t disqualify Him in the order of Melchisedek, though He wasn’t qualified for the Levitical order.  The Levitical priesthood was based on genealogy…it consisted of only one clan (Aaron’s) within the tribe of Levi.

Continuing into Hebrews 8…the Old Covenant is of the Levitical order, the New Covenant is the order of Melchisedek.  He.8:6-13 the Lev dispensation principles, those which aren’t also part of the order of Mel, were vanishing.  v.13 “Whatever is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to disappear.”

He.9–10 the Levitical order’s weaker animal sacrifices were continually repeated.  All their priests were sinning humans and were temporary (they kept dying, He.7:23).  The Lev order couldn’t transform hearts nor give ancient Israelites the Holy Spirit power to obey God.  (So they’d gone into captivity.)  Whereas the order of Mel transforms hearts via the Spirit, with the sinless Jesus high priest forever!

Fire from God fell to burn Levitical order animal sacrifices on the altar (Le.6:12-13, 9:24).  Tongues of fire fell on the heads of human “living sacrifices” of the Melchisedek order (Ac.2:1-3, Ro.12:1)!

He.10:9-14 Jesus’ one-time sacrifice ends the prior Levitical dispensation, with its ceremonial temple rites.  It establishes the succeeding order of Mel.  v.9 “He takes away the first, to establish the second.”

In Jn.6:4 & 7:2, John calls God’s OT Passover and Feast of Booths the “feast of the Jews” (not “feast of God”)…because the old Levitical dispensation, with its pilgrim feasts at the temple, is ending.  They don’t exist in the order of Melchisedek.

Mt.26:26-28 Jesus restored the order of Melchisedek with the symbolic sacred bread & wine of the New Covenant as its communion (from Ge.14:19 Melchisedek).  Jewish Christian historian Alfred Edersheim The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah 5:10:826-827 “With this celebration and new institution, the Jewish Passover forever ceased!”  The temple would soon be destroyed, and the pilgrim feasts at Jerusalem (their one authorized feast site then, never two simultaneously) would cease.

The OT Levites had no tribal land inheritance and were restricted in business (De.10:9; Nu.3:9, 18:20-21).  But leaders in the order of Melchisedek may work a common job, e.g. Ac.18:2-3.

The only Levitical injunctions and practices remaining…are those which are also present in the order of Melchisedek.  There are many.  Again, a detailed examination of Genesis shows that such injunctions (applicable for gentiles) existed prior to Moses and the Old Covenant.

He.13:10-14 “We have an altar which those who serve the tabernacle have no right to eat.”  Disbelieving Levitical priests, at temple feasts of the Jews, had no right to partake of the bread & wine of the Lord in the order of Melchisedek.  Yet New Covenant believers partake.  And we needn’t be physically circumcised to take that communion!  Father Abraham (Abram) wasn’t circumcised when Melchisedek shared bread & wine with him as Abram in Ge.14!  (Whereas physical circumcision is commanded to keep a Passover, e.g. Ex.12:48-49.  see the topic “Circumcision in the Bible”.)

Few of us today have knowledge of/proof of family ancestry in the tribe of Levi or its priesthood.  1Pe.2:9 “You [Christians, 4:16] are a royal priesthood.”  Yet even us non-Levites/non-Aaronites are adopted (Ro.8:14-16) into royalty…and are become the royal priesthood in the order of Melchisedek!  Re.5:9-10 of saints from all nations, “You have made them a kingdom, and priests to our God”.

To conclude, the OT verse most often quoted in the NT is Le.19:18b. “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”  But the OT (short) passage most often referred to in the NT is Ps.110:1-4 (which began this topic). “The Lord said to my Lord, ‘Sit at My right hand, until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet….You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchisedek.”  David Seilaff Who Was Melchizedek? “In fact, Psalm 110 is referred to in the New Testament more than any Old Testament section of Scripture.”  The order of Melchisedek is of such significance for Christ’s church!

Jesus is both our high Priest (He.6:20), and “King of kings and Lord of lords” (Re.19:16)…in the order of Melchisedek and the Kingdom of God!  Praise the Lord!

Tent/Tabernacle of David (2)

This is the continuation and conclusion to “Tent/Tabernacle of David (1)”.  Part 1 should be read first.

The ark of God was the most important object in God’s tabernacle which Moses erected.  Christ, the God and good Shepherd of Israel, ‘dwelt’ above the ark between the cherubim (cf. Ex.25:22, Ps.80:1, Jn.10:11).  The ark resided in the Holy of Holies innermost room (Ex.26:34) of Moses’ tabernacle for 500 years.  From approximately 1611 BC – 1102 BC (except when it was taken into battle or in transport).

The Philistines captured the ark from Shilóh (1Sm.4:17), c 1102 BC.  Later, after King David subdued the Philistines, he wanted God’s ark brought up to Jerusalem (c 1030 BC).  1Ch.15:1 “In the city of David [on Mt Zion] he prepared a place for the ark of God and pitched a tent for it.”  That Hebrew term for “tent” is óhel, Strongs h168.  The Greek Septúagint/LXX term is skené g4633.

The tent enclosure David pitched in Jerusalem provided a home for the ark of God for nearly 40 years.  Until his son Solomon completed the temple (c 991 BC), and the ark was moved into it (1Ki.7:51–8:1).

King David brought only the ark into the tent.  The ark still contained God’s law of the Decalogue or Ten Commandments (even during Solomon’s reign, 2Ch.5:1-2, 10).  But absent from Moses’ Holy of Holies (then at Gibeón) was Aaron’s rod that budded, signifying priestly Aaronide authority in the Levitical order of ancient Israel.  Absent was the memorial jar of manna from their wilderness journeys.  (Perhaps Aaron’s rod and the jar of manna were lost when the Philistines captured the ark, c 1102 BC?)

In Part 1, we identified 8 or 9 possible reasons why David set up the “tent of David” at his palace.

It was in David’s heart to eventually build a permanent structure in Jerusalem for the ark (1Ch.17:1-ff).  However, the Lord said King Solomon would build the Jerusalem temple (on Mt Moriah, 2Ch.3:1).

Yet it was God’s will for David to first pitch a tent for the ark on Mt Zion!  see “Tent/Tabernacle of David (1)”.  (also see the topics about “Zion in the Bible” and “Ark of the Testimony – Journeys”.)

The physical tent David pitched disappeared from history after 991 BC.  Approximately 240 years after Solomon moved the ark from David’s tent into the finished temple of Solomon (c 991 BC, and stored Moses’ tabernacle from Gibeon, 2Ch.5:5)…the Lord gave Amos a remarkable prophecy:

Am.9:11-12 LXX “In that day I [the Lord] will raise up the tent [skene g4633] of David that is fallen, and will rebuild it.”  (Here the Hebrew term is sukkáh h5521, ‘booth’.  A booth was a temporary dwelling, not intended for reuse in other locations.)  The kingdom of Israel had divided; the northern sector became corrupt, and God would soon scatter it (v.8-10).  Yet the Lord said the day would come when He will again raise-up a “tent of David” (or “tabernacle of David”), which David’s physical tent foreshadowed as a type!  The tent David pitched for the ark…the Lord related it to the future.

Soon after Amos wrote, Isaiah also prophesied about the tent of David in Is.16:5 LXX.  “A throne will be established in mercy. One will sit on it in truth, in the tent [skene g4633] of David, judging, seeking justice, and swift to do righteousness.”  (The Hebrew Masoretic Text here has ohel h168 for “tent”.)

This verse too applied to the future…to Christ and His church!  Benson Commentary Is.16:5 “He [Isaiah] was carried forward to a contemplation of the kingdom of Christ.”  JFB Commentary Is.16:5 “Language so divinely framed as to apply to ‘the latter days’ under King Messiah.”  Gill Exposition “This was typical of the church of God, where Christ sits and reigns as King, see Amos 9:11.”

The New Testament (NT) reflects the realization of the Old Testament (OT) prototype “tent of David”.

At the Jerusalem council, around 49 AD, in Ac.15:12-17 the apostle James quoted Amos’ prophecy of God. “After these things I [God] will return, and I will rebuild the tent [skene g4633] of David, which is fallen…That the rest of men may seek the Lord, all the Gentiles [g1484 nations] who are called by My name.”  James understood the tent of David also prefigured gentiles coming to the Lord!

The ancient tent of David, called the tabernacle of David in many English translations…prefigured the growing NT church, consisting of Israelites & Jews with gentiles grafted-in (ref Ro.11:11-17, 25-27).  Let’s see in what ways the tent/tabernacle of David typed the church:

The ark of God resided in the tent at David’s sanctuary on Zion for 40 years (though he died c 1002 BC).  The only item in the ark then was God’s eternal law (later seen in heavenly Mt Zion, Re.11:19 & 14:1)!  God’s laws are figuratively written on the hearts of New Covenant Israelites (He.8:8-12) and gentiles.

After David brought the ark to Mt Zion, he composed many Psalms at the tent and instituted courses for praise & worship before it.  (In the Pentateuch we don’t read of that worship style at Moses’ tabernacle.)

Asáph and other Levites ministered and gave thanks before the ark with song and musical instruments, 1Ch.16:4-7, 37-38.  Ellicott Commentary 1Ch.16:4 “These Levites were to minister before the Ark in the sacred tent of Mt Zion.”  1Ch.16:6 “Beniaiah and Jahaziel the priests blew trumpets continually before the ark.”  Ps.50 was written by Asaph as he ministered praise & thanks at David’s tent (Ps.50:2).

Following are three Psalms (with Bible commentary notes) which tie to David and the tent on Mt Zion: David wrote in Ps.15:1, “O Lord, who may abide in Thy tent? Who shall dwell in Thy holy hill?”  Cambridge Bible Ps.15:1 “The tent’, which David pitched for the Ark on Mt Zion.”  Barnes Notes Ps.15:1 “Zion, regarded as the dwelling place of God.”  Benson Commentary “The psalmist alludes to the hill of Zion.”  Ps.24:3 “Who may ascend to the hill of the Lord? Who may stand in His holy place?”  Pulpit Commentary Ps.24:3 “At this time, the Mt Zion.”  Barnes Notes Ps.24:3 “Mount Zion; called the hill of the Lord, because it was the place designated for His worship, or the place of His abode.”  David also wrote in Ps.27:6, “I will offer in His tent sacrifices of shouts of joy”.  (Not animal sacrifices there.)  Cambridge Bible Ps.27:6 “The tent which David pitched for the Ark on Mt Zion must be meant.”

David himself actually sat before the ark!  1Ch.17:16 “David the king went and sat before the Lord.”  David enjoyed God’s Presence at the sacred tent on Zion.  (cf. Ps.21:6 “Thy countenance”.)  David could commune with Christ above the cherubim atop the ark (1Ch.13:6), as Moses had (Ex.25:22)!

But at Moses’ tabernacle, only the high priest was permitted to enter the Holy of Holies chamber where the ark/Christ had sat.  No one else!  And he only on the annual Day of Atonement, ref Le.16:2, 29, 34.

Dr. Ralph Wilson David Brings the Ark to Jerusalem “David is the great architect of worship before the Lord in Jerusalem.”  Worship there was unlike that at Moses’ tabernacle.  Ps.69:30-35 David wrote, “I will praise the Name of God with song, and magnify Him with thanksgiving…God will save Zion and build the cities of Judah.”  v.31 David’s praise to God in Zion was more pleasing than animal sacrifices.

I find no verses that say recurring animal sacrifices were done on Mt Zion!  (Regular animal offerings were done at Moses’ tabernacle in Gibeon.)  Recurring sacrifices at David’s tent were…praise & thanksgiving.  And praise & giving of thanks was typical of the NT church…no animal sacrifices.

David’s enclosure for the ark was a makeshift stationary tent, open and with an altar out front (1Ki.3:15 LXX).  There was no veil.  No items from Moses’ tabernacle used for ceremonial rituals were on Zion.

wildolive.co.uk The Tabernacle of David “David, who was obviously in the will of God, erected a tent in which people worshiped joyfully without being separated from the Ark by the Veil [cf. Ex.26:30-36]. Remember that the Veil in the Temple was torn in two when Yeshua [Jesus] died on the cross [Mt.27:51].”  The tent of David foreshadowed Christ and His church…there’s no veil of separation.

WicWiki Tabernacle of David “David’s tabernacle represented the grace of God and a way open into the very Holiest of All (see Heb.6:19, 8:1-2). As David’s tabernacle contained the Ark in open access, so the church, through Christ, has open access to the presence of God.”  The writer of the book of Hebrews said, He.10:19 “We have confidence to enter the Holy Place by the blood of Jesus”.

The Davidic style of worship was later done by Jewish returnees from captivity in Ezra & Nehemiah.  Ne.12:24 LXX “The heads of the Levites…were to sing hymns of praise, according to the commandment of David the man of God, course by course.”  Gill Exposition Ne.12:24 “They performed by turns…as David under divine direction ordered, see 1Ch.23:5.”  also ref Ezr.2:65, 3:10-11; Ne.12:27, 36, 45-47.

Davidic worship and Psalms was the forerunner of praise in the NT church.  R. Wilson op. cit. “The Psalms are designed to help us experience praise, to enter into it ourselves.”  The apostle Paul exhorted the church to worship God with song.  Col.3:16 “Teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thanksgiving in your hearts to God.”  Ep.5:19 “Singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord.”  Praise music is an integral part of Christian worship.

2Sm.6:14 as King David was bringing the ark to Zion, he “danced before the Lord with all his might, and David was wearing a linen ephód.”  Although David was king, royalty, he wore the linen ephod of ordinary priests…even though he wasn’t a descendant of the Aaronide priestly line.  (Samuel had worn one as a boy, 1Sm.2:18.  cf. 1Ch.15:27; 1Sm.22:18.)  David was a type of Christ, who is the “son of David” (Mt.1:1, Lk.18:38).  David wrote Ps.110.  Some think Ps.110:4 “order of Melchisedek” refers to David too, as both king and a type of priest.  (Peter also called David a prophet, Ac.2:29-30).

tlchrist.info/tabernacle_david “David did an amazing thing in his time. The housing of the ark of God in the Tabernacle of David was an event of unusual importance, for it was celebrated by ‘all Israel’ with demonstrations of the most impressive character: ‘With shouting, and with sound of the cornet, and with trumpets and with cymbals’, while King David himself danced before the ark with all his might in the exuberance of his joy. It constituted a decided break with the Levitical ordinances given through Moses. The Old Testament way of reaching God was through the means of animal sacrifices. There were no [recurring] animal sacrifices there [David’s tent]. Chiefly, it is to be observed that this sojourn of the ark on Mt Zion is the foundation of the many references in the Psalms and the Prophets to Zion, as the dwelling place of Jehovah, and is what gives to the terms ‘Zion’ and ‘Mount Zion’ their high spiritual meaning. Never thereafter was Mount Moriah, where Solomon’s magnificent temple stood, referred to as Jehovah’s dwelling place, but always Mount Zion.”

Much later, animal sacrifices were done at the 1^st century temple of Herod.  Judaizers wanted to bring circumcised gentile proselytes into Herod’s temple.  But it was the tent of David, which had no regular animal sacrifices, that actually foreshadowed the gentiles coming in to the worship of the true God.

As Amos prophesied and James confirmed, God would rebuild the tabernacle/tent of David.  God isn’t rebuilding the obsolete temples of Solomon, Zerubbabél/Ezra (built 520-516 BC), or Herod!

Solomon’s temple (the 1^st temple) took 7 years to build on nearby Mt Moriah (using 30,000 workmen).  The 2^nd temple was Zerubbabel’s (also known as Ezra’s temple).  Herod’s structure was a 3^rd temple.

Herod’s Temple Is Really the Third Temple “Herod [the Great] decided that Zerubbabel’s Temple was too insignificant. So he presented a plan to the people to take down Zerubbabel’s temple and erect a newer, bigger and better one in its place. John 2:20 indicates that construction/renovation of this temple still wasn’t completed 46 years after it was begun.”  Josephus Antiquities of the Jews 15:11:1-3, wrote that the foundation of Zerubbabel’s temple (the 2^nd) was completely destroyed.  Herod’s sanctuary was finished in 1 1/2 years (without halting temple services), the courts in 8 years.  But it wasn’t finally all completed until 64 AD!  18,000 workmen were used!  This was much more than a renovation.  The Four Fold Gospel Jn.2:20 “Herod tore down the 2^nd temple and rebuilt it with a 3^rd structure in that site.”  It took 80 years to complete!  (All that remains today is a 1,600 foot section of the Western Wall, a retaining wall Herod built to expand the temple mount.)   William Whiston footnote to Antiq.15:11:1, “The fancy of the modern Jews, in calling this temple, which was really the 3^rd of their temples, the 2^nd temple, followed so long by later Christians, seems to be without any solid foundation”.

Biblical Archaeology Review Mar/Apr 2002: Herod’s Roman Temple “Actually, it was an entirely new structure, but it is still known in Jewish tradition and in the scholarly literature as the Second Temple.”

judaism.stackexchange “Herod removed Ezra’s Temple, stone by stone, right down to the ground, and then removed the foundations and built an entirely new Temple of his own….Herod didn’t rebuild a temple. He in fact completely reformed the temple mount.”  Herod’s new temple was the 3^rd temple.

The temples of Herod, Zerubbabel/Ezra, Solomon were built on Mt Moriah (2Ch.3:1).  The Hebrew term “Moriah” (h4179) occurs only twice in the entire OT!  (In 2Ch.3:1 and Ge.22:2; also in Je.26:18 the “mountain of the house” of the Lord refers to Mt Moriah.)  And “Moriah” never occurs in the NT.

Whereas the Hebrew term “Zion” (h6726 tsee-yóne) occurs 153 times in the OT!  (80 of those occurrences are in Psalms and Isaiah.)  The Greek LXX and NT term for Zion is Sion (g4622 see-ówn).  It occurs 7 times in the NT (Mt.21:5; Jn.12:15; Ro.9:33, 11:26; He.12:22; 1Pe.2:6; Re.14:1).

Comparing…based on the total Bible occurrences of “Zion” and “Moriah”, the tent/tabernacle of David pitched on Mt Zion has more enduring relevance than the 3 obsolete temples erected on Mt Moriah!

tlchrist.info/tabernacle_david “When God speaks by His prophets concerning things to come in the Kingdom of Christ, He never says, ‘I will build again the Temple of Solomon which I destroyed’, but ‘I will build again the Tabernacle of David which is fallen down’.”

Kevin Conner The Temple of Solomon, p. 206 “In 70 AD God allowed the whole Temple system to be totally destroyed, never to be restored again either in this age or any age to come.”

Religious Jews may attempt to build another temple like Solomon’s or Herod’s on Mt Moriah.  But God isn’t doing that.  The Lord God is building the tabernacle of David!  Not that it will be a literal tent erected by God.  Rather, James said the tent of David represents salvation for all races of men!

{Sidelight: The New Jerusalem temple vision of Ezekiel 40–48 has puzzled Bible readers.  It’s been described as a mix of idealism and allegory, having a figurative spiritual (non-literal) interpretation.  The Lord Christ, very God, sacrificed Himself in the 1^st century AD (not a literal Ezk.45:17, 22!).  There is nothing in the NT to indicate that the Lord will literally reinstitute inferior animal sin offerings as atonement for Himself or others in the future.  And there were no regular animal sacrifices at the tabernacle of David (that God is rebuilding).  Michael Battle What About Ezekiel’s Temple? “Those things which Ezekiel saw [includes animal sacrifices] were based solely on the pattern given to Moses, and was only a figure or foreshadowing of something much greater. With His own blood He [Christ] entered once for all into the holy place of the greater and more perfect tabernacle (in the heavens) [He.9:11-12], and has obtained eternal redemption for us!”}

In his book The Tabernacle of David, p.231, Kevin Conner lists other theological truths represented by the tabernacle of David.  The throne of David pointed to the throne of Christ (the “son of David”).  Earthly Mt Zion & Jerusalem pointed to the heavenly Mt Zion & Jerusalem above (Re.14:1, Ga.4:26).  David was king and a type of priest; Christ is king and priest in the order of Melchisedek (Ge.14:18, Ps.110:4).  After David did animal sacrifices once at the tent (2Sm.6:17), the cessation of any further animal sacrifices there by him pointed to Christ’s one-time sacrifice and the 70 AD end of sacrifices at Herod’s (obsolete) temple.  Instead, sacrifices of praise became the order of worship at David’s tent, as is done in the NT church; He.13:15 “Let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise.”

The transfer of the ark (containing the 10 Commandments, so-called) from Moses’ tabernacle at Gibeon to David’s tent at Zion represented the transfer of the Lord’s righteous moral law from the Old Covenant to the minds & hearts of New Covenant Christians (He.8:10).

The tent of David types both…the Davidic kingdom culminating in Jesus with the Kingdom of God, and the Davidic style of worship.  The church with Gentiles enters into both.  James confirmed in Ac.15:14 that God was “taking from among the gentiles a people for His name”.  Gentiles weren’t to come in to the worship of God under the Old Covenant ritualistic system of the Levitical order.  Christians are now God’s priesthood in the order of Melchisedek.  Jesus is High Priest (He.4:14, 7:17).  Levitical Aaronide priests are obsolete.  The tent of David foreshadowed the at-large community of Christian believers.

As the Lord is gradually rebuilding the tabernacle of David, the Lord is gradually building His church.  Jesus said in Mt.16:18, “I will build My church”.  And the gates of Hades, the realm of the dead, will not prevail against God’s church!  Glory to God!

Zion in the Bible (2) – Heavenly Jerusalem

This topic is the continuation and conclusion to “Zion in the Bible (1)”.  Part 1 should be read first as background.  Little of the material and verses addressed in Part 1 is repeated here in Part 2.

The Hebrew term Zion (Strongs h6726 tsee-yóne, noun) occurs 153 times in the Old Testament (OT).  In Part 1, we looked at many of those verses where Zión occurs.

We saw that “Zion” expanded in scope, or migrated, as the OT scriptures progress chronologically.  Zion went from being: a Jebusite citadel, to “city of David”, to Jerusalem’s southern hill, to the Temple Mount [Moriáh], to Jerusalem in its entirety, to the land of Judah & Israel, to the whole Israelite people.

In the OT, “Zion” went from being a Canaanite fortress…to an entire people!  (see Part 1 for details.)

Here in Part 2, we’ll continue to trace the expansion of “Zion” in the Bible.

The concept of Zion takes on added meaning in the New Testament (NT).  The Greek Septúagint/LXX and NT term for Zion is Sion (see-ówn) g4622.  It occurs 7 times in the NT: Mt.21:5; Jn.12:15; Ro.9:33, 11:26; He.12:22; 1Pe.2:6; Re.14:1.  Following are those verses, along with Bible commentator remarks.

Mt.21:5 “Say to the daughter of Zion [g4622], ‘Behold, your King [Jesus] comes to you, humble, and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”  This verse refers to Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem.  (Jn.12:15 is a parallel account.)  Pulpit Commentary Mt.21:5 “The ‘daughter of Zion’ is Jerusalem herself, named from the chief of the hills on which the city was built [7 hills]. Of course, the term includes all the inhabitants.”  Here the expression “daughter of Zion” represents old Jerusalem and the Jewish people (see Part 1).

Ro.11:26 “Thus all Israel will be saved, as it is written: ‘The Deliverer will come out of Sion [g4622], He will remove ungodliness from Jacob. This is My covenant with them when I take away their sins.”  Bengels Gnomen Ro.11:26 “The Deliverer or Redeemer comes out of Sión and for good to Sion.” (ref Is.59:20 LXX).   JFB Commentary Is.59:20 “Paul [in Ro.11:26] applies this verse to the restoration of Israel spiritually.”  The scope of Zion expands to include the beginning NT church of Jewish Christians.  Barnes Notes Ro.11:26 “Zion…thus came to denote, in general, the church or people of God.”

1Pe.2:6 “For this is contained in scripture [Is.28:16]: ‘Behold I lay in Sion a choice stone [Jesus], a precious Cornerstone, and he who believes in Him shall not be ashamed.”  Poole Commentary 1Pe.2:6 “Or Sion is here to be understood of the gospel church, whereof Sion was a type.”  Barnes Notes Ro.9:33 “Mt Sion was the hill or eminence in Jerusalem, over-against Mt Moriah, on which the temple was built. On this [Zion] was the palace of David, and the residence of the court, 1Ch.11:5-8. Hence, the whole city was often called by that name; Ps.48:12, 69:35, 87:2. Also it came to signify the capital, the glory of the people of God, the place of solemnities; and hence, also the church itself: Ps.2:6, 51:18, 102:13, 137:3; Is.1:27, 52:1, 59:20. In this place it means the church.”  Zion also signified the church.

He.12:22 “You have come to Mount Sion, and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to countless thousands of angels.”  JFB Commentary He.12:22 “Antitypical Sion, the heavenly Jerusalem.”  Cambridge Bible “The names of Sion and ‘the heavenly Jerusalem’ are given to ‘the city of the living God’ (Ga.4:26, Re.21:2).”  Barnes Notes “The dispensation to which they had been brought was what conducted them directly up to the city of the living God, and to the holy mount where He dwelt above.”  Meyer NT Commentary “Mount Zion the heavenly Jerusalem is designated.”  Here Mt Zion represents more than the church…it also denotes the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of God!

Re.14:1 “Then I looked, and behold, the Lamb [Jesus] was standing on Mount Sion and with Him 144,000, having His name and the name of His Father written on their foreheads.”  Ellicott Commentary Re.14:1 “The Savior, the Lamb…is seen standing on the citadel of the heavenly city.”  Pulpit Commentary Re.14:1 “Zion is the new Jerusalem, the opposite extreme to Babylon (v.8).”  Barnes Notes “Stood on the mount Zion; that is, in heaven.”  Zion has taken on a heavenly presence.

Norman Holmes A Vision For Spiritual Zion “The true Zion in heaven is at the throne of God and is the center of worship.”  (cf. Re.5:11-14.)

The heavenly Jerusalem set the pattern for OT ancient Israel’s earthly tabernacle/temple counterpart.  After Israel had fled Egypt, God showed Moses a heavenly archetype.  The Lord cautioned Moses to construct Israel’s ancient tabernacle and its furnishings according to the model he envisioned (Ex.25:9, 40).  In Ac.7:44, Stephen recounted that God had spoken to Moses about the pattern for the tabernacle.  Old Covenant priests served as a “copy and shadow of the heavenly things, just as Moses was warned by God when he was about to erect the tabernacle; ‘See that you make all things according to the pattern.” (He.8:5)  And He.9:23-24 “It was necessary for the copies of things in the heavens to be cleansed…but the heavenly things with better sacrifices than these. For Christ didn’t enter a holy place made with hands, a mere copy of the true one, but into heaven itself.”  At God’s heavenly sanctuary.

Re.14:1 and He.12:22 (quoted above) reflect Sion/Zion as the heavenly city of God!  After Christ’s crucifixion, resurrection and ascension, He entered its holiest place (He.9:11-12, 24).

{Sidelight: The traditional Via Dolorosa route walked by Jesus to His crucifixion wasn’t on Mt Zion.  He was crucified outside Jerusalem (Jn.19:20).  Jesus cried out on the cross, Mt.27:46 “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”  Zion is the place of life with God, not of death.

R.C. Sproul The Crucifixion and Old Testament Prophecy “The site of Jesus’ execution was outside Jerusalem. Once He was judged by the Gentiles and condemned to be executed, He was led out of the fortress, onto the Via Dolorosa, and outside the walls of the city. Just as the scapegoat was driven outside the camp [Le.16:21-23, He.13:11-12], Jesus was taken outside Zion, outside the holy city where the presence of God was concentrated.”  Christ wasn’t crucified in Zion.}

From the above NT verses, “Zion” has further expanded in scope, migrating by steps.  Zion has gone from (in the OT): Jebusite citadel, to “city of David”, to Jerusalem’s southern hill/mount, to the Temple Mount [Moriah], to Jerusalem in its entirety, to the land of Judah & Israel, to the whole Israelite people…then to the NT church, and to God’s heavenly abode!  Zion wasn’t just a Canaanite castle.

Yet going way back…even centuries prior to King David, it seems a type of “Zion” existed in Genesis!  Jerusalem was anciently called Jebús.  Jg.19:10-11 “Jebus [h2982], which is Jerusalem.”  1Ch.11:4-5 “David and all Israel went to Jerusalem, which is Jebus….David took the citadel of Zion, the city of David.”  Zion was linked to the Jebusite [h2983] city of Jebus/Jerusalem in David’s day.  And before….

ISBE: Zion “Enormous quantities of early ‘Amorite’ (popularly called ‘Jebusite’) pottery show that the spot [Zion] must have been inhabited many centuries before the time of David [1030 BC]. The reverse is equally true; on no other part of the Jerusalem site has any quantity of such early pottery been found.”

There’s a link between Melchisedek-Zion-David from the book of Genesis (not addressed in Part 1).

Abrám/Abraham met Mechisedek in Ge.14:18-20.  “Melchisedek king of Salem [h8004] brought forth bread and wine; He was priest of God Most High.”

Where was this ancient Salem?  Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew Lexicon “Most Jewish commentators affirm that it [Salem] is the same as Jerusalem.”  Wikipedia: Jebusite “The Amárna letters call Jerusalem Úrusalim (1330s BCE). Also in the letters it is called Beth-Shálem, the house of Shalem.” Cambridge Bible Ge.14:18 “In the Tel-el-Amarna tablets Jerusalem appears with the name Uru-salim. Salem is the poetical, or archaic, name for Jerusalem in Psalm 76:2.”  Old Jerusalem was called Salem.

Ps.76:2 “In Salem is His [God’s] tabernacle, and His dwelling-place in Zion.”  Melchisedek was both king and priest on Mt Zion of ancient Salem/Jerusalem.  Wikipedia: Jebusite “Melchisedek was…in charge of Jerusalem.”

die2live/mt-zion-mt-moriah-mt-calvary “Zion is also the city of Salem, where the priest/king of Salem, Melchizedek, whose name means ‘king of righteousness’, received a tithe from Abram.”

The Dead Sea Scrolls (DSS) refer to Melchisedek and Zion.  Wikipedia: 11Q13 “11Q13, also 11QMelch or the Melchizedek document, is a fragmentary manuscript among the scrolls which mentions Melchisedek as leader of God’s angels in a war in heaven against the angels of darkness instead of the more familiar Archangel Michael. The text is an apocalyptic commentary on the Jubilee year of Leviticus 25. The DSS contain texts in Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek; the language of 11Q13 is Hebrew; date of composition is circa 100 BC. In the fragmentary passage the term ‘Elohím’ appears a dozen times, mainly referring to the God of Israel; but in commentary on ‘who says to Zion ‘Your Elohim [God] reigns’ (Isa. 52:7) 11Q13 states that Zion is the congregation of all the sons of righteousness, while Melchizedek is ‘Your Elohim’ who will deliver the sons of righteousness from Belíal.”  The DSS too linked Melchisedek to Zion.  (also see the topics “Melchisedek Order Priesthood” and “Michael in the Bible”.)

David wrote of Melchisedek and Zion.  Ps.110:1-4 “The Lord will stretch forth thy strong scepter from Zion, saying, ‘Rule in the midst of your enemies….You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchisedek.”  (The order of Melchisedek both precedes and succeeds the priestly Levitical order.)  Melchisedek was a theophany/Christophany (or a type) of Christ, the primordial word of God (Jn.1:1).

Bob Sorge connects insights in his Why Sion Is So Important. “Melchisedek was king of Jerusalem (Salem) and also the priest of God Most High (see Gen.14:14-24). Since Zion was Jerusalem’s…most ancient neighborhood, the ‘old city’ if you will, it is reasonable to conclude that Melchizedek’s throne was in Zion proper (even though it wasn’t called Zion at the time). We could say, therefore, that Melchizedek came out of Zion in order to bless Abraham. Melchizedek was the first priest of God to appear in Scripture, and it was no coincidence that his throne was in Zion (called Salem at the time). Jesus Christ was later declared to be a Priest in the order of Melchizedek (Ps.110:4). As such, Jesus is the rightful heir to the throne of Zion.”

Now Christ abides and reigns from heavenly Mt Zion.

Ps.146:10 “The Lord will reign forever, your God, O Zion, to all generations. Praise you the Lord.”  Benson Commentary Ps.146:10 “Christ is set as King on the holy hill of Zion, and His kingdom shall continue in a glory that shall know no period.”  Pulpit Commentary He.12:22 “In the Psalms generally the holy hill of Zion continues to be viewed as the Lord’s immovable abode, where he is surrounded by thousands of angels, and whence he succors his people (cf. Psalm 48; 68; 125:1; 132; etc.).”

Parts 1 & 2 of this topic have traced the steps and meaning of Zion through the scriptures.  After Bible times, men have since named other sites and towns Zion or Sion.  In this sense, Zion/Sion has migrated or expanded elsewhere too.  (I’m not imputing scripture to the following places/sites, etc.)  For example:

Sion College in London was chartered by King Charles 1 in 1630 for clergy.  Zion Wildlife Garden in New Zealand is a sanctuary for endangered species.  Sion Hill in the U.S. Virgin Islands is an historic 18^th century sugar plantation.  Zion College (founded 1949) was a Bible institute in Chattanooga.  Several states in the USA have towns named Zion.  Zion, Illinois (pop. 24,000, north of Chicago) was founded by evangelist Alexander Dowie (in 1901), with the Zion Tabernacle.  I with my son’s family have climbed another Mt Zion, the 4,200 ft peak in the Olympic National Forest of Washington state.  The famous Zion National Park and Zion Canyon (so-named by Mormon pioneers) is in Utah.  Zion Williamson plays basketball for Duke University in North Carolina.  Zionism (of the World Zionist Organization) is an ideological political movement, begun in 1897, to establish a national home and state in Palestine for the Jewish people.

To conclude…How else may we interpret Zion from scripture?  Zion may be broadly understood as…where God’s presence was or is!  Zion and God’s presence was/is: in the place of Melchisedek, at the southernmost holy hill or mount in Jerusalem/Salem, in the OT nation of Israel, in the NT church, in heavenly Jerusalem above.

Ps.9:11 “Sing praise to the Lord, who dwells in Zion.”  Ps.50:2 “Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God hath shined.”  Expositor’s Greek Testament He.12:22 “The ideal Zion is the place of God’s manifestation of His presence (Ps.9:11, Ps.76:2).”

Our best environment is…the presence of God.  There’s no better place or state!

Gordon E. Gainey’s summation in Zion and the Melchizedek Priesthood: p.130 “Zion is the kingdom of God upon the earth.”  p.135 “Mt. Zion is a present reality.”  p.62 “Zion is now! Zion is also future.”  p.137 “Zion is not some mystical place. It certainly exists. It is past, present and future.”  Zion is forever.

Wine or Grape Juice in Jesus’ Cup? (2)

This topic was begun in “Wine or Grape Juice in Jesus’ Cup? (1)”.  Part 2 here is the conclusion.

Part 1 identified the two most-used Hebrew Old Testament (OT) terms for “wine”…yáhyin (Strongs h3196) and tiroshé (h8492).  Yayin was fermented wine.  Tirosh usually referred to unfermented grape juice.  Tirosh is called “new wine” in many Bibles.  (Other terms for alcoholic drink were less-used.)

Part 1 also discussed the customary Jewish practice of using wine to celebrate Passover in 1^st century Jerusalem.  Jesus the man was Jewish, and He observed God’s annual Passover (Lk.2:41-42).

In the Greek New Testament (NT) and Greek OT Septúagint/LXX, the term for “wine” is oínos g3631.  It occurs 33 times in the NT.  However, yayin (fermented) and tirosh (unfermented) were both translated as oinos in the OT LXX!  No differentiation was made.  The context determined its meaning.

The NT writers didn’t identify the type of liquid in the “cup” at Jesus’ Last Supper.  “Cup” is potáyreeon g4221, occurring 33 times.  “Cup” as a drinking vessel is seen at the Lord’s Supper: Mt.26:27; Mk.14:23; Lk.22:17, 20; 1Co.10:16, 21, 11:25-28.  No beverage is specified (not oinos).

In Part 2 we’ll discuss uses, concerns, and symbolism of wine from the Bible; also when Christian churches started using grape juice in communion or the eucharist.  (Part 1 material won’t be repeated.)

In Bible times, wine (mixed with water) was used for other celebrations besides Passover.  Jn.2:1-11 Jesus’ first miracle was, He changed water into wine (oinos g3631) at a wedding celebration.  Probably His miracle wine was undiluted.  In Is.1:22, the Lord had negatively compared debased ancient Israel to pure wine diluted with water.  And Jesus didn’t change the Jn.2 water into grape juice.  Jn.2:10 after the guests had drank, they wouldn’t notice any quality difference if it was grape juice.  But they would notice a difference if it was wine.  Jesus wasn’t opposed to wine (in moderation)!

Lk.7:33-35 Jesus was exaggeratedly even called a glutton and a ‘wino’ (oinopótes g3630), a friend of tax collectors & sinners.  Winos drink fermented wine.  In contrast, John the Baptizer didn’t drink wine.

De.14:25-27 rejoicing with wine (h3196 yayin) to celebrate the Lord’s OT feasts was fine!  Included were Levites too.  But priests weren’t allowed to drink wine while on duty (Le.10:8-9; Ezk.44:21).

Wine symbolized Jesus’ blood!  The 19^th century German theologian Augustus Neander wrote of Jesus’ Last Supper (Lk.22:17-20). “The broken bread was to represent His body. The wine is to represent His blood, about to be shed for them.”  Got Questions: What is the Meaning of the Blood of Christ? “The pouring of wine in the cup symbolized the blood of Christ.”  Answers.com: What is the Symbolic Meaning of Wine? “Wine signifies blood and blood signifies life, ‘the life is in the blood’ (Lev.17:14).”

Fermented wine yayin h3196 (not unfermented tirosh h8492) was called the blood of grapes.  Ge.49:10-12 is a prophecy about the future King Messiah Jesus. “The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until He comes to whom it belongs. He will wash His garments in wine [h3196], His robes in the blood of grapes.”  That’s meaningful.  Henry Commentary Ge.49:11 “He is the true Vine, wine is the appointed symbol of His blood.”  Poole Commentary “The ‘blood of grapes,’ so the wine is called in Deu.32:14.”  (De.32:14 has a less-used term for fermented red wine, chémer h2561-2.  Chemer wine was at the feast of Babylon’s King Belshazzár in Da.5:1-4, e.g.)

Wine also symbolized God’s divine wrath.  Re.14:9-10 “If anyone worships the beast…he will drink of the wine [g3631] of the wrath of God, which is unmixed in the cup [g4221] of His anger.”  Pure wine of intoxication is in His metaphorical cup of judgment.  Barnes Notes Re.14:10 “Without being diluted with water.”  Re.16:19 “Babylon the great’ was remembered before God, to give her the cup [g4221] of the wine [g3631] of His fierce wrath.”  Also ref Ps.75:8; Is.51:17-22, 63:6; Je.25:15-ff; Ezk.23:31-33.

Is.63:1-6 symbolically reflects blood as the wine of His wrath, not as celebration.  v.6 “drunk”.  v.2 “winepress” (gath h1660) is somewhat a misnomer.  As grapes were pressed, it was grape juice, not wine, which flowed down the drain.  (Usually grapes in the upper vat/receptacle were trodden by a team; but interestingly, in v.3 only One solely does the treading.)

{Sidelight: Just before Jesus’ arrest and crucifixion, He prayed at a place called “Gethsemane”, g1068 (Mt.26:36).  It’s from the OT h1660 gath/winepress and h8081 oil, on the Mount of Olives.  The later olive harvest was perhaps pressed into the same vats as grapes were recently pressed.  Laura Reynolds “Why Are Olive Trees Planted Around Vineyards? “The two crops used a similar processing procedure. As wine press works ends, olive pressing begins.”  Lk.22:42-44 in agony, Jesus sweated drops of blood (cf. hematidrósis) at the place of the press.  Jesus Himself felt so pressed, shedding His blood for us!}

Ex.29:38-42 the twice-daily sacrifice at God’s tent of meeting included a drink offering of fermented wine (yayin h3196).  The drink offering wasn’t grape juice!  In Nu.28:7 this drink offering is called “strong drink” (shekár h7941).  Also see Le.23:13.  ATS Bible Dictionary: Drink Offering “A small quantity of wine, part of which was poured on the sacrifice, and the residue given to the priests.”  It was part of the sacrificial system, prefiguring Christ’s blood sacrifice.

This drink offering libation of wine was poured out (cf. Ezr.7:17), as was Jesus’ shed blood (Jn.19:34; Lk.22:44).  Jesus said in Lk.22:20, “This cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in My blood”.  (The apostle Paul also compared his own life to a drink offering poured out, Php.2:17, 2Ti.4:6.)

1Ch.9:29 Levites had charge over the fermented wine (h3196) kept in the temple.  The tirosh h8492 grape juice firstfruits initially tithed to the Levites (Nu.18:12; De.18:4; Ne.10:37) fermented into wine.

Again, there were restrictions for wine-drinking placed upon Aaron and his sons (the priests).  Priests weren’t allowed to serve God in the tabernacle/temple if they’re intoxicated!  Is.28:7 priests and prophets erred through their misuse of wine (h3196) and strong drink (h7941).  1Ti.3:8 deacons in the NT church aren’t to be heavy drinkers.  (Paul advised only a little wine for Timothy, 1Ti.5:23.)

Jewish Christian historian Alfred Edersheim wrote of Jesus’ Last Supper, held in a large furnished upper room of a house (Lk.22:12).  There Jesus instituted the eucharist.  The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah, p.809 “Peter and John would find there the wine for the four cups, the cakes of unleavened bread, and probably also ‘the bitter herbs’. The wine was…red, mixed with water, generally in the proportion of one part to two of water.”  Peter, John, and Jesus the man were Jews, here at Passover.

David Stern Jewish New Testament Commentary [JNTC] Lk.22:17a, p.144 “Luke is the only one of the four [gospel] writers describing the establishing of the New Covenant who mentions both a cup of wine before the meal (here) and another after (v.20).”  Wine-drinking was customary at the Lord’s feasts.

The ingathering of the grape harvest occurred in the later summer, prior to the Feast of Ingathering or Booths of the early autumn.  Back then it was something of an ordeal to preserve pure grape juice for 7 months until the Passover next spring!  Joe Thorn A Theology of Wine “Drinking wine was normative.”

However, it was possible to maintain unfermented grape juice (albeit more difficult).  Wayne Jackson Was the Fruit of the Vine Fermented? “It is known from ancient sources, that there were ways of preserving juice, thus preventing fermentation. The ancient Roman statesman, Cato, said: ‘If you wish to have ‘must’ (grape juice) all year, put grape juice in an amphora [narrow-necked jar] and seal the cork with pitch; sink it in a fish pond. After 30 days take it out. It will be grape juice for a whole year.’ (De Agri Cultura CXX)”  Steve Shirley Should Wine or Grape Juice Be Used For Communion? “Heating it [juice] to 150–180° would result in a syrup which could be diluted with water, then drank as unfermented grape juice. Also, keeping it in temperatures below 40° would prevent fermentation.”

Which beverage was used by the church?  Jennifer Tait New Wine, New Wineskins “The early Western church maintained the use of wine and unleavened bread. The Eastern church soon began to use leavened bread. From the 16^th until the 19^th century, the majority of Protestants communed using wine from a common cup and leavened bread. However, in the 19^th century, temperance became teetotalism or total abstinence, moving all alcohol (wine included) into the list of forbidden beverages. Many began to question why a beverage considered dangerous to drink was still used on the Communion table.”

Joe Iovino Methodist History: Controversy, Communion, & Welch’s Grape Juice “In the 1800s, churches faced a dilemma. To combat the epidemic of alcoholism, the temperance movement advocated total abstinence from all alcohol. Raw grape juice stored at room temperature (home refrigerators weren’t available until 1913) naturally ferments into wine. This caused a problem for congregations [taking the Lord’s Supper] not wanting to use anything containing alcohol. ‘Lots of churches just didn’t have communion when grapes were out of season,’ reports Roger Scull.”

Welch Foods, Inc. is named for Thomas Bramwell Welch (1825-1903).  He was a dentist, Methodist minister and “communion steward”, and Prohibitionist.  Wikipedia “In 1869, Welch invented a method of pasteurizing grape juice so that fermentation was stopped, and the drink was non-alcoholic. He persuaded local churches [in Vineland, NJ] to adopt this non-alcoholic ‘wine’ for communion services, calling it ‘Dr. Welch’s Unfermented Wine.”  It became the well-known Welch’s Grape Juice in 1893.

Thus pasteurization made it possible for churches to use grape juice year-round for the Lord’s Supper eucharist.  Most Protestant churches today use grape juice when serving communion.  Over the past 150 years, this relatively recent deviation from the practice of Bible times has become their church tradition.

However, there is evidence that Jewish religious bread and wine meals were held to honor the Messiah in the decades even prior to Jesus’ human birth and His Last Supper.  JNTC Appendix, p.931 says the Jewish community at Qumrán had regular meals in honor of the Messiah, who they expected soon.  Quoting their Dead Sea Scrolls: “When they gather for the Community table…let no man stretch out his hand over the bread and wine before the priest. He shall first stretch out his hand. And afterwards the Messiah of Israel shall stretch out His hands. They shall process according to this rite at every meal where at least ten persons are assembled.”  These were frequent meals.

These Qumran Community meals weren’t Passover meals!  Yet they partook of bread and wine, not grape juice, to honor the Messiah.  Jesus is the Messiah.  Traditionally, wine celebrated Him.

But the representative bread and wine is much more ancient than the 1^st century BC!  In Ge.14:18-19 “Melchisedek the king brought out bread and wine [yayin h3196]; He was priest of the Most High God.”  He served wine, not grape juice (tirosh h8492)!  He shared a (leavened?) bread and wine meal with the uncircumcised gentile/non-Jew Abrám.  The Ps.110:1-4 prophecy is about Jesus. “You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchisedek.” (also see He.6:20.)

Jesus, the Priest-King, is of the order of Melchisedek (not of the in-between Levitical order)!  So way back in the days of father Abraham, even prior to Jacob/Israel and the Jews, a bread and wine meal foreshadowed Christ’s priesthood and rule.  This is significant…we are of the order of Melchisedek!  The archetypal meal wasn’t tied to a recurring religious date or season of the year, e.g. Passover.  Its timing may or may not coincide with other religious observances.  (see “Melchisedek Order Priesthood”.)

Pr.9:1-5 “Wisdom has built her house. She has slaughtered her beasts; she has mixed her wine [h3196, fermented], she has set her table. ‘Come, eat of the bread and drink of the wine [h3196] I have mixed.”  It is wisdom to partake of (symbolic) bread and wine.  Melchisedek did so with Abraham.

In 1Co.11:20-34, drunkenness was a problem in the Corinthian church (v.21).  They were consuming too much wine while celebrating the eucharist at regular love feasts.  Drunkenness can have bad consequences (cf. Ge.9:20-27).  But wine-drinking in moderation is fine (except for Levites on duty).

To conclude…Jesus and His disciples drank wine with His Last Supper (Passover) meal.  International Standard Bible Encyclopedia [ISBE]: Wine “The wine of the Last Supper may be described in modern terms as sweet, red, fermented wine, rather highly diluted.”  Wine was in Jesus’ “cup”.

As a representation of Jesus’ blood and body, taking wine with bread is scripturally acceptable.  Joe Thorn The Lord’s Supper – Wine or Welch’s? “Regarding children, in most of the United States it is not illegal for children to consume alcohol ‘in the performance of a religious ceremony or service.”

However, conscience matters!  Je.35:5-8, 16-19 Jonadáb the son of Recháb commanded the Rechabites to be nomads, enduring hardship and abstaining from wine.  His descendants obeyed their forefather.  Some Christians abstain from wine, meat, card-playing, etc., as a matter of conscience or from fear of excess.  They only use grape juice, not wine, for communion.  We should respect their consciences.

Recovering alcoholics who become Christians, those with health problems and/or taking medications which could conflict with alcohol…should substitute grape juice for wine when taking communion.

Christians celebrate the Lord’s Supper with either wine or grape juice!  Over the years, I’ve used both.  (Again, the NT writers didn’t specify the beverage in the “cup” at Jesus’ Last Supper.)  When taking the eucharist, more important is our attitude of heart.  Yet division may occur when a perhaps well-meaning church custom/tradition becomes a modern form of pharisaic oral law and promotes exclusivism.  Jesus castigated the Pharisees for their oral traditions that contradicted OT scripture.

For more, see “Wine or Grape Juice in Jesus’ Cup? (1)” and the separate topic “Bread and Wine in the Church”.  Also related is “Jesus’ Last Supper Timing”.

Abraham Obeyed Which Commandments?

The Lord told Abraham’s son Isaac in Ge.26:5, “Abraham obeyed Me and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws”.  Doing all that, Abraham was very obedient to God!  Also Wisdom of Sirach 44:20, “Abraham kept the laws of the Most High.”  To be so consecrated in obedience, for sure Abraham had much faith and belief in the God he obeyed!

The apostle Paul referred to the gentile Abraham as the “father” of Christians.  Ro.4:16 “Abraham, who is the father of us all.”  Christians speculate as to which of God’s numerous commandments and principles given in the Bible were obeyed by our spiritual forefather Abraham, as per Ge.26:5.

God Most High had laws in Abraham’s day.  We don’t know the full extent of the laws kept by early righteous gentiles such as Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Job, etc.  James Bruckner Implied Law in the Abraham Narrative, p. 18 “In the Genesis narrative….conditional and unconditional commands are usually represented rhetorically by implication as oughts and ought nots.”

Abraham would’ve also been subject to the human laws of the powers that be of his day.  For example, the discovered Babylonian law code of Hammurabi dates from near the time of Abraham’s grandson Jacob or great-grandson Joseph.

However, there’s no scriptural record of any antediluvian civil government or law courts with capital punishment prior to Ge.9:5-6.

Previously, it seems that personal vengeance had been the rule.  Cain murdered his brother Abel.  Then Cain said in Ge.4:14-15, “Whoever finds me shall kill me”.  He feared some individual or a kin of Abel would take vengeance upon him.

Yet Paul indicated that a moral sense of God and of sin has always existed in man’s consciousness.  Ro.1:19-21 “That which is known of God is evident within them. For since the creation of the world, even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God.”  Early humans knew of God.

Sin occurred in the Garden of Eden (Ge.3)…long before sin was described in the Lord’s theocratic laws for Moses & ancient Israel and identified elsewhere.

But Paul said sin and law-breaking doesn’t exist without Law.  Ro.4:15 “Where there is no law, there is no violation.”  And Ro.5:13 “For until the Law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law.”  Ro.3:20 “Through law comes the knowledge of sin.”

Since the Bible mentions sin several times in Genesis (Ge.4:7, 13:13, 18:20, 20:9, 31:36, 39:9, 42:22, 50:17) prior to Moses…Divine Law must have existed and been revealed to humanity prior to Moses, for sin to have been present!  1Jn.3:4 “Sin is the transgression of the law.”

The Bible indicates some of the ancients were good men.  He.11:4-5 Abel was righteous, and Enoch pleased God.  Enoch means ‘dedicated’ or ‘teacher’.  According to the (supposed) Book of Jasher 3:4-8, Enoch taught the ways of God. “He went to the sons of men and taught them the ways of the Lord; in all places where the sons of men dwelt.”

1Eno.99:2 “Woe unto them who pervert the words of uprightness, and transgress the eternal law.”  1Eno.106:13-14 “Some of the angels of heaven commit sin and transgress the law.” (cf. 1Jn.3:4)  An eternal law existed before Moses, according to 1Enoch.

Also Noah was “blameless and walked with God” (Ge.6:9), and was a “preacher of righteousness” (2Pe.2:5).  What is righteousness?  Ps.119:172 “All Thy commandments are righteousness.”

Righteous Noah may well have taught the commandments of God that righteous Abraham obeyed in Ge.26:5!  Abraham knew priest/king Melchisedek (Ge.14:18-20), who is called “greater” than Abraham (He.7:3-ff)!  These individuals taught others about God and the principles of God’s (eternal) law.

The Lord spoke to Abraham several times, and even appeared to him!  e.g. Ge.12:1-7, 15:1-21, 18:1-33, 22:1-18, Ac.7:2.  God called Abraham His “friend” (Is.41:8, Ja.2:23).  God didn’t hide from Abraham what He was about to do to Sodom (Ge.18:17).  God also didn’t hide His commandments from him.

In his Genesis narrative, Moses didn’t describe all of God’s principles obeyed by early gentiles.  There was no need…the Lord gave Moses/Israel the Law with moral principles which he went on to describe in detail in the books of Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy.

Most of the same (Hebrew) terms are present in Ge.26:5 to note Abraham’s obedience (quoted at the top), as appear in the later De.11:1 terms for directives which the Lord gave to ancient Israel.

De.11:1 “You shall love the Lord your God, and always keep His charge, His statutes, His judgments, and His commandments.”  (Judgments/legal decisions [mishpát Strongs h4941, Hebrew] refer to God’s justice system for the theocracy, which Abraham predated.)  We see that the categories of directives the Holy Spirit inspired to be recorded in Genesis in describing Abraham’s obedience, and those used to describe directives for ancient Israel, overlap!  This similarity and consistency is significant.

In the books of Genesis and Job we see glimpses of most of the moral directives later contained in the Mosaic Law for Israel and the Jewish people!  (also see “Ten Commandments in Genesis & Job”.)

Let’s see from scripture a sampling of God’s commandments which were known by ancient gentiles such as Abraham, prior to the codification of God’s Law for Israel in Moses’ time.

The book of Job shows that Job practiced the Golden Rule.  Jb.1:1 Job was an upright man who treated his neighbor well.  Later, Jesus said in Mt.7:12, “However you want people to treat you, so treat them”.  This principle is from Le.19:18 in the Law. “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” (prior to Mt.)

A close reading of activity in Genesis reveals both knowledge of and violations of commandments which later became part of the Decalogue the Lord spoke to ancient Israel at Mt. Sinai in Ex.20.

Murder occurred in Ge.4:8. “Cain rose up against Abel his brother and killed him.”  Blasphemy or slander of God’s character & Name is in Ge.3:1-4. “God said, ‘You shall not eat from it lest you die.’ The serpent said, ‘You shall not surely die!”  Adultery is known in Ge.12:15-19, and is called a great evil in Ge.39:9. “How could I do this great evil and sin against God?”  Coveting by Laban is evident in Ge.31:7. “Your father has cheated me and changed my wages ten times.”  Stealing is in 31:19. “Rachel stole the idols that were her father’s.”  Idolatry is a sin. 31:35-36 “Laban searched, but did not find his idols. Jacob said to him, ‘What is my sin?”  And Ge.35:2 “Put away the foreign gods among you.”

The above was sin for gentiles/non-Jews in Genesis before God spoke them as commandments in the Decalogue of the Law for Moses & Israel (Ex.20, and repeated in De.5).

And the great type for the 7^th day sabbath is in Ge.2:1-3, when Christ Himself ceased on the 7^th day from His first six days of Creation.  God made that weekly time holy before there was any nation of Israel or Jews!  Later, Israel probably was forced to labor on the sabbath as slaves in Egypt.  After being freed (Ex.12), some of them chose to gather manna on the sabbath day.  God said in Ex.16:28, “How long do you refuse to keep My commandments and My laws?”  The Sabbath had existed as a law of God before the Ex.20:8 codification!  (see the series, “Sabbath 7^th Day”.)

Besides the Decalogue/Ten Commandments, there are other principles of God seen in His “book of the law” (De.31:26) and elsewhere in scripture.  Following are several such principles we glimpse from the lives of gentiles earlier in Genesis.  (for further detail, see “Genesis Principles Predate Moses”.):

Ge.4:4 Abel didn’t eat the (saturated) fat portions.  It’s unhealthy.  God later prohibited eating fat in Le.3:17.

Ge.7:2 Noah knew which creatures were clean & unclean, later described in Le.11 & De.14:2-21.

Ge.9:3 “moving” things are food too, but nothing dying of itself/“strangled”.  See Le.17:15, Ac.15:29.

Ge.9:4 consuming blood is forbidden from Noah’s day.  This later is codified in Le.3:17.  ref Ac.15:29.

Ge.9:20-24 indecency and drunkenness have bad consequences.  Later this is in De.24:1, Ep.5:18.

Ge.14:20 the tithing principle to church & state (priest/king Melchisedek is both).  See Nu.18:25-28.

Ge.19:5-ff homosexuality and sex with another kind/beastiality…divine punishment!  See Le.20:13-16.

Ge.31:35 avoid close contact with those discharging blood or menstruating.  Le.15, 18:19; Ac.15:29.

Ge.34:1-ff marriage or compensation due after seducing or raping a virgin.  Ex.22:16-17, De.22:28-29.

Ge.35:22 marriage or sex with your father’s wife (Ge.30:4) is prohibited.  See later in Le.18:8, 1Co.5:1.

The above principles are a sampling.  Bruckner op.cit., p.67 “Genesis is embedded with law.”

But conspicuously absent in Genesis are later Levitical ritualistic/ceremonial aspects, such as the three pilgrim feasts with the detailed sacrificial system.  These were authorized for Israel to keep only at God’s central sanctuary (ref De.16:5-6, 10-11, 15-16).  In Genesis there’s no tabernacle/temple, and there’s no Passover recorded before the Lord “passed over” Israelite homes (Ex.12:13).  see “Feasts of the Lord and the Jews” and “Days Israel Observed – God-Ordained”.

Sacrifice was ordained by God, and it’s probable He told Adam how to do it.  After Adam & Eve sinned, God involved the first sacrifice, providing them with clothing (Ge.3:21).  It’s unlikely Cain & Abel invented sacrifice on their own (Ge.4:3-5).  The practice was passed down to others.  Yet no verse commanded anyone to do recurring animal sacrifice away from the place of God’s Name/temple.

All the above shouldn’t give the impression that Christians today could devise a comprehensive church dogma/doctrine for Christian conduct gleaned from righteous practices (and wrongs) done by gentiles prior to Sinai.  Although much of it is still applicable, there are other practices/customs besides animal sacrifice apparent in Genesis which Christians today shouldn’t do.  Such as….

Ge.20:11-18 shows that some of what is later called incest was allowed in Genesis, back when the earth must be populated.  (But not all forms of what is today called incest were allowed then!)  In Ge.24:4, Abraham told his servant to “Go to my country and to my relatives, and take a wife for Isaac [son of Abraham]”.  Isaac told his son Jacob in Ge.28:2, “Take to yourself a wife from the daughters of Laban your mother’s brother”.  Endogamy, including marriage between kin, was the cultural norm.

God commanded the first humans in Ge.1:28. “Be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth and subdue it.”  Humankind is to manage the earth and its vast resources.  According to Genesis, God began with only one man (and one woman).  Thereby, God determined that the earth be populated through a form of incest…since the only humans for Adam & Eve’s children to fill the earth with would come from their own brothers & sisters (and then nieces)!  Ge.5:3 the first man Adam had “other sons and daughters”.  Those siblings could’ve married each other…since no other humans (the same “kind”) were there, besides their parents!  According to the Book of Jubilees 4:9, “Cain took Awan his sister to be his wife”.

Abraham married his half-sister (or possibly niece) Sarah.  Way back then there wasn’t the risk of birth defects, it is said.  Hugh Ross Navigating Genesis, p.120 “Genetic defects as a result of intrafamily marriage develop slowly. They would present no risk until after the first several dozen generations.”  However, DNA damage began accumulating over generations of sinning humanity, and caused gene mutation.  So in the time of Moses, God prohibited marriage between close kin.  ref Le.18 & 20 for prohibited partners.  And today there’s the risk of birth defects when near kin marry.  (This has occurred in some historical royal families.)

Modern nations have varying definitions of incest.  The New Testament itself is silent about single close relatives marrying each other.  But in Le.18 & 20, the Lord had much to say to Moses forbidding that, and other incest!

Ge.29:23-28 Jacob became married to two biological sisters simultaneously.  Later this is prohibited in Le.18:18 of the Law…when there is more female population (although plural wives are still allowed).

Also Ge.38:8-10, where a man’s refusal to conceive a child with his deceased brother’s widow could possibly constitute life-threatening neglect of her in God’s eyes.  This provision later appears in the law, De.25:5-ff (and is seen in the book of Ruth 4:5-7).  In those days, a son was often a necessity to provide for his mother in her old age!

(But much later when Paul wrote to Corinth, 1Co.7:39, a Christian widow may marry any “brother” who is “in the Lord”.  She isn’t restricted to a biological relative of her husband.  Endogamous tribal inheritance rights in the Land of Canáan aren’t a concern where Paul wrote.)

Also, added to Abraham (not to his gentile ancestors) at age 99 was the covenant of physical circumcision, to be passed down through descendants of Isaac & Jacob primarily in the Land (Ge.17, Ac.7:8).  This practice was unnecessary for Christians worldwide (Ac.15).  see the topic “Circumcision in the Bible”.

Conclusion: It seems quite feasible that the commandments, statutes, and laws glimpsed in Genesis that we’ve referenced and compared to the Mosaic Law…are among those which father Abraham obeyed (Gen.26:5).  Even though he didn’t have the later codified Law of Moses (cf. Ro.4:13).

Jesus said to the Jews who opposed Him in Jn.8:39, “If you were Abraham’s children, you would do the works of Abraham”.

Abraham was given such faith to believe and obey existing commandments/statutes/laws of the Lord who revealed Himself to him!  e.g. Ge.18:1 “The Lord appeared to him [Abraham] by the oaks of Mamré.”

It may well strengthen our faith to believe the eternal God has some form of eternal Law as an enduring righteous standard, which men and angels aren’t to violate in the heavenly realm or on earth.

Re.22:14 “Blessed are they that do His commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life and enter in through the gates into the city.”

Jesus is “Lord”.  The Lord Jesus isn’t an anarchist!  He’s never been lawless.  Praise our Lord!!

Jesus Is the Messiah

There have been 50 false Messiahs in Jewish history.  Jesus warned in Mt.24:5, “Many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many”.  None of them fulfilled more than a few prophecies.  Yet there are more than two dozen Old Testament (OT) prophecies about the real Messiah!

The Hebrew term Mashíach (Strongs h4899) is rendered “Messiah” in English (Messías g3323, Greek).  An ‘anointed one’, a ‘Chosen one’, ‘Savior’ or liberator.  A Greek counterpart term is Chrístos g5547, “Christ” in English.  In the OT…the offices of high priest, king, prophet were anointed positions.

Some Jews believed in two coming Messiahs.  Messiah ben/son David, the ruler; Messiah ben Joseph, the sufferer (Is.53).  Jewish anti-missionaries don’t believe Yeshúa/Jesus is the prophesied Messiah.  Ac.28:23 Paul tried to persuade those at Rome “concerning Jesus from both the Law and the Prophets”.  Here I’ll focus on just a few OT prophecies about the Messiah; they show that Jesus is the Christ.

#1) Jesus’ virgin birth.  Is.7:14 “Behold, the virgin shall conceive”!  A virgin conceiving would surely be something to behold, something so remarkable!  Whereas it is commonplace for young women to conceive naturally.  In the old Greek version (translated by Jews, now our Septúagint/LXX), the term rendered/meaning virgin was parthénos g3933.  In Nashville, TN there’s a replica of the Parthenon, so named because it represents the ancient temple shrine in Athens of the supposed virgin goddess Athena.  The Is.7:14 prophecy cannot be about King Hezekiah.  Hezekiah was at least 9 years old (cf. 2Ki.16:2, 20, 18:2) when Isaiah visited Hezekiah’s father King Aház (Is.7:3) and foretold the future (miraculous) birth of the Child!  Lk.1:31-35 Luke recorded Mary affirming to the angel Gabriel that she is a virgin (parthenos g3933).  Mary will give birth to Jesus/Yeshua.  (see the topic, “Jesus’ Virgin Birth”.)

#2) Messiah was to be both a descendant of David…and YHVH.  Je.23:5-6 “Behold”…This is another astounding thing God would do!  God will “raise up for David a righteous Branch”, the Name/shem (Hebrew) of Whom will be “Yahweh our righteousness”!  (This wonder will be accomplished via the virgin birth.)  The Targum Jonathán says this Branch is the Messiah.  Also the Talmud Lam Rab.1:51 indicates the Branch is Messiah.  Barnes Notes Je.23:6 “Messiah is here called Yahweh.”  God said in Ps.2:7, “You are my Son, I have begotten You”.  God begat the Son.  Ps.2:7 doesn’t refer to David; Jesse (not God) begat David.  Jesus is YHVH since His Father God begat Him.  God begets God, as kind begets kind (ref Ge.1).  Yet Jesus is also a fleshly descendant of David, since Mary bore Jesus.  Lk.3:23, 31-34 shows Jesus’ genealogy as a descendant of David.  (see “Jesus’ Genealogy”.)  The Messiah Jesus didn’t come through the line of Solomonic kings.  Rather, Mary & Jesus descended from the branch of Nathan, Solomon’s brother.  Zec.12:10-12 it was prophesied that wives (e.g. Mary) and family who descended from Nathan would mourn when Jesus was pierced (Jn.19:34-37)!

#3) Messiah to be born in Bethlehem.  Mic.5:2 anciently Bethlehem of Judah was called Éphrathah.  Although there was also a Bethlehem of Zebulún in Israel (Jsh.19:15-16), more anciently the Bethlehem in Judah was called Ephrathah, Ge.48:7.  (also Ru.1:2, 4:11, 1Sm.17:12.)  The prophet Micah identified the specific Bethlehem.  Rachel’s tomb is there.  Targum Jonathan says Mi.5:2 refers to the Messiah coming from Bethlehem.  Also the Jerusalem Talmud Berakoth 5a. “The King Messiah, from whence does He come forth? From the royal city of Bethlehem in Judah.”  1Sm.20:6 Bethlehem in Judah was the city of David and his family clan.  Lk.2:4-7 & Mt.2:1 Bethlehem of Judah was also the birthplace of Jesus, the son of David!

{Sidelight: A brief aside…Bethlehem today has a population of 25,000.  Most are Muslims.  But it also has one of the largest Palestinian Christian communities.  However, before Israel became a state in 1948, Bethlehem was 85% Christian!  But Arab Christians have been departing due to growing Israeli settlements and military checkpoints, terrorism, and the proliferation of Islam.  Land that has been owned by families for generations is being confiscated.  Today Bethlehem is less than 20% Christian.}

#4) Jesus is in the order of Melchisedek.  Ge.14:18-20 Melchisedek was both king and priest.  In Ps.110:1-5, David prophesied about two Lords/YHVHs and the order of Melchisedek.  Jesus is YHVH, and He is ruler/king and priest, as Melchisedek.  He.7:1-4 Melchisedek had neither beginning of days nor end of life; no genealogy.  (Noah’s son Shem had genealogy, Ge.5:32 & 10:22.)  He.7:14-17 the Lord Jesus’ office is in the order of Melchisedek.  He.4:14 Jesus is Priest (cf. 1Ti.2:5).  Jn.18:37 Jesus is King.  Is.9:6-7 Isaiah, who prophesied of the virgin birth, also wrote that the Child will be the righteous King on the throne of David in the Kingdom government.  see “Melchisedek Order Priesthood”.

#5) The name of the Melchisedekian king Messiah would be…Yeshua.  Mt.1:20-23 the given name of Isaiah’s prophesied Emmanuél (“God with us”) is Yeshua/Jesus.  Zec.3:8 before 500 BC, a Jewish high priest named Yeshua (“Jesus” as transliterated from the LXX) was as a symbol for the Messiah/Branch (ref Je.23:5).  Zec.6:11-13 “Yeshua…Behold, a man whose name is the Branch.”  That high priest’s name, Yeshua/Jesus, would also be the name of the Branch/Messiah!  And He will occupy the two offices of priest and king in the order of Melchisedek.  How amazing this is!  More than 500 years before Jesus was born in Bethlehem, it was prophesied by Zechariah that the given name of the Branch/Messiah would specifically be Yeshua/Jesus!  God knows the end from the beginning.

There are many more OT Messianic prophecies which Jesus fulfilled.  He is the ‘anointed one’, the “Chosen One” (Lk.23:35, Is.42:1).  Jesus is High Priest (He.4:14), King (Jn.18:37), Prophet (De.18:18, Mt.21:11, Lk.7:16).  Simon Peter’s brother Andrew said in Jn.1:41-42, “We have found the Messiah [g3323]”.  He found Jesus the Christ.  Have you found Him, or, has He found you yet (Lk.19:10)?

1Jn.2:22 “Who is a liar but the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ [g5547].”  The Jewish anti-missionary view is erroneous.  The above scriptures about Jesus as YHVH/God and Messiah also reveal and confirm the efficacy of our salvation.  He’s the Savior.  Jn.11:49-53 before they crucified Jesus, the Jewish high priest Caiáphas prophesied, saying one had to die for the people.  Contrary to his prophecy, Middle Ages rabbis claim (human) sacrifice isn’t needed!  2Sm.12:13-14, 18a David’s innocent infant son died, so David didn’t die in his own capital sins.  That’s a type of substitutionary human sacrifice.  Jn.8:23-24 believe Jesus is I AM/God, or else one dies in his own sins!  No longer is there a central sanctuary for sin/guilt offerings to expiate sins, as done in Le.4-6.  Besides, without the general availability of the Holy Spirit in ancient Israel, man’s proclivity to sin still remained dominant even after sacrifices for sin were offered on Yom Kíppur.  (see “Day of Atonement (1)”.)

As YHVH Lord (Je.23:6, Ac.20:28), the lifeblood Jesus shed is worth more than enough to pay the price for the sins of all mankind!  God’s justice is thus served!  Ancient Jewish thought believed the unified God included the Word/Logos/Mémra (who is Messiah, cf. Jn.1:1) in the one/echád Godhead.

1Jn.1:7-9 “If we confess our sins, He is faithful to forgive our sins.”  Father God forgives our sins and views us as just/righteous in His sight.  1Co.6:9-11 such sinners were we…but now we’re justified, reconciled, and in right standing with God, due to Jesus’ sacrifice.  1Ti.2:3-6 God wants all to be saved.  High Priest Jesus, as Son of God/Son of Man, serves as mediator between the Godhead and mankind.  Our propensity to sin no longer rules us; we’re like a new person.  1Jn.5:10-13 he who believes in the Son of God and His sacrifice has eternal life.  God has done this for us through Jesus the Messiah!

 

Bread and Wine in the Church

Bread & wine are the symbols of the body & blood of Jesus the Savior.  The partaking of these symbols is called communion or the eucharist by many churches, and is considered a sacrament by some.

At Jesus’ Last Supper, He instructed His disciples regarding bread & wine in Lk.22:19-20. “This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me…This cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in My blood.”  Accordingly, a communal sharing of the symbolic bread & wine became the practice of the church after His sacrificial death and resurrection.

A few churches believe the bread & wine actually becomes Christ’s body & blood in substance.  This is called transubstantiation.  But communion isn’t transubstantiation.  If communion were transubstantiation, then it would contradict the Holy Spirit’s decree for the church to abstain from blood (Ac.15:29)!  Christ had already forbidden human consumption of blood in the Old Testament (OT).  ref Ge.9:4 & Le.17:10.  Although Jesus is the figurative ‘bread of life’, human flesh (cannibalism) is unclean for food (Le.11:1-3, Ezk.4:12-14)!  Furthermore, at His Last Supper, Jesus was standing there in His physical body at the time He said the bread on that table “is My body” (e.g. Mt.26:26)!  Jesus then ate the bread; He didn’t eat His own body or drink His own blood.

The Christian faith isn’t magic.  The above verses help make it clear that the symbolic bread & wine don’t become in substance Christ’s body & blood; rather they represent His body & blood.  For example, Jesus said in Mt.13:38, “The field is the world and the good seed are the sons of the kingdom”.  But what Jesus meant was, the field and the seed represent the world and the sons.  It’s not literal.  Jesus said of the bread & wine in Mt.26:26-28, “This is my body…this is my blood.”  Likewise, the bread & wine are symbolic representations, not to be viewed literally.  We believe God is present in Spirit, yet not as physical food.

These symbols of bread & wine weren’t entirely new to those Jews in the 1^st century AD.  The earliest believers in Jesus/Yeshúa were Jews.  The practice of taking bread & wine has a long history.  Jews today call it kíddush, usually taken on the sabbath.

Religious bread & wine meals predate Jesus’ Last Supper.  David Stern Jewish New Testament Commentary (JNTC) Appendix, p.931 has a quote from the Dead Sea Scrolls (DSS). “And when they gather for the Community table…let no man stretch out his hand over the bread and wine before the priest….he shall first stretch out his hand….And afterwards the Messiah of Israel shall stretch out His hands. And they shall process according to this rite at every meal where at least ten persons are assembled.”  This is evidence that Jewish bread & wine meals at Qumrán anticipated the Messiah in the decades before Jesus’ human birth.

But the representative bread & wine is much more ancient than the 1^st century BC!  Back in Ge.14:18-19, “Melchisedek brought out bread and wine”.  He shared a (leavened) bread & wine meal with the uncircumcised gentile/non-Jew Abrám.

The Ps.110:1-4 prophecy about Jesus. “You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchisedek.” (also ref He.6:20.)  Jesus, the Priest-King, is of the order of Melchisedek (not of the in-between Levitical order)!  So way back in the days of father Abram/Abraham, even prior to Jacob/Israel and the Jews, a bread & wine meal foreshadowed Christ’s priesthood and rule.

Recognizing this celebration as a Melchisedekian meal and order is significant!  (see the topic “Melchisedek Order Priesthood”.)  The archetypal meal wasn’t tied to a recurring religious date or season of the year.  Its timing may or may not coincide with other religious observances.

In Jn.6:51-54, 66, 31-33, Jesus’ flesh & blood are symbolized prior to the Last Supper.  (And Qumran was having their Community bread & wine meals prior to the Last Supper date.)  Jesus said in Jn.6:54, “He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life”.  Many early Jews thought bread & wine related to the coming Messiah…but not as His (literal) body & blood.

In Christianity today, there are various views about how often communion should be taken.  Some Christians now keep this (Melchisedek order) New Covenant bread & wine memorial annually, only at Passover time in the spring.

Since Jesus’ Last Supper occurred at Israel’s Passover, some (especially Jews) have tied the Lord’s Supper to Passover with unleavened bread.  1Co.5:1-9 is Paul’s mídrash about suspending the sinner, typified as “old leaven”.  v.7 “Christ our Passover”…it was Christ who ‘passed over’ the firstborn of Israel in Egypt (Ex.12:23).  He was the “Rock” who followed them in the wilderness (1Co.10:4 & De.32:3-4).  Perhaps some Jewish Christians in Jerusalem continued to customarily keep Passover at the temple (cf. De.16:5-6), as had been commanded in the old Levitical order.  Christ is the Passover of Jewish Christians, as Paul indicates.  (also see “Passover and Peace Offerings“.)

In Ex.12, Israel had been commanded to keep the Passover (from the flock) with a lamb or kid, unleavened bread, and bitter herbs.  The traditional custom of drinking wine at Passover was added centuries later.  But in all Last Supper passages, the Greek term for bread is always ártos (Strongs g740), never ázumos/unleavened (g106).

Jesus didn’t say bread & wine replaced Israel’s Passover meal, nor did He specifically call the bread & wine “a Passover”.  Even though Jesus’ last meal before His death coincided with their Passover meal, the bread & wine meal is a new covenant/ceremony in the order of Melchisedek.  It’s part of Jesus’ last will & testament (He.9:15-17)!  Therefore this communion wasn’t instituted until Jesus’ final meal before His death (which was also a Passover meal).

There was no Passover wine commanded to Moses/Israel in the Old Covenant.  Else Nazarites like Samson and Samuel would’ve been continually disobedient, ref De.16:1-2, Nu.6:2-3 & Jg.13:4-5…or cut off from Israel, ref Nu.9:13!  God had forbidden Nazarites to drink wine or grape juice, Nu.6:3.  Talmud Pesachim 10:1 it became a custom at Passover for each man to drink four cups.  That custom wasn’t commanded by God.  It was a Roman Empire custom for banquet type celebrations to include four servings of wine (cf. Lk.22:17, 20).

In 1Co.11, Paul shows that the Lord’s Supper is more than a Passover meal.  v.2 this Supper remembrance had become an authorized church practice.  In several verses Paul instructs them for when they “come/meet together”: v.17, 18, 20, 33, 34, 14:23, 26.  Paul is referring to regular gatherings in these verses, not infrequent occasions.

The celebrating of the Lord’s Supper was a main festive component of those church gatherings.  Frank Viola Pagan Christianity, p.239 “For the early Christians, the Lord’s Supper was a communal meal…a Christian banquet…called a love feast.”  Continuing with 1Co.11….

Paul reproved the Corinthians, saying their attitude was unfit for the Lord’s Supper.  1Co.11:20-22 it seems their mindset was the eating of their own supper.  A.T. Robertson “Selfish conduct…made it impossible for them to eat the Lord’s Supper.”  The hungry poor and the intoxicated rich there together.

1Co.11:23-24 Paul referred to the time Jesus instituted the observance as, “The night in which He was betrayed”.  That’s not an OT holyday emphasis.  Paul doesn’t tie bread & wine to the Passover.  Jesus had said, “Do this in remembrance of Me”.  v.25-26 “As often as you eat and drink…you proclaim the Lord’s death.”  The Greek for “as often” occurs elsewhere in the New Testament only in Re.11:6…as often as they smite the earth with plagues.  “As often” doesn’t indicate only once-a-year.

Jesus’ death was foreshadowed by all temple sacrifices each year, for that matter, not just the Passover.  e.g. Ro.3:25 Jesus is the Atonement (although He didn’t die in October on the date of Yom Kíppur).  Throughout the year, many churches will often proclaim Christ died for our sins, partaking of bread & wine.  (The DSS Essene meals at Qumran were often too.)

1Co.11:27 taking the Lord’s Supper meal selfishly was doing so unworthily.  They were ‘desecrating the Lord’s Table to satisfy personal cravings’.  v.28 “Let a man examine himself, and eat of the bread and drink of the cup.”  We should “examine” ourselves regularly, not just spiritually cram once-a-year!  David Stern op. cit. (JNTC), p.227 “The early believers were to recall Yeshua’s death for them as they began their meal. Then, after that, the entire meal time was to be devoted to fellowship.”

It was a full meal!  Were the poor brethren in Corinth “shamed” only once-a-year (v.22)?  It’s likely that for many of the poor and slave participants, the (weekly or bi-weekly) Lord’s Supper was their one real meal…a sacrificial banquet, if you will!

These were regular gatherings/meetings.  v.29-30 some saints, failing to discern the Lord’s body, were sick and passing away.  There’s healing in it also!  1Pe.2:24 “By His wounds you were healed.”  After Jesus suffered wounds on His body, figuratively the bread, we’re healed.  Is.53:4-5 emotional healing too!  McLaren Expositions Is.53:4 “Hebrew thought drew no sharp line of distinction between diseases of the body and those of the soul.”  People have testified to the healing!  It’s not magic.

1Co.11:31-34 Paul said to eat more at home if need be, so sufficient food for the poor would be available on the Lord’s Table.

The traditional full fellowship meal with bread & wine occurred often in the apostolic church.  (Gentiles in the church don’t recall any one-time Passover exodus from Egypt anyway.)  Jude 1:12 indicates these love feasts were common.  Writing of the early church, Samuele Bacchiócchi God’s Festivals, p.74 “During the course of the year the Lord’s Supper was celebrated as part of a religious service.”

1Co.10:16 “Is not the cup of blessing which we bless a sharing in the blood of Christ? Is not the bread which we break a sharing in the body of Christ?”  Their ‘breaking bread’ referred to Christ’s body.  v.3-4, 11 Israel had received food & drink all those days in the wilderness (an OT type).  v.21 commune with the Lord at His Table.  The expressions “cup of blessing” (v.16) and “fruit of the vine” (Lk.22:18) are common in Jewish blessings.  Ac.20:6-7, 11 Paul was breaking bread at a Christian love feast in Troás (a couple weeks after Passover was held in Jerusalem; communion isn’t tied to it).

Archaeologists have discovered banquet halls within several excavated ancient synagogues.  In primitive church congregations, bread & wine may well have been taken weekly (as part of a Christian banquet or memorial).  Le.24:5-9 the priests in the ancient tabernacle/temple had eaten the showbread at the Lord’s table weekly on the sabbath.  The objection of some men that partaking of the eucharist elements too often will result in them losing their meaning…isn’t in the Bible!  He.13:10 but the disbelieving Levites at the temple in the 1^st century AD had no right to eat the Lord’s Supper meals.

Over time, three noted factors leading to a morning communion service were: #1 Roman legislation prohibited Christian meal gatherings.  #2 The growing gentile church (clergy) avoided the Jewishness link of common bread & wine meals (a practice carried-over into the church from the synagogue).  #3 Abusive behavior, as Paul warned in 1Co.11, led to abandoning the bread & wine full meals.  The general practice became, Didache 14:1 (ca 100 AD) “Eucharist on the Lord’s Day”.  A communion consisting of only a wafer & thimble of grape juice/wine became a Sunday morning custom.  No shared meal.  (see “Sabbath Day Became Sunday in Rome” and “Wine or Grape Juice in Jesus’ Cup?”.)

{Sidelight: Steven Shisley cites: “The apologist Tertullian (c 155–240 CE) recounts how his community in Carthage began to assemble in the mornings to participate in a separate Eucharistic ritual at an altar (De Corona 3). According to Cyprian, a 3rd-century bishop, Christians in Carthage regularly gathered as one large assembly in the morning at an altar for a Eucharistic sacrifice in buildings devoted to religious activities (Epistle 62.14–17; Epistle 33.4–5).”  Clergy changed the apostolic love feast meal.}

Did children participate in the early church love feasts?  Jesus said in Mt.19:13-15, “Let the children come to Me”.  Here Jesus didn’t exclude children.  Children had been included, not forbidden, in OT family meals at the Lord’s pilgrim feasts.  Mt.14:21 feeding the 5,000 included children.  And the Jn.6 account of the 5,000 (v.10) also specified His “flesh and blood” symbols (v.53).  However, children should be able to conduct themselves appropriately if they take the symbols.  At the Last Supper, Jesus’ 12 disciples/apostles hadn’t received the Holy Spirit yet either, as most children today haven’t.  (cf. Jn.20:22 & Ac.2:4, which were after the Last Supper.)

1Pe.2:5, 9 Christians are a royal priesthood.  OT priests ate the showbread weekly!  Manna, the bread from heaven, was gathered by the people daily (Ex.16:21-32).  It’s important we take communion thankfully with a good conscience.  Some may use leavened or unleavened bread, with wine or grape juice.  (Recovering alcoholics are advised to use grape juice.)

Some modern Christians partake only annually, yet throughout the year they are daily able to remain mindful of the Lord’s death for them (1Co.11:24-26).  Others feel they should partake more often to remain so mindful.  Consciences do matter.  Let’s not unfavorably view others who conscientiously observe the symbols at a different time, whether very often or infrequently…or in a different manner, part of a meal or a leavened/unleavened wafer & thimble cup.  It’s a holy celebration of what Jesus has done for us.  Let’s rejoice in it!

Tithe to Church and State

We want God to bless us so that our needs and wants are met…both now in these physical lives and forever.  But many people who trust in Jesus for salvation aren’t prospering.  Some barely get by from week to week.

There’s a Biblical financial principle we can follow which results in blessings and adequate provision.  It’s the tithing or giving principle.  The word tithe comes down to us from the Old English term for tenth.  According to scripture, the tithing concept involves more than giving money to a church denomination…it also involves government (govt)!

Abraham lived around 2000 BC.  It is thought that primitive nomads in ancient Canáan had no regular taxation system.  Presents were voluntarily given to the more powerful in exchange for protection.  Itinerant merchants paid tolls on goods.  Ge.14:18-20 “Melchisedek king of Salem was priest of God Most High.”  Abrám gave a tenth or tithe of war spoils (He.7:4) to the Priest/King Melchisedek…a greater Protector than Abram!  There was no clear separation of church and state indicated in the order of Melchisedek!  This occasion set the precedent for Biblical tithing.

The apostle Paul wrote, Ro.4:16 “Abraham who is the father of us all”.  The gentile/non-Jew Abraham is our father too, in a spiritual sense.  Ga.3:7 “Those who are of faith are the sons of Abraham.”

Ge.28:20-22 Abraham’s grandson Jacob would tithe all (not just on spoils).  He said, “Of all that You give me, I will surely give a tenth to Thee”.  These Genesis passages are very significant; they reflect a tithing to God practiced prior to the Old Covenant Law of Moses!  Tithing wasn’t only Levitical.

Anciently Jacob/Israel’s sons grew into a nation.  Ex.19:5-6 Septúagint regarding it, if obedient, “You shall be to Me a royal priesthood and a holy nation”.  (v.22-24 anciently family heads served as priests, prior to the Levitical priesthood.)  Ex.24:4-5 priests perform religious mediation & acts of worship.

Ex.28:1 the Levite Aaron and his sons were then specifically appointed by God as priests in ancient Israel.  Nu.3:5-13 the other Levites, not of Aaron’s clan, assisted the priests.  De.18:1-2 the Levites’ inheritance was…the Lord YHVH!  Le.27:30-32 the Lord’s portion was the inheritance of the priests & Levites in Israel.

Le.25:23 the Land belonged to God, not to men.  Israelites were Land lessees or renters, not owners.  God’s ownership fee was the tithes paid by Israelites.  Tithes were given to the Levites, who had no land inheritance (unlike the other tribes of Israel).  Nu.35:6-8 Levites served in various capacities from 48 cities in the Land (of Canaan).

De.12:17-19, 14:22-29 ancient Israel’s two tithes (or possibly three at times) were paid on the increase of crops and livestock (not on capital).

It is thought the 1^st tithe/10% was shared by both the tithe-payer and Levites at the central location of the pilgrim feasts…perhaps 5–6% was for the tithe-payer’s food at the sanctuary environs and his travel, and 4–5% for Levites.

De.14:28-29, 26:12 Septuagint/LXX Tithe-payers gave a 2^nd tithe (10% of the remaining net increase/income) to Levites and the disadvantaged (widows, orphans, etc.) in towns every 3^rd year, or possibly in years #2 and #6 of each 7-year land cycle.  (There may not have been a tithe on produce for the 7^th year Land sabbath when the Land wasn’t sown, Le.25:4-6.)

{Sidelight: Unlike the LXX De.26:12, the apocryphal Tobit 1:7-8 indicates there were 3 tithes: The 1^st was paid by land lessees/renters to Levites. (This would result in a higher tax rate overall, cf. 1Sm.8:15-17).  A 2^nd tithe was spent by the land lessees attending the three pilgrim feasts at the central sanctuary.  A 3^rd tithe was paid to Levites in towns in some years for distribution to the disadvantaged & guests.  It may be that a 2 or 3 tithe system was customarily practiced during different periods of Israel’s history.}

1Ch.15:16, 23:3-5, 19, 26:31-32 show the Levites were the civil service tribe too.  They were musicians, guards, judges, theocracy govt officials & administrators, craftsmen, herdsmen (Nu.35:2-3), educators (De.33:8, 10).  Lk.5:27 the Levite (Matthew) collected customs, likely as a govt official.  Most of the peoples’ tithe/tax supported civil authorities…not the priests!  Moses the Levite had been the Lord’s govt leader and priest/mediator, Ps.99:6 & Ga.3:19.  (God had ordained human govt/justice in Ge.9:6.)

Nu.18:25-28 out of the tithes received from the Land lessees, the Levites/govt then paid a tenth to the Aaronites/priests.  The priests didn’t tithe…the buck stopped at the priests.  De.14:28 of the (2^nd) tithe periodically received in towns, the Levites also distributed 1/10 of that 2^nd tenth to priests, bringing it (with firstfruits & firstlings) to the sanctuary storehouse as provision for priests serving in their courses throughout the year (Ne.10:34-39 & 2Ch.31:9-12, 19).  It seems Mal.2:8, 3:3, 6, 8-10 was addressed primarily to the Levites who should have been paying 1/10 of 1/10 to the priestly descendants of Aaron; and perhaps Malachi addressed secondarily the Land lessees who were lax in their tithing obligations.

So the tithe/tax recipients in ancient Israel were first the govt and then the priests…state and church.  Again, the priests were the Aaronide clan among the Levites/govt.  The ancient Kingdom religious leaders, the priests, received only 1/10 of 1/10…that is…1% (plus offerings, etc.)!

Again, only Land lessees were required to tithe to the Levites.

Did women tithe?  Nu.27:8 produce on land inherited by a daughter (because she had no brother to inherit) may have been tithed.  Also, any crops grown in the field purchased by the good wife of Pr.31:16.

Most servants didn’t pay tithes; but did give offerings and paid the other required taxes.

Some of the poor received tithes as part of God’s welfare system (De.26:12).

It doesn’t appear that wild game, fish caught in the seas, or wages earned by laborers were tithed in ancient Israel.

Yet previously, Abraham was rich in silver & gold (Ge.13:2), and Jacob was exceedingly prosperous (Ge.30:43)…those two semi-nomad herdsmen traveling the trade routes tithed!  (Upon all increase?)

Nu.31:25-47 also in Israel there was a tax on war spoils: 0.2% was paid by Israelite warriors to priests, 2.0% was paid by non-warriors to Levites…again a 1 to 10 ratio.  God is orderly!

Ex.30:12-16, Ne.10:32-33 a flat head tax paid by men of military age (as a form of atonement) helped support the tabernacle.  Of this, the rich didn’t pay more and the poor didn’t pay less…as Christ’s atoning sacrifice now applies equally to all income classes.  This tax later became the temple tax.  Mt.17:24-27 although Jesus is the Son of the Kingdom, this poll tax amount (which was enough for both He and Peter) miraculously appeared in a fish on this occasion!

Summing it up, the average annual levy for Land lessees in ancient Israel was perhaps 10% of their net income.  This consisted of: the 4–5% portion of 1^st tithe they shared with civil Levites at pilgrim feasts, the approximately 3% given to Levites in towns (annualizing the 10% given every 3^rd year), and the 2+% in the form of temple tax, firstfruits, firstlings, offerings, etc.

Some Bible historians think the 2^nd tithe (De.26:12 LXX) was spent by land lessees at pilgrim feasts in years #1, 2, 4, 5 of each 7-year cycle…and the same tithe was given to the poor in towns in years #3 and #6.  However, verses such as De.16:5, 16, Nu.9:13-14, Lk.2:41 indicate pilgrim feasts were to be attended (at one location) every year, not skipping years #3 and #6.

Now…the New Covenant is unlike the Old Covenant given to ancient Israel.  Israel failed to obey God.  He.7:1-18 gentiles don’t tithe to Levites!  Jesus is the high priest in the order of Melchisedek. (see the topic “Melchisedek Order Priesthood”.)  Again, the semi-nomad gentile Abram/Abraham, the father of the faithful, gave a tenth to Melchisedek prior to Moses.  And Melchisedek/Jesus lives on, He.7:8!

Where is Jesus Christ manifesting Himself or doing His work?  Col.1:27 “Christ in you.”  To what do all Christians belong?  According to 1Pe.2:5, 9, 4:16, now the Christian church is God’s royal priesthood.  Christians are to perform spiritual acts using God-given gifts.  Ro.12:1 presenting ourselves as living sacrifices is our service of worship.  2Ch.31:2 Levites (who received & paid tithes) praised.  He.13:15-16 the New Testament (NT) royal priesthood gives sacrifices of praise, doing good, sharing.

Paul wrote in Ep.1:11, “We too have obtained an inheritance”. (also Ro.8:17.)  Ga.3:18 & Ac.7:2-5 so did nomadic Abraham (a tither) await his promised inheritance.  The Lord is the inheritance of both the Levites and the New Covenant royal priesthood!

Let’s see who all comprises the NT royal priesthood: 1Ti.5:17-18 “Let the elders who preside well be worthy of double honor, especially those who work hard at preaching and teaching.”  Preaching & teaching elders are part of it.  “Honor” can be financial, e.g. Mk.7:9-11 & Ge.13:2.  Also in Ex.20:12 & De.5:16, honor (“your father and mother”) is the same Hebrew term used in Ge.13:2 where Abram was very honored or rich!

1Ti.5:3 widows are part of it too.  1Jn.3:17, Ja.2:15-16 needy saints receive ‘2^nd tithe’ type funds.  Ro.16:1-2 females and deacons too act as living sacrifices in the royal priesthood.  2Co.8:4 also saints in distress.  Ro.15:26 contributions & gifts for poor saints.

Christian tithing/giving is to both the royal priesthood and the state/nation in which we reside.  However, there are no verses in the canon of scripture which say laymen ever paid a tithe solely for religious authorities/priests or to a church!  That may be a shocking realization!  Not 10% to the church.

Christians today pay taxes to non-theocratic governments, not to Levitical civil leaders.  Our govts then provide benefits, welfare programs, entitlements, etc. for citizens.  Included among these recipients are Christian citizens who receive disability checks, unemployment benefits, tax credits, etc.!  But in many non-theocratic modern nations, the tax/tithe paid to the state isn’t shared with the church…unlike scriptural examples we’ve referenced!  1Pe.2:17 Peter said to honor all, the king or state too, but to especially love our brothers & sisters in the royal priesthood, the household of faith (Ga.6:10).

So over and above our ‘tithe’ obligations to our govts, so to speak…Christians give to other Christians, the church, and to good causes.  After we’ve paid our various taxes or received our tax refund in the spring, we might ask ourselves whether we’d given/tithed close to 10% (as a rule of thumb) to a combination of the govt and other Christians/the royal priesthood.  (It’s nearly impossible to gauge what percentage of our tithe/tax dollars are given by the govt in turn to Christians in the form of benefit checks, welfare programs, etc.)  Yet govt funding/entitlements don’t spread the gospel sufficiently.

1Co.9:13-14 Christians give to Christian evangelists too in the order of Melchisedek.  Paul compared this by analogy to the Aaronide priests being given food or paid in the old Levitical order.  Ga.6:6 also sharing good things with Christian teachers is reminiscent of Israel sharing good with their Levitical educators and others in their towns (e.g. De.26:11-12).

How is the giver benefited?  It’s been said, ‘The success of your financial future is directly related to obeying God’s principles of giving/tithing’.  Pr.3:9-10 barns will be filled with plenty.  Is.48:17 God teaches us to prosper.  De.28:11-12 and so-called ‘spiritual Israel’ is also blessed.  De.8:18 even the power & health to make wealth comes from God!  Ps.112:1-3 children of the righteous will be blessed.  Pr.28:27 there’s no lack for those helping the poor (again, De.26:12).

Pp.4:15-19 “And my God shall provide all your needs according to His riches.”  A word of caution: Riches shouldn’t be our goal or trust.  1Ti.6:7-10 “The love of money is a root of evil.”  Money in and of itself isn’t wrong…loving money is.  (see the series, “Money”.)  Rather, trust in God, 1Ti.6:17 “Who richly supplies us with all things to enjoy”.  Job.36:10-11 repentance and obedience brings prosperity.  Pr.13:18 but neglecting the Lord’s instructions/discipline can result in poverty.

Those Jewish leaders in Mt.23:23 should’ve tithed their garden spices (a form of ‘crop’ produce) to Levites.  The Levites should’ve then paid the priests.  We should pay/tithe (just) taxes and give!  Jesus said in Lk.20:25, to first “render to Caesar things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s”.  Jesus too affirms paying state and church.  (And many give to God on net ‘after-tax’ income.)

So we’ve read that tithe/tax to state and church was: for gentiles with king/priest Melchisedek…in God’s theocracy of ancient Israel with Levites/priests…seen in Jesus’ words during the Roman Empire.  But most govts today aren’t paying benefits to the church, which could then be used by churches collectively to pay their operating expenses and spread the gospel.  Yet Biblical tithing was to church and state both.

We can release God’s abundant blessing on our lives by following these Biblical financial principles.  Metaphorically it’s a spiritual matter of sowing seed through giving…and then reaping the harvest of blessing from God!  We usually eat fruit, not seeds!  Sow seed into the lives of others, and we’ll reap abundant benefits!  Lk.6:38 Give, and it will also be given unto us…it’s a command and a promise!  Ac.20:35 “It is more blessed to give than to receive.”  Givers in general are blessed.

If you’re not already following this principle, we can begin now.  The initial checks of giving/tithing may be hard to write, especially if you’re in debt.  But we can determine to follow the Lord in this matter!  Mal.3:10 “Prove Me now in this’, says the Lord of hosts.”  Let’s not be stingy…God is faithful!  The blessings will come accordingly.

God has a plan for our financial success, but we must cooperate to bring it to pass.  Let’s not eat our seed!  Sow, and expect a harvest in return!  Paul wrote in Ga.6:7, “Whatever a man sows, he will also reap”.  We reap what we sow.  Also 2Co.9:6-11 “He who sows sparingly shall also reap sparingly; and he who sows bountifully shall also reap bountifully.”  Sow in faith, and reap bountifully, as Paul said.

God is true to His Word.  Some famous people gave more & more, and blessings overflowed to them!  e.g. William Colgate (Colgate-Palmolive), James Kraft (Kraft foods), H.J. Heinz (ketchup) started out giving 10%…and then more.  Some have felt led to give large amounts of money to a personal ministry.  (Mk.12:41-44 this widow’s mite was all her money!)  May the Lord guide us in regards to whom we tithe/give (after we pay “Caesar”/govt).  We too can be financial successes through God’s blessings!

Re.1:6 Jesus has “Made us to be a kingdom of priests to His God and Father”.  Believers are the priests in the royal priesthood of the Lord.  We’re so blessed!

 

 

Kingdom of God

For millennia mankind has sought a place or condition of ideal life.  Three fabled sites were: 1) The mythological Elysian Fields, “any place or condition of ideal bliss or complete happiness”.  2) The fictional Shangri-La, a Himalayan hidden paradise or utopia.  3) The Fountain of Youth, Spanish explorer Ponce de Leon is said to have searched Florida in 1513 AD for a “legendary spring which if discovered would restore youth to its drinker”.

The ideal life and message of the Bible is the Kingdom of God (KOG), and Kingdom values.  The four gospels contain 100 references to the KOG!  And the Holy Bible has been called the Constitution of the KOG.  What is the KOG, this Kingdom or government (govt) of God?

Father God is the King of heaven.  Heaven is His domain.  A kingdom is the king dom-ain.  A king extends his rule by colonizing.  Earth is God’s colony, in a sense.  God said in Ge.1:26-28, “Let Us make man in our image, according to Our likeness, and let them rule over all the earth”.  Humanity is to rule over the earth.  Mankind, made in God’s image & likeness, was given bodily legal authority on earth.  Man was given the mandate to have dominion and be resource managers over colony earth.  Man is given rulership of earth, not ownership.  (Ps.24:1 the earth is the Lord’s.)

Divine guidance to rule and transmit the Lord’s Kingdom culture & values to the raw colony would come from God via the Holy Spirit (HS).  As Christian author Myles Munroe puts it in Rediscovering the Kingdom, p.43, “God’s original purpose and intent was to rule that which is seen (the visible world) through that which is unseen (the invisible world).  He would do this through the unseen (the Spirit of God in man), living in the unseen (the spirit of man) and living in the seen (man’s physical body) on the scene (the earth)”.

Myles Munroe refers to the HS as the Governor.  Man with his human spirit would rule God’s colony as local lieutenant or vice-governors or viceroys, through the influence of the governing HS.

But…Ge.3:1-6 man disobeyed God by eating the forbidden tree that gave them determination of good & evil!  Man wanted to choose by himself what’s right & wrong, making his own laws…as if man is God!  (There is only One true Lawgiver, Ja.4:12.)  Man’s method, apart from the Spirit of God, is humanism; exercising dominion through man’s own laws/purposes.  (see the topic “Tree Symbolism in Scripture”.)

Adam & Eve made a type of ‘declaration of independence’ from God; an act of treason!  They disobeyed the sovereign God, were separated from the HS (and Tree of Life), and became disqualified as God’s vice-governors…defecting and handing colony rule to satan via the Kingdom of Man.  Colony governance as an extension of God’s rule…ceased.  Colony rule wouldn’t reflect the KOG.

The governing HS was ‘recalled’ by God.  Heavenly host “powers” (e.g. 1Pe.3:22) would direct human kings.  Some future rulers would be more like governors of vice; not vice-governors for the HS God.

But God determined to restore His purposed KOG to mankind!  History chronicles the process of restoration of the KOG; it’s called His-story.  God began the process with Abraham, then Jacob/Israel.

All false religions (Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, New Age, etc.) are a mixture of good & evil values and principles; man’s humanistic substitute or counterfeit for the KOG.

Ancient Egypt was a kingdom of man, with pagan gods.  The Lord YHVH extracted Israel to become His holy kingdom of priests (Ex.19:4-6, De.32:8-9 Septúagint).  Ca 1600 BC, Christ gave His laws for His kingdom to Moses/Israel.  The exodus and God’s laws are in the Péntateuch; e.g. De.4:7-9, 34-35.

From the time of Moses, God’s holy nation of Israel was a theocracy administered by judges and tribal local govt.  But Israel didn’t want to follow God’s ways from their heart.  So the Lord gave them a human king, as other nations had (1Sm.8:6-7).  With a king it became a monarchy.  Then Israel represented the Kingdom of YHVH with a human king (1Ch.28:5).  A Davidic dynasty was promised by an oath (Ps.89:35-37).  see the topic “Jesus’ Genealogy”.

The Israelite people didn’t become good representatives or examples for other nations.  Instead, they disobeyed and broke their covenant with YHVH.  So He sent away the northern Israel into captivity to Assyria (721 BC), and the southern Judah to the Babylon of Nebuchadnézzar (597 BC).

Da.2:31-45 the dream of king Nebuchadnezzar was a Kingdom of Man statue of gentile kingdoms of man (e.g. Da.8:20-21), which God would eventually crush!  Daniel prophesied in Da.7:13-14, “The Son of Man was given dominion, glory and a Kingdom”.  The future apocalyptic Son of Man would be given dominion in the Kingdom of God.  Da.9:24-25 at the set time, the Son of Man was to reintroduce the KOG to replace the kingdoms of man.  Is.9:6-7 He is to sit on David’s throne (of Israel, not Judah…ref 1Ki.2:4, 8:25, 9:5; 2Ki.10:30).

Lk.1:31-33 “The Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David.”  Jesus is to be King in the KOG, on David’s throne.  Also ref Jn.18:37.  Jesus had to come as a human in order to have legal authority on earth (cf. Ge.1:26)!  Authority had been satan’s by default from Genesis 3.  The devil said in Lk.4:5-8, “It has been handed over to me”.  Mt.12:26-28 satan rules in the kingdom of man.

Now, the KOG restoration process continues after its earthly King was born as a man.  Yet not all that much is heard from pulpits these days about the KOG; their emphasis is more on personal salvation.

But in Mark’s gospel, Jesus’ first preaching was about the KOG!  Mk.1:14-15 “Jesus came into Galilee proclaiming the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the Kingdom of God is at hand.” (cf. Da.9:24-26)  Expositor’s Greek Testament Mk.1:15 “This defines more precisely the gospel Jesus preaches. It is the gospel of the Kingdom of God.”  Vincent Word Studies Mk.1:15 “The period completed by the setting up of Messiah’s kingdom.”  Cambridge Bible “The great foreordained and predicted time of the Messiah.”  It was inaugurated with the appearance of Jesus the Messiah on earth.

Later, as Acts begins, the resurrected Jesus “spoke of things concerning the Kingdom of God” for 40 days (Ac.1:3).  And Acts ends with the apostle Paul proclaiming the KOG!  In Ac.28:23, 31 Paul was “preaching the Kingdom of God, and teaching concerning the Lord Jesus Christ.”

Mt.25:34 the KOG had been prepared since the foundation, when the earth colony was undeveloped.

The following Bible passages identify or describe characteristics of the KOG (also called the Kingdom of Heaven).  A kingdom has: 1) a king, 2) a territory/realm, 3) laws, 4) subjects/citizens.

Jesus is “King of kings and Lord of lords.” (Re.19:16)  Jesus, who came as a Man, has dominion.  The KOG isn’t a voting democracy.  Rather, the King’s word is law!

The KOG is also the government of God.  Is.33:22 “The Lord is our Judge…our Lawgiver…our King.”  Christ heads the three branches of govt – judicial, legislative, executive.

Jesus said in Mt.6:9-10, “Pray in this way, ‘Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven”.  The rule of God will extend from the realm of heaven to colony earth.  (The coming KOG isn’t something to be feared, else Jesus wouldn’t have said to pray for it!)

Mt.13:31-33 the kingdom of heaven/God is as a mustard seed and as leaven on the surface of colony earth.  Kingdom govt increases and spreads to all peoples & nations (cf. Da.7:14).  Is.9:7 Septuagint “His government shall be great, and of His peace there is no end; upon the throne of David and upon His kingdom.”  Mt.5:19-20 Jesus refers to the least and the great citizens in the Kingdom.  (Mt.7:13-14 & Lk.18:17 the humble who are small in their own eyes are able to go through a “narrow gate”.)

Mt.28:18 the resurrected Jesus is given all authority by Father God.  Jesus is King of kings…Emperor.  There’s no clear separation between church & state in the KOG.  (Melchisedek is both priest & king, Ge.14:18. see the topic “Melchisedek Order Priesthood”.)

Ac.2:29-36 Jesus rules at His Father’s right hand in heaven (as the KOG increases), until all opposing kingdoms of man are subdued.  1Co.15:25 “He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet.” (ref Ge.1:28 dominion.)  Barnes Notes 1Co.15:25 “The mediatorial kingdom should continue until this great work is effected. He came to subdue all His enemies.”  Gill Exposition 1Co.15:25 “He is King of saints; He is made and declared to be both Lord and Christ; He is exalted at the right hand of God as a Prince, where He sits, rules and reigns.”  (also see “Heavenly Host Authorities and Powers”.)

Jesus died, arose, and sat down at the right hand of God in the heavenlies.  He.10:12-13 “From now on waiting until His enemies be made His footstool.”  Meyer NT Commentary He.10:13 “The destruction of the enemies of Christ is to be looked for even before His Parousía [coming].”  (also cf. Mt.22:44.)

David wrote in Ps.110:1, “The Lord said to my Lord, ‘Sit at My right hand until I make Your enemies Your footstool”.  Treasury of David Ps.110:1 “Jesus is placed in the seat of power, dominion, and dignity, and is to sit there by divine appointment while Jehovah [Father God] fights for him, and lays every rebel beneath His feet. He sits there and will sit there despite all the raging of His adversaries, till they are all brought to utter shame by his putting His foot upon their necks. In this sitting He is our representative. The mediatorial [1Ti.2:5] kingdom will last until the last enemy shall be destroyed. The work of subduing the nations is now in the hand of the great God, who by His Providence will accomplish it to the glory of His Son; His word is pledged to it, and the session of His Son at His right hand is the guarantee thereof; therefore let us never fear as to the future.”  Nations come and go; over the centuries they rise and fall during the process.  Yet Christ will not fail!

The KOG is ‘already but not yet’, so to speak.  In other words, ‘God is now King…but He must become King’.  We don’t see KOG fullness yet.

After Jesus ascended to heaven, beginning in Acts 2 the governing HS was made available for all races of people.  Lk.12:32 “Don’t be afraid” refers to those chosen by the Father for Kingdom citizenship.  1Co.12:27 the church, filled with the governing HS, is figuratively Jesus’ “body” on colony earth.

It’s our calling to express the KOG in miniature.  Jn.14:17 “The Spirit abides in you and will be with you.”  Presently the KOG isn’t a sole physical locality.  Jesus said in Lk.17:20-21, “The Kingdom of God is within you”.  It’s not solely in a mountain, cave, ocean, Holy Land, Elysian Fields, Shangri-La, Fountain of Youth, etc.  Rather, the KOG is extant through the influence of the indwelling HS.  Ro.14:17 “The Kingdom of God is righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.”

The Kingdom reflects God’s righteousness (Ps.119:172) and justice, which is being written upon the hearts of new covenant Christians.  He.8:10 “I will put My laws in their minds and write them on their hearts.”  Full conversion to Kingdom life is a lifelong process, as Kingdom laws & values become internalized within us (not just written on tablets of stone).  see “Two Covenants – Heart of the Matter”.  The KOG exists in yielded human hearts.

We might say the KOG is presently the HS Governor within people, within you & me!  Col.1:13 “He transferred us to the Kingdom of His beloved Son.”  We’ve been transferred to the KOG and King Jesus, via the governing HS.

But not yet to glory.  1Th.2:12 God calls us to His own Kingdom and future glory.  Not then as mere flesh.  Ro.8:30 “Whom He called He also justified, and these He also glorified.”  Ja.2:5 while in our physical bodies, now we’re only heirs of Kingdom glory.  Our actual inheritance in Kingdom glory is yet future (Ep.5:5 “…an inheritance in the Kingdom of God”).

Mt.6:31-34 “Be not anxious. Seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things [physical needs] shall be provided.”  The person who lacks adequate provision may not be putting the KOG or obedience to God as the first priority.  A King takes care of citizens for His Name’s sake!  Myles Munroe wrote, “We don’t seek the KOG because of its benefits, but its benefits come to us as we seek the Kingdom”!  Paul in 2Co.5:20, “We are ambassadors for Christ”.  Ambassadors are supported by the state/King!  God will provide our needs (Php.4:19)!  As ambassadors, we carry around the KOG within these bodies or mobile homes of the HS!

And there is still persecution affecting many living the Kingdom life worldwide (cf. Re.1:9).  In China, e.g.  The Pilgrims and Puritans came here to escape persecution, saying they were extending the KOG to the New World.  They enacted God’s laws in American colonies (cf. Mal.4:4).  ref Massachusetts Body of Liberties 1641.  (Ja.4:12 there’s One Lawgiver in the KOG; the King’s word is law.)

But God allows individuals to decide which kingdom we want to obey…the Kingdom of God or the Kingdom of Man (humanism).  Being a KOG citizen doesn’t only consist of attending church, while we obey the kingdom of man govt laws of one’s nation!  KOG govt is to be obeyed as a priority (Ac.5:29), while we have dual citizenship on earth (Php.3:20).  see “Governmental Loyalty for Christians”.

Let’s us have the heart of pilgrims by reflecting and spreading KOG culture & values in our lives and spheres of influence!  As Dr. Munroe said…regardless of where or whether we’re employed in a job or career(s), we’re deployed by God as Christian “soldiers” to the service and work of the KOG.  2Ti.2:3 “As a good soldier for Jesus Christ.”  Onward Christian Soldiers…He leads to Kingdom victory!

All enemies are to be eradicated.  Jesus’ “body” (which is us collectively) won’t fail…because He’s the Head!  Again Re.19:15-16, He’s the King of kings in the KOG!  Da.2:34, 45 Christ is the figurative Stone made without hands, Who will crush the warring self-serving kingdoms of man.  He will succeed!

Da.7:27 “The sovereignty, the dominion, and the greatness of all the kingdoms under the whole heaven will be given to the saints of the Highest; His Kingdom will be an everlasting kingdom, and all the dominions will serve and obey Him.”  Jesus Christ is Lord!

So the saints should have an overcoming dominion mindset (Ge.1:26-28).  As Christians, we have a dominion mandate to reflect and proclaim the Kingdom of God!

Made in the image & likeness of God, we were given a dominion spirit within us.  Activating the royal Governor, the Holy Spirit, is key to living the Kingdom life…and to victory!  Glory to our Lord and King!