The Dusty Disciples: July 2012

Saturday, July 21, 2012

Seek First the Kingdom - Part 12

"For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, As the waters cover the sea.” (Hab 2:14)(Isa 11:9)

Prosperity, health, long life, and peace are all given to provide the opportunity for the greatest gift of all, “full…knowledge of the LORD,” (Isa 11:9).

When the LORD’S kingdom on earth reaches its greatest fulfillment, “All your sons will be taught of the LORD,” (Isa 54:13). Jesus quoted this prophecy alluding to His own teaching saying, “It is written in the prophets, 'And they shall all be taught of God,’ Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me,” (John 6:45). Because the disciples were taught by God, “many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it,” (Matt 13:17).

Because the LORD Himself will be teaching mankind, “the earth will be full of knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea.” During these days, the words of Jeremiah will reach their greatest fulfillment,

"‘This is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days,’ declares the LORD, ‘I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. They will not teach again, each man his neighbor and each man his brother, saying, 'Know the LORD,'for they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them," declares the LORD, "for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.’" (Jer 31:33-34)

“Know” comes from the Hebrew word, “yada,” which means an intimate relationship, as in “Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain,” (Gen 4:1, ESV). So great will be the knowledge of the LORD in these days that all other times in history will pale in comparison. Jesus was alluding to this future time when he said, “I say to you, among those born of women there has not arisen anyone greater than John the Baptist! Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he,” (Matt 11:11). In what way will those in the kingdom be greater than John? One possible explaination is greater in knowledge of God, i.e., prophecy, as Jesus said, “What did you go out into the wilderness to see?…A prophet? Yes, I say to you, and one who is more than a prophet,” (Matt 11:7-9).

The knowledge of the LORD will be great when the “Perfect comes,” a reference to Jesus (Heb 5:9). In those days, prophecy will no longer be needed, as Paul has foretold,

“If there are gifts of prophecy, they will be done away…For we know in part and we prophecy in part; but when the perfect comes, the partial will be done away with…For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known.” (1 Cor 13:8-12).

The fullness of the kingdom is a time of miraculous transformation on the earth. Zechariah speaks both metaphorically and also physically about the world being changed “Jerusalem will rise and remain on its site from Benjamin’s Gate as far as the place of the First Gate to the Corner Gate,” (Zech 14:10). The knowledge of the LORD will be great “And the LORD will be king over all the earth; in that day the LORD will be one, and His name one,” (Zech 14:9).

(to be continued - Scott)

Thursday, July 19, 2012

Seek First The Kingdom of God - Part 11

“It will come about that he who is left in Zion and remains in Jerusalem will be called holy — everyone who is recorded for life in Jerusalem.” (Isa 4:3)

“In that day there will be inscribed on the bells of the horses, ‘HOLY TO THE LORD.’ And the cooking pots in the LORD'S house will be like the bowls before the altar. 21 Every cooking pot in Jerusalem and in Judah will be holy to the LORD of hosts; and all who sacrifice will come and take of them and boil in them. And there will no longer be a Canaanite in the house of the LORD of hosts in that day.” (Zech 14:20-21)

In the days of the fullness of the kingdom, the entire city of Jerusalem, not just the temple, will become “holy to the LORD.” This is indicated by the fact that “bells of the horses” are holy, which means the horses are holy, along with "every cooking pot in Jerusalem and Judah." The city is made holy, “When the Lord has washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion and purged the bloodshed of Jerusalem from her midst, by the spirit of judgment and the spirit of burning,” (Isa 4:4). If everyone and everything in Jerusalem is “holy,” there can be no suffering or pain, which implies no death. The residents of Jerusalem must be the resurrected saints, as it says of those remains in Jerusalem, “everyone who is recorded for life in Jerusalem,” (Isa 4:3).

“Holiness” means “sanctification,” to be set apart for a specific purpose. Believers are called to “be holy, for I am holy” (Lev 11:44), a phrase that predominately appears in the Book of Leviticus because the priests served in the temple. The priests become an example for believers and a pattern for the kingdom, “It is God’s will that you should be sanctified,” (1 Thes 4:3).

“Therefore, ‘Come out from their midst and be separate,’ says the LORD. ‘And do not touch what is unclean; and I will welcome you,” (2 Cor 6:17).

A condition of holiness was the only condition that a person could approach the throne of God in His earthly temple. As such, the holy can not be interwoven with the common or unclean things (a metaphor for sinful acts) of this world. The New Jerusalem is described as a place where “nothing unclean, and no one who practices abominations and lying, shall ever come into it, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life,” (Rev 21:27).

Zechariah comes very close to describing the New Jerusalem, “there will no longer be a curse, for Jerusalem will dwell in security,” (Zech 14:11). However, this Jerusalem will rise from the earth (Zech 14:10)(Isa 2:2), as contrasted with the New Jerusalem of John’s vision that is seen “coming down out of heaven from God, having the glory of God,” (Rev 21:10).

Whereas the New Jerusalem has “the glory of God,” the existing Jerusalem must be “washed” and “purged…by the spirit of judgment and the spirit of burning.” The prophesies of Isaiah and Zechariah speak of people “who are left of all the nations that went against Jerusalem (in war),” (Zech 14:16). These people will go up to Jerusalem every year “to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to celebrate the Feast of Booths.” If the people of a nation fail to come up to Jerusalem for the Feast of Booths (Sukkot), they will have no rain.

It seems fitting to thank the LORD Who sent rain last night (7/18/12) in Indiana to save the crops in answer to Rich's prayer at Church.

(to be continued - Scott)

Thursday, July 12, 2012

Seek First The Kingdom - Part 10

(1) Creating Shalom Out of Chaos
(2) The Fall Brought Chaos Back Into Creation
(3) The Kingdom: God’s Plan to Restore Peace to the World
(4) Jesus Was Sent for This Purpose
(5) What is the Kingdom?
(6) Patterns of the Kingdom in Scripture
- The Garden of Eden
- The Wilderness
- The Promised Land
- The Kingdom of Solomon
- The Days of the Apostles
(7) The Life and Ministry of Jesus
(8) Attributes of the Kingdom
- Prosperity and Joy
- Peace
- Righteousness (Part - 10)
- Holiness
- Knowledge of the LORD
(9) The Millenium Kingdom
(10) The Believer’s Responsibility to Progress the Kingdom

ATTRIBUTES OF THE KINGDOM: Righteousness

"’Behold, the days are coming,’ declares the LORD, ‘When I will raise up for David a righteous Branch; And He will reign as king and act wisely And do justice and righteousness in the land. In His days Judah will be saved, And Israel will dwell securely; And this is His name by which He will be called, 'The LORD our righteousness.'

Therefore behold, the days are coming,’ declares the LORD, ‘when they will no longer say, 'As the LORD lives, who brought up the sons of Israel from the land of Egypt,' but, 'As the LORD lives, who brought up and led back the descendants of the household of Israel from the north land and from all the countries where I had driven them.' Then they will live on their own soil.’" (Jer 23:5-8)

The prophets looked forward to a time when the nation of Israel will dwell in safety with the “David a righteous Branch…(who) will reign as king and act wisely and do justice and righteousness in the land.” Both Paul (Rom 14:17-18) and Isaiah (Isa 60:17) identified righteousness as one of the characteristics of the kingdom. The standard of righteousness in the kingdom is high, “For I say to you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven,” (Matt 5:20).

In scripture, Noah is the first person who is called “a righteous man, blameless in his time,” (Gen 6:9). The passage provides a parallelism that defines righteousness as, “blameless in his time.” Abraham is accredited with righteousness based on what he did, “He believed in the LORD; and He reckoned it to him as righteousness,” (Gen 15:5). The LORD through Moses further defined righteousness as being derived from obedience to the commandments of the LORD. Moses told the nation of Israel, “It will be righteousness for us if we are careful to observe all this commandment before the LORD our God, just as He commanded us.” (Deut 6:25).

Righteousness is shown by the actions an individual performs. Those actions must proceed from a sincere heart to produce righteousness.

“That Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, attained righteousness, even the righteousness which is by faith; but Israel, pursuing a law of righteousness, did not arrive at that law. Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as though it were by works.” (Rom 9:30-32)

Actions flowing from sincere hearts testify of the kingdom to the world around us. In the words of Paul, “The kingdom of God does not consist in words but in power,” (1 Cor 4:20). Words alone are insufficient; the kingdom is demonstrated by the collective actions of kingdom people. For this reason, “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven,” (Matt 7:21).

What is “the will of My Father” and what is the standard of kingdom people? In a righteous kingdom, the life of the king should be the pattern for his subjects living within the kingdom. So what is the standard by which the king of Israel lives and reigns in righteousness, (2 Sam 8:15)? The words of Moses tell us,

“When he (the king) sits on the throne of his kingdom, he shall write for himself a copy of the law on a scroll in the presence of the Levitical priests. It shall be with him and he shall read it all the day of his life, that he may learn to fear the LORD his God, by carefully observing all the words of this law and these statues, that his heart may not be lifted up above his countrymen and that he may not turn aside from the commandment, to the right or the left, so that he and his sons may continue long in his kingdom in the midst of Israel.” (Deut 17:18-20).

As the saying goes, “The President is not above the law.” Neither is the king.

The standard for righteous living in the kingdom for God’s people is the Law. In the words of Paul, “The Law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good,” (Rom 7:13). This principle throughout scripture will be forever difficult for many believers to accept because we have been taught from the cradle that “Christians are not under the Law.” While the Gentiles where held to a lower standard than the Jews at the counsel of the elders in Acts chapter 15, scripture foresees the world moving in a direction toward greater obedience to the words spoken by Moses. Isaiah foretold of a future time, referred to as “the last days,” when,

“The mountain of the house of the LORD will be established as the chief of the mountains, And will be raised above the hills; And all the nations will stream to it. And many peoples will come and say, ‘Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, To the house of the God of Jacob; That He may teach us concerning His ways And that we may walk in His paths.’ For the law will go forth from Zion And the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. And He will judge between the nations, And will render decisions for many peoples; And they will hammer their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not lift up sword against nation, And never again will they learn war. Come, house of Jacob, and let us walk in the light of the LORD.” (Isa 2:2-5)

This passage from Isaiah is a picture of the kingdom, a time when “they will hammer their swords into plowshares…And never again will they learn war.” During His reign, the Messiah as King, will both “teach us concerning His ways” and “judge between the nations.” The standard of teaching and judging will be the “the law (which shall) go forth from Zion and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.” This parallelism identifies the “word of the LORD” as the “the law.” If the entire world is moving toward a future time of obedience to the Law, it would be prudent for believers to study, understand, and begin to practice the commandments while we still reside in the age of grace. Even today, the Law remains “holy and righteous and good.” It is the weakness of the flesh that fails to keep the Law, as Paul has written, “What the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh,” (Rom 8:3). The “flesh” was the first century rabbinical answer to why people are unable to do the good God calls us to perform.

Moses referred to our present condition in the flesh as the “uncircumcised heart,” but promised a future time when, “The LORD your God will circumcise your heart…to love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, so that you may live,” (Deut 30:6).

Ezekiel also foretold of this future time when, “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statues, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances.” (Ezek 36:26-27)

The promise of Ezekiel is that God will remove our disobedient heart of stone and give us an obedient heart of flesh. The process began with the giving of the Spirit on the day of Pentecost (Shavuot). The gift of the Spirit in the present age is not simply as a guarantee of our future resurrection, but He is given as a helper to enable the believer to overcome the evil inclination and “walk in My statutes…and …observe My ordinances,” i.e., obedience to the Law.

When believers walk in the statutes and observe the ordinances, “It will be righteousness for us if we are careful to observe all this commandment before the LORD our God, just as He commanded us.” (Deut 6:25). In the words of Paul, “the man who practices the righteousness which is based on the law shall live by that righteousness,” (Rom 10:5). As the subjects of the kingdom become righteous (Isa 60:21), they bring the kingdom into fullness on the earth.

(to be continued - Scott)

The Dusty Disciples