Kingdom Come

Believing God’s promise –  as in “You have my word on it” – was just as much the means of salvation as it has been since fulfilment of his promise.

Moses expressly states that this word is given to all peoples, not just the nation of Israel thousands of years after the Garden of Eden incident. 

“Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the LORD thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee…the LORD, he it is that doth go before thee; he will be with thee, he will not fail thee, neither forsake thee: fear not, neither be dismayed.

And Moses wrote this law, and delivered it unto the priests the sons of Levi, which bare the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and unto all the elders of Israel. And Moses commanded them, saying…thou shalt read this law before

• • all Israel in their hearing…
  • and thy stranger that is within thy gates,

that they may hear, and that they may learn, and fear the LORD your God, and observe to do all the words of this law:“ (Deuteronomy 31:9-12)

Don’t narrowly construe every reference to “law” as being the Constitution of the Nation of Israel. Don’t forget, Moses wrote down Genesis as well. “This law” goes back to the fundamental law in the Garden of Eden. Further specifics besides eating of the tree in the midst of the garden, which after all was no longer available, were delineated for people who insist on parsing the details of the law to find a loophole. But the essential law never changed.

“of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it…the serpent…said unto the woman…For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof…ye shall be as gods…” (Genesis 2:17, 3:1-5)

“And God spake all these words, saying, I am the LORD thy God…Thou shalt have no other gods before me.” (Exodus 20:1-3)

“Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love [set above self] the LORD thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself [treat as equal to self]. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.” (Matthew 22:36-40)

The same warning against sinning against God given to the Adams is given to all humanity, not exempting the Israelites. 

“of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” (Genesis 2:17)

“the LORD appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect. And I will make my covenant between me and thee.” (Genesis 17:1-2)

“Moses commanded the Levites…Take this book of the law [including Genesis], and put it in the side of the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God, that it may be there for a witness against thee…For I know that after my death ye will utterly corrupt yourselves, and turn aside from “the way” which I have commanded you; and evil will befall you in the latter days…” (Deuteronomy 31:25-30)

“every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death. Do not err, my beloved brethren. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.” (James 1:14-17)

What is “the way” Moses commanded the Levites to teach Israel?

“And Moses said unto the LORD…thou hast said, I know thee by name [relationship], and thou hast also found grace in my sight. Now therefore, I pray thee…shew me now THY WAY, that I may know thee [be united with thee by following your way of doing things]…

And the LORD descended in the cloud, and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name / way of the LORD…

• The LORD, The LORD God,
• merciful and gracious, longsuffering
• abundant in goodness and truth
• forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin,
• and that will by no means clear the guilty” (Exodus 33-34)

Here we find that the way of the God of the Bible is summed up as

1. desire for unification / oneness with humanity motivating
2. God’s forgiveness of sin and
3. judgment for unredeemed sin.

This “way of the LORD” IS “the Law of Moses” on which every other rule rests. The first five books of the Bible are known collectively as “the law” because it contains, not just rules, but the political constitution – not just of the nation of Israel – but of the entirety of God’s kingdom, beginning in Genesis with the establishment of the boundaries of the kingdom at creation and the assignment of kingdom leadership.

The Septuagint rendered the Hebrew torah by the Greek nomos (“law”), probably in the sense of a living network of traditions and customs of a people. The designation of the Torah by nomos, and by its Latin successor lex (whence, “the Law”), has historically given rise to the misunderstanding that Torah means legalism…

“And Moses went up unto God, and the LORD called unto him out of the mountain, saying, Thus shalt thou say to the house[hold of all nationalities, the Hebrews] of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel [Israelites]; if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant / constitution, then ye shall be…unto me a kingdom…” (Exodus 19:3-6)

We should understand from our own chaotic marital, social and political situations that obeying the terms of an agreement is the only way unity, a necessary precursor to overcoming destructive forces, can be achieved.  

As described more thoroughly in the post on Melchizedek Moses, at this point in time God offered kingdom leadership to all the nationalities of the world in the Hebrew nation.

This makes Moses the human author of the constitution of God’s spiritual kingdom for all mankind.

Judaism itself acknowledges this.

The message of the Torah is for all mankind. Before giving the Torah to Israel, God offered it to the other nations, but they refused it; and when He did give the Torah to Israel, He revealed it in the extraterritorial desert and simultaneously in all the 70 languages, so that men of all nations would have a right to it.

What? Never heard this in Sunday School so immediately rejecting this as a Jewish invention? This account utterly makes sense in view of God’s desire to see all humanity saved, and is consistent with the next occasion of offering priestly status to all humanity, when the message was also preached in many languages on the Day of Pentecost.

Shavuot is a Jewish holiday that commemorates the single most important event in Israel’s history: the giving of the Torah (the first five books in the Hebrew Bible) to Moses at Mount Sinai….it is one of the three major festivals often called “pilgrim” festivals because all Jewish males were required to observe them at the Holy Temple in Jerusalem…Since Shavuot occurs 50 days after the first day of Passover, it is sometimes known as Pentecost, which is a Greek word that means “fifty.” Jesus’ followers were in Jerusalem celebrating Pentecost when the Holy Spirit was given to them.

“And when the day of Pentecost was fully come…there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven…

the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own language…how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born…we do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God.” (Acts 2:1-11)

“Thus saith the LORD that made thee, and formed thee from the womb, which will help thee; Fear not,

• • O Jacob, my servant;
  • AND [another entity] –,Jesurun / upright one, whom I have chosen.” (Isaiah 44:2)

Jesurun is assumed to be another name for Israel because the text identifies this nation as the one over which Melchizedek Moses was king for forty years in the wilderness. However, as proven with hermeneutics in the preceding posts, this is the Hebrew nation formed as God’s United Nations at the Tower of Babel then led out of Egypt in the Exodus.

“And Pharaoh…called for Moses and Aaron by night, and said, Rise up, and get you forth from among my people…And the children of Israel journeyed…And a mixed multitude went up also with them;” (Exodus 12:30-38)

“When the Most High divided to the nations their inheritance, when he separated the sons of Adam, he set the bounds of the people according to the number of the children of Isra-el / Prince of God. For the LORD‘s portion is his people; Jacob is the lot of his inheritance [acknowledging the Hebrew nation does not deny the Israelite nation]. He found him in a desert land [AFTER the Exodus of the Hebrews], and in the waste howling wilderness; he led him about, he instructed him, he kept him as the apple of his eye. So the LORD alone did lead him, and there was no strange god with him. But Jeshurun [translates exactly as “Upright Ones” the entire community of Hebrews, preceding and including Noah, Shem, Abraham, Etc. not just the children of Israel]...forsook God which made him, and lightly esteemed the Rock of his salvation.

Review the post on Melchizedek Moses for an in depth proof that Jeshurun means Saints of all time rather than a nickname for Israel. A quick proof of this is that the idolatrous incident referenced in this same passage happened  before the nation of Israel was formed under the Mosaic covenant, while they were still identified as Hebrews. This nation was the international believers in the God of Creation, judgment on sin through the flood, grace to Noah, and faith of Abraham.

They provoked him to jealousy with strange gods, with abominations provoked they him to anger. They sacrificed unto devils, not to God; to gods whom they knew not, to new gods that came newly up, whom your fathers feared not.

And when the LORD saw it, he…said…They have moved me to jealousy with that which is not God…I will move them to jealousy with those which are not a people…(Deuteronomy 32)

The continuation of the passage in Isaiah naming Jeshurun confirms that after the creation of the nation of Israel for God’s leadership in the kingdom of heaven and earth, the preceding ancient nation of Hebrews called Jeshurun / the Upright Ones continued to exist and grow.

Thus saith the LORD that made thee, and formed thee from the womb, which will help thee; Fear not…Jesurun / upright one, whom I have chosen.

For I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground: I will pour my spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thine offspring: And they shall [future tense] spring up as among the grass, as willows by the water courses. 

1. One shall say, I am the LORD‘s; [the pre-flood ancients and post-flood Hebrews]
2. and another shall call himself by the name of Jacob; [Israelites]
3. and another shall subscribe with his hand unto the LORD, and surname himself by the name of Israel. [post Redemption]

Thus saith the LORD the King of Israel, and his redeemer the LORD of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God. And who, as I, shall call, and shall declare it, and set it in order for me, since I appointed the ancient people…” (Isaiah 44)

Whoever will be saved from the dominion and destruction of sin in this life and after death must act on their belief in God’s word, whatever their particular circumstances and revelation.

“faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone…shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works. Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble. But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead? Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar? Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect? And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God. Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only. Likewise also was not Rahab the harlot justified by works, when she had received the messengers, and had sent them out another way? For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.” (James 2:17-26)

For a certain group of people in a certain set of circumstances, believing and acting on God’s word took the form of killing an appropriate animal as a substitute for a sinless human, as God did for the Adams.

“And the LORD spake unto Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt saying,..Speak ye unto all the congregation of Israel, saying, In the tenth day of this month they shall take to them every man a lamb, according to the house of their fathers, a lamb for an house…and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening. And they shall take of the blood, and strike it on the two side posts and on the upper door post of the houses, wherein they shall eat it…it is the LORD’s passover.

and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not…destroy you, when I smite…” (Exodus 12:1-13)

“And the LORD said unto Moses, Speak unto Aaron thy brother…I will appear in the cloud upon the mercy seat…And he shall take of the blood of the bullock, and sprinkle it with his finger upon the mercy seat…Then shall he kill the goat of the sin offering… and sprinkle it upon the mercy seat, and before the mercy seat…And he shall make an atonement.” (Leviticus 16)

“But Christ / The Promised One being come an high priest of good things to come…by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us...

• For if the blood of bulls and of goats…sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh: 
  • How much more shall the blood of the Anointed One…
• And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, 
  • for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament,
• they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance….
  • without shedding of blood is no remission.
• It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these;
  • but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.” (Hebrews 9)

For everyone, believing and obeying God’s word takes repentance from current self-absorbed mindset. The following account is not of one unique event in the history of mankind. It is experienced by everyone who is overwhelmed by forces too big for them to handle, and who choose to put their faith in God’s promise – through his spokesmen – to rescue them.

“the Egyptians pursued after them, all the horses and chariots of Pharaoh, and his horsemen, and his army, and overtook them encamping by the sea…And…the children of Israel lifted up their eyes…and they were sore afraid: and the children of Israel cried out…unto Moses, Because there were no graves in Egypt, hast thou taken us away to die in the wilderness? wherefore hast thou dealt thus with us, to carry us forth out of Egypt? Is not this the word that we did tell thee in Egypt, saying, Let us alone, that we may serve the Egyptians? For it had been better for us to serve the Egyptians, than that we should die in the wilderness. And Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will shew to you to day…The LORD shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace.” (Exodus 14)

Without a doubt there were unbelievers in that group who chose to run back to throw themselves on the mercy of their Egyptian taskmasters rather than go forward into the unknown. How can I be so sure? The science of deduction. We all do it. But for everyone, no-man’s- land in between the armies is certain, maybe slow, but certain, death.

For everyone, salvation requires a visible demonstration of the inner spiritual immersion / identification with the Savior.

“And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the LORD caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night, and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided. And the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea upon the dry ground: and the waters were a wall unto them on their right hand, and on their left.” (Exodus 14)

“Moreover, [Corinthians, therefore Gentiles] brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea; And did all eat the same spiritual meat; And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ.” ( I Corinthians 10:1-4)

“take thou unto thee Aaron thy brother, and his sons with him, from among the children of Israel, that he may minister unto me in the priest’s office…this is the thing that thou shalt do unto them to hallow them...thou shalt bring unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and shalt wash them with water…And I will sanctify the tabernacle of the congregation, and the altar: I will sanctify also both Aaron and his sons, to minister to me in the priest’s office. And I will dwell among the children of Israel, and will be their God.” (Exodus 28-40)

“Now Naaman, captain of the host of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master, and honourable, because by him the LORD had given deliverance unto Syria…but he was a leper…So Naaman came with his horses and with his chariot, and stood at the door of the house of Elisha. And Elisha sent a messenger unto him [treating this mighty conqueror of Israel as inferior to the poor prophet, in essence truly acting like the Priest of Almighty God], saying, Go and wash in Jordan seven times, and thy flesh shall come again to thee, and thou shalt be clean. But Naaman was wroth, and went away, and said…Are not Abana and Pharpar, rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel?…So he turned and went away in a rage. And his servants came near, and spake unto him, and said, My father, if the prophet had bid thee do some great thing, wouldest thou not have done it? how much rather then, when he saith to thee, Wash, and be clean? Then went he down, and dipped himself seven times in Jordan, according to the saying of the man of God: and his flesh came again like unto the flesh of a little child, and he was clean. And he returned to the man of God, he and all his company, and came, and stood before him: and he said, Behold, now I know that there is no God in all the earth, but in Israel. And Naaman said, Shall there not then, I pray thee, be given to thy servant two mules’ burden of earth? for thy servant will henceforth offer neither burnt offering nor sacrifice unto other gods, but unto the LORD.” (II Kings 5)

“In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea, And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. For this is he that was spoken of by the prophet Esaias, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight…Then went out to him Jerusalem, and all Judaea, and all the region round about Jordan, And were baptized of him in Jordan, confessing their sins. But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance: And think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham. And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance. but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire.” (Matthew 3:1-13)

“God hath made the same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ. Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do? Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost…Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls.” (Acts 2:36-41)