3 posts tagged “jacob”
“The Lord told Aaron, ‘You will not
have an inheritance in the land; there will be no portion among them
for you. I am your portion and your inheritance among the Israelites.”
Num 18: 20
Zionism is basically the belief that
Jews have a birthright to the land of Israel. That is, by virtue
of being born, they have inherited the right to the land of Israel.
This belief is founded by God’s promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob…promises
repeated often throughout the bible.
Zionism is obviously easier to believe
if you are Jewish, but what of the Middle Eastern non-Jew? Welcome
to the Mid-East conflict.
It is easy to understand conflict whenever
there are two claimants, but what if there is a THIRD party? Where
do Christians fit-in, pertaining to any claim to the land of Israel?
I bring the question, simply because there are some Christians who believe
the “church” has replaced “Israel” in the eyes of God.
To them, we have not been grafted-in to Israel’s vine, rather we have
replaces it altogether.
In the Middle Age, Christian profiteers
crusaded to free the “holy land” of Jews and Muslims. They
believed Israel should be the sole possession of Christians. That
didn’t work out for them.
So what is the Christian’s inheritance,
and more importantly, perhaps, what does it mean to be a co-inheritor?
If Christians were to relate to any particular Israelite tribe, it would
be Levi. The New Testament speaks of all believers being part
of a holy priesthood. Christians not yearn to build an earthly
kingdom, but the Heavenly one.
Question: Whenever Israel was driven
from the land by a conqueror, which tribe got to keep their inheritance?
Answer: The Levites.
Levitical inheritance was not earthly.
Neither is the Christian’s. God gave the Levites an inheritance,
from which they could not be driven. They were given the inheritance
of serving the Lord.
No matter where a Christian may wander,
their obligation, inheritance, and joy should be to serve the Lord by
serving others without regard for building personal kingdoms.
Blessings.
Steve Wiggins
"Then the Lord descended in a pillar of cloud, stood at the entrance
to the tent, and summoned Aaron and Miriam. When the two of them came
forward, He said: 'Listen to what I say: If there is a prophet among
you from the Lord, I make Myself known to him in a vision; I speak
with him in a dream. Not so with My servant Moses; he is the only one
faithful in all My household. I speak with him directly, openly, and
not in riddles; he sees the image of God. So why are you not afraid
to speak against My servant Moses?'" Num 12: 5-8
"Envy" is pride wounded in competition. Whenever I see someone who
is consumed with envy, I start looking for where the competition is,
because somehow they are responding from that vulnerable place of
realized or impending defeat.
For Cain & Abel, the competition was over God's favor of their
offerings. For Jacob & Esau, it was over birthright and blessing.
I've seen it between recording artists in the marketplace, and between
ministers over congregants. There was serious competition going-on
between Moses' siblings.
Moses' brother, Aaron was oldest, and by birthright it was his
responsibility to spiritually lead the family. As high priest, he
was indeed leading Israel, spiritually. Perhaps, he also wanted to
lead them militarily & administratively.
Miriam was Moses' older sister. She followed Moses' baby basket down
the Nile, straight to Pharaoh's daughter. Miriam negotiated for
Moses' own mother to nurse and raise him! It must have been hard for
Miriam to submit to Moses, without seeing him as a child who needed to
be watched-over.
God saw past their pseudo-righteous indignation and spoke directly,
concerning their envious hearts. Miriam & Aaron's dispute wasn't over
Moses marrying an Egyptian woman. It was over his authority. God cut
straight to the issue, never mentioning the Egyptian woman.
In God's pronouncement, there is a profound lesson concerning
prophecy and faithfulness. There are several biblical instances,
where people who aren't particularly righteous prophesy. Even
Balaam's donkey prophesied! All that meant was that God wanted to
send a message, and He isn't limited by the righteousness of the
messenger.
Most profound is God's statement about faithfulness. When we are
faithful, God's messages don't come to us in abrupt off-time spurts.
He speaks directly and openly to the faithful. Leadership is not
about age or experience, necessarily. It is a matter of faithfulness.
Be faithful.
Blessings.
Steve Wiggins
"Yet in spite of this, while they are in the land of their enemies, I will
not reject or abhor them, so as to destroy them and break my covenant with
them, since I am the Lord their God. For their sake, I will remember the
covenant with their fathers, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt in the
sight of the nations to be their God; I am the Lord." Lev 26: 44-45
Last week I was posed this question from some friends in Hawaii, who receive
our daily Living Room devotions: Do the Jews believe in the same God as
Christians?
The question stems from a great theological debate which suggests that,
since "Non-believing" Jews reject Jesus, they are not accepting the
"wholeness of God"; thus, the God Jews believe in is not the same as the God
Christians believe in.
The New Testament, speaking of Jesus, informs us that there is "no other
name under Heaven by which men may be saved". Jesus said, "I am the way and
the truth and the Life, and no man comes to the Father, except through me."
Whether Jew of Gentile, accepting Messiah, Jesus, is the essential component
of Salvation. The first chapter of John speaks clearly of Jesus' deity. In
that sense, knowing Who Jesus is, brings an essential understanding of Who
God is.
But since Jesus is a member of the Trinity, wasn't He present when Adonai
spoke these (above) words to Moses?
Perhaps, the Christian's understanding of Israel's understanding of God
takes a back seat to God's understanding of His plan for the redemption of
Israel…and the world. This was the basis for Paul's message to the Roman
church.
"I ask, then, have they (Israel) stumbled so as to fall? Absolutely not!
On the contrary, by their stumbling, salvation has come to the Gentiles to
make Israel jealous. Now if their stumbling brings riches for the world,
and their failure riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their full
number bring!
Now I am speaking to you Gentiles. In view of the fact that I am an apostle
to the Gentiles, I magnify my own ministry, if I can somehow make my own
people jealous and save some of them. For is their being rejected is world
reconciliation, what will their acceptance mean but life from the dead?"
Rom 11: 11-15
God's covenant with Israel is with those who, by faith, believe. His
faithfulness is the foundation for the security of our salvation. Perhaps,
a more important question than, "Do Jews believe in the God of the
Christians?", is the question: Does the God of all creation keep His
covenants…and did He fulfill His promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob
through Jesus? I believe He did.
Blessings.
Steve Wiggins
