RSEA.D. Week 127

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Week 127

Read
Aloud together to hear the Word (Leviticus 23:1-3; Nehemiah 8:1-4; Luke 4:16-17)

  • Torah (T): Devarim (Deuteronomy) 2:1 – 3:22
  • Prophets (P): Habakkuk 3:1-19
  • Apostolic (A): Revelation 19:1-21
  • Additional (ADD): Tobit 13:1-18

Summary
Context and coherence (Nehemiah 8:8)

  1. Our second week in Deuteronomy, or “Devarim” (meaning “words”).
    1. Continued description of the journeys of Israel.
    2. Focus on the specific nations and rulers around Israel
      1. Og the King of Bashan – the last remaining of the remnant of the Rephaim
        1. His bed was 14 feet long and 6 feet wide
        2. Refers to the Nephilim – the seed of the fallen angels who mated with the daughters of men (Genesis 6:1-4)
        3. Check out the “Haunted Cosmos” podcast on 11/15/23
    3. YHWH had a very specific plan for the hosts, or armies, of Israel.
      1. Don’t attack Edom or Moab but fully destroy the Amorites and the kingdom of Og.
      2. “I commanded Joshua at that time, saying, “Your eyes have seen all that YHWH your Elohim has done to these two kings. So will YHWH do to all the reigns which you are crossing over unto there. 22 You will not fear them; for YHWH your Elohim himself fights for you.” (Deut. 3:21-22)
  2. The Reign (or Kingdom) of Elohim
    1. Up to this point in scripture and history, YHWH has been preparing to establish His physical kingdom on the earth.
      1. What is a kingdom?
        1. Tooltip: “Commonly translated as “kingdom”, malchut (H4438) is equivalent to basileía (G932) and means reign, royal power, kingship, dominion, or rule and is not to be confused with an actual kingdom, as a noun only, but rather the right or authority to rule over a reign.
        2. A synonym for reign is “sovereignty”
          1. Sovereignty: def. – “supreme power especially over a body politic; freedom from external control; controlling influence”
    2. Five Elements of a Reign/Kingdom
      1. Sovereign King, Lord or Ruler – supreme power or authority
      2. Land –physical boundaries
      3. Law – behavioral boundaries (i.e. cultural, societal,etc.)
        1. Determines the rights and obligations of both the ruler and the polity – e.g. Covenant obligations
      4. People – the subjects, populace, polity.
      5. Viceroy – an official who reigns over a polity in the name of and as the representative of the monarch of the territory. The term derives from the Latin prefix vice-, meaning “in the place of” and the Anglo-Norman roy (Old French roi, roy), meaning “king”. (Wikipedia.com)
    3. The Torah is a book that details each of these elements:
      1. YHWH is the LORD and Redeemer of Israel.
        1. The Exodus has established His sovereignty over all other gods and over the subjects whom He redeemed (Ex. 20:2-3)
      2. The LAND of Canaan establishes the boundaries of His reign.
      3. The LAW of YHWH is the covenant given to Moses on Mt. Horeb
        1. The Ten Words as a testimony inscribed on the tablets and expounded verbally to Moses in the additional commandments and instructions.
      4. The PEOPLE are the descendants of Jacob and those from the nations who join the polity under the same covenant.
      5. The VICEROY is the collective leadership of the High Priest, priesthood, and elders.
    4. Why is this important?
      1. It’s very easy to over spiritualize Scripture.
        1. Taking what is natural, earthly and real and disconnecting it in the pursuit of meaning (i.e. relevance, connection, application).
          1. Truth cannot be disconnected from its connection in the natural.
            1. “However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural; then the spiritual” (1 Corinthians 15:46)
          2. Many of the church fathers allegorized the “Old Testament”, whether out of bias against Judaism or Gnostic/ pagan influence.
        2. We won’t get “more of the Spirit” by shunning the natural – Just Say No!

KEY POINT: Everything in the natural realm, including every detail given to us in Scripture, has purpose, relevance and application as human beings – especially the Torah!

      1. The Torah lays the foundation of the Kingdom of God (see 5 Elements above)
        1. We cannot understand the life, work, and purpose of Messiah without it.
          1. Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.” (Mark 1:14b-15)

Exhortation
Counsel, comfort, and encouragement (Acts 13:14-15)

  1. How DO we connect the Kingdom of YHWH with the Kingdom of Messiah?
      1. When does one start and the other end? How do we understand the 5 Elements in each kingdom? Is one a natural kingdom and the other a spiritual one?
      2. Where do we look for answers to these questions? Do we look to the scriptures? Or to the pages of history? The newspaper? Or our daily news feed?
      3. Answers to these questions will define our faith since we are His subjects, He is our King and we desire to serve Him.
  2. Common Dispensational understanding in Christianity
    1. The Old Testament narrates a period of human history where God moved in a unique way with a special people group in a limited geographic area in order to fulfill His promises to the patriarchs and set the stage for Christ.
    2. Jesus was born, lived, and died in order to usher in a new kingdom – one that is not of this earth (i.e. spiritual) but transcends the natural boundaries and limitations given to Israel.
    3. We, the church, are the new Israel and have been freed from the Mosaic Law to live in true liberty under the Law of Christ.
    4. Since Jesus’ kingdom is not of this world, as His subjects, neither are we. Therefore, our highest call is pietism, or personal holiness, as expressed through living moral lives centered in prayer and worship.
    5. The Great Commission is primarily a call to evangelism, which means leading others to repent of their sin, be born again, and be discipled in a life of pietism.
    6. Since Jesus’ kingdom is not of this world, His rule and dominion will be limited in scope until He returns and based on Matthew 24 and the book of Revelation, will diminish as we near the end of this age. The kingdom of Satan will increase in scope as the window for the church to influence society and preach salvation slowly closes.
    7. During the last seven years of the age, the earth will undergo an unprecedented upheaval described in the book of Revelation that will lead to “a great tribulation such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will again” (Mt. 24:21).
    8. However, at the crescendo of this calamitous time, Jesus will return to earth, destroy the Anti-Christ and his reign, throw the Beast and False Prophet in the Lake of Fire and set up the Kingdom of God in fullness to reign for a thousand years from Jerusalem, joined by a limited group of saints that are resurrected at His second coming.
    9. At the end of the thousand years, there will be one final battle against His rule and authority at which point the enemy will be defeated and all evil including death and Hades (e.g. Hell) will be thrown in the Lake of Fire.
    10. All mankind will then be resurrected and judged unto everlasting life or everlasting torment. There will be a new heavens and a new earth where all creation is finally under the reign of YHWH and His King Yeshua, forever and ever.
  3. Key Points to Preface
    1. My goal with the summary above was to represent fairly and accurately the most common understanding of the Kingdom of God..
    2. I do not wish to offend anyone or try to convince you to change your mind. I am very familiar with these perspectives and held them for many years.
    3. I would like to present evidence from scripture that will cause us to ask questions and reconsider what we have understood about the Kingdom of God and how what we read about it in the Old Testament might be connected with the New.
  4. Reviewing the 5 Elements in the New Testament Kingdom of God/Heaven
    1. Sovereign King, Lord or Ruler: Yeshua the Messiah is the Lord
      1. “And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth” (Mat. 28:18-20)
      2. “For a Child will be born to us, a Son will be given to us; and the government will rest on His shoulders; and His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness from then on and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of armies will accomplish this” (Isa. 9:6-7)
        1. “No end to the increase of His government on the throne of David and over his kingdom”.
          1. Speaks of an ever-expanding rule and reign (see also Dan. 2:35 and the Kingdom parables in Matthew 13).
      3. The resurrection of Christ fulfilled the enthronement of Yeshua as Lord (Acts 2:34-36) and Psalm 2 describes the same ongoing work of judging and subduing all the nations we read in Rev. 19:11-1
  5. Land (i.e. physical boundaries) – Scripture teaches that both YHWH and Messiah will rule over the entire geographic earth.
      1. “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout in triumph, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; He is just and endowed with salvation, Humble, and mounted on a donkey, even on a colt, the foal of a donkey. I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim and the horse from Jerusalem; And the bow of war will be cut off. And He will speak peace to the nations; and His dominion will be from sea to sea, And from the River to the ends of the earth” (Zec. 9:9-10)
        1. “And the bow of war will be cut off and He will speak peace to the nations”
          1. Speaks to Yeshua’s Reign bringing peace and an end to war.
      2. “The earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea” (Isa. 11:9).
      3. “So the Lord said…As I live, all the earth will be filled with the glory of the Lord” (Num. 14:20-21)
      4. “Ask of Me, and I will surely give the nations as Your inheritance, and the very ends of the earth as Your possession” (Ps. 2:8)
    2. Viceroy – “an official who reigns over a polity in the name of and as the representative of the monarch of the territory”.
        1. So far, we have seen consistency in scripture between Old and New Testaments.
          1. But where is the clear connection between the physical kingdom of ancient Israel and the kingdom, spiritual or otherwise, that Christ heralded in the 1st-century A.D.?
          2. The question is not “where” but “who”. If YHWH was, is, and always will be the Supreme authority over all creation, who was His designated viceroy during the exile when there was no king over Israel? Or when the priesthood was corrupt and an illegitimate authority?
          3. [Read 2 Samuel 7:1-17)
            1. Note verse 16: “Your (i.e. David’s) house and your kingdom shall endure before Me forever; your throne shall be established forever”.
        2. A kingdom and authority that will endure until the end of the ages.
        3. Based on a unilateral covenant from YHWH to His viceroy.
      2. “Son of David” – a term of royal status first applied to Solomon to fulfill 2 Sam. 7:12-15 (Remember, first the natural, then the spiritual).
        1. After King Solomon, no one else in scripture is referred to with the term “Son of David” for the next 1000 years until Yeshua is born.
          1. “The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham” (Mat. 1:1) – two fathers mentioned to link the covenants of God from Abraham to David
        2. Used 16 times in the Apostolic scriptures to clearly designate Yeshua as the covenantal viceroy of the Davidic Kingdom of Israel.
    3. Law – behavioral boundaries (i.e. cultural, societal, etc.)
      1. Key Question: Is the Law of God for all mankind or just for Israel (i.e. the Jewish people?
        1. As Believers, this question really hangs us up — and it has from the beginning!
        2. Are the righteous standards for human behavior different under the rule and reign of YHWH than under His exalted, viceroy Yeshua, the Son of David?
          1. Many of the early church fathers said, yes, they tried to use scripture to prove their point (read Sabbath to Sunday, by Dr. Sam Bacciocchi).
        3. One might argue: “The Bible teaches that God is love and that the entire Law hangs on the two greatest commandments to love Him with all our heart, soul, mind and strength and love our neighbors as ourselves. Therefore, the Law of Christ IS love and because we are under His rule, in His kingdom, love reigns supreme”.
          1. #1 – This argument does not lead to the logical conclusion that because all the commandments hang on these two, the rest are done away with, or at best, aren’t relevant.
            1. How do we know what love is without His teachings and instructions?
          2. #2 – Yeshua says in this passage (Mat. 22:36-40) that the Law AND the prophets hang on these two commandments. Would we argue that the words of the prophets are done away with along with the Law, or at best, aren’t relevant?
        4. “Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish, but to fulfill. For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke of a letter shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished. Therefore, whoever nullifies the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven” (Mat. 5:17-20)
          1. Seems pretty clear which Law applies in Yeshua’s kingdom. Let’s be called great in the rule and reign of our Great King, amen?
        5. Remember the purpose of law in a kingdom – to determine the rights and obligations of both the ruler and the polity – e.g. Covenant obligations – both to the sovereign Ruler and to one another.
          1. This is not just about meeting for church on Saturday and not eating pepperoni pizza. This is about how we disciple the nations to live under the rule and reign of the Supreme Lord of heaven and earth.
          2. In other words, this is about covenantal obligations.
      2. The prophets spoke of a future time when the Torah of YHWH would be the law of the Land for every nation on earth.
        1. “And many peoples will come and say, ‘Come, let’s go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; so that He may teach us about His ways, and that we may walk in His paths. For the law will go out from Zion and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. And He will judge between the nations and will mediate for many peoples; and they will beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning knives. Nation will not lift up a sword against nation, and never again will they learn war” (Isa. 2:2-3).
        2. Often missed connection with the authority of the Law under King David and in Yeshua’s Kingdom.
          1. 2 Sam. 7:18-20 – “For you [YHWH] have spoken also of the house of your servant [David] regarding the distant future. And this this is the Torah of mankind”.

Application
Living the Word and following Yeshua (Acts 2:37; Romans 2:13)

  1. The Apostolic portion speaks directly to this discussion on eschatology – “study of the end times”.
    1. Not enough time to do a deep dive into Revelation 19. But we can explore if verses 11-16 actually describe the Second Coming of Yeshua.
    2. Note verse 11 – Yeshua returning to earth on a white horse? How does this align with Acts 1:10-11?
      1. “And as they were gazing intently into the sky while He was going, then behold, two men in white clothing stood beside them, and they said, ‘Men, of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way that you have watched Him go to heaven”.
    3. So, what is the timing of Yeshua’s return and of His kingdom being established in fullness?
  2. One key to clearly understanding the timing of Messiah’s return is in 1 Corinthians 15 in Paul’s explanation of the resurrection
    1. 1 Corinthians 15:20-24 – “But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep. For since by a man came death, by a man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, after that those who are Christ’s at His coming, then comes the end, when He hands over the kingdom to the God and Father, when He has abolished all rule and all authority and power. The last enemy that will be abolished is death”.
      1. This passage describes the only resurrection mentioned throughout scripture apart from Rev. 20:4-6 and mentions the following:
        1. It occurs at Christ’s Second coming.
        2. It occurs at the end – i.e. the final judgment of all mankind, the living and the dead, along with Death itself (as evidenced by the resurrection).
        3. It occurs after Yeshua has abolished all rule and authority on earth.
    2. It is difficult to reconcile this timeline with a literal “first resurrection” in Rev. 20:4-6 but it would be great to explore this topic further.

Romans 2:13 For it isn’t the hearers of the Torah who are righteous before Elohim, but the doers of the Torah will be justified.

James 1:22 But be doers of the word, and not only hearers, deluding your own selves.

  1. “What other Scriptures come to mind as you studied this week or heard today’s Summary or Exhortation?”
  2. “What situations or application came up during your family’s discussion of this week’s Torah Study?”
  3. Have you ever experienced something from this study or something related to it?
  4. “What will you need to change in your life after studying this week’s Torah or hearing today’s Exhortation?”

Discussion
Questions, input, and sharpening (Proverbs 27:17; Luke 2:46)

  1. What other thoughts or questions came up in your study of this portion?
  2. What is the difference between calling Messiah your Savior versus your Lord?
  3. Is your view of the future determined by scripture or by current events?
  4. Are we living in a way that builds His kingdom in the natural realm, establishing His dominion in every sphere of life? Or does our faith feel limited to the spiritual realm and the belief that until Christ returns, there is really no hope for the nations beyond individuals being converted?
  5. How do you understand the Law of the Yeshua’s Kingdom and is it different that the Torah of Moses?
  6. If every enemy of Christ the Lord will be subdued before His return, are we to be living as victors or victims in this life, in the here and now?