messianicdruid
18th September 2012, 02:07 PM
Paul tells us in Romans 8:34,
"Who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us."
Jesus interceded for us at the cross (Isaiah 53:12). What need was there for Him to continue with His intercession after the ascension? The answer is found in the parallel story of Israel under Moses. The Passover lambs that the people killed in Egypt also served as types of Christ in His intercessory work on the cross. Israel was redeemed from the house of bondage and brought out of Egypt but this did not mean that they no longer needed intercession. They remained rebellious against the law of God from the beginning and were therefore in great need of intercession.
Moses provided that intercession, and his forty-day intercession in the Mount prophesied of Jesus Christ's intercession at the right hand of the Father during the forty Jubilees of church history. It was for this that Israel needed intercession. Their hearts remained continuously in rebellion against the law of God, as history records.
Many have taken comfort in the fact that Christ is seated at the right hand of God making intercession. Most do not realize why this has been necessary, because they have never connected this fact to the situation in Moses' day. Christians have not fully understood their problem of rebellion against God, nor have they comprehended how serious it is to despise the law of God.
Yet it is this very lawlessness, this anomia, which Jesus identified as the problem in the day of judgment that was yet to come. He said in Matthew 7:23,
23 And then I will declare to them, "I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness."
Likewise, Paul, using the same term anomia, says in Romans 6:19,
". . . For just as you presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness, resulting in further lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness, resulting in sanctification."
John also uses the same term anomia in his basic definition of sin. 1 John 3:4 says,
"Everyone who practices sin also practices lawlessness; and sin is lawlessness."
The church in the Pentecostal Age seems to be as clueless as the Israelite church under Moses in regard to lawlessness. Many read the story of Israel and shake their heads in amazement that they could remain so consistently rebellious--without understanding that they are reading prophecy about the heart condition of the church today.
Thankfully, however, Jesus Christ is seated at the right hand of God making intercession for us, even as Moses did for Israel. Moses' intercession did not exempt Israel from divine judgment, nor does Jesus' intercession exempt the present church from divine judgment (Luke 12:46-49; 1 Cor. 3:15). The main judgment has been an extended wilderness experience--forty years for Israel and forty Jubilees for the later congregation.
Though the rebellious Israelites all died in the wilderness, Moses' intercession will yet bear fruit at a later time. Likewise, most of the church has died in the past 2,000 years without receiving the promise of God, but Christ's intercession will yet bear fruit for them. In both cases some will inherit the promises of God before the main body of the church. Caleb and Joshua alone inherited the promises out of all the adults that had been given opportunity to enter the Promised Land at the first appointed time (Numbers 13 and 14). Likewise, the overcomers in the Pentecostal Age will inherit the promises of God, for they will be raised in the First Resurrection (Revelation 20:4-6) while the rest of the dead await the general resurrection at a later time.
Though it appears as if the promises of God have failed, we see that those promises merely have been delayed. In Deuteronomy 9:28, quoted earlier, Moses reminded Israel that if God had brought permanent judgment upon Israel, the nations would have understood that the God of Israel was incapable of fulfilling His promise to them. They would say, "Because the Lord was not able to bring them into the land. . ."
This question actually came up in Numbers 14:16 after the people had believed the evil report of the ten spies. When Moses raised the spectre of "what will the nations say?" God responded with an oath, sworn by Himself and His own life, saying in verse 21,
"But indeed, AS I LIVE, all the earth will be filled with the glory of the Lord."
Even though divine judgment was unavoidable, that judgment only served to delay the promises of God. Those judgments, in the end, are corrective in nature. They are therefore temporary and not perpetual, though the extent of judgment can be indefinite. Hence, the Hebrew word that is usually translated "everylasting" or "forever" is olam, which means an indefinite period of time. Its root word means "to conceal, hide, be hidden, be concealed, be secret." The time frame is unknown and thus indefinite, but usually a finite period of time.
http://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/Lexicon.cfm?Strongs=H5956&t=KJV
The New Testament word equivalent to olam is the Greek word aionian. When the Hebrew scriptures were translated into Greek, beginning about 280 B.C., the rabbis settled upon the word aionian as the nearest equivalent expressing the meaning of olam. The root of this word is aion, or eon, which properly means "an age." Ages are an indefinite period of time, for they can refer to anything from a few minutes to thousands of years. The Greek words were chosen, not because they were precise matches for the Hebrew concepts, but because they were near equivalents. In the end, the Greek terms were meant to express Hebrew concepts.
Therefore, even though God brought judgment upon Israel, and most of the Israelites died in the wilderness without receiving the promises, this does not say that those Israelites will be lost for eternity. Instead, God vows that the whole earth will be filled with His glory. In other words, His salvation will be seen not only in Israel but throughout the whole world.
So Moses appealed to God, "Remember Thy servants, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob" (Deuteronomy 9:27). The promises of God extended far beyond Israel. The initial promise was that God would use the seed of Abraham to bless the entire earth. Acts 3:26 defines that blessing: "by turning every one of you from your wicked ways." When God blesses the whole earth through Abraham, that blessing involves much divine judgment, which is designed to turn people from their wicked ways.
The blessing is NOT to save people while they are practicing lawlessness, but it is to bring about repentance so that they can indeed be saved. This is the promise of Abraham, and if it were not for the intercession of Moses first and later of Christ, this promise would be in danger of failure.
"Who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us."
Jesus interceded for us at the cross (Isaiah 53:12). What need was there for Him to continue with His intercession after the ascension? The answer is found in the parallel story of Israel under Moses. The Passover lambs that the people killed in Egypt also served as types of Christ in His intercessory work on the cross. Israel was redeemed from the house of bondage and brought out of Egypt but this did not mean that they no longer needed intercession. They remained rebellious against the law of God from the beginning and were therefore in great need of intercession.
Moses provided that intercession, and his forty-day intercession in the Mount prophesied of Jesus Christ's intercession at the right hand of the Father during the forty Jubilees of church history. It was for this that Israel needed intercession. Their hearts remained continuously in rebellion against the law of God, as history records.
Many have taken comfort in the fact that Christ is seated at the right hand of God making intercession. Most do not realize why this has been necessary, because they have never connected this fact to the situation in Moses' day. Christians have not fully understood their problem of rebellion against God, nor have they comprehended how serious it is to despise the law of God.
Yet it is this very lawlessness, this anomia, which Jesus identified as the problem in the day of judgment that was yet to come. He said in Matthew 7:23,
23 And then I will declare to them, "I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness."
Likewise, Paul, using the same term anomia, says in Romans 6:19,
". . . For just as you presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness, resulting in further lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness, resulting in sanctification."
John also uses the same term anomia in his basic definition of sin. 1 John 3:4 says,
"Everyone who practices sin also practices lawlessness; and sin is lawlessness."
The church in the Pentecostal Age seems to be as clueless as the Israelite church under Moses in regard to lawlessness. Many read the story of Israel and shake their heads in amazement that they could remain so consistently rebellious--without understanding that they are reading prophecy about the heart condition of the church today.
Thankfully, however, Jesus Christ is seated at the right hand of God making intercession for us, even as Moses did for Israel. Moses' intercession did not exempt Israel from divine judgment, nor does Jesus' intercession exempt the present church from divine judgment (Luke 12:46-49; 1 Cor. 3:15). The main judgment has been an extended wilderness experience--forty years for Israel and forty Jubilees for the later congregation.
Though the rebellious Israelites all died in the wilderness, Moses' intercession will yet bear fruit at a later time. Likewise, most of the church has died in the past 2,000 years without receiving the promise of God, but Christ's intercession will yet bear fruit for them. In both cases some will inherit the promises of God before the main body of the church. Caleb and Joshua alone inherited the promises out of all the adults that had been given opportunity to enter the Promised Land at the first appointed time (Numbers 13 and 14). Likewise, the overcomers in the Pentecostal Age will inherit the promises of God, for they will be raised in the First Resurrection (Revelation 20:4-6) while the rest of the dead await the general resurrection at a later time.
Though it appears as if the promises of God have failed, we see that those promises merely have been delayed. In Deuteronomy 9:28, quoted earlier, Moses reminded Israel that if God had brought permanent judgment upon Israel, the nations would have understood that the God of Israel was incapable of fulfilling His promise to them. They would say, "Because the Lord was not able to bring them into the land. . ."
This question actually came up in Numbers 14:16 after the people had believed the evil report of the ten spies. When Moses raised the spectre of "what will the nations say?" God responded with an oath, sworn by Himself and His own life, saying in verse 21,
"But indeed, AS I LIVE, all the earth will be filled with the glory of the Lord."
Even though divine judgment was unavoidable, that judgment only served to delay the promises of God. Those judgments, in the end, are corrective in nature. They are therefore temporary and not perpetual, though the extent of judgment can be indefinite. Hence, the Hebrew word that is usually translated "everylasting" or "forever" is olam, which means an indefinite period of time. Its root word means "to conceal, hide, be hidden, be concealed, be secret." The time frame is unknown and thus indefinite, but usually a finite period of time.
http://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/Lexicon.cfm?Strongs=H5956&t=KJV
The New Testament word equivalent to olam is the Greek word aionian. When the Hebrew scriptures were translated into Greek, beginning about 280 B.C., the rabbis settled upon the word aionian as the nearest equivalent expressing the meaning of olam. The root of this word is aion, or eon, which properly means "an age." Ages are an indefinite period of time, for they can refer to anything from a few minutes to thousands of years. The Greek words were chosen, not because they were precise matches for the Hebrew concepts, but because they were near equivalents. In the end, the Greek terms were meant to express Hebrew concepts.
Therefore, even though God brought judgment upon Israel, and most of the Israelites died in the wilderness without receiving the promises, this does not say that those Israelites will be lost for eternity. Instead, God vows that the whole earth will be filled with His glory. In other words, His salvation will be seen not only in Israel but throughout the whole world.
So Moses appealed to God, "Remember Thy servants, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob" (Deuteronomy 9:27). The promises of God extended far beyond Israel. The initial promise was that God would use the seed of Abraham to bless the entire earth. Acts 3:26 defines that blessing: "by turning every one of you from your wicked ways." When God blesses the whole earth through Abraham, that blessing involves much divine judgment, which is designed to turn people from their wicked ways.
The blessing is NOT to save people while they are practicing lawlessness, but it is to bring about repentance so that they can indeed be saved. This is the promise of Abraham, and if it were not for the intercession of Moses first and later of Christ, this promise would be in danger of failure.