“Then Sh’mu’el took a flask of oil he had prepared and poured it on Sha’ul’s head. He kissed him and said, ‘Adonai has anointed you to be prince over his inheritance.'”-1 Samuel 10:1
So Saul has just been anointed the first human king over Israel.
As a result, Samuel proclaims he has become prince over God’s “inheritance”.
What is God’s “inheritance” exactly?
The Hebrew word here is NAHALAH or נחלה.
And honestly, I’m not so sure the word “inheritance” is the best translation here.
Why?
Because an “inheritance” only applies to the passing down of material possessions and wealth from one generation to another after a person’s death.
However, Saul was made prince over so much more than mere property or possessions.
He had taken on rulership over a whole people…
Which includes all of the cultural and historical aspects of Israel passed on down from the past.
My point is since Saul had been divinely authorized to rule over BOTH God’s land and his people, a much better word than “inheritance” should be used.
Well, I’d like to suggest the word “legacy”.
Why?
Because it encompasses so much more than material things.
Legacy includes ideas & beliefs, achievements & contributions, influence on future generations, cultural & social impact, and of course traditions.
See, here’s the thing we shouldn’t forget.
When God made His promise to Abraham, understand that it included both the promise of property and people…not just material wealth.
So here’s your takeaway for today.
Understand that when you were grafted into the commonwealth of Israel by declaring your faith in the Jewish Messiah, from that instant, you too were plugged into Israel’s great heritage.
You didn’t just attach yourself to a new God…
You attached yourself to a new people.
Recall what Ruth said to Naomi:
“Don’t urge me to leave you
or to turn back from you.
Where you go I will go,
and where you stay I will stay.
Your people will be my people
and your God my God.”
-Ruth 1:16
Ruth is really a perfect model of a convert if you think about it.
She didn’t just take Israel’s God and trash the people, the culture and the Biblical Feasts like Christianity does.
I mean when Ruth grafted herself in, she went all in baby.
She observed the Biblical Feasts…
She refrained from eating pig and shellfish..
And she accepted Israel’s commonwealth heritage as her own.
That is indeed the model of the true believer…
Whether you’re a native born Hebrew or part of the “mixed multitude”.
And keep in mind, Ruth wasn’t “keeping the Law” in order to be saved.
She was keeping it as a sincere expression of the salvation she had already gotten a hold of.
Ya feel me?
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again.
By His grace, God rescued Israel from bondage in Egypt FIRST and then AFTERWARDS gave them His commandments, statutes and laws.
It wasn’t the other way around.
I mean embed that concept into the deepest recesses of your cranium and keep it embedded there for all time and forever!
The whole gospel message is right there in the Torah…
Which I betcha is how the disciples during Yeshua’s time preached the gospel…
They taught the gospel from the Hebrew Bible…because there was no canonized NT when they were alive.
See ya all next time.
CONNECTING THIS TEACHING TO THE NEW TESTAMENT
“Therefore remember that
at one time you Gentiles in the flesh,
called ‘the uncircumcision’
by what is called the circumcision,
which is made in the flesh by hands—
remember that you were at that
time separated from Messiah,
alienated from the commonwealth
of Israel and strangers to the
covenants of promise, having no
hope and without God in the world.
But now in Messiah Yeshua,
you who once were far off
have been brought near
by the blood of Messiah.”
-Ephesians 2:11-13
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