Yesterday I discussed the question of why God didn’t instantly destroy the Philistines for capturing His Ark of the Covenant.
And the answer was because the Philistines were NOT a grafted-in people who had entered into a covenant with the Almighty.
I also pointed out this revealed an important theological principle we’d be remiss to overlook.
And that is the way Lord deals with the believer is fundamentally DIFFERENT than how He deals with the unbeliever.
This is a common misunderstanding believers have…
Especially among missionaries who feel it’s impossible to live a happy and satisfying life without becoming a believer.
That’s simply not true.
There ain’t no earthly penalties for remaining an unbeliever.
God’s rain falls on both the heathen and believer alike.
The big difference between the pagan and a believer is since the former has no relationship with God…
He or she doesn’t get any special blessings, comfort, direction or protection from the Lord.
And of course, the spiritual destiny of the unbeliever is guaranteed to end in destruction.
But in terms of being subject to God’s curses and blessings in this lifetime, that just ain’t happening homie.
The Philistines, being pagans by definition, were NOT forbidden from touching the Ark.
They had never agreed to obey God’s Torah.
And keep in mind, when they returned the Ark to Israel, it had nothing to do with any command of God…
It was just a practical decision on their part to end God’s plague upon them.
Thus they weren’t subject to the curses and penalties God had already ordained for His people.
But here’s the thing…
And this is today’s takeaway…
If you’ve been grafted into the commonwealth of Israel through your faith in the Jewish Messiah…
That means you have been joined to God’s covenants…
And are thus obligated to obey His laws and commands…
Whether you realize it or not…
And regardless of what any Christian Church mistakenly says about the Law being done away with.
Ya feel me here homie?
So if you’ve ever wondered why the unbeliever seems to get away with so much sinful nonsense in this world…
While you’re punished for your transgressions…
Well, that’s the reason why.
Or if you’ve ever wondered why there’s so much chaos among the lawless Christian churches…
Well, it’s because they’re “lawless” man.
In fact, any congregation that claims allegiance to God while deliberately teaching you don’t have to obey His Torah is the height of hypocrisy in my book.
So understand, if you’ve been grafted into the covenants that God has only made with Israel…
And if you disobey the stipulations of those covenants…
You will suffer the consequences.
It is inevitable.
NEXT TIME WE BEGIN 1 SAMUEL CHAPTER SIX
Always interesting stuff from this blog. Indeed, interesting and insightful. Will need some time (just a wee bit, I trust) to mull over what I just read. But again, some insightful info for sure! Thanks much, Rich.
when you say….. If you’ve been grafted into the commonwealth of Israel through your faith in the Jewish Messiah… That means you have been joined to God’s covenants… And are thus obligated to obey His laws and commands… Whether you realize it or not… regardless of what any Christian Church mistakenly says about the Law being done away with……what laws do you mean,, do you mean the 10 or the 600+ laws. there is a difference, 1 set was given by GOD the other set was shall we say was given by man , there is a difference between the 2 is there not????
Tony, I am not sure how Richoka might respond to you observation and comment, but I would say you are right — well, half right anyway.
Yes, what most call the Ten Commandments (a misnomer if there ever was one) were a separate and distinct utterance of God that God spoke directly to the people of Israel in both a firey and thunderous appearance; and that apart from the “Mosaic Law.” That utterance was etched in stone by God Himself with His own finger (the immortal finger of God) and Moses just delivered it to Israel. That utterance was etched in stone by the immortal God to illustrate that it was eternal and for all time. In fact, that utterance from God were not commandments as we now understand them. They were actually wedding vows! They were such because God married Israel that very day, and Israel agreed and joined into a permanent, marital union with God. (Permanent as God was concerned, not so much to Israel as Israel behaved adulterous over the following centuries and millennia,)
The Mosaic Law on the other hand was dictated to Moses out of sight of Israel, and Moses wrote it down in his own hand (a mortal hand) and on perishable material (either parchment or papyrus) to signify its temporary purpose. The purpose of the Mosaic Law was to predict and foreshadow of the One who was to come! And it was temporary because once the One of who it pointed to had appeared, the Law had no purpose for it only vaguely revealed the Holy One. Once he was revealed, the Mosaic Law had no earthly purpose as the promised Holy Spirit would then be the lens by which Jesus would be made know.
So yes, the Mosaic Law had a real and intense purpose– for its appointed time. But the Ten Words, the wedding vows, are forever. Just like marriage is supposed to be.