redemption

The kinsman-redeemer

The Apostle Paul’s letter to the Ephesians indicates that everyone who is born again was predestined for adoption into God’s family through Jesus Christ before the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1:4-5). Paul said that in Christ, “we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will” (Ephesians 1:11). The Greek word that is translated inheritance, kleroo (klay-roˊ-o) means “a lot. In the passive, to obtain an inheritance, as through the casting of lots” (G2820). After the Israelites entered the Promised Land, Joshua cast lots to determine which portion of land each of the tribes of Israel would receive as their inheritance (Joshua 18:2, 10). The portion of land that each man received was expected to be passed on to his oldest son or nearest living relative at the time of his death so that possession of the land would be uninterrupted. In the story of Ruth, Elimelech left his inheritance behind when he moved to the country of Moab. “But Elimelech, the husband of Naomi, died, and she was left with her two sons…and both Mahlon and Chilion died, so that the woman was left without her two sons and her husband” (Ruth 1:3-5). When Naomi returned to Bethlehem, she needed someone to redeem the piece of land that had belonged to her husband “so that it could stay in the family (see Leviticus 25:25)” (note on Ruth 4:1-8).

The laws concerning marriage stated that, “If brothers dwell together, and one of them dies and has no son, the wife of the dead man shall not be married outside the family to a stranger. Her husband’s brother shall go in to her and take her as his wife and perform the duty of a husband’s brother to her. And the first son whom she bears shall succeed to the name of his dead brother, that his name may not be blotted out of Israel” (Deuteronomy 25:5-7). Naomi was referring to this law when she said to Orpah and Ruth, “Turn back, my daughters; why will you go with me? Have I yet sons in my womb that they may become your husbands? Turn back, my daughters; go your way, for I am too old to have a husband. If I should say I have hope, even if I should have a husband this night and should bear sons, would you therefore wait till they were grown? Would you therefore refrain from marrying? No, my daughters, for it is exceedingly bitter to me for your sake that the hand of the LORD had gone out against me” (Ruth 1:11-13). Naomi saw her situation as impossible and it seems very likely that when Ruth made her decision to go back to Bethlehem with Naomi that she had resigned herself to being a widow the rest of her life.

The legal ramification of marriage laws were still being discussed in Jesus’ day. On one occasion Jesus was asked to explain the marriage law that applied to Ruth in the context of eternal life. Matthew 22:23-33 states:

The same day Sadducees came to him, who say that there is no resurrection, and they asked him a question, saying, “Teacher, Moses said, ‘If a man dies having no children, his brother must marry the widow and raise up offspring for his brother.’ Now there were seven brothers among us. The first married and died, and having no offspring left his wife to his brother. So too the second and third, down to the seventh. After them all, the woman died. In the resurrection, therefore, of the seven, whose wife will she be? For they all had her.” But Jesus answered them, “You are wrong, because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God. For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. And as for the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was said to you by God: ‘I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is not God of the dead, but of the living.” And when the crowd heard it, they were astonished at his teaching.

The important thing to note about the question that the Sadducees asked Jesus was that they didn’t believe in the resurrection. Their question, “whose wife will she be?” (Matthew 22:28) was meant to disprove the resurrection rather than for them to understand how the marriage law was intended to work. Jesus’ answer was directed at the problem that the Sadducees had with the resurrection; they didn’t believe that continuity of life after death was possible. Jesus pointed out to them that the resurrection was a fixed state that was associated with both the living and the dead. The terms living and dead refer to a person’s spiritual state. The spiritually dead are those who are “dead to Christ and his gospel” (G3498). The spiritually living are those who exist “in an absolute sense and without end, now and hereafter” (G2198). Jesus’ specific mention of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob indicated that faith was a necessary component of the living and also it showed that predestination, God’s selection of certain individuals in advance (G4309), guarantees that the inheritance will be distributed according to God’s purpose for his creation and mankind (Ephesians 1:4-5, 11-14).

The reason why the crowd was astonished when they heard Jesus’ teaching about the resurrection was because they realized that not all of the Jews were going to inherit eternal life. Some of them were and would remain spiritually dead. Shortly before he was crucified, Jesus talked about the final judgment that was going to occur when he returned to the earth. Jesus said:

“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers,you did it to me.’”

“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ Then they also will answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?’ Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” (Matthew 25:31-46)

Jesus made note of the fact that the cursed and the righteous had done the same things. Both groups had fed the hungry, given the thirsty a drink, clothed the naked and visited the sick, but the motives of the righteous and the cursed were very different. Jesus acknowledged the righteous by stating, “As you did it to one of the least of these my brothers,you did it to me” (Matthew 25:40), but to the cursed Jesus said, “As you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me” (Matthew 25:45). The emphasis that Jesus placed on who the good deeds had been done to showed that acts of kindness were meant for a specific group, people he referred to as the least of these. In this instance, least probably has to do with a person’s dignity. When Jesus’ disciples asked him, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” (Matthew 18:1), Matthew’s gospel tells us:

And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them and said, “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

“Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me, but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea. (Matthew 18:2-6)

The Greek word that is translated humbles, tapeinoo (tap-i-noˊ-o) means “to depress; figuratively to humiliate (in condition or heart)” (G5013). The Apostle Paul referred to himself as the least of the apostles and made reference to the grace that was responsible for his calling. Speaking of the Lord, Jesus, Paul said, “Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me” (1 Corinthians 15:7-10). Grace or graciousness is “the divine influence upon the heart, and its reflection in the life” (G5485).

Boaz’s treatment of Ruth was characterized by her as favor. In his first encounter with her, Boaz said to Ruth, “Now, listen, my daughter, do not go to glean in another field or leave this one, but keep close to my young women. Let your eyes be on the field that they are reaping, and go after them. Have I not charged the young men not to touch you? And when you are thirsty, go to the vessels and drink what the young men have drawn.” Then she fell on her face, bowing to the ground, and said to him, “Why have I found favor in your eyes, that you should take notice of me, since I am a foreigner?” (Ruth 2:8-10). In the King James Version of the Bible, Ruth’s statement is translated, “Why have I found grace in thine eyes” (Ruth 2:10). The Hebrew word that is translated grace is derived from the word chânan (khaw-nanˊ) which means, “to bend or stoop in kindness to an inferior…Generally, this word implies the extending of ‘favor,’ often when it is neither expected or deserved” (G2603). Ruth associated Boaz’s favor with being comforted by him and also said that he had spoken kindly to her (Ruth 2:13). The Hebrew word that is translated kindly, leb (labe) means “the heart” (H3820). Ruth could tell that Boaz’s compassion toward her came from his heart and she was deeply affected by his acts of kindness.

When Ruth returned home after gleaning in Boaz’s field, “her mother-in-law said to her, ‘Where did you glean today? And where have you worked? Blessed be the man who took notice of you.’ So she told her mother-in-law with whom she had worked and said, “The man’s name with whom I worked today is Boaz.” And Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, “May he be blessed by the Lord, whose kindness has not forsaken the living or the dead!” Naomi also said to her, “The man is a close relative of ours, one of our redeemers” (Ruth 2:19-20). Naomi identified Boaz as one of her husband’s kinsman-redeemers; “the kinsman-redeemer was responsible for preserving the integrity, life, property, and family name of his close relative” (H1350). “The three requirements for a kinsman-redeemer were that he must be the closest living relative, possess the necessary financial resources, and be willing to carry out the redemption of his relative (cf. Leviticus 25:25, 48, 49)” (note on Ruth 2:20). Naomi instructed Ruth to go to Boaz’s threshing floor at night and while he was sleeping, make a marriage proposal to him by uncovering his feet and lying down next to him (Ruth 3:1-5). Ruth 3:6-13 records the encounter.

So she went down to the threshing floor and did just as her mother-in-law had commanded her. And when Boaz had eaten and drunk, and his heart was merry, he went to lie down at the end of the heap of grain. Then she came softly and uncovered his feet and lay down. At midnight the man was startled and turned over, and behold, a woman lay at his feet! He said, “Who are you?” And she answered, “I am Ruth, your servant. Spread your wings over your servant, for you are a redeemer.” And he said, “May you be blessed by the Lord, my daughter. You have made this last kindness greater than the first in that you have not gone after young men, whether poor or rich. And now, my daughter, do not fear. I will do for you all that you ask, for all my fellow townsmen know that you are a worthy woman. And now it is true that I am a redeemer. Yet there is a redeemer nearer than I. Remain tonight, and in the morning, if he will redeem you, good; let him do it. But if he is not willing to redeem you, then, as the Lord lives, I will redeem you. Lie down until the morning.”

Ruth’s statement, “Spread your wings over your servant, for you are a redeemer” (Ruth 3:9) made it clear to Boaz that she wanted him to marry her. Boaz’s response revealed that there was probably a significant difference in his and Ruth’s ages. Boaz told Ruth, “You have made this last kindness greater than the first in that you have not gone after young men, whether poor or rich” (Ruth 3:10). Boaz wanted to marry Ruth, but he told her, “Yet there is a redeemer nearer than I” (Ruth 3:12). “This closer relative, however, did not want to marry Ruth because that would threaten his own children’s inheritance (Ruth 4:5, 6). Therefore he deferred to Boaz, who willingly married Ruth” (note on Ruth 4:1-8). It should be noted that Ruth did not shame the relative who refused to perform his duty. According to Deuteronomy 25:8-9, she was supposed to take off his sandal and spit in his face, yet it appears that she was not even present during the discussion between Boaz and the other relative. Some have suggested that Ruth was not able to carry out the legal stipulations because she was a Moabitess. Others believe that she did not want to marry the person who was the closest relative because of her love for Boaz” (note on Ruth 4:1-8).

Boaz’s depiction of the kinsman-redeemer was a foreshadowing of the role that Jesus played in God’s redemption of mankind. Paul explained Jesus’ role as the kinsman-redeemer in his letter to the Galatians. Paul said:

Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed. So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.

I mean that the heir, as long as he is a child, is no different from a slave, though he is the owner of everything, but he is under guardians and managers until the date set by his father. In the same way we also, when we were children, were enslaved to the elementary principles of the world. But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God. (Galatians 3:23-4:7)

Paul specifically stated that Jesus was sent by God “to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons” (Galatians 4:4-5). The phrase under the law refers to both Old and New Testament commandments. “The ostensible aim of the law is to restrain the evil tendencies natural to man in his fallen estate, yet in experience law finds itself not merely ineffective, it actually provokes those tendencies to greater activity” (G3551).

The book of Hebrews provides an in depth look at Jesus’ fulfillment of God’s covenants. The author portrayed Jesus as the High Priest of a better covenant and explained that the sacrificial system that was put into place when the Israelites were delivered from slavery in Egypt was “a copy and shadow of the heavenly things” (Hebrews 8:5), and went on to say, “But as it is, Christ has obtained a ministry that is as much more excellent than the old as the covenant he mediates is better, since it is enacted on better promises” (Hebrews 8:6). The better promises that are mentioned here have to do with our eternal redemption (Hebrews 9:12) and an eternal inheritance (Hebrews 9:15) that followers of Christ will receive when he returns (Hebrews 9:28). Hebrews 10:12-13 indicates “when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet.” Paul referred to that time as “the day of redemption” (Ephesians 4:30). Job’s extreme suffering caused him to experience internal conflict about his faith in God. When Job’s internal conflict had reached its highest point, “Job sought for someone who would defend him from the false accusations made against him and acknowledged that God alone was this ‘Redeemer’” (note on Job 19:25-27). Job said about his kinsman-redeemer:

For I know that my Redeemer lives,
    and at the last he will stand upon the earth.
And after my skin has been thus destroyed,
    yet in my flesh I shall see God,
whom I shall see for myself,
    and my eyes shall behold, and not another.
    My heart faints within me! (Job 19:25-27)

The Hebrew word that is translated faints, kalah (kaw-lawˊ) “describes the transitory reality of fallen human nature” (H3615). Job’s circumstances brought him to a point of despair, but he held on to his faith and was certain that his day of redemption would eventually come.

Mission accomplished

Jesus was born for one specific reason, to take away the sin of the world (John 1:29). The Apostle Paul noted in his letter to the Ephesians that Jesus’ mission was launched before the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1:4). Paul tells us:

In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. (Ephesians 1:4-10)

God’s plan was launched in the Garden of Eden after Adam and Eve committed the first sin. Speaking to the serpent that had enticed Eve to rebel against him, God said, “Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and above all beasts of the field; on your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life. I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel” (Genesis 3:14-15).

Jesus’ first encounter with Satan took place shortly after he was baptized and was identified as the Son of God (Matthew 3:17). Matthew’s gospel tells us, “Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. And the tempter came and said to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread'” (Matthew 4:1-3). The Greek word that is translated tempter, peirazo (pi-rad’-zo) is derived from the word peran (per’-an), which comes from the word peiro (to “pierce“); through, i.e. across:- across, away, beyond, other side (G4008). The idea that temptation is something that causes us to cross over or go to the other side was first introduced in the Old Testament and was associated with the term Hebrew or Eberite (H5680). Abraham was the first person to be referred to as a Hebrew (Genesis 14:13). Joseph was also identified as a Hebrew when he was a slave in Egypt (Genesis 39:14, 17; 41:12). The word that Hebrew is derived from, ‘abar (aw-bar’) which means “to cross over” is used figuratively to signify “going beyond, overstepping a covenant or a command of God or man. Moses uses the word when charging the people with disobeying and overstepping the Lord’s commands (Numbers 14:41; Joshua 7:11, 15).

The Israelites’ journey through the wilderness included several transitions that required them to cross over or pass through territory that was forbidden to them. The Hebrew word ‘abar (H5674) appears ten times in Deuteronomy chapter two, Moses’ account of the wilderness years. Moses said:

“Then we turned and journeyed into the wilderness in the direction of the Red Sea, as the Lord told me. And for many days we traveled around Mount Seir. Then the Lord said to me, ‘You have been traveling around this mountain country long enough. Turn northward and command the people, “You are about to pass through (H5674) the territory of your brothers, the people of Esau, who live in Seir…So we went on (H5674), away from our brothers, the people of Esau, who live in Seir…So we went over (H5674) the brook Zered…until we crossed (H5674) the brook Zered…‘Today you are to cross (H5674) the border of Moab at Ar’…‘Rise up, set out on your journey and go over (H5674) the Valley of the Arnon.'” (Deuteronomy 2:1-24)

When the Israelites reached the border of the Promised Land, they were prevented from passing through (H5674) the land of Sihon the king of Heshbon (Deuteronomy 2:26-30) and so the LORD gave him and his land over to the Israelites and they defeated him and devoted all of his cities to destruction (Deuteronomy 2:33-34). Moses concluded his account with with the statement:

From Aroer, which is on the edge of the Valley of the Arnon, and from the city that is in the valley, as far as Gilead, there was not a city too high for us. The Lord our God gave all into our hands. Only to the land of the sons of Ammon you did not draw near, that is, to all the banks of the river Jabbok and the cities of the hill country, whatever the Lord our God had forbidden us. (Deuteronomy 2:36-37)

The Hebrew word that is translated forbidden in Deuteronomy 2:37, tsavah (tsaw-vaw’) has to do with God’s sovereignty over his creation. “The word means to give an order or to command, to direct someone; it indicates commands given to people in various situations. The Lord commanded Adam and Eve to eat from certain trees but to refrain from eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Genesis 2:16; 3:17)” (H6680). Therefore, when Adam and Eve disobeyed God, it was considered to be a sin or you might say rebellion against God’s sovereign authority.

Jesus told his disciples that it was his duty to go to Jerusalem and suffer and die there. Matthew tells us that after Peter made his profession that Jesus was the Christ (Matthew 16:16), “From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying ‘Far be it from you, Lord! This shall never happen to you.’ But he turned and said to Peter, ‘Get behind me Satan! You are a hindrance to me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man'” (Matthew 16:21-23). Jesus’ single-minded focus on dying for the sin of the world was the result of a divine appointment that made his death on the cross unavoidable (G1163). Jesus recognized Peter’s interference as a direct assault from Satan and immediately rebuked him with the command “Get behind me Satan!” (Matthew 16:23). The Greek word that is translated hindrance, skandalon (skan’-dal-on) means “the trigger of a trap on which the bait is placed, and which, when touched by the animal, springs and causes it to close causing entrapment” (G4625). The Greek word skandalizo (skan-dal-id’-zo), is where the english word scandalize comes from (G4624). skandalizo is derived from the word skandalon and was used by Jesus when he warned his disciples, “You will all fall away because of me this night. For it is written, ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered'” (Matthew 26:31, emphasis mine).

In his High Priestly Prayer, shortly before his death, Jesus said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you, since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed” (John 17:1-5). Jesus indicated that he had already accomplished the work that he had been given to do even before he died on the cross. The work that he was referring to was reconciling man and God. Paul talked about this work in his letter to the Ephesians. Paul said:

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 Christ, 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 Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. (Ephesians 2:11-16)

The Greek word that Paul used that is translated reconcile, apokatallasso (ap-ok-at-al-las’-so) means “to reconcile fully…to change from one state of feeling to another” (G604). The change that Jesus was able to accomplish through his death on the cross was a change in God’s relationship to mankind. God’s hostility toward people because of the sins they’ve committed against him was changed to a state of peace.

The brutal death that Jesus suffered would seem to have had the opposite effect. John tells us:

Then Pilate took Jesus and flogged him. And the soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head and arrayed him in a purple robe. They came up to him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” and struck him with their hands. Pilate went out again and said to them, “See, I am bringing him out to you that you may know that I find no guilt in him.” So Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, “Behold the man!” When the chief priests and the officers saw him, they cried out, “Crucify him, crucify him!” Pilate said to them, “Take him yourselves and crucify him, for I find no guilt in him.” The Jews answered him, “We have a law, and according to that law he ought to die because he has made himself the Son of God.” (John 19:1-7)

According to the Jews, Jesus “made himself the Son of God” (John 19:7). The Greek word that is translated made, poieo (poy-eh’-o) refers to “external acts as manifested in the production of something tangible, corporeal, obvious to the senses.” Figuratively poieo is “spoken of a state or condition, or of things intangible and incorporeal, and generally of such things as are produced by an inward act of the mind or will” (G4160). The Jews accusation that he made himself the Son of God may have been intended to imply that Jesus was merely acting like God and that he was not who he claimed to be, but there is ample evidence to suggest that the Jews believed Jesus was the Son of God and wanted to get rid of him because of that fact. One of Jesus’ parables in particular, the parable of the wicked tenants, revealed the religious leaders’ motive for killing him. Jesus said:

Then the owner of the vineyard said, ‘What shall I do? I will send my beloved son; perhaps they will respect him.’ But when the tenants saw him, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir. Let us kill him, so that the inheritance may be ours.’ And they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. What then will the owner of the vineyard do to them? He will come and destroy those tenants and give the vineyard to others.” When they heard this, they said, “Surely not!” But he looked directly at them and said, “What then is this that is written:
“‘The stone that the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone’?
Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces, and when it falls on anyone, it will crush him.”
The scribes and the chief priests sought to lay hands on him at that very hour, for they perceived that he had told this parable against them, but they feared the people. So they watched him and sent spies, who pretended to be sincere, that they might catch him in something he said, so as to deliver him up to the authority and jurisdiction of the governor. (Luke 20:13-20)

In spite of the treachery that was used against him, Jesus was not a victim of his circumstances. When Pilate asked him, “Do you not know that I have authority to release you and authority to crucify you” (John 19:10), Jesus responded, “You would have no authority over me at all unless it had been given you from above” (John 19:11).

Jesus described himself as the good shepherd and said, “The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep” (John 10:11). Jesus went on to say, “And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father” (John 10:16-18). The charge that Jesus referred to was an authoritative prescription and was equivalent to the precepts of the Mosaic Law. Jesus was not only required to lay down his life, but also to take it up again; therefore, Jesus’ resurrection was necessary for his act of redemption to be complete.

John’s account of Jesus’ death on the cross states, “After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfill the Scripture), ‘I thirst.’ A jar full of sour wine stood there, so they put a sponge full of sour wine on a hyssop branch and held it to his mouth. When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, ‘It is finished,’ and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit” (John 19:28-30). Jesus’ declaration, “It is finished” just before he gave up his spirit, indicated that there was nothing more that he needed to do at that point in time. The Greek word that is translated finished, teleo (tel-eh’-o) means “to end” (G5055) and is derived from the word telos (tel’-os) which means “the point aimed at as a limit” (G5056). The point aimed at or goal that Jesus was working toward was the redemption of mankind. What had been going on up until then, was Jesus making payment for our redemption, paying the penalty for our sins. It says in Matthew 20:28, that Jesus came not to be served, “but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.” The Greek word that is translated ransom, lutron (loo’-tron) means “a redemption price (figurative, atonement)” the “‘loosing-money,’ i.e. price paid for redeeming captives” is used “metaphorically for the ransom paid by Christ for the delivering of men from the bondage of sin and death” (G3083).

Paul’s letter to the Romans explained is detail the process of redemption that Jesus completed. Paul said:

But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it—the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. (Romans 3:21-26)

According to Paul, believers are justified by grace (Romans 3:24). The Greek word that is translated justified, dikaioo (dik-ah-yo’-o) means “as a matter of right or justice: to absolve, acquit, clear from any charge or imputation…spoken especially of the justification bestowed by God on men through Christ, in which he is said to regard and treat them as righteous, i.e. to absolve from the consequences of sin and admit to the enjoyment of the divine favor (Romans 3:26, 30; 4:5; 8:30, 33; Galatians 3:8)” (G1344). The mechanism of our justification is God’s grace, “the divine influence upon the heart, and its reflection in the life; including gratitude…Also spoken of the grace which God exercises toward us, the unmerited favor which he shows in saving us from sin” (G5485).

Paul described Jesus as being a propitiation by his blood (Romans 3:25). Propitiation is associated with the mercy seat, “the lid or cover of the Ark of the Covenant, where the high priest would make propitiation once a year by sprinkling blood upon the mercy seat (Exodus 25:17-22; Leviticus 16:11-15)” (G2435). Propitiation is what makes it possible for God to forgive our sins. The Greek word hilaskomai (hil-as-kom-ahee) means “to reconcile to oneself, to be propitious, gracious” (G2433). Paul explained that our belief in Jesus is what tips the scales of justice in our favor. Paul stated:

And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness, just as David also speaks of the blessing of the one to whom God counts righteousness apart from works:
“Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven,
and whose sins are covered;
blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin.” (Romans 4:5-8)

Paul’s explanation of justification by faith concluded with the statement, “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:1). The Greek word that is translated peace in this verse, eirene (i-rah’-nay) is being used metaphorically to represent “peace of mind, tranquility, arising from reconciliation with God and a sense of divine favor” (G1515). From that standpoint, peace with God means that we have nothing to worry about, we are good to go.

Substitution

Jesus’ substitutionary death on the cross was based on a spiritual principle that was established when the Israelites were delivered from slavery in Egypt. It states in Numbers 3:11-13:

And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Behold, I have taken the Levites from among the people of Israel instead of every firstborn who opens the womb among the people of Israel. The Levites shall be mine, for all the firstborn are mine. On the day that I struck down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, I consecrated for my own all the firstborn in Israel, both of man and of beast. They shall be mine: I am the Lord.”

The LORD told Moses that he had taken the Levites instead of the firstborn of the people of Israel who had been consecrated to him when he spared them from the plague that killed every firstborn in Egypt (Exodus 11:7).

The process of consecration enabled people and things that were unholy to become holy. “The tabernacle, the ark, the table of showbread, the altar of burnt offering, and all the smaller accessories and utensils used in the cult of Israel were anointed with a special anointing oil so they become holy. Whatever came in contact with them became holy (Exodus 30:26-29)” (H6942). The first occurrence in the Bible of God making something holy was the seventh day. It says in Genesis 2:3, “So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation.” The King James Version of the Bible uses the word sanctified to describe what God did to make the seventh day holy. God told the Israelites, “For I am the LORD your God: ye shall therefore sanctify yourselves, and ye shall be holy, for I am holy” (Leviticus 11:44).

Sanctification is the ultimate goal and ideal state of everyone and everything that is connected with God. The problem is that it is not the natural state of human beings because of their sin nature. Paul dealt with this problem in his letter to the Ephesians. Paul stated:

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 Christ, 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 Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility.

The Greek word that is translated reconcile in this passage, apokatallasso (ap-ok-at-al-lasˊ-so) means to reconcile fully. “This word means to change from one condition to another so as to remove all enmity and leave no impediment to unity and peace and is used in Ephesians 2:16, of the ‘reconciliation’ of believing Jew and Gentile in one body unto God through the cross” (G604).

Spiritual rebirth involves two actions that work together to produce a single effect. “The new birth and regeneration do not represent successive stages in spiritual experience, they refer to the same event but view it in different aspects. The new birth stresses the communication of spiritual life in contrast to antecedent spiritual death; regeneration stresses the inception of a new state of things in contrast with the old…Anakainosis (G342) is the result of paliggenesia. The paliggenesia is that free act of God’s mercy and power by which He removes the sinner from the kingdom of darkness and places him in the kingdom of light; it is that act by which God brings him from death to life. In the act itself (rather than the preparations for it), the recipient is passive, just as a child has nothing to do with his own birth. Anakainosis, by contrast, is the gradual conforming of the person to the new spiritual world in which he now lives, the restoration of the divine image. In this process the person is not passive but is a fellow worker with God” (G3824). “Palingenesis (G3824) stresses the new birth; whereas, anakainosis stresses the process of sanctification” (G342).

Both aspects of spiritual rebirth were demonstrated through the Levites substitution for the firstborn of the people of Israel. The LORD instructed Moses, “Bring the tribe of Levi near, and set them before Aaron the priest, that they may minister to him. They shall keep guard over him and over the whole congregation before the tent of meeting, as they minister at the tabernacle” (Numbers 3:6-7). Bringing the tribe of Levi near and setting them before Aaron was similar to the paliggenesia in that the Levites had nothing to do with God selecting them from among the other tribes to be his servants. The Hebrew word that is translated set, amad (aw-madˊ) means to stand. “Such standing is not just standing still doing nothing but includes all that one does in ministering before God (Numbers 16:9)…The verb can suggest ‘immovable,’ or not being able to be moved…This is not the changelessness of doing nothing or standing physically upright, but the changelessness of ever-existing being, a quality that only God has in himself” (H5975). When the Levites were set before Aaron, they were to a certain extent translated into God’s eternal kingdom and became his spiritual agents among the other tribes of Israel. Anakainosis or regeneration has to do with an individual becoming adapted to God’s spiritual kingdom. The Levites demonstrated this through their ministry of guarding over Aaron and the whole congregation which required them to focus their attention on the well-being of others rather than themselves.

The Hebrew words that are translated minister in Numbers 3:6-7, ʿabad (aw-badˊ) and abodah (ab-o-dawˊ) refer to work of any kind. The LORD assigned the Levites specific duties. (Numbers 3-4). It was the Levites’ job to take care of all of the furnishings of the tabernacle and to move them from place to place as the people of Israel traveled through the desert. The Levites’ responsibility of keeping guarding over Aaron and the whole congregation meant that they had to act as sentries and had to maintain the security of the camp. If there was an attack, the Levites’ were expected to warn others and to potentially put themselves in harm’s way in order to protect the tabernacle’s valuable furnishings. The Levites’ service wasn’t voluntary and so to a certain extent they were like slaves, but there is no indication that they resented or rebelled against their substitution for the firstborn among the people of Israel.

The Levites’ were numbered according to a different standard than the rest of the tribes of Israel. Moses was instructed, “List the sons of Levi, by fathers’ houses and by clans; every male from a month old and upward you shall list” (Numbers 3:15). The other tribes of Israel were listed according to the number of men “from twenty years old and upward” who were able to go to war (Numbers 1:3). The reason for this distinction was because the Levites were exempt from military service. It was determined that “all those listed among the Levites, whom Moses and Aaron listed at the commandment of the LORD, by clans, all males from a month old and upward, were 22,000” (Numbers 3:39). “And all the firstborn males, according to the number of names, from a month old and upward as listed were 22,273” (Numbers 3:43). The excess of 273 persons was dealt with through the process of redemption. Numbers 3:44-49 states:

And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Take the Levites instead of all the firstborn among the people of Israel, and the cattle of the Levites instead of their cattle. The Levites shall be mine: I am the Lord. And as the redemption price for the 273 of the firstborn of the people of Israel, over and above the number of the male Levites, you shall take five shekelsper head; you shall take them according to the shekel of the sanctuary (the shekel of twenty gerahs), and give the money to Aaron and his sons as the redemption price for those who are over.” So Moses took the redemption money from those who were over and above those redeemed by the Levites.

The 273 firstborn of the people of Israel who were over and above those that were redeemed by the Israelites’ through substitution still had to be accounted for. A redemption price had to be paid for them in order for them to be excused from service. The Hebrew word that is translated redemption price, paduwy (paw-dooˊ-ee) is derived from the word padah (paw-dawˊ) which means “’to redeem, ransom.’ Padah indicates that some intervening or substitutionary action effects a release from an undesirable condition…The word is connected with the laws of the firstborn. As a reminder of slaying all the Egyptian firstborn but sparing the Israelites, God retained an eternal claim on the life of all Israelite firstborn males, both of men and cattle. The latter were often sacrificed, ‘but all the firstborn of my children I redeem’ (Exodus 13:15). God accepted the separation of the tribe of Levi for liturgical service in lieu of all Israelite firstborn (Numbers 3:40ff.). However, the Israelite males still had to be ‘redeemed’ (padah) from this service by payment of specified ‘redemption money’ (Numbers 3:44-51)” (H6299).

“In the time of the patriarchs, the firstborn son had a position of special honor and responsibility in the family structure. God proclaimed Israel to be his firstborn (Exodus 4:22). All the firstborn sons of the Israelites were to be sanctified unto the Lord (Exodus 13:2, 11-16; 22:29)” (note on Numbers 3:12, 13). Jesus’ high priestly prayer shortly before his death included a section that addressed the sanctification of his followers. Jesus told his Father:

I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one.They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify themin the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. And for their sake I consecrate myself,that they also may be sanctifiedin truth. (John 17:14-19)

The Greek word that Jesus used that is translated consecrate, hagiazo (hag-ee-adˊ-zo) means “to consecrate, devote, set apart from a common use to a sacred use since in the Jewish ritual, this was one great objective of the purifications…Spoken of persons: to consecrate as being set apart of God and sent by Him for the performance of His will (John 10:36, ‘whom the father consecrated and sent into the world’ [ESV]; 17:17, ‘Sanctify them in [or in the promulgation of] thy truth’ [cf. John 17:18, 19])” (G37). Jesus indicated that believers are sanctified in truth. According to the definition of hagiazo, that meant that sanctification was a direct result of preaching the gospel.

Drawing on the parallel of Jesus’ death on the cross to the animal sacrifices that were made for the Israelites, the book of Hebrews points out that the only way sanctification can occur is through the shedding of blood. Hebrews 13:10-16 states:

We have an altar from which those who serve the tenthave no right to eat. For the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the holy places by the high priest as a sacrifice for sin are burned outside the camp. So Jesus also suffered outside the gate in order to sanctify the people through his own blood. Therefore let us go to him outside the camp and bear the reproach he endured. For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come. Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name.Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.

The connection between sanctification and the offering up of a sacrifice of praise to God is evident in the definition of the Hebrew word ʿabad (aw-badˊ) which is translated as service in Numbers chapters three and four. “When the focus of the labour is the Lord, it is a religious service to worship Him. Moreover, in these cases, the word does not have the connotations of toilsome labour but instead of a joyful experience of liberation (Exodus 3:12; 4:23; 7:16; Joshua 24:15, 18)” (H5647).

Psalm 134 reflects this kind of experience and is identified as a psalm of ascents indicating that it was sung at the beginning of the worship services at the temple. It states:

Come, bless the Lord, all you servants of the Lord,
who stand by night in the house of the Lord!
Lift up your hands to the holy place
and bless the Lord!

May the Lord bless you from Zion,
he who made heaven and earth!

The reference to standing by night in the house of the LORD was most likely associated with the Levites’ service of guarding the tabernacle. The Hebrew word that is translated stand in Psalm 134:1 is the same word that was used in Numbers 3:6 to indicate that the tribe of Levi was set before or designated to minister before God (H5975). The exchange of blessings in verses two and three of Psalm 134 suggests that there was a reciprocal action going on between those who blessed the LORD and those who were blessed by the LORD. We know from the prophecy of Micah that Zion will be the location of Jesus’ headquarters during his millennial reign (Micah 4:7-8). Therefore, it seems likely that the LORD’s servants will be rewarded for their service during that time period.

Jesus told his twelve disciples that “in the new world, when the Son of Man will sit on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel” (Matthew 19:28). A short while later, James and John asked for the privilege of sitting one at Jesus’ right hand and the other at his left in his kingdom (Matthew 20:21). The other ten disciples were indignant and so “Jesus called them to him and said, ‘You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:25-28). The Greek word that is translated ransom, lutron (looˊ-tron) refers to a redemption price and literally means “‘loosing money,’ i.e. price paid for redeeming captives” (G3083). Jesus gave his life in exchange for our freedom from the bondage of sin and death. The substitution that was made had to do with “the soul, the immaterial part of man held in common with animals…his spiritual and immortal nature with its higher and lower powers, its rational and natural faculties…that which strictly belongs to the person himself” (G5590).

Paul’s letter to the Romans explains how the substitutionary death of Jesus makes us free from sin and death. Paul wrote:

Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. We know that our old selfwas crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been set free from sin. Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. (Romans 6:3-11).

Paul indicated that the substitutionary process that resulted in believers being baptized into Christ’s death in order to be redeemed by his blood also produced a reciprocal result of them being able to walk in newness of life. Paul explained this transaction further in his second letter to the Corinthians and in his letter to the Galatians. Paul said, “For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our flesh” (2 Corinthians 4:11). “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2:20).

God is love

The LORD’s relationship with the children of Israel is made clear in the book of Deuteronomy where the terms of the covenant that God made with his chosen people is spelled out in great detail. Deuteronomy 7:6-8 states:

“For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the Lord set his love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples, but it is because the Lord loves you and is keeping the oath that he swore to your fathers, that the Lord has brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.”

One of the key characteristics of the LORD’s relationship with the Israelites was that God chose them and considered them to be his treasured possession. The Hebrew word bachar (baw-kharˊ) is “a verb whose meaning is to take a keen look at, to prove, to choose. It denotes a choice, which is based on a thorough examination of the situation and not an arbitrary whim” (H977).

The Hebrew word that is translated treasured possession in Deuteronomy 7:6, sᵉgullah (seg-ool-lawˊ) is “a feminine noun meaning a personal possession, a special possession, property. This noun is used only six times, but it gives one of the most memorable depictions of the Lord’s relationship to His people and the place established for them. The primary meaning of the word theologically is its designation ‘unique possession.’ God has made Israel His own unique possession (Exodus 19:5). Israel holds a special position among the nations of the world, although all nations belong to the Lord. Israel’s position, function, character, responsibility, and calling create its uniqueness (Deuteronomy 7:6; 14:2; 26:18; Psalm 135:4)” (H5459).

Deuteronomy 7:8 indicates that it is because the LORD loves his chosen people that he brought them out of Egypt and redeemed them from the house of slavery. God’s love caused him to do something for the Israelites that he hadn’t done before, redeem people from the consequences of their sins. The concept of redemption is centered on the payment of a debt. Leviticus 25:47-55 explains the concept of redemption in the context of a poor man that sells himself into slavery. It states:

“If a stranger or sojourner with you becomes rich, and your brother beside him becomes poor and sells himself to the stranger or sojourner with you or to a member of the stranger’s clan, then after he is sold he may be redeemed. One of his brothers may redeem him, or his uncle or his cousin may redeem him, or a close relative from his clan may redeem him. Or if he grows rich he may redeem himself. He shall calculate with his buyer from the year when he sold himself to him until the year of jubilee, and the price of his sale shall vary with the number of years. The time he was with his owner shall be rated as the time of a hired worker. If there are still many years left, he shall pay proportionately for his redemption some of his sale price. If there remain but a few years until the year of jubilee, he shall calculate and pay for his redemption in proportion to his years of service. He shall treat him as a worker hired year by year. He shall not rule ruthlessly over him in your sight. And if he is not redeemed by these means, then he and his children with him shall be released in the year of jubilee. For it is to me that the people of Israel are servants. They are my servants whom I brought out of the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.”

The Year of Jubilee occurred once every fifty years and began on the Day of Atonement (Leviticus 25:8-9). Leviticus 25:9-10 states, “On the Day of Atonement you shall sound the trumpet throughout all your land. And you shall consecrate the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants.”

A key prophecy of the prophet Isaiah had to do with the Year of Jubilee. Isaiah 61:1-2 states, “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the LROD has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn.” Jesus paraphrased this passage of scripture when he spoke in the synagogue at Nazareth where he grew up. Afterward, Luke’s gospels states, “And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. And he began to say to them, ‘Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing’” (Luke 4:20-21). Jesus connected the proclamation of the Year of Jubilee with the preaching of the gospel in order to show that the liberty that was intended for God’s chosen people was the freedom from spiritual death. Jesus told a man named Nicodemus:

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.”

The kind of love that motivated God to give his only Son as a sacrifice for the sins of the world is known as agapao (ag-ap-ahˊ-o). This word is broader in its meaning than phileo (fil-ehˊ-o), the kind of love that is expressed through sentiment or feeling (G5368). Agapao embraces “the judgment and the deliberate assent of the will as a matter of principle, duty and propriety.” Phileo implies an instinctive, affectionate attachment; but agapao of a sentiment based on judgment and adulation, which selects its object for a reason (G26).

The Apostle John used the word agapao in his statement, “Beloved, let us love one another; for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love” (1 John 4:7). John indicated that love is a part of God’s essential nature and therefore, it should be present in all those who have been born into his spiritual family. The Greek word that John used in his declaration, “God is love,” is agape (ag-ahˊ-pay). Agape is sometimes referred to as Christian love. “Christian love, whether exercised toward the brethren, or toward men generally, is not an impulse from the feelings, it does not always run with the natural inclinations, nor does it spend itself only upon those for whom some affinity is discovered…it expresses the deep and constant love and interest of a perfect Being towards entirely unworthy objects, producing and fostering a reverential love in them towards the Giver, a practical love towards those who are partakers of the same, and a desire to help others to seek the Giver” (G26).

John expounded on Jesus’ statement that “God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son” (John 3:16) by explaining the reason for God’s sacrifice. John said, “In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins” (1 John 4:9-10). The Greek word that is translated propitiation, hilasmos (hil-as-mosˊ) means “atonement” and signifies “an expiation, a means whereby sin is covered and remitted…Provision is made for the whole world, so that no one is, by divine predetermination, excluded from the scope of God’s mercy; the efficacy of the ‘propitiation,’ however is made actual for those who believe” (G2434). The Day of Atonement, which is described in detail in Leviticus chapter 16, was an annual event that involved the sacrifice of animals and sprinkling of blood on the mercy seat above the ark of the testimony in order to expiate the sins of the Israelites. On this day, the priest confessed all the sins of the people and put them on the head of a goat that was sent away into the wilderness (Leviticus 16:21-22), depicting the process whereby a Savior would one day take away the guilt and punishment of all sin completely by bearing it upon himself.

John concluded, “Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us” (1 John 4:11-12). The Greek word that John used that is translated perfected, teleioo (tel-i-oˊ-o) means “to complete, make perfect by reaching the intended goal” (G5048). John made it clear that God’s sacrifice of his only Son was intended to produce a chain reaction that would result in love being expressed around the world. When Jesus instructed his disciples to “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:19), he was essentially telling them that they needed to replicate the process of propitiation everywhere so that God’s love could reach all the people it was intended for.

God promised the Israelites that he would reward them for their obedience. God told them, “I will make my dwelling among you, and my soul shall not abhor you. And I will walk among you and will be your God, and you shall be my people. I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, that you should not be slaves. And I have broken the bars of your yoke and made you walk erect” (Leviticus 26:11-13). God indicated that he had broken the bars of the Israelites’ yoke and made them walk erect. This seems to be a reference to God changing their destiny. The Hebrew word that is translated erect, qowmᵉmiyuwth (ko-mem-ee-yoothˊ) is derived from the word quwm (koom). “Sometimes quwm is used in an intensive mood to signify empowering or strengthening…It is also used to denote the inevitable occurrence of something predicted or prearranged” (H6965). An example of this is found in Genesis 28:11 where it says that Jacob “came to a certain place.” After Jacob placed his head on a stone and fell asleep, it says in Genesis 28:12-13:

And he dreamed and behold, there was a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven. And behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it! And behold the LORD stood above it and said, “I am the LORD, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac. The land on which you lie I will give to you and your offspring.”

Jacob’s encounter with God was a part of his plan to fulfill his promise to Abraham. Jacob was unaware of God’s presence in the land of Canaan until he came to a certain place. The place where Jacob spent the night was not only a geographic location, but a spiritual condition that made him open to God’s intervention in his life. Even though Jacob wanted God to take care of him, he was reluctant to make a commitment to the LORD at that point in time (Genesis 28:20-22).

During his ministry on earth, most of the people that Jesus encountered were unaware that he was God’s only son that had come to save the world, but the numerous miracles that he performed eventually made it clear to everyone that Jesus was Israel’s Messiah. In spite of this, Jesus was crucified and was even abandoned by his own disciples. John explained that Jesus’ ministry was being opposed by Satan’s demonic forces. John said:

Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already. Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. (1 John 4:1-4)

John used the term antichrist to describe the spiritual opponent that was trying to keep people from being saved. The Greek word antichristos (an-teeˊ-khris-tos) refers to “an imposter for the Messiah. Antichristos can mean either ‘against Christ’ or ‘instead of Christ,’ or perhaps, combining the two, ‘one who assuming the guise of Christ, opposes Christ and takes His place” (G500). John encouraged believers by stating, “He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world” (1 John 4:4).

John addressed the issue of having assurance of salvation when he made it clear that anyone that has confessed Jesus as his or her Savior has been saved. John said, “By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him” (1 John 4:13-16). The Greek word that John used that is translated confesses, homologeo (hom-ol-og-ehˊ-o) was also used in 1 John 1:9 where it says, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (emphasis mine). The base word of homologeo, homou (hom-ooˊ) means “at the same place or time” (G3674). In one sense, when we confess our sins, you might say that we are having a personal encounter with God. It is as if we are talking to Him directly and God acknowledges our communication by regenerating us from within.

John’s repetition of the statement, “God is love” (1 John 4:16) was probably meant to emphasize the fact that knowing God is all about being loved by him. John said, “By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so also are we in this world. There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love” (1 John 4:17-18). John described God’s love as perfect love. What that means is that God’s love is able to do exactly what it is intended to. God’s love is able to save us from our sins and to keep us from being condemned on the day when Jesus judges everyone based on his book of life (Revelation 20:12). The result of God’s love is that fear is cast out or you might say ejected from our bodies like an unwelcome guest. We have nothing to worry about because Jesus has once and for all reconciled us to God for all of eternity (Revelation 5:9-10).

God’s protection

The establishment of God’s Royal Grant covenant with Abraham began with a vision in which God stated, “Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great” (Genesis 15:1). The shield that God referred to was a small one that was used by a soldier in hand to hand combat (H4043). A buckler was usually made from the scaly hide of a crocodile in order to protect the fighter from jabs and strikes from his enemy, but it could also be used as an offensive weapon to directly attack an opponent by punching with either its flat face or its rim. God’s description of himself as Abraham’s shield was meant to convey the idea of a personal protector that could keep him from physical harm. God told Abraham, “I am the LORD who brought you out from Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to possess” (Genesis 15:7). God’s unconditional divine promise to give Abraham the land of Canaan involved driving out the previous tenants and possessing it in their place (H3423). In order to do that, the Israelites had to go through a process of suffering that was intended to deliver them from their dependence on material resources. Genesis 15:12-14 states:

As the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell on Abram. And behold, dreadful and great darkness fell upon him. Then the Lord said to Abram, “Know for certain that your offspring will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs and will be servants there, and they will be afflicted for four hundred years. But I will bring judgment on the nation that they serve, and afterward they shall come out with great possessions.”

After Moses killed an Egyptian and hid his body in the sand, he fled to Midian and lived as a shepherd for 40 years. Exodus 2:23-25 tells us that, “During those days the king of Egypt died, and the people of Israel groaned because of their slavery and cried out for help. Their cry for rescue from slavery came up to God. And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. God saw the people of Israel — and God knew.”

God’s awareness of the situation in Egypt had to do with the fact that he was watching over and protecting the children of Israel even though they were living in a foreign land. God appeared to Moses in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush (Exodus 3:2) “And he said, ‘I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’ And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God” (Exodus 3:6). The flame of fire out of the midst of the bush was a type of preincarnate appearance of Jesus Christ (note on Exodus 23:20-23). Moses’ encounter with the Savior of the World caused him to not just be afraid, but to stand in awe of the person who had the ability to rescue God’s people from slavery in Egypt. The LORD told Moses, “I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters. I know their sufferings, and I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey…Come, I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt” (Exodus 3:7-10).

God used signs and wonders to get Pharaoh to give up his control over the Israelites, but Pharaoh’s hardened heart caused him to change his mind each time he agreed to let God’s people go. The tenth and final plague that the LORD caused was intended to permanently sever all ties between the Israelites and the Egyptians. “The LORD said to Moses, ‘Yet one plague more I will bring upon Pharaoh and upon Egypt. Afterward he will let you go from here. When he lets you go, he will drive you away completely” (Exodus 11:1). The Hebrew word kalah (kaw-law’) can have both positive and negative connotations (H3617). It is likely that the driving away completely that the LORD was referring to was the right to ownership that Pharaoh thought he had of his Hebrew slaves. Numerous times, Pharaoh was commanded to let the people of Israel go so that the could “serve the LORD their God” (Exodus 10:7). The Hebrew word that is translated serve, ‘abad (aw-bad’) has to do with slavery (H5647). Exodus 13:3 indicates that God redeemed the people Israel from slavery. In other words, God purchased the Israelites from Pharaoh so that they could serve him instead.

The way that God redeemed the people of Israel was through the substitutionary death of a lamb which served as a blood sacrifice to pay the price for their redemption. God described his process of redemption this way:

“Tell all the congregation of Israel that on the tenth day of this month every man shall take a lamb according to their fathers’ houses, a lamb for a household. And if the household is too small for a lamb, then he and his nearest neighbor shall take according to the number of persons; according to what each can eat you shall make your count for the lamb. Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male a year old. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats, and you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of this month, when the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill their lambs at twilight. Then they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses in which they eat it. They shall eat the flesh that night, roasted on the fire; with unleavened bread and bitter herbs they shall eat it…In this manner you shall eat it: with your belt fastened, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. And you shall eat it in haste. It is the Lord’s Passover. For I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: I am the Lord. The blood shall be a sign for you, on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague will befall you to destroy you, when I strike the land of Egypt.

God’s protection of the children of Israel had to do with a distinction he made between his people and the Egyptians. He said, “About midnight I will go out in the midst of Egypt, and every firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sits on his throne, even to the firstborn of the slave girl who is behind the handmill, and all the firstborn of the cattle. There shall be a great cry throughout the land of Egypt, such as there has never been, nor ever will be again. But not a dog shall growl against any of the people of Israel, either man or beast, that you may know that the LORD makes a distinction between Egypt and Israel” (Exodus 11:4-7).

God’s redemption of Israel was based on the covenant he made with Abraham and his divine pledge that Abraham’s descendants would be his chosen people (Genesis 17). John the Baptist’s introduction of Jesus indicated that there was a greater significance to the blood that Jesus shed on the cross than the lamb that was killed for the Lord’s Passover. John proclaimed of Jesus, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29). “John was saying that Jesus would be the sacrifice that would atone for the sin of the world. There was first a sacrifice for the individual (Genesis 4); then for a family at passover (Exodus 12); and then for the nation on the day of atonement (Leviticus 16); now it is broadened so that Christ is a sacrifice for the entire world” (note on John 1:29, KJSB). Jesus mentioned his atonement for sin in a conversation he had with his disciples about who would be the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. He said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:25-28).

Jesus put himself in the category of a slave to show that he was taking on himself the lowest position a person could have in order to accomplish his mission of saving the world. The Greek word that is translated ransom, lutron (loo’-tron) stands for a redemption price. In the Old Testament ransom “is always used to signify ‘equivalence.’ Thus it is used of the ‘ransom’ for a life, e.g., Exodus 21:30, of the redemption price of a slave” (G3083). Titus, a convert of the Apostle Paul, indicated that Jesus redeemed us in order to make us a people for his own possession. Titus 2:11-14 states, “For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.”

The night before Jesus was crucified, he celebrated the Passover with his disciples. During what is now referred to as the Lord’s Supper, Jesus talked about his blood being shed for the forgiveness of sins and also mentioned the new covenant that was being instituted through his death. Matthew’s gospel states:

Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.” And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. I tell you I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.”

The Greek word that Jesus used that is translated body, soma (so’-mah) is derived from the word sozo (sode’-zo) which means “to save, i.e. deliver or protect” (G4982). Sozo is used of the material and temporal deliverance from danger, suffering, etc. and “of the spiritual and eternal salvation granted immediately by God to those who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.”

In his letter to the Ephesians, Paul talked about God’s plan of salvation and said that believers are made holy and blameless through Jesus Christ’s sacrificial death on the cross (Ephesians 1:4). Paul said, “In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth” (Ephesians 1:7-10). Paul indicated that God’s plan of salvation involved the uniting of all things in Christ. The Greek word that is translated united, oikonomia (oy-kon-om-ee’ah) is where the English word economy comes from. Oikonomia has to do with the administration of a household or estate (G3622) and refers to the arrangement God made for Jesus to fulfill both the Old and New Testament requirements for redemption of sins.

The intersection of the Jewish Passover celebration and the Lord’s Supper, which took place on the night of Jesus’ death, symbolically integrated the old and new covenants because the single focus of attention was the shedding of Jesus’ blood which fulfilled both covenants. The mystery that Paul briefly mentioned in Ephesians 1:9 and then, further explained in Ephesians 3:6 was “that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.” In other words, John’s declaration that Jesus was “the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” was meant to be taken literally. Jesus took upon himself the sin of the entire human race (G2889) and made it possible for everyone that believes in him to have eternal life (Matthew 25:46). Similar to the annual celebration of the Passover, Paul reminded Christians that the Lord’s Supper was to celebrated on a regular basis. Paul stated:

For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

Paul’s emphasis of celebrating the Lord’s Supper in remembrance of him was meant to focus the believer’s attention on the purpose of Jesus’ death, to pay the penalty for our sins. The Greek word anamnesis (an-am’-nay-sis) is not just an external bringing to remembrance but an awakening of the mind; a heart-felt conviction (G364) somewhat like an instant replay that is able to recapture the moment when we first gave our hearts to the Lord.

Psalm 91 is “a glowing testimony to the security of those who trust in God” (note on Psalm 91, KJSB) and reminds believers of the protection their salvation provides. It may have been written by one of the Israelites that celebrated the first Passover and was delivered from the plague of death that killed all the firstborn in Egypt. Satan quoted from this psalm when he tempted Jesus in the wilderness (Matthew 4:6). Psalm 91:9-16 states:

Because you have made the Lord your dwelling place—
the Most High, who is my refuge —
no evil shall be allowed to befall you,
no plague come near your tent.

For he will command his angels concerning you
    to guard you in all your ways.
On their hands they will bear you up,
    lest you strike your foot against a stone.
You will tread on the lion and the adder;
    the young lion and the serpent you will trample underfoot.

“Because he holds fast to me in love, I will deliver him;
    I will protect him, because he knows my name.
When he calls to me, I will answer him;
    I will be with him in trouble;
    I will rescue him and honor him.
With long life I will satisfy him
    and show him my salvation.”

When we make the Lord our dwelling place we are essentially moving in with him; we are making his home ours. That is how we receive God’s protection, by being under his roof so to speak, a member of his household. God said, “Because he holds fast to me in love, I will deliver him; I will protect him, because he knows my name” (Psalm 91:14). The phrase holds fast in love means to “cling to” (H2836) and may refer to the act of making love. The last sentence of Psalm 91, “With long life I will satisfy him and show him my salvation” (v. 16) seems to suggest that salvation is a process that takes place throughout one’s lifetime. You might say that we aren’t saved as if it happens in a single moment, but continually being saved by God until our life is over. That might be why Jesus instructed his disciples to “Do this in remembrance of me” (1 Corinthians 11:24-25) with regards to celebrating the Lord’s Supper. It is through the mental process of searching our hearts for unconfessed sin and reminding ourselves of our need for forgiveness that we experience God’s salvation on a daily basis and and are protected from the consequences of our sins.

The kinsman redeemer

The Israelite community was designed in such a way that families would remain in tact for centuries and ultimately for eternity. When they entered the Promised Land, each of the twelve tribes of Israel was designated a territory that they were to occupy. Every family was to have its own piece of property that would be passed on from generation to generation through an inheritance given to the oldest son. In the event, the family got into debt and had to sell its land, the property could later be redeemed by a close relative referred to as the kinsman redeemer.

It was the responsibility of the kinsman redeemer to preserve “the integrity, life, property, and family name of his close relative or for executing justice upon his murderer” (1350). In the role of executor of justice, the kinsman redeemer was referred to as the avenger or revenger of blood. Isaiah portrayed the arrival of the avenger on the scene as someone waging war on Israel’s enemies. He said, “Who is this that cometh from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah? This that is glorious in his apparel, traveling in the greatness of his strength? I that speak in righteousness, mighty to save. Wherefore art thou red in thine apparel, and thy garments like him that treadeth in the winefat? I have trodden the winepress alone; and of the people there was none with me; for I will tread them in mine anger, and trample them in my fury; and their blood shall be sprinkled upon my garments, and I will stain all my raiment” (Isaiah 63:1-3).

Isaiah described the day of the Lord as one in which there would be much blood shed. Revelation 19:13 indicates that that day will come at the end of the great tribulation when God’s wrath is poured out on mankind. John the apostle declared, “And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. His eyes were a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself. And he was clothed with a vesture dipt in blood: and his name is called The Word of God. And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean” (Revelation 19:11-14).

The Messiah’s role as the kinsman redeemer was unique to the Israelites because the kinsman redeemer had to be a blood relative. Although Jesus died for the sins of the world, he only came to redeem the children of Israel. Isaiah declared of Israel’s Messiah, “For he said, Surely they are my people, children that will not lie; so he was their Savior. In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them: in his love and in his pity he redeemed them; and he bare them, and carried them all the days of old” (Isaiah 63:8-9). Israel’s rejection of its Messiah caused the door to be opened to the Gentiles who received their inheritance as adopted children of Christ. Eventually, the family of God will be integrated and all who are true believers will share equally in Christ’s inheritance (Isaiah 63:17).

Transformation

If we could see our spiritual condition, we might be shocked to find out we are standing naked before God. It says in Hebrews 4:12-13, “For the word of God is quick and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.”

The Greek word translated naked in Hebrews 4:13 is gumnos (goom – nos´), which means nude (1131). In other words, Hebrews 4:13 is saying that God can see every person, and in a spiritual sense, some people don’t have any clothes on. Many people are concerned about the clothes they put on their physical body, but never give any thought to clothing themselves spiritually. The only way we can be clothed spiritually is through the process of salvation.

Isaiah’s message to the people of Judah served a dual purpose in that it spoke of two types of salvation. After the people were taken into captivity, they needed to return to the Promised Land and restore the city of Jerusalem. Then, their Messiah would come and release them from the bondage of sin. Isaiah declared, “The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the broken hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound” (Isaiah 61:1).

Jesus applied these verses to himself in the synagogue at Nazareth when he said, “This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears” (Luke 4:21). Jesus was letting the people know that salvation was available to them in the final or complete sense that they could be free from bondage of all sorts, including the bondage of sin. Isaiah described the results of salvation in terms of transformation. He said it would, “give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified” (Isaiah 61:3).

The transformation that occurs when a person is born again is similar to the change that takes place when a caterpillar becomes a butterfly. The same creature takes on a different form that enables it to do different things, to function from a different perspective. A Christian is no longer bound by the physical world, but is able to function from a spiritual perspective. This person no longer stands naked before God. He is clothed by his salvation. Isaiah described it like this:

I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels. (Isaiah 61:10)

At the time of spiritual birth, I believe the LORD gives everyone a new name. An example of this in the Old Testament is when Abram was renamed Abraham (Genesis 17:5) and Jacob became Israel (Genesis 32:28). In the New Testament, Saul’s name was changed to Paul (Acts 13:9). Isaiah said, “And thou shalt be called by a new name, which the mouth of the LORD shall name” (Isaiah 62:2). The Hebrew word translated name here is shem (shame), which means reputation or memory (8034). In a sense, when a person becomes born again, he gets a new reputation. He will no longer be remembered for the wrong things he has done, but for his acts of righteousness.

Isaiah made it clear that a believer’s transformation was intended to bring glory to God. The people of Judah that returned from captivity in Babylon would be the first to experience the joy of redemption and they would prepare the way for the rest of the world to receive salvation. Isaiah declared:

Thou shalt also be a crown of glory in the hand of the LORD, and a royal diadem in the hand of the thy God. Thou shalt no more be termed Forsaken; neither shall thy land any more be termed Desolate: but thou shalt be called Hephzi-bah, and thy land Beulah: for the LORD delighteth in thee, and thy land shall be married…And they shall call them, The holy people, The redeemed of the LORD: and thou shalt be called, Sought out, A city not forsaken. (Isaiah 62:3-4,12)

Phase Two

The LORD identified Cyrus king of Persia as the shepherd that would lead his people out of captivity (Isaiah 44:28). God referred to Cyrus as his anointed (Isaiah 45:1), a term associated with Israel’s Messiah. In Cyrus’ case, this title meant that he was consecrated by God for a special office or function. Cyrus was a pagan king that did not know God. The LORD declared about him, “For my servant’s sake, and Israel mine elect, I have even called thee by thy name: I have surnamed thee, though thou hast not known me” (Isaiah 45:4).

God intended to use Cyrus for his own purposes in order to demonstrate his sovereign control over all his creation. In explaining this strategy the LORD said, “That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none besides me. I am the LORD, there is none else. I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things” (Isaiah 45:6-7). Cyrus’ connection to Israel’s Messiah made it possible for God’s people to see that Jesus was to be the savior of the world, not just Israel.

The idea that God would save the world was a new concept for the Israelites because up to that point the Gentiles were excluded from having a relationship with God. If Israel had kept God’s commandments, they might have been able to retain their exclusive rights to his inheritance (Isaiah 48:18), but as it were, they chose to rebel and forfeited that right (Isaiah 48:19). Therefore, the LORD said, “Thou hast heard, see all this; and will not ye declare it? I have shewed thee new things from this time, even hidden things, and thou didst not know them” (Isaiah 48:6).

The Israelites’ captivity would prepare them for a new assignment. Phase two of God’s redemption plan required his people to become messengers, spreading God’s word throughout the earth. The scattering of God’s people was not just to punish them. God had always intended for the world to hear of his fame. What the Israelites didn’t know, and were being told for the first time, was they would be sharing their story with the Gentiles in order to get them to repent.

Go ye forth of Babylon, flee ye from the Chaldeans, with a voice of singing declare ye, tell this, utter it even to the end of the earth; say ye, The LORD hath redeemed his servant Jacob. And they thirsted not when he led them through deserts: he caused the waters to flow out of the rock for them: he clave the rock also, and the waters gushed out. There is no peace, saith the LORD, unto the wicked. (Isaiah 48:20-22)

A new thing

The captivity of god’s people provided a short intermission to the playing out of a 2000 year effort to restore fellowship between God and man. While they were in Babylon, God demonstrated his faithfulness to his people by continuing to protect them and by making a way for them to return to the Promised Land (Isaiah 41:3). Ultimately, the goal was for Jerusalem to be rebuilt through a supernatural empowering of those called to be a part of the second stage of God’s plan of redemption.

Isaiah proclaimed God’s faithfulness and gave his people hope by stating, “Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness” (Isaiah 41:10). Following the destruction of God’s temple and decimation of the city of Jerusalem, the nations that rose up against God’s people would be destroyed (Isaiah 41:15-16) making it possible for the Israelites to return to the land they had been driven out of.

God used the destruction of Israel and its resurrection as an example of his power and ability to recreate the nation that belonged to him. Isaiah testified to this when he said, “That they may see, and know, and consider, and understand together, that the hand of the LORD hath done this, and the Holy One of Israel hath created it” (Isaiah 41:20). The remnant of God’s people that returned to Jerusalem would go back of their own free will, knowing they would be used by God in a different way than they had before.

Isaiah explained God’s plan in the context of spiritual blindness. He said, “I the LORD have called thee in righteousness and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles; to open blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison house” (Isaiah 42:6’7). Because everyone else in the world had been cut off from their creator for hundreds of years, the Israelites would be used by God to demonstrate the problem of sin and humanity’s need for a savior.

Unlike the rest of the world, God’s people had not been left in the dark. God’s law had been clearly presented to his people and they were fully aware of the consequences of their sin. As they were being transitioned into a new way of relating to their LORD, the Israelites were told not to expect anymore special treatment. Isaiah declared, “Behold, the former things are come to pass, and new things do I declare; before they spring forth I tell you of them” (Isaiah 42:9).

The way

Unlike the exodus when all of the children of Israel were delivered from slavery, captivity was a means of separating out those who wanted a different way of life from those who were content with a lifestyle of sin. When the Israelites went into captivity, God had not yet fulfilled his promise to provide a Messiah or Savior for his people. Only those who returned to the Promised Land at the end of their captivity experienced the fulfillment of God’s promise.

Isaiah encouraged God’s people to not give up on God’s promise by describing the scene of their return as a desert that blossoms like a rose (Isaiah 35:1). The real incentive for return was the hope of a transformed life. Isaiah depicted the Messiah’s ministry as a miraculous intervention in the lives of desperate people. He said:

Behold, your God will come with vengeance, even God with a recompence, he will come and save you. Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then shall the lame man leap as a hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing: for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert. (Isaiah 35:4-6)

Isaiah compared God’s offer of salvation to a well-known and well-traveled road (Isaiah 35:8). The children of Israel were well aware of the LORD’s promise of a Messiah. The trouble with God’s people was they didn’t want to give up their sin. Isaiah referred to salvation as “The way of holiness” (Isaiah 35:8). What he meant by that was there would be a process of salvation available that would result in a transformed life, but only for those who chose to return from captivity (Isaiah 35:9-10).

At the heart of Isaiah’s message about returning to Zion after captivity was the concept of a consecrated life. Many of Israel’s leaders were poor examples of being set apart for God’s work. What Isaiah wanted the people to understand was that it was possible to live a life for God and be happy, in spite of negative circumstances. Isaiah spoke of being ransomed (Isaiah 35:10), which meant some intervening or substitutionary action would effect a release from an undesirable condition (6299). The undesirable condition of God’s people was punishment for their sin. Those who were redeemed would escape punishment and be set free from the power of death (Isaiah 25:8).