Simplified: Exploring Christianity together

Last week, we learned about the entrance of sin into the world and noted the many ways that sin disrupts and disorders God’s purposeful and intentional creation. We also came to clearly recognize that this was not the way God had intended the world to be. Not satisfied to see creation take such a horrific turn, God set about setting “the world to rights”, beginning with a man named Abram and a people called Israel.

“So the Lord God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken. After he drove the man out, he placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life.” Genesis 3:23 This is our first inkling of a distinct motif that will develop within the story of the people of Israel – it is the motif of exile and restoration. As the narrative of Genesis rolls out, we see things get progressively worse – from rebellion, to murder, to widespread violence.

In building the Tower of Babel, humanity desires to ascend to or supplant God; they desire to make their name great, that their glory be reflected in the earth. Seeing the sinfulness developing in the people He had lovingly created, and knowing the extent to which this evil would ultimately go, God immediately decided to confuse their language and scatter them geographically.

“I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you” and later telling Abram “… look up at the sky and count the stars—if indeed you can count them … So shall your offspring be.” (Genesis 12:2-3 and 15:5) The message to Abram was that his offspring would be God’s means of repairing the people of the earth. God was clear that His choice of Abram and his offspring was not based upon anything exemplary within him or them.

In Genesis 12, the Creator of the universe entered into a rock-solid covenant with Abram pledging that through him and his family, the whole world would be blessed. The story of the people of Israel, then, would be a story of a movement from slavery to exodus, from exile to restoration; a story of God’s rescue mission. And what a beautiful story it would be save for one reality … humanity’s unbelievable fickleness. This pattern of spectacular failure to maintain Israel’s end of the covenant continues all throughout Scripture from Abram, to Jacob, to Moses and beyond!

The history of the people of Israel teaches us that God chooses to act from within the covenant people themselves, to complete the rescue operation Himself and to help Israel to fulfill its original purpose. Israelite History: a history of exile and exodus Captivity and Exodus from Egypt King David’s Exile and Homecoming Babylonian Exile and Exodus

A number themes emerge in scripture; themes that in general terms define the hope of the people of Israel. King - an expected one who would, by his earthly reign and rule, set the world to rights; he would deliver justice for God’s people. Temple - the place where the deep, primal longing for interaction with God was to be met; it was a place of restored relationship with God for the people of Israel. Law - a charter to help provide Israel with a pattern of how they were to live together and under God. Restored creation – an expectation that all nations, all creation would experience restoration.

The book of Isaiah beautifully brings all of these concepts together, suggesting that God was about to send a King unlike any other; a great priestly king who would rule with righteousness and justice, who would apply God’s law effectively and fully; a king whose rule would be characterized by a reversal of the curse of the Garden of Eden, the fallout from Babel. God would work from within His people to bless the entire world, just as He had promised to Abraham. His rock-solid covenant with Israel would be fulfilled. The Messiah would end this cycle of exile and restoration once and for all.

To fulfill God’s established covenant with Israel, the great priestly king, the Messiah, must enter into slavery, becoming a servant who would be cast away, exiled to death, and then somehow brought through and out the other side. This cosmic drama, involving God, Israel and the rest of creation would somehow come to a point in a person – the Messiah.

Israel would act like a strange signpost, vaguely pointing ahead to this person, where all of these storylines converge. If we are ever to understand the full story of creation, we need to understand Israel’s story of the king who would bring justice, the temple that joins heaven and earth, the law that binds God’s people together, and the restoration of creation found through them.

Do you long for a world where justice reigns, where true spirituality is central, where restored human relationships are experienced, and where beauty triumphs over ugliness? Look to the people of Israel and see where they are pointing because somehow an answer for our deepest longings lies in that direction. They point beyond themselves to the horizon, to a manger in a nowhere Middle eastern town, beyond that to a barren hill used for the execution of criminals, and further still to an empty tomb in a serene garden. `