Week 3

Small Group Week 3

- We have been looking at the Kingdom as the central theme of the Bible and we looked at objections to this being the theme.  It seemed too broad and did not include things like Jesus, grace, and faith.

-  We saw that those ideas can be found in the concept of Kingdom if we view kingdoms like they did in the ancient near east. 

Q.  What was the key to understanding how ancient kingdoms worked?

-  They worked on 3 levels with a suzerain, a vassal, and subjects. By fulfilling the stipulations of the suzerain, the vassal earned the blessings for the subjects.

-  So the vassal earned the blessings but the subjects received it by grace.  

-  Nimrud, the simple date farmer, would receive blessings or curses of the covenant depending on how well his king kept the stipulations from the suzerain.  

-  This arrangement was formed by something known as a covenant.  We looked at an ancient Hititite covenant between Mursilli II the King of the Hittites and Dupa-Tessup the king of Amarru.  If Dupa-Tessup gave Mursilli II 300 shekels of gold each year and was loyal to Mursilli II and not to the Egyptians, then Dupa-Tessup would earn Mursilli II protection.  If not the gods were called upon to curse the Amorrites and destroy his family, his land, and his people. 

-  A covenant is an commitment divinely sanctioned.  It is not a simple contract, it is part of the divine realm.  The covenant was not enforced by some international law court like the UN, but by the gods.  

-  There are two types of covenant arrangements:

1.  Suzerain - Vassal:   The vassal must perform the duties required by the suzerain.  If the vassal fails to do so then he suffers the curse.  

2.  Royal Grant:  The suzerain promises a reward to the vassal.  There are no stipulations of the part of the vassal, it is a promise on the part of the suzerain.  

Q.  What happens if the suzerain fails to perform his responsibility?

-  The covenant is divinely sanctioned and so the suzerain would suffer the curses of the gods. 

-  The question is how do we decide when a covenant is a suzerain-vassal covenant and obligatory on the part of the vassal or a royal grant and thus obligatory on the part of the suzerain

-  With a suzerain-vassal covenant the vassal takes the oath and agrees to the sanctions of the gods.

-  WIth a royal grant covenant the suzerain takes the oath and agrees to take the sanctions of the gods.

Q. What are some examples of covenants in the Bible and how do we classify them?

1.  Abraham - God promises to give Abraham land and seed.  Genesis 15

2.  Mosaic -  The people of Israel take an oath to keep the law.  Exodus 19:8

Galatians 3:10 - 18

Q.  What two principles are contrasted in verses 10 - 12 

-  The law and faith.

Read Galatians 3:13-18

Q.  What words are concepts are associated with the law? with faith?

-  The law is a curse, it is based on the principle “do this and live”.

-  Faith is righteousness, blessing, promise

Q.  What historical period is the law associated with?

-  430 years after the law, which is the time of the Exodus.

Q.  What historical period is faith associated with?

 -  The time of Abraham.

-  So in Galatians Paul sees two time periods: the period of promise that is associated with Abraham and the period the law which is after the Exodus.  

Romans 5:12-14

Q.  What are the three time periods mentioned in this passage?

-  Adam, Adam to Moses, and after Moses

Q.  Paul draws a parallel between two of these time periods, which two time periods are parallel?-  Adam and Moses

Q.  What does it mean that Adam and Moses both committed transgression?  How is that different from the sinning that the passage said happened from Adam to Moses?  

-  Adam and Moses were both under a works arrangement covenant and their transgression was not just sin it was a breaking of the covenant with God.  Adam’s sin brought death to his posteriority - the people from Adam to Moses.  

- So according to Paul, we can divide the Old Testament into three epochs.  The time of Adam, from Adam after the fall to Moses, and from Moses to Jesus.  These epochs are associated with different operating principles.  In Eden before the fall it was the works principle, from Adam to Moses it was the principle of faith, and from Moses to Jesus it was works again.  In some ways Israel can be viewed as another garden of Eden and a corporate Adam.  

- After Christ we know the faith principle returns.  However, in the last day Revelation tells us the Kingdom of God will return in power and judgment will come and separate the wheat from the chaff and the sheep from the goats.  This is a restoration of the works principle.  Christians though will be reckoned as righteous because they have identified with their vassal, Christ.  

So we have 5 epochs of redemptive history:

1.  Kingdom Offered

2.  Kingdom Promised

3.  Kingdom Prefigured

4.  Kingdom Inaugurated

5.  Kingdom Consummated

- In epochs 1,3,5 the works principle operates.  There is also a visible, tangible kingdom, where there is a defined land and the presence of God is present.  

-  In Epoch 1, the garden of Eden was a tangible kingdom that Adam was to guard and expand throughout the whole earth.  God was present in the garden and would walk in the garden.  Outside of the garden was the place of exile from God’s presence.  

-  In Epoch 3, the Kingdom of Israel was the kingdom.  It was to be a kingdom of priests where its inhabitants walked in the precepts of God.  There was a clear boundary between the land of Israel and the rest of the world.  This was symbolized by circumcision and the food laws.  God’s presence was visible in the tabernacle and later the temple.  Outside of Israel was the place of exile. 

-  In Epoch 5, the Kingdom will be the new heavens and new earth.  God’s presence will be visible throughout the Kingdom, in fact it will not need a sun or a moon because the glory of God will give it light.  Outside of the kingdom lies the lake of fire which is the second death.  

-  Epochs 2 & 4 operate differently.  There is no visible kingdom and no so distinction between clean and unclean.  The wheat and the tares grow together.  Those in this epoch are awaiting and journeying to the Kingdom of God.  They are pilgrims in a land not their own.