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January 5 - March 27, 2024
Exodus 19:5-6 states that if Israel perfectly obeys God’s law, then the nation would be a “kingdom of priests.”
God is holy, and he can only dwell in the midst of a holy people in a holy land.
(2 Kings 22:16-17).
The Israelites failed as kings to believe that God would rule over their enemies. They asked Aaron to manufacture a god “who will go before” them and protect them (Exodus 32:1). They failed as priests because they worshiped an idolatrous image. And they failed as prophets because they failed to preserve and protect the first two commandments.
The Old Testament bears witness to the continued failure of Israel’s kings, who are created in God’s image, to rule on behalf of God and manifest justice on the earth. Humanity’s natural inclination is to defile that which is holy, cast into chaos that which is in order, twist and pervert the truth, and worship and adore the creation instead of the Creator.
The goal of Genesis 1–2 hasn’t been altered. From the very beginning, God has always intended on dwelling intimately with a perfected humanity in a perfected environment.
At several key passages in the Pentateuch, the hope of Israel is grounded not in the conditional covenant at Sinai, since they cannot uphold their end of the bargain, but in the unconditional covenant with Abraham (e.g., Leviticus 26:42; Numbers 24:17; Deuteronomy 4:31).12
(Exodus 25:18-22; Isaiah 6:1-7).14
The physical temple is simply a model of something greater to come. While it’s true that God dwelt in the holy of holies, the Israelites only experienced God in part. All of heaven and earth were ultimately designed to house the Lord’s glory. Isaiah 66:1 expresses this reality: This is what the LORD says: “Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. Where is the house you will build for me? Where will my resting place be?” (see also Psalm 78:69)
The story of the temple is the story of God’s people. Recall that, from the very beginning, images are created to dwell in God’s presence. The closer we are to God’s glory, the more our divine image glows, enabling us to function fully as kings, priests, and prophets.
Indeed, God’s presence was so glorious and magnificent that it rubbed off on Moses, leaving him with a radiant face (Exodus 34:30). Moses was exemplary in how he imaged God on Sinai.
As Israel marches through the dusty wilderness for the next forty years, they will recognize God’s gracious presence in their midst. It is no mirage. It is a cosmic interruption in the desert. It is Eden in a dry and barren land—tangible evidence of God’s covenant and his constant care in their lives. His presence is an ever-present reality that nourishes all those who bear his image (Numbers 24:5-9).
According to Deuteronomy 17–18, Moses outlines the responsibilities of Israel’s kings (Deuteronomy 17:14-20), priests (Deuteronomy 18:1-8), and prophets (Deuteronomy 18:14-22).
To be part of Israel means to be part of the covenant community. The Old Testament is filled with examples of non-Israelites, or Gentiles, joining the covenant community and receiving an inheritance in the land. Their relationship to the covenant is determined ultimately by faith in God’s promises.
That is, Gentiles will one day be called “Israel.” The point is that the term Israel is not ultimately ethnic in nature but spiritual.18
According to Isaiah 19:25, “The LORD Almighty will bless them [Egypt and Assyria], saying, ‘Blessed be Egypt my people, Assyria my handiwork, and Israel my inheritance.’ ” Throughout the Old Testament, Israel is often described as being God’s “people” (Psalm 100:3), his “handiwork” (Isaiah 29:23; 64:8), and his “inheritance” (Deuteronomy 9:26; 32:9).
When God graciously restores an individual’s image, that person becomes part of the true covenant community and thus a member of “true Israel.”
Lack of trust in God’s Word inevitably leads to trust in ourselves. When we trust ourselves, we commit idolatry. When we commit idolatry, we conform to our idols. When we conform to our idols, we become enslaved to them. Left to ourselves, there’s no way out.
Christ bore the unfaithful, idolatrous behavior of his people so that we could become perfectly restored images in the sight of God. We would do well to remind ourselves daily of the seriousness of our sin and of the grace that is found in Christ’s work on our behalf.
So, on the one hand, Israel as a people group possesses unique privileges. But on the other, Israel is part of a much larger story—God’s commitment to securing a people group from all ethnicities for himself and dwelling intimately with them.
I’ve heard more than a few people quip that they are “pan-millennialists” because everything will “pan out” in the future. Eschatological agnosticism, though, can wreak havoc on some important Christian doctrines.
The period of the “latter days” is not unrelated to or disconnected from the remainder of the Old Testament. It is the climax of Israel’s story.
As the second Adam and true Israel, this figure will conquer God’s enemies, mediate his presences to the nations, and embody divine truth. In sum, his obedience leads to the restoration of the covenant community.
The Messiah’s obedience leads to the restoration of the covenant community’s image. His perfect image fashions a perfected image in the hearts of God’s people. The coming Adam will create a community of perfected Adams.
Taken together, the Old Testament collectively speaks of an individual who is “anointed” for a specific purpose—ruling over Israel and the nations and redeeming all of creation.
Nevertheless, the Old Testament envisions the three offices coalescing in a future ruler and in all of God’s people in the “latter days.”
end-time prophet within Israel, and Psalm 110 explicitly identifies a future ruler that will be a “priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek” (Psalm 110:4; cf. Zechariah 6:13).
Throughout the Old Testament, riding on the clouds is reserved for God alone (Exodus 19:9; Psalm 18:11; 68:4; 104:3; Ezekiel 1:4). The Son of Man is probably an enigmatic divine figure,3 who approaches the Ancient of Days.
(1 Corinthians 1:30).
What is true of Christ is true of us. This doctrine is the bedrock of our salvation and the assurance of our future life in the new creation.
God’s commission to Adam and Eve in Genesis 1:28 that the entire earth be filled with his glory has now taken place. The prophet Isaiah envisions the entire earth filled with the glory of the Lord in the new creation, where Israel and the Gentiles worship and minister in awe and wonder.
The Spirit’s gifts, formerly restricted to prophets, kings, and priests, are universalized to all of God’s people from every race, young and old, male and female. Adam and Eve were responsible for speaking on behalf of God and embodying his truth to one another and their descendants. This expectation is finally realized at the very end of history, when the Spirit is poured out on God’s people in the new covenant and they speak truth and only embody his law (Jeremiah 31:33-34; Ezekiel 36:26).
The Bible tells us that we will not win the culture war and that genuine Christianity will be brought to the edge of extinction (see Revelation 11:7-10). In a world that is increasingly becoming hostile toward Christianity, we must rest in God’s promises of redemption.
Christ retraces Adam’s and Israel’s steps, but successfully accomplishes what they failed to do.
He did not function in a redemptive-historical vacuum. Jesus’ ministry, death, and resurrection are eschatological to the core and operate within the final phase of God’s plan of redemption. The restoration of the people of God into the perfected divine image was expected to take place at the very end of history.
Indeed, all that the Old Testament foresaw would occur in the end times has begun to be fulfilled in the first coming of Christ and continues until the second coming of Christ.
The New Testament looks forward to the future when God will fully establish the kingdom (1 Corinthians 15:24), physically resurrect believers and unbelievers (John 5:28-29), and create the new heavens and earth (Revelation 21:1).
Hosea 11:1-4 highlights two ideas: the Lord’s faithfulness to his covenant and Israel’s unfaithfulness to that same covenant.
“The people of Judah and the people of Israel will come together; they will appoint one leader and will come up out of the land
So, the Old Testament looked forward to the very end of history, when God would raise up a faithful individual who would conquer Israel’s enemies, bring God’s glory to the ends of the earth, and obey his decrees.
Jesus inherits a mission, a mission that requires individuals to obey God perfectly, conquer the devil, and expand God’s glorious presence to the ends of the earth.
Just as Adam received the breath or Spirit of God in Genesis 2:7 and Israel received the glory of God at Sinai, God pours out his Spirit in a more powerful and intimate way on his Son. Jesus is the faithful Adam, the true and perfect Israel (see fig. 5.4).
The end-time kingdom and Jesus’ kingship are marked first not by political, earthly, physical triumph but by suffering and death.
The cross which is a sign of defeat and shame, foolishness and scandal for those who are perishing in the world, is a sign of triumph and boasting, wisdom and glory for those who are called.”4
Even today, many reject Christianity because the cross turns the world’s firm convictions on their head. The cross embraces shame, humility, defeat, and death, whereas it shuns every attempt of human boasting. God prizes what humanity degrades.
These texts do not refer to a literal or physical firstborn but to relational priority.
Christ’s rule is not confined to a plot of land but extends to the far corners of the cosmos. Through his death and resurrection, Jesus’ rule even exceeds what was expected of Adam, since he rules over the entire created order, including the invisible realm. Christ doesn’t rule the cosmos on behalf of God. He rules as God!
Jesus simultaneously fulfills the Old Testament expectation that God would dwell with humanity and, as a faithful priest, purges evil from Israel’s temple.
The physical temple was never intended to be an end in itself; rather, it was a temporary residence that partially housed God’s glory, a symbol of something (and someone) greater to come.
Instead of being a place to worship the Lord and welcome the Gentile nations (Mark 11:17), the temple in Jerusalem had become a bastion of pride and financial gain for the nation.
