God's Work with Planet Earth

There are so many parallels between Old Testament Israel and modern Christians, they just pop out of the woodwork once you start watching for them.

The Path

God had a specific role for ancient Israel to play. His purpose and intention for them is observable during the reign of Solomon, the third king after David and Saul.

Let’s take a look at what led up to, and contributed to, this slice of Israel’s history. When God delivered the Israelites from Egypt, they had wandered in the desert for 40 years after refusing to enter Canaan because of fear and lack of trust in God.

Then God gave very specific instructions about driving out certain tribes from this land. The Israelites mostly followed these instructions, but stopped without completing them. This resulted in the surrounding tribes plaguing Israel with raids and wars, and influencing them with idolatry and pagan customs which God had forbidden.

What Saul and David did was continue the campaign the Israelites had not finished hundreds of years earlier. They drove back the Philistines, the Ammonites, and the Amalekites, and this brought security and peace to the Promised Land. Then under Solomon’s reign, which enjoyed this peace and security, God blessed Israel in several ways:

• Because of Solomon’s sincere and humble response to God in asking for wisdom, God granted the new king’s desire. Solomon became known in other nations as an incredibly wise king.
• Rather than attack and enslave every nation he could, like the empires before and after him, Solomon developed peaceful relationships with most of the surrounding nations. There were some nations which David had subjected who paid taxes or tribute to Solomon against their will, but for the most part his relationships with other nations were mutually beneficial.
• Using the wisdom God gave him, Solomon negotiated and set up trade agreements with nations both near and far. This made the Kingdom of Israel extremely wealthy.

Under these conditions, many of the rulers from other nations envied Israel and came to visit Jerusalem in hopes of learning Solomon’s secret.

“And men of all nations, from all the kings of the earth who had heard of his wisdom, came to hear the wisdom of Solomon.” 1 Kings 4:34

Having access to the rest of scripture, we know what Solomon’s secret was. God was keeping His conditional promises to bless Israel if they obeyed Him and followed His commandments. Here’s some of the blessings described in Deuteronomy 28:

• “LORD your God will set you high above all nations of the earth.”
• Blessings for those in the city and those in the country
• Blessings of fertility for both people and livestock
• Blessings for crops, including rain and fruitful yield
• Blessings for the work of their hands and their efforts
• Protection from enemies who would attack them
• “The LORD will establish you as a holy people to Himself, just as He has sworn to you”

“Then all peoples of the earth shall see that you are called by the name of the LORD, and they shall be afraid of you.” Deuteronomy 28:10

So under these conditions, it opened up the way for other nations to come to Israel and learn about the God Who created the world and wants to restore humanity to the original plan He had for us. The Queen of Sheba is one example, from 1 Kings 10, and she was obviously thoroughly impressed. She was observing God’s blessings on the nation first hand. In her words:

“Happy are your men and happy are these your servants, who stand continually before you and hear your wisdom! Blessed be the LORD your God, who delighted in you, setting you on the throne of Israel! Because the LORD has loved Israel forever, therefore He made you king, to do justice and righteousness.” 1 Kings 10:8-9

The Left Ditch

If Israel had been faithful in following, obeying, worshiping Yahweh, these conditions would have continued indefinitely, just as He promised. But instead of showing God to the world, Israel, following the examples of their kings, became influenced and corrupted by the surrounding nations, and brought in the pagan practices of worship which God had commanded against. And the second half of Deuteronomy chapter 28 describes what would happen if they did this, so it’s not as if they didn’t know better. They were repeatedly warned.

As a result, their entire society went downhill. As they rejected God and His ways and commandments, He removed His protection and blessings. In previous posts, we’ve explored where Israel went wrong and what God’s biggest complaints against them were. But every time they got sucked into idolatry and worshipping false gods, their nation lost its justice, its security, their ability to trust each other, and its peace. Violence became part of everyday life. Nobody was safe, and even kings and queens got assassinated. The peaceful and prosperous days faded into the past.

The Right Ditch

At this point in Stage 2 of God’s Work with Planet Earth, the Jews were allowed to go back to Jerusalem by Cyrus, the king of the Medo-Persian Empire. This was prophesied by God through Isaiah long before Cyrus was even born. They began to rebuild Jerusalem, which Babylon had destroyed 70 years earlier, and eventually rebuilt the Temple.

This “Second Temple”, or “Intertestamental” period, between the rebuilding of the Temple and when Jesus was born, is also called “The Silent Years” because there were no prophets speaking for God for more than four centuries. There were literary works written, but they were not inspired by the Holy Spirit.

Also during this half of a millennium, the Jews were no longer independent, and they were territories of Medo-Persia, then Greece, then Rome.

Before the Babylonian captivity, the Israelites had fallen into idolatry over and over, and now they determined not to make the same mistake. But rather than humbly seeking God’s wisdom, as young Solomon did, they attempted to stay uncorrupted and preserve themselves through their own efforts. I am speaking generally of the nation, and as always there were those who worshiped God through faith and sincerity.

To safeguard themselves, the Jews, while keeping Mosaic Law, also added many finer points. They isolated themselves from people of other nations to the point that they could not even eat at the same table with Gentiles.

These were the conditions by the time Jesus came. This was a main point of criticism Jesus had for the Pharisees and Jewish leaders, because they were firmly planted in the right ditch, and not on the path God intended for them. Instead of sharing the knowledge of God with the world, they were keeping God to themselves and denying Him to anyone else. Gentiles could not enter the Temple to worship, and Jews could not eat with them.

This was in spite of the fact that God had called the Temple “a house of prayer for all nations” (Isaiah 56:7), and pronounced generous blessings on foreigners who joined the His chosen people in worshiping God. (verses 3-5)

This is also why the Apostle Paul spent so much time trying to reconcile Gentile converts to the Early Church with the Jewish believers. The Apostles often struggled with this problem, and addressing how much of the Jewish customs Gentiles should be required to obey.

The Same Path Today

Modern Christians are in a similar position today.

• Left Ditch: It’s easy to lose our first love for Jesus and our enthusiasm, and get sucked into worldly distractions and temptations. It’s easy to take one step at a time away from the light of Truth, not realizing how much of the darkness we are embracing.
• Right Ditch: It’s also easy to study the Bible and think we know a lot about theology and doctrine, but be lacking the love of Christ. It’s easy to look down on others and tell them how wrong they are in their beliefs. It’s also easy to think humanistic effort will earn your salvation (legalism), and that we can accomplish this through our own wisdom.
• The Path: Be IN the world, but not OF the world. Be a light in a dark place, relating truth to those in a world full of deceptions. Be in the midst of corruption without being corrupted. This requires a direct connection with God, and as has been proven in past millennia, it does not work without Him being personally involved in people’s lives.

Part of Jesus’ prayer to the Father for His followers, right before His crucifixion:

“I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth.” John 17:16-17

That’s just two verses of a prayer Jesus was praying, presumably out loud if John wrote it down, but these words have a lot to teach us:

• For now, God has a purpose for us in this world, as broken and brutal as it often is
• He is capable of protecting us from evil if we ask and rely on Him
• We’re not supposed to belong here, and people who love the world often treat us with everything from insults to persecution and threats of bodily harm, because we stick out like a sore thumb
• God is the One who sanctifies us and makes us ready to be citizens of His heavenly family and kingdom. And He does this through His Word, the scriptures, the Bible.

How do we stay on the path and avoid falling into the ditches? Don’t get sucked into the world’s temptations and attractions, and the lure of wealth and power or fame. All this is temporary anyway. But don’t become like the Pharisees, judging and looking down on others, and feeling very self-righteous. Focus on Jesus, “the Author and Finisher of our faith” (Hebrews 12:2).