In Touch Quarter 2 - 2014

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CONTINUITY AND CONSISTENCY In Touch is the quarterly magazine of Christian Friends of Israel UK CFI-UK seeks to bless Israel by means of practical and moral support, and to serve the Church in teaching about God’s purposes for Israel and the Hebraic roots of our faith. CFI also produces a monthly News Report, a monthly Prayer Letter and a Middle East Update CD/MP3. Please send for full details of the practical projects and also of the many teaching resources available. As an educational charity, we carry a variety of resources relevant to our purpose. We do not necessarily endorse every view expressed by our guest writers or authors of these resources. CFI Communications PO Box 2687 Eastbourne BN22 7LZ Tel: 01323 410810 Fax: 01323 410211 Email: info@cfi.org.uk Websites: www.cfi.org.uk www.keshercourse.org.uk Published by: CFI Charitable Trust UK Registered Charity No. 1101899 Registered Office: c/o Caladine, Chantry House 22 Upperton Road Eastbourne, BN21 1BF Company No. 04984515 VAT Registration No: 678-7802-75 Front Cover Image: Burwestnik © DesignPics.com Jacob Vince looks at God’s unfolding purposes concerning the land and people of Israel. Because the Bible that C h r i s t i a n s use is divided into two Testaments, it has the unfortunate connotation of a stop and re-start, leading, even if only subconsciously, to the idea that God is also divided in two. Not only this, but as the word testament is another word for covenant it wrongly leads to the assumption that God only made two covenants, whereas there are, in fact, five major covenants present throughout the Bible. In addition, the grouping of the Bible into two parts fails to recognise that Jesus Himself uses the Hebrew grouping which delineates three sections of the Hebrew Bible: Torah/Law, Prophets and Writings/Psalms (Luke 24:44). Added to this, the order of these sections and the books they contain are different from the order found in the Bible that Christians use. This has the unfortunate effect of missing out on the way God unfolds His purposes and then recalls and enhances this unfolding. The Torah/Law, or instruction, sets out the parameters of God’s revelation of Himself, as the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. The Prophets speak out God’s words and tell of a future Anointed One. Typifying the Biblical way of learning and remembering, the Psalms (or Writings) section then recalls and repeats the message. In fact, some passages found in Kings, Psalms and Chronicles are virtually identical. The Psalms (or Writings), the third section of the Bible, ends with Chronicles. Chronicles contains genealogies, which appropriately link with Matthew’s gospel, which begins with the genealogy 1 of Yeshua/Jesus, showing His ancestry. This final, fourth section of Biblical books is best referred to by using the early Church’s description as found in the book of Acts, where they gave themselves to the Apostles’ teaching (Acts 2:42). In similar manner to how the Prophets tell of the Anointed One to come, so the Apostles tell of the Anointed One Who came, as eye witnesses of the event of His coming and His person, in all that He began to do and to teach (Acts 1:1). So we arrive at four Biblical sections of the Bible: Torah/Law, Prophets, P s a l m s / W r i t i n g s , A p o s t l e s , which assist, rather than hinder, our understanding of God’s consistency and the continuity of His unfolding purposes. Matthew’s genealogy, as noted earlier, seamlessly follows on from and draws upon the genealogies found in both Ruth and Chronicles, as it identifies Jesus, described as the Anointed One (Hebrew: Messiah; Greek: Christos or Christ), as the Son of David and the Son of Abraham (Matthew 1:1). However, as the genealogy 2 is completed, there is a fascinating summary of the time periods it contains. Fourteen 2 // IN TOUCH
generations from Abraham to David, fourteen from David to the Exile and fourteen from the Exile to the Anointed One (Matthew 1:17). Whilst one might expect the Godtimed divisions between historic ancestors Abraham and David, the reference to the God-timed division using the Exile as a reference point, raises its significance in God’s eyes as recorded in the Bible. In other words, God Himself makes the link between the people and the land, right here at the start of the fourth section of the Bible. In the first two chapters, there follows a panoply of specific proclamations by the Prophets that are specifically fulfilled by Jesus. The record refers to both the rulers and the land of Judah, from where a ruler will come ‘who will be the shepherd of my people Israel’ (Matthew 2:6), quoting the prophet Micah. Jesus is referred to as the King of the Jews by the wise men, and it is Herod, no less, who makes the link that this might be the promised Anointed One (Matthew 2:4). The Chief Priests and the teachers of the law refer to Judea, where the town of Bethlehem is located and the Angel of the Lord and Matthew combine to refer to the land of Israel, twice (Matthew 2:20-21). Matthew, in his record, highlights that the land of Israel embraces both the region of Judea (Matthew 2:22) and district of Galilee (Matthew 2:22), where the town of Nazareth is located. Later, Matthew records Jesus’ move to the area of Zebulun and Naphtali by the lake where the town of Capernaum was located (Matthew 4:13), referring to Jesus specifically fulfilling the prophecy of Isaiah (Matthew 4:15). Matthew’s quoting of the prophet Isaiah has the effect of re-emphasising both the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali (Isaiah 9:1-2). Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, Matthew records for the Church, for all time, the unique link between the people and the land. Otherwise, why mention and repeat so many names for the land as he does: land of Israel, twice, and three areas within the land of Israel named after Israel’s sons. These are the land of Judah, the land of Zebulun, and the land of Naphtali, three of the twelve tribes. All these names are used, despite the fact that the land, at the time, is under a Roman protectorate. Notwithstanding this, the Bible records the land as God sees it, not as the Gentile Romans might have envisaged or in their later renaming of the land. Likewise we, as disciplined followers today of the Anointed One, must take our primary reference point from the Biblical record and recognise God’s unique calling placed upon both the people and the land of Israel. God is specific in His revelation, through the Jews, but His salvation is universal, ‘for everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentiles.’ (Romans 1:16) and without partiality or favouritism, ‘Then Peter began to speak: “I now realise how true it is that God does not show favouritism but accepts men from every nation who fear Him and do what is right.”’ (Acts 10:34-35). So we see the continuity and consistency of God’s unfolding plan. 1 The word ‘genealogy’ is used 23 times in Chronicles, one time in Ruth, one time in Matthew and one time in Luke. 2 The word ‘genealogy’ is used twice by Paul, once as he writes to Timothy decrying those devoting themselves to endless genealogies with the emphasis on endless. The second time when he writes to Titus to avoid foolish controversies and genealogies, with the emphasis on foolish. My discussion deals simply with Biblically recorded genealogies, specifically that of Jesus, not endless or foolish. We do not know the context of Paul’s instruction, but he was clearly content with the genealogies as recorded in the Bible, but saw no benefit in going beyond these. Updated booklets... We have recently reprinted 3 study booklets by Derek White exploring the Hebraic roots of the Christian faith. They are priced £4.00 each (incl. UK p&p). Product codes (left to right) are BT25, BT27 and BT33. facebook.com/cfiuk twitter.com/cfi_uk
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Page 5 and 6: this, Moira and her team also prese
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In Touch Quarter 2 - 2014

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