Law in the Kingdom Economy (2)
But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are registered in heaven, to God the Judge of all, to the spirits of just men made perfect, to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant… Hebrews 12.22-24
A matter of time and place
We have seen that the Ten Commandments and the civil laws of ancient Israel still have binding validity on the followers of Jesus Christ. More grace can be found in these laws than we have yet known. And much benefit can be mined for expressing and advancing the Kingdom economy of God by a commitment to digging into the Law of God to discover the gems of grace embedded there.
But there are some qualifying criteria which we must understand before we go out and start building railings around our roofs, stoning our recalcitrant children, or driving an awl through some employee’s ear.
Simply put, the Church is not ancient Israel; rather, the Church is new Israel, a new community established on the foundations of the old one, and thus, having some similarities and continuity with the old one, but identified by new traits and characteristics which guide us in understanding how to maximize the grace benefits of the Kingdom economy of God.
What are the implications of this? Ancient Israel represented a unique combination of priestly and civil rule. It was designed to be, in the purest sense, a theocracy, in which God ruled His people directly through the work of magistrates and priests. Moreover, ancient Israel occupied a unique setting of time and place. While some of Israel’s laws can seem harsh and unyielding, they put pagan laws to shame with their practical concern for justice, righteousness, and neighbor-love. God told His people to expect that as they kept His Law, the nations around would marvel at the wisdom by which they lived (Deut. 4.6). We have every reason to expect that promise to be true for us today.
A heart for the Law?
These conditions alone make it necessary for us to approach the Law of God carefully, with a view to understanding its teaching for our day.
But, most important of all, ancient Israel lacked the heart—and the Spirit of God—for obeying God’s Law (Deut. 5.29; Deut. 30.1-10; Jer. 31.31-34; Ezek. 36.26, 27). One important implication of this is that the laws of ancient Israel were especially harsh in exacting certain kinds of justice; otherwise, the unbridled hearts of the people would run rampant with passionate intensity, as in the Book of Judges.
We may expect that, in these last days, this season of grace, in which the Holy Spirit of God dwells within the followers of Christ, some mitigation of the penalties and some alteration of the applications of ancient Israel’s laws are to be expected. This is precisely what we find, for example, in 1 Corinthians 5, where Paul substitutes excommunication for the death penalty, thus leaving room for grace to work repentance and renewal in the sinner (cf. Deut. 27.20; Lev. 20.11; cf. 2 Cor. 2.3-8).
Similarly, Paul applied to himself and his associates an ancient law about not bridling an ox as he treads out the corn (1 Cor. 9.3-11), and, for good measure, he bolstered his argument by a reference to one of the laws surrounding the work of priests and Levites (vv. 13, 14).
At the same time, James drew on one of the civil laws of Israel verbatim to rebuke sinful practices among the believers (Jms. 5.1-4; cf. Lev. 19.13).
The Church is not ancient Israel, but the grace heritage of Israel’s ancient laws belongs to the followers of Jesus Christ.
Built on the foundations
In the ancient Middle East, many cities were founded on what are called tells. A tell is a mound or hill on which a city is located, which has been built and re-built on the ruins of earlier cities that went before. Each time a city was razed and a new one erected, archaeologists expect to find certain similarities—the “footprint” of the city, building materials, and some cultural items—but also new technologies and artifacts at each successive level of construction. The city is still the same city; it’s just undergone some changes due to place and time.
So it is with the Law of God and the Church. While the Church is being erected on the “tell” of Old Testament Israel, it is not ancient Israel; therefore, while there are certainly many areas of continuity with ancient Israel, and many similarities of purpose and character between Israel and the Church, the Law of ancient Israel must be understood anew and applied in a manner consistent with the age of grace and the Spirit in which Jesus is building His Church. The Ten Commandments still stand unchanged; but how they are applied today depends on discerning abiding principles of justice from the case laws of the Law of God. Not everything that applied to Israel applies to the Church, and in those areas of the Law that do have abiding validity, our task, as we’ve seen, is to discover principles that can lead us in the practice of grace and justice in our secular and materialistic age.
This means we must look to the Law as the Law of liberty and the Law of love, the acorn to the oak of divine revelation, the cornerstone of our Christian worldview, and the signposts of the Jesus path on which every believer journeys (1 Jn. 2.1-6). The Law provides divine directions for helping us avoid the pitfalls of self-love, and reliable guidelines to lead us in discerning the best ways of loving God and our neighbors.
The Church is the new Israel, the spiritual Kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ, and He rules the Church by His Law and all His Word, through His Spirit, unto the progress of His Kingdom and the recognition of His glory.
Here is a challenge for church leaders, and one they must labor to understand and pursue within the framework of God’s more complete revelation in Scripture, as well as of the teaching and practice of previous generations of the followers of Christ. How is the grace God has embedded in the ancient civil laws of Israel to be discovered, extricated, and applied in our day, so that the Kingdom economy of God can thrive?
For reflection
1. In what ways is the Church today not like ancient Israel? In what ways is the Church the new Israel?
2. Why does it make a difference in how we understand God’s Law, that now, in these last days, we are living in an age of grace and the Spirit of God?
3. “But, most important of all, ancient Israel lacked the heart—and the Spirit of God—for obeying God’s Law (Deut. 5.29; Deut. 30.1-10; Jer. 31.31-34; Ezek. 36.26, 27).” What does it mean to have a “heart” for God and His Law?
Next steps—Preparation: Meditate on Matthew 24.12. Why does this make the Law of God essential to the Kingdom economy? What can you do to unlock the grace God has set in His Law?
T. M. and Susie Moore
If you have found this meditation helpful, take a moment to give thanks to God. Then share what you learned with a friend. This is how the grace of God spreads (2 Cor. 4.15).
If you’d like an additional look at why the Law of God still matters, order a copy of our book, The Ground for Christian Ethics by clicking here.
Other columns of interest: This week: Our daily Scriptorium study presses on into Ephesians 5 in the week ahead. Our Read Moorepodcast is working through The Gospel of the Kingdom, looking for the true Gospel of the Lord. The Crosfigell teaching letter continues our study of the life of Brigit, a contemporary of Brendan. Click here to see all the other columns and writers available to you.
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Except as indicated, all Scriptures are taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. For sources of all quotations, see the weekly PDF of this study. All psalms for singing are from The Ailbe Psalter.
