There is an absolute principle that was established in
the early days of God’s dealings with Abraham’s descendants that will govern
all His future dealings with those who have been redeemed by the blood of the
Lamb.
Genesis 31: 43-55, “And Laban answered and said unto
Jacob, These daughters are my daughters, and these children are my children,
and these cattle are my cattle, and all that thou seest is mine: and what can I
do this day unto these my daughters, or unto their children which they have
born? Now therefore come thou, let us make a covenant, I and thou; and let it
be for a witness between me and thee. And Jacob took a stone, and set it up for
a pillar. And Jacob said unto his
brethren, Gather stones; and they took stones, and made an heap: and they did
eat there upon the heap. And Laban called it Jegarsahadutha: but Jacob called
it Galeed. And Laban said, This heap is a witness between me and thee this day.
Therefore was the name of it called Galeed; And Mizpah; for he said, The LORD
watch between me and thee, when we are absent one from another. If thou shalt
afflict my daughters, or if thou shalt take other wives beside my daughters, no
man is with us; see, God is witness betwixt me and thee. And Laban said to
Jacob, Behold this heap, and behold this pillar, which I have cast betwixt me
and thee; This heap be witness, and this pillar be witness, that I will not
pass over this heap to thee, and that thou shalt not pass over this heap and
this pillar unto me, for harm. The God of Abraham, and the God of Nahor, the
God of their father, judge betwixt us. And Jacob sware by the fear of his
father Isaac. Then Jacob offered sacrifice upon the mount, and called his
brethren to eat bread: and they did eat bread, and tarried all night in the
mount. And early in the morning Laban rose up, and kissed his sons and his daughters,
and blessed them: and Laban departed, and returned unto his place.”
The context of this passage can be found as we examine
Jacob’s life. Jacob was born the younger of twins with Esau, his older brother,
having access to both his father’s blessing and the birthright. Jacob desired
these more than anything else. He managed to obtain both of these by schemes
and tricks. However, he was forced to flee to his mother’s home in Haran to
escape Esau’s anger. While Jacob was in Haran, his father in law, Laban,
cheated him many times. Jacob cheated his brother but Laban cheated him far
more. This reminds us of a quote from Shakespeare’s King Lear, “I am a man more
sinned against than sinning.”
Jacob had to sneak away from Haran with his family
because Laban began a whispering campaign against him and he was afraid for his
life. When Laban discovered that Jacob had gone away he chased after Jacob
intending to do him harm but the Lord told Laban not to say anything bad or
good to Jacob. After the vision from the Lord, Laban made the treaty with
Jacob. They established a boundary and, after that, each party would not cross
over to the other side.
There is some debate as to the actual site of this treaty
but most people place it in Gilead, that is, in the modern day Golan Heights.
We know from earlier in the chapter that Laban was a
Syrian (or Aramean) We also know that Jacob was known as a Syrian when we read
Deut 26: 5 (“And thou shalt speak and say before the LORD thy God, A Syrian
ready to perish was my father, and he went down into Egypt, and sojourned there
with a few, and became there a nation, great, mighty, and populous:”).
After this the Lord met Jacob in a dream and changed his
name from Jacob to Israel. This is the first time that we find the descendants
of Abraham, and the Lord’s promised blessing, using the name Israel. After this
they were no longer Syrians but Israelis. As history progressed there was
warfare between the Syrians and the Israelis but only because one side, or the
other, crossed the boundary that the Lord had set.
When the Lord established the new nation, as distinct
from the promise to form the new nation, He set new nation apart for His
service. One of the major problems faced by Israel was their desire to be like
the nations around about them. (See for example, 1 Sam 8: 5, “Then all the
elders of Israel gathered themselves together, and came to Samuel unto Ramah,
And said unto him, Behold, thou art old, and thy sons walk not in thy ways: now
make us a king to judge us like all the nations. But the thing displeased
Samuel, when they said, Give us a king to judge us. And Samuel prayed unto the
LORD. And the LORD said unto Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people in
all that they say unto thee: for they have not rejected thee, but they have
rejected me, that I should not reign over them. According to all the works
which they have done since the day that I brought them up out of Egypt even
unto this day, wherewith they have forsaken me, and served other gods, so do
they also unto thee. Now therefore hearken unto their voice: howbeit yet
protest solemnly unto them, and shew them the manner of the king that shall
reign over them.”)
They were meant to remain separate but they wanted to be
the same as everyone else (see Lev 20:24, “But I have said unto you, Ye shall
inherit their land, and I will give it unto you to possess it, a land that
floweth with milk and honey: I am the LORD your God, which have separated you
from other people.”)
The principle of separation is strong and consistent throughout
the Lord’s dealings with mankind over the ages.
The Lord Himself dwells in place, variously know as, “the
hill of the Lord” (see Psalm 24: 3 and compare Psalm 15: 1, “the holy hill”),
“the third heaven” (2 Cor 12: 2) and “paradise” (Luke 23: 43 and 2 Cor 12: 4).
One of the most important things about this place is that it is separate from
sin in every way. (See Hab 1:13, “Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil,
and canst not look on iniquity: wherefore lookest thou upon them that deal
treacherously, and holdest thy tongue when the wicked devoureth the man that is
more righteous than he?”) If the Lord resides in the third heaven then it must
be completely pure of all sin. The second heaven, or the spiritual realm, is
accessible to Satan, the evil one, although, one day, he will be cast out of
the second heaven and forced to live on the earth (Rev 12:7–9, “And there was
war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon
fought and his angels, And prevailed not; neither was their place found any
more in heaven. And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the
Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the
earth, and his angels were cast out with him.”)
We also know that the earth is going to be destroyed by
fire (2 Pet 3:7, “But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same
word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and
perdition of ungodly men.”) If man was made out of the dust of the earth, and
he was (Gen 2:7, “And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and
breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.”)
Then mankind’s destiny is to be destroyed by fire along with the whole of
creation, which he has polluted and damaged.
On the other hand, the Lord Jesus Christ came down from
heaven to earth (John 6:38, “For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own
will, but the will of him that sent me.”) When He was here on this earth, He
told His disciples, “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come
again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.”
(John 14:3) The Lord Jesus Christ has already made it possible for people who
belong to the earth, and whose destiny should be same as the earth, to escape
their natural destiny and go to the place that will not be destroyed by the
fire.
There is still one issue that could easily come up. When
the Lord God placed Adam and Eve on this earth, they were naked and not ashamed
(Gen 2: 25). This was because they were entirely without sin until the day that
they took the fruit from the tree. After that they were ashamed. The first
fruit of sin is having a sense of shame.
The question that we have to face is, “What guarantees
are there that when this earth is destroyed by fire and sinners, who have been
saved by grace, go to the new heaven and the new earth that the Lord will
create we will not exercise our choice and pollute this new world with sin?
The first and most significant part of the solution is
found in Eph 2:8–10 , (“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not
of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.
For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God
hath before ordained that we should walk in them.”) Every person, man, woman
and child, who gets into the new heaven and the new earth gets there on exactly
the same ground; that of grace by faith. No one will have any ground for
boasting because the Lord Jesus Christ completed the entire work Himself (Heb
10:12, “But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat
down on the right hand of God;”) If any person had any ground for boasting
about the works they produced to enter heaven they would be tainted by any sin
that may be associated with their lives.
Because the Lord Jesus Christ said, “It is finished:”
(John 19:30) there is nothing left for any person to do.
When John went to heaven, in his vision, he saw the Lion
of the Tribe of Judah in a different context to the elder who spoke to him,
“And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and
in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven
horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all
the earth.” (Rev 5:6) Everyone who has believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, as
Saviour will always see the Lord of heaven in that context.
However, the Lord Jesus Christ will apply that same
principle that He applied when Jacob escaped from Laban. He will establish a
barrier through which sin can never pass between the old heavens and earth and
the new heaven and earth. This barrier has not be established yet because the
new heaven and the new earth have not yet been created.
This task is vitally important so that the new heaven and
the new earth will retain their pristine, sinless state for eternity. The new
heaven and earth will never groan and travail as the current creation does
because of man’s sin.
