Why are there four Gospels? There would be so much less confusion — and theological spade work — if there were just the one. The most obvious answer is that each one was written for a different audience, as described here. The least obvious answer is that God was not only writing the commandments in human flesh, He was also “measuring out” the architecture of the Tabernacle in humanity.

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Bible commentators will tell you that Paul’s epistle to the Ephesians contains great riches. Unfortunately, without any reference to its Mosaic literary structure, it comes across as a jumble of jewels in a treasure chest. However, analysis of the structure allows us to appreciate the fine networks and chains of thought in the literary architecture — and also the clever allusions contrasting old Israel with the New. It also demonstrates Jesus’ fulfillment of the Mosaic Law.

Creation – Call to Worship (Genesis – Abraham)

Division – The Veil Removed (Exodus – Moses)

The prefigurings of the Revelation continue. The first line itself is a five-fold (Covenant) description: God (T), Lord of us (H), Jesus (E), Father (O), glory (S). Being the second stanza, the theme is Passover and the veil. Here, the veil of Abrahamic darkness is removed. It may seem strange that “revelation” corresponds to the altar, but the word is “apocalypse.” It is a revealing, like circumcision. See Steven Opp’s very helpful observations in Circumcision and Apocalypse.) And then Christ Himself is the firstfruits lamb (Revelation 5). The Lampstand gets its own five-fold Covenant shape, just as the Lord did in line 1. How beautiful is that? Incense corresponds to the Bronze Altar, but as resurrection instead of revealing. The word “immeasurable” seems to conceal the typological correspondence at Conquest. Hyperballon literally means to over throw. Revelation speaks a great deal of “overcoming,” and from memory they seem to appear around step 6 in the pattern: Joshua/Atonement.

Ascension – First Holy Fruit from the Land (Leviticus – Aaron)

Again, the first line is the entire stanza in “Covenantal” microcosm. The “mighty men” are at the centre. The allusions to Genesis 1 are beautiful, and similar to those found in Psalm 1 concerning the Blessed Man, who is Jesus. As Firstfruits, He fulfilled the Levitical Law. Now, just as Day 3 gets two lines above (Land and Fruits) for its “preliminary filling,” so Paul adds an extra cycle to express this promise (like the grape haul from the Land).

Well, that one leaves me breathless. I challenge anybody who has pooh-poohed this approach to tell me he says this is simply an imposition upon the text. I throw down the gauntlet!

Testing – Kings in the Wilderness (Numbers – Balaam)

This cycle is the centre of the second cycle. It concerns a false Pentecost, the evil spirit from the Lord that filled the rulers of the Land after they rejected the son of David. It is Israel being deceived by the Balaamites, the mutilation. The prince of the power of the air is the accuser in heaven, who would soon be thrown down, crushed under foot and bound with a chain. So this stanza follows the festal pattern, but at every step, Israel according to the flesh is a feast for the birds and beasts, adulterers under the sword of Greater Phinehas. Their eyes of darkness are a different kind of Lampstand, the Oral Law, “an angel of light.” But it was actually a veil. Israel was blinded until the bridal “fullness” of the Gentiles came in. Then the Lampstand was taken away by Rome, and old Israel was no more.

Maturity – A New Israel from the Bones (Deuteronomy – The Bride)

This time it is the last line which gets its own cycle. It’s really nice that this, being line 7, gets the future as its first line, the eighth day, at Sabbath. Our being dead in trespasses is sacrificial, yet we are alive in the holy Firstfruits presented in heaven. Grace in this second cycle appears at step 4 rather than step 5. It is in place of the Mosaic Law, the Ethics of the Covenant. Another interesting point is that, if we align this stanza with the entire book of Revelation, the enthronement of the Firstfruits Church appears at the same point as the enthronement in this cycle.

Conquest – Israel Prepared for Ministry (Joshua – The Inheritance)

For by grace you have been saved through faith.
And this is not your own doing;
it is the gift of God,
not a result of works,
so that no one may boast.

Glorification – Israel Commissioned for Ministry (Judges – The Champions)

For we are his workmanship,
created in Christ Jesus
for good works,
which God prepared beforehand,
that we should walk in them.

These stanzas correspond to the Day of Atonement and Booths. They work separately, but also as a head (Israel purified) and a body (Israel ministering to the nations). Here, the “Israel” is Jesus, by His Spirit, in the multinational Church. So although each has a Covenant shape, there is a symmetry found in the bolded words. The works on the altar of man are rejected (boasting being a form of self-exaltation, in this stanza, appearing at Ascension). The purification at the centre, in the holy of holies, is God’s work. And the good works of Jesus complete the threefold expansion of the Covenant Ethics: Man’s works, God’s Work, Jesus’ works. Beautiful.

This brings us to the end of the second cycle, but not to the end of chapter two, so it would appear that Ephesians has seven major cycles — which should not be a surprise. The literary artistry is amazing. I do keep wondering whether Paul and his scribes were aware of this (as a literary convention) or it was simply the Spirit blowing through them as His instrument. I must remember to ask him.

The picture at top is, I think, intended to contrast Israel the warrior-priest with Paul the peacemaker. But we know that Paul’s sword was more terrifying than anything wielded by old Israel’s priesthood ever. AD70 is testimony to that.

We have reached the sixth cycle of Numbers, which seems to include chapters 30-34. Seeing as it has been a while since we looked at Numbers, here’s the overview again, with this next cycle in red.

Overview of Numbers

The first step towards identifying what this cycle consists of is its “liturgical” significance in the book. We should be looking for Atonement motifs, purging of sin and a claiming of the promised inheritance. We might also find “Covenant vows” as Conquest in the Bible Matrix corresponds to Sanctions in the Covenant pattern.

Two observations to close:

The first concerns the process of maturity inherent in the Covenant process. At Passover, and in the wilderness, Israel was under the angelic sword. Angels were “tutors” until Israel was qualified to bear the sword as worthy representatives of their God. At Atonement, the veil is opened and it is the “firstborn,” the Man who bears the sword. But he is all grown up now. Angels slew the unfaithful in Egypt, but it was Israelite soldiers who would slay the unfaithful in Jericho. This originated in Eden, where Adam was “cut” by an angelic hand (graven?) for the purpose of building Eve, but Adam was expected to bear the sword-word of the Covenant against the serpent. That is the background, and here is the observation (finally). It was an angelic sword that “passed over” Balaam, but it was an Israelite sword that passed through him. [2] After the sin with the Midianites, God instructed the Israelites to wear robes with “wings.” Israel was now the fiery Spirit-messenger of God. Of course, all this prefigures the New Covenant, and explains the references to Balaam and the false prophet in the Revelation.

The second is from James Jordan’s “Sand Trek” lectures on Numbers. Balaam is frustrated three times by the angel and the donkey, until finally the donkey speaks for God. Balaam is behaving just like his boss, Balak, who is forcing Balaam, as his faithful donkey, to disobey the Lord. Balaam attempts to curse Israel three times, and finally prophesies concerning all Israel’s future. You can purchase these lectures in the complete set in the column at right (scroll down if necessary).

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[1] See Bible Matrix II: The Covenant Key, for the way in which the Ten Commandments follow the Covenant Matrix in two columns, one for Adam (odd numbers) and one for Eve (even (!) numbers).
[2] See Pass-over and Pass-through and The Angels of Death Are We. As you will see, this has great import for the change from circumcision (under the sword) to credobaptism (bearing the sword as a mature, qualified vow-keeper).

Part 1   |   Part 2   |   Part 3

Strange Fire

We’ve reach the central “cycle” of the book of Numbers, the attempt by Balak to destroy Israel. To the unbeliever, it is a story about a talking donkey. For believers, it is a story about a wicked prophet and a carnal people. For those with a wide angle “Bible Matrix” lens, the entire landscape suddenly comes into focus as something familiar and terrifying.

Firstly, we should get our bearings. Based on what we’ve seen so far, it seems we have seven major cycles in the book of Numbers. The first cycle laid out the basic structure of the rest of the book. What was at the centre—Testing—of cycle one? Numbers 5, the strange chapter where a woman suspected of adultery was to be subjected to the “inspection of jealousy.”

Basically, the woman would drink the Covenant, and God would become an internal witness, seeing her from the inside out. Whatever was behind her legal witness, the truth or the lie, would be reflected in her own flesh and in her offspring. In Numbers 5, the priest recites the process aloud (external law) and then carries it out (internal inspection). Like some kind of liturgical X-ray, this process would take what went on behind closed doors (whether good or evil) and expose it, shout it from the rooftops. [1]

That “personal” inspection is what all Israel will now pass through. All the events so far in Numbers have been leading up to this “liturgically.” Testing in the Garden of Eden involved a false king (the serpent), a false prophet (Adam, who failed to speak the Word) and the Woman. The scene is set for a stadium-sized reenactment of the events of Genesis 3. The individuals of Eden have become “corporate.” As Numbers is at the centre of Israel’s sevenfold story, so the story of Balaam and Phinehas is at the centre of Numbers.

Understanding these events “structurally” answers the questions that remain once the action is over and the blood thickens on the ground. One thing we must keep in mind is the sacrificial structure of these events. Firstfruits put Israel on the Altar. Pentecost puts fire on the Altar. The test here is whether Israel will tolerate strange fire not only in their Tabernacle, but in their own tents and hearts.

Closeup on Numbers 25

What amazing artistry. The first fulfilment of Balaam’s “sceptre” prophecy was Phinehas. And he crushed the “forehead” of Moab by putting a spear through—circumcising—the offspring of the serpent. [5]

One final thought on this closeup. Can you think of another event which involved a “cup of testing,” spiritual harlotry, a spear, and a grant of High Priestly Succession? Yes, the death and resurrection of Christ as Adam. Then the entire process is repeated “corporately” for Israel as Eve, the harlot-bride who must drink the cup and be cut in two by the jealousy of God, into flesh and Spirit.

Okay, back to the major structure.

The beauty of this literature is sublime. And its fractal structure silences every critic. Every mouth will be stopped. Help me to share this material where you can. The lack of interest by Christians stuns me.

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[1] See Behind Closed Doors.
[2] See the notes at the end of What Lies Beneath.
[3] I use the “scroll” division of the commandments because it fits the matrix. See Bible Matrix II for a full explanation.
[4] See Esther and the Ten Words.
[5] See The Circumcision of Satan.

“Do you suppose that I came to give peace on earth? I tell you, not at all, but rather division.” Luke 12:51

Another weird idea James Jordan presents in his Revelation lectures is the premise that the famous Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse represent the gospel. As Uri Brito wrote a couple of years ago, first you think Jordan is nuts; then, as you continue to study, you think he is less nuts. Finally you give in and accept his genius, because his premise is vindicated by the similar use of the symbols in the Old Testament, and the literary structure of the event.

Horses mean war. Donkeys (generally) mean peace. Balaam, the false prophet, rode a donkey to disguise the true nature of his mission. The donkey was the true prophet. [1]

But these four war horses also come out of the New Covenant scroll, a scroll that no man was worthy to open until Christ ascended, which is the context of the passage. (At Firstfruits, unlike Passover, the sacrificial animal was limited to lambs.) It is exactly what happens in Zechariah after a new, holy High Priest (Joshua) is installed and given a new (restored) Covenant.

The seven seals follow the Bible Matrix structure. The gospel message, as an ultimatum, brings an end to the Old Order. Jesus seems to predict exactly this in John 16:

Creation: “And when He (the Spirit) has come,
(the White Horse – Sabbath)

…..Division: He will convict the world of sin,
…..(the Red Horse – Passover)

The Covenant Word comes by spirit-horse [2] and immediately divides the crowd, just as Paul did when he dropped the “R” word (resurrection) before the Sanhedrin. Jordan observes that Jesus predicted exactly such divisions. Judah sacrificed Jesus, and now, after His ascension, after Pentecost, Judah herself was being cut in two by the apostles.

The Red Horse is not simply a generic “war concept.” The sword always divides. And the sides of the division then take up swords!

……….Ascension: and of righteousness,
……….(the Black Horse – Firstfruits)

At Ascension, we often find symbols of bread and wine. Here there is a famine which pushes unfaithful men to their limits. The priestly bread grew scarce, but the oil and wine of the Spirit were available free of charge. Jesus starved the Old way and fed the New. The Old Covenant was decaying, old manna, old flesh. The New Covenant was food and drink that is unseen by the world (John 4:32), hidden manna (Revelation 2:17). The true saints always persevere in the wilderness, which is where this process takes us next…

……………Testing: and of judgment:
……………(the Green Horse – Pentecost) [3]

The Greek is chloros. The colours of the horses are drawn from the tribal gemstones on the High Priest’s breastplate. The emerald is Levi.

Levites carried swords, and this terrifying harvest process ends with the Law of Pentecost, with the “cutting off” of the old Judah in the wilderness. After the sin with the golden calf (the image of the beast), Moses called “Who is on the Lord’s side?” and Levites came and despatched the idolaters. The same “Levitical” process of judgment occurs in Ezekiel 9, with the High Priest being the Man in linen.

……….Maturity: of sin, because they do not believe in Me;
……….(the OT Martyrs – Trumpets)

The martyrs under the Incense Altar are told to wait until a New Covenant contingent (murdered Apostles and Prophets) are slaughtered and will join them. The testimony of two witnesses was required to condemn the harlot.)

…..Conquest: of righteousness, because I go to My Father
…..and you see Me no more;
 (the Land-quake – Atonement)

Perhaps a reference to Christ’s approach to the Father as High Priest. When the Temple veil was torn at the crucifixion, rocks were also split. The sixth seal shakes the Promised Land. Zechariah saw it broken into two mountains, Ebal and Gerizim, so the martyred saints could pass-through. The writer of Hebrews warned that heaven would also be shaken. The usurper of Adam’s throne would finally be cast down. Blood and sackcloth reference the sacrificial goats.

Glorification: of judgment, because the ruler
of this world is judged.
(fire from the Altar – Tabernacles/Shekinah)

This is interesting. The object of the judgment is Satan, but the literary structure points more to the One doing the judging: Christ as Solomon enthroned on ivory. The Spirit given at Pentecost is seen as fire taken from the Altar in heaven and thrown down upon the Land. This is exactly the context of Jesus’ words in John 16. And, in support of this, as we continue reading John 16, this judgment seems to become the Pentecostal Testing at the centre of the chapter. The first fulfilment of this was the death of Herod on his throne, riddled with maggots like old manna.

(Not only do these verses in John have 1-2-3-4-2-3-4 pattern (the more obvious structure), they also follow the matrix’s 1-2-3-4-3-2-1.)

These Spirit horsemen were the first century Apostolic witness. That’s interpretation. In application, we see the white horse again, followed by many white horses (the saints), as they pass-through the corpse of Herodian Judah. That began the church age (ie head-gospel “seals” became head-and-body-gospel). The gospel still has the same effect wherever it goes. Yes, it is the gospel of peace. But it is the kind of peace ushered in by Solomon through purging out the old leaven, ie. exterminating the enemies of his father, binding the evil one first, and then judging those who refuse to be freed. That is the far side of the two-edged blade that we peace-donkeys rarely present. [4]

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[1] See Talking Animals for more on this. Donkeys also represented faithful Gentiles, like Ishmael. Typologically, when the Herodian worship became the curse of the Balaamite “false prophet,” causing a new “adulterous generation” of Israel, and unable to hear the Word of the Angel of the Lord (Christ), the Spirit of Pentecost started speaking to the Jewish leaders through faithful Gentiles!
[2] See Spirit Horses.
[3] See Saved From the Green Horse.
[4] See the same process presented as a harvest in Right as Rain.

But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death. (James 1:14-15)

The structure of God’s work in the world finds its origin in His trinity: Word, Sacrament, Government (Discipline). Often in the prophets, the man of God is given a sign which is a type of a greater event to come. The prophet is the sacrament that mediates the Word of discipline to the People.

A few Old Testament examples stand out in my memory: the slavery of Joseph and the slavery of the Hebrews; the kingly upbringing, rejection, exodus and exaltation of Moses as Head, as qualification to take the “Body of Moses” through the same process; the promise of a son to the prophetess in Isaiah 7, whose childhood food would be the food of a nation ravaged by its lack of discernment; Ezekiel’s crazy antics that would be fulfilled in tragic history; and James Jordan’s very interesting applications of Daniel’s prophecies to Daniel’s own life in microcosm, as a sign of the future of his people. [1]

The examples of this process in the New Testament are most interesting, and mostly overlooked. There is, of course, Judas, who is exiled from the supper as the “second goat,” and whose fate is a sign for all Judah. [2] And the death and resurrection of Jesus as head, and the subsequent death of Israel and her resurrection as the completed Jew-Gentile Christian church.

The fate of Ananias and Sapphira is a sign that looks both backward and forward. The passage has two cycles, one for the Head (Ananias) and one for the Body (Sapphira). Between them, there is an ominous space of three hours.

We can see that the sin of this couple echoes that of Ahab’s and Jezebel’s murder of Naboth for his land. But this New Testament couple didn’t murder anyone. The sin against Naboth is what the sin in Acts 4 grows into if left unchecked, which is exactly what we see in the previously mentioned case of Judas and Judah. Garden sins grow into Land sins and then into World sins, at which point God brings a flood. [3]

No, their sin was deception of the church, those gathered by the Holy Ghost. Peter states clearly that Ananias had the power of judgment over his own money (and the structure of Peter’s speech puts the man at the centre as a “governing light”). Ananias’ death is the application of a New Covenant sanction. For him there was no Covenant succession. And, of course, the testing of Sapphira follows the same pattern. This couple was chosen, like Judas, to be an example for all those who would smuggle the leaven of a corrupted Old Covenant into Jesus’ New House.

So, two cycles, then the passage as a whole follows the Totus Christus head-and-body structure. The fact that they are delineated as separate events—husband and wife—suggests to me that this story is the “Day of Atonement” step of a larger pattern (see Totus Christus p. 387). Why?

We see the same thing in the life of Abraham, in his third “cycle.” He entered the Promised Land twice, briefly: once to offer Isaac and again to bury Sarah. He made the same two approaches as the High Priest on the Day of Atonement: once to cover the Head (the priesthood: bull’s blood) and once to cover the Body (the people: goat’s blood). This might seem arbitrary, but the structure makes it plain.

We see the same thing, of course, in Adam and Eve. Except that we don’t. The lack of capital punishment as a Covenant Sanction is a handy foil for those who believe that the death promised was only “spiritual death” (so they can cram their evolutionary Creation-by-death fantasies into Genesis). Adam and Eve were spared. Substitutionary animals were slain to cover their sin.

So, what’s the deal with the Adam, Eve, and serpent conspiracy in Acts 5? This was a New Creation, and such sins were going to be cut off at the source. Abraham entered the Land twice, and, as a kind of High Priest, survived in the Most Holy. Ananias and Sapphira sinned concerning the true Land, the heavenly country.

In his Revelation lectures, Jordan observes that all the sins which Jesus judges in the letters to the seven pastors are then shown to be full-grown in Herodian state worship. The “Balaamites” are false prophets and “Jezebel” is the church’s spiritual harlot. He calls the pastors, like Peter, to nip the sins in the bud. [4] As mentioned earlier, the conspiracy of Judas was amplified in the Jewish polity until the Man of Sin (as Ananias) and the Harlot (as Sapphira) were institutional sins that had reached an ugly maturity. The seven bowls in Revelation are the Day of Atonement. [5]

How are we doing reading the signs—both positive and negative—in our own lives, in the lives of the Christians we disciple (including our children), and the churches we pastor? The wisest of us read them in the Word (and in other people’s lives) and obey early, then develop holy lives (Sacrament), and live to become godly elders (Government). Many of us, however, wait until our disobedience begins to take on a life of its own (flesh: anti-Sacrament) before we act. And apostates keep at it until God brings a sword (Government) and they drop dead.

Ananias and Sapphira were a sign for those Jews who had tasted the Word of God and become partakers of the Holy Spirit, and would yet fall away. [6] They were also a sign to those who would take communion unworthily, which is an act of lying to the people of God and the Holy Spirit, concerning unconfessed sin, ie. “I have judged myself wisely, and need not to be judged.”

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[1] See James B. Jordan, The Handwriting on the Wall.
[2] See Fool’s Gold.
[3] See Trinitarian Judgments.
[4] See The Eighth Letter.
[5] See Seven Bowls of Wrath.
[6] Please note that, unlike many, I do not believe these people lost their salvation (if they were truly saved). The destruction referred to was the Jewish war, which is the context of the warnings in the Book of Hebrews.

PS: I’m taking a week off from blogging, so catch you on the 26th.

The astral bodies signified those who are glorified and exalted. While this is true of all the saints, it is also true of all human rulers as well. Revelation 1:20 says that the rulers of the church are like stars, and Jude 13 says that apostate teachers are “wandering stars.” —James B. Jordan, Through New Eyes, p. 55.

Jude’s epistle follows the themes of the Bible matrix. In Adam’s pattern, the first half (forming) was good, but he forfeited the glories of the last half (filling). Like God, he was to create with a faithful Covenant word. His failure made him a false prophet, one who cries “peace, peace” when Leviathan is at the gate.

Jude’s pattern is the opposite. The first half is mostly bad, and ends with the apostates as stars in the centre (Day 4/wilderness). This is because Israel was threshed under the new Law, beginning at Pentecost (the Law of Moses was given at Pentecost). Those who were true Jews, with circumcised hearts, were separated from the false ones. Peter was sifted like wheat and so was Israel.

But it is not that the word of God has taken no effect. For they are not all Israel who are of Israel, nor are they all children because they are the seed of Abraham; but, “In Isaac your seed shall be called.” That is, those who are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God; but the children of the promise are counted as the seed. (Romans 9:6-8)

As in Deuteronomy, a new generation is a new beginning, a new “resurrection” body. The old Tabernacle was torn apart and a new Tabernacle was built, as Eve was constructed from bone and flesh from Adam.

Sabbath – Greeting/peace/Word (Genesis)
…..Passover – Saved out of Egypt (Exodus)
…..…..Firstfruits – Christ versus Satan re body of Moses
……….(Leviticus – Covenant head) [1]
…..…..…..Pentecost – Beasts, Cain, Balaam, Korah,
……………wandering stars (Numbers)
…..…..Trumpets – Ten thousand saints
……….(Deuteronomy – Covenant body)
…..Atonement – Mercy of Christ, make a distinction (two goats),
…..hating even the (linen) garment spotted by the flesh
Booths – Jude’s famous doxology

Interestingly, even the central “wilderness” condemnation follows the pattern. The first century Jews and Judaisers were the Old Creation:

Light – Word – Sabbath – Genesis
But these speak evil of whatever they do not know;
(False Ark)

Firmament – Human Hierarchy Set Apart – Passover – Exodus
and whatever they know naturally, like brute beasts, in these things they corrupt themselves.
(False Veil: this step often involves the mediator falling as dead before God.
These men were bowed as beasts.)

Land Grain & Fruit Plants – Priesthood Established – Firstfruits – Leviticus
Woe to them! For they have gone in the way of Cain, have run greedily in the error of Balaam for profit, and perished in the rebellion of Korah. (False Altar) These are spots in your love feasts, while they feast with you without fear, serving only themselves (False Table)

Governing Lights – Temptation in the Wilderness – Pentecost – Numbers
They are clouds without water, carried about by the winds; (False Lampstand, ie. false wind/spirit)

Swarms – A New Generation – Trumpets – Deuteronomy
late autumn trees without fruit, twice dead, pulled up by the roots;
(False Incense. Their “spiritual offspring” were twice the children of Gehenna)

High Priest – Stands on crystal sea (Laver) – Atonement – Joshua
raging waves of the sea, foaming up their own shame;
(False Mediator: like Adam, they have no true covering)

Shekinah Glory – Covenant Succession – Booths – Judges
wandering stars for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever.
(Their generations are cut off from the Covenant tree)

As the first century pattern was completed during the Jewish War, the wandering stars of the Jewish polity became falling stars. Like those who refer to themselves as Jews today, they defiantly remain in the darkness of the Old Covenant, despite the fact that the Sun of Righteousness has risen. [2]

So the literary structure of Jude looks like this:

Old Creation:
1
…..2
……….3
……………4:1
………………….2
……………0……….3
……………0………….:4
……………0……….5
………………….6
………………7

New Creation:
……….5
…..6
7

The sevenfold “Lampstand” at the centre of the pattern is the same one that confronted Adam in the Garden, the false Law-light of the accuser. In Revelation, the seven stars in Jesus’ right hand are Christian pastors.

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[1] On “the body of Moses” as the Old Covenant church see Peter J. Leithart, Michael’s Dispute with the Devil.
On Christ as Michael, see James Jordan, Esther: Historical & Chronological Comments IV.
[2] For more on Old Covenant darkness, see The End of Shadows.

I say then, has God cast away His people? Certainly not! For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. God has not cast away His people whom He foreknew. Or do you not know what the Scripture says of Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel, saying, ”LORD, they have killed Your prophets and torn down Your altars, and I alone am left, and they seek my life”? But what does the divine response say to him? “I have reserved for Myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.” Even so then, at this present time there is a remnant according to the election of grace.  Romans 11:1-6

Romans 11 is one of those watershed passages. How one interprets it depends on one’s “plan of the ages” paradigm. If you haven’t read James Jordan’s The Future of Israel Re-examined, you need to. Due to its ramifications for interpretation of much of the New Testament, I believe it should be recognised as one of the most important writings of our time. It puts Romans, and especially chapters 9-11, fairly and squarely within a first century context. All would be fulfilled before AD70. God would make “a short work” in the Land. And He did.

It also helps with the interpretation of Revelation. Christ was a new Moses, just as Elijah was. He ascended and gave a double portion of His Spirit to the church as Elisha. The new body witnessed to Gentiles to provoke the hard-hearted Jews to jealousy. This has nothing to do with our day. It was a process confined to the end of the Old Covenant.

Not only do we see the fulfilment of Revelation’s Jezebel and false prophet (Balaam) in Herodian worship, it explains the references to Moses and Elijah as witnesses against Herod’s Egypt-Sodom-Israel, and his calling “fire from heaven” to deceive those who were not elect. As mentioned earlier, Paul’s reference to the Circumcision as the “mutilation” labels the Judaisers as prophets of Baal. The showdown on Carmel occurred at the cross but Israel continued in sin. [1] Instead of Assyria and Babylon, the Lord brought Roman armies as a flood to wipe out the “sons of God.”

Paul wrote Romans between these two events. Like Moses’ Israel, the first generation would not obtain what they sought.

Romans 11:

Sabbath – Seed of Abraham

Passover – Prophets killed, altars torn down, God’s man abandoned and alone

Firstfruits – Divine response: “You are not alone. You are the Covenant head.” Discussion of grace and works concerns the Law. Also, it is at this point in the greater structure of Revelation that the Jewish saints are sealed. Only Jews are numbered in the Bible. Gentiles never. Gentiles are a swarm.

Pentecost – Again, concerning eyes (stars) and the Lampstand and the wilderness, the rest were blinded. This blindness of Jews to bring sight to Gentiles is prefigured in Luke’s account of Elymas the Jewish Sorcerer (Acts 13; cf. Rev. 9:21), and of course in Paul’s own blindness before his commission as a witness to the Gentiles.

Trumpets – Paul’s witness to the Gentiles, who become “plunder“, a new army

Atonement – Jews cast out that Gentiles may come in. The reconciling of the world

Tabernacles – Discussion concerning the olive tree and its branches. The prophecy of Zechariah concerning Gentiles keeping the feast of Tabernacles was fulfilled in the first century. After AD70 there is no longer Jew nor Gentile in God’s economy, but one new complete Body.

 
Now, please go and read Jordan’s essay! One more post to go on this subject, concerning Revelation 11:13:

“In the same hour there was a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city fell. In the earthquake seven thousand people were killed, and the rest were afraid and gave glory to the God of heaven.”

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[1] See No More Sacrifice for Sins.

All the names and the numbers in Revelation are symbols based on historical facts. The names are easy. Jezebel, Antipas, Balaam… But we mathematical moderns have trouble taking numbers as symbols. We are only interested in descriptions, not relationships. In the Bible, symbols describe relationships. As David Chilton observes in The Days of Vengeance [PDF], the symbolic value of someone or something is not a description of its nature, but a description of its relationship to someone or something else. Hence, as Jordan observes, Satan is both a dragon and a serpent in Revelation 12. He is a serpent to the Woman and a dragon to her children.

The debate over certain numbers in Revelation is amazing. For the meaning of 666, see here.

The thousand years of Revelation 20 is to be understood in the same way. It’s no more tricksy than any allusion to the number 42 being the answer to life, the universe, and everything in The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. You have to have read the book to “get it.” [1] As Peter Leithart illustrates in Deep Exegesis, the text, among other things, is a joke.

It was a thousand years from the offering of Isaac to the day David purchased the threshing floor of Aruanah. These events occurred on the same site. It was the end of mobile worship. James Jordan’s Bible chronology shows that from the completion of the construction of Solomon’s Temple to the destruction of Herod’s Temple, it was, again, a thousand years. It was the end of Temple worship.

So, based on these beginnings and endings, what does this number mean for the gospel age, governed from heaven by the Son of God and His ascended saints? Once all this has been pointed out, it ain’t rocket science.

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[1] The answer “42″ was so funny because it was totally bereft of any meaning other than a scientific description.

“I could never believe a book that starts with a talking snake!”

The fourth beast was stronger and more terrifying than the others. Its huge teeth were made of iron, and what it didn’t grind with its teeth, it smashed with its feet. It was different from the others, and it had horns on its head – ten of them. Just as I was thinking about these horns, a smaller horn appeared, and three of the other horns were pulled up by the roots to make room for it. This horn had the eyes of a human and a mouth that spoke with great pride. Daniel 7:7-8

The Bible begins with Adam, Eve and a serpent in the garden, and ends with a false prophet (Adam), harlot (Eve) and beast (serpent) squatting in God’s house. The seed of man’s rebellion was now a fullgrown tree – a tree of death (James 1:14-15).

Animals are the tutors in the Old Testament. Man was created in God’s image, but instead imaged a beast. Adam was covered in animal skins and their blood temporarily covered his sin. The law was administered by angels, and the symbols God uses are mostly animals. As mentioned in a previous post, the three major covenants were symbolised by an ox, a lion and an eagle. The New Covenant symbol is the Man who is bread and wine. The New Covenant era is administered not by angels but by men, Christians.

But as this New Covenant era arrived, so did a false man: a being who had the eyes and mouth of a man but was really a man-mask for the Roman beast. Revelation refers to Jews as ‘men’ because, like Noah, they were the mediators. The gentiles are the ‘beasts’ who are called to submit and enter the ark of Christ (Acts 10:11-12).

As Israel’s history completed Day 6 (the Land animals and the Man predicted in Daniel 7), this false man, a beast who spoke like a man, was squatting in God’s garden. The Herodian line was a talking snake.

You can trust the Bible. There is always method in any apparent madness. God doesn’t do or allow anything without a reason.

(Balaam the false prophet was also a ‘talking snake.’ He was blind to God’s word, so God used a talking donkey to get through to him.)