Deut 32:8

Deut 32:9 "For the Lord’s portion is his people; Jacob is the lot of the inheritance."

Up until the time of Abram, God had maintained to truth through the priesthood of the lineage of (Seth Gen 4:26 => Shem 14:18). One should notice how God builds upon previous events such as Gen 1:2 bringing order from chaos, light from darkness. As Seth and his descendants continued in the dim light, which was afforded them by the limited providence of God, (without an established law - Rom 5:13) having only the fruit of the spirit to guide them as a moral code discerning good from evil. By the time of Noah, the wickedness of man was so great in the earth that every thought of man heart was only continually evil. (Gen 6:5) Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. Remember that grace is not based upon the actions of Noah, but that of God. Yes, to preserve the truth in the earth, God in his sovereignty established with Noah sufficient physical evidence to do the will of God’s good pleasure. (communicating verbally with him to establish the knowledge that He possessed a higher power than that Noah, which demanded respect.)

The old covenant was give unto only a portion of the children of God, and Jacob became symbolic of those called to be servants, to whom God would give a land, for their inheritance, that is, God in his sovereignty would chose out a small portion of his people to maintain the truth in the earth. (Isa 43:10). This was accomplished through Gods’ sovereign choice of the son of an idol maker, by the name of Abram. First through his providential care and then in direct communication with Abram, establishing his trust in God, wherein he is called the faith of our fathers’. God’s call to Abram, at the age of seventy-five, was in the land of his father (Haran, of Syria – Gen 12:1; Acts 7:4), which began his long journey of some fifty-five years. By this time God would have established in Abraham, by physical evidence, a belief that if he took the life of his own sons’, Isaac now thirty years old, that God would restore it unto him. (Gen 22:8)

Abram’s father Terah die in Haran of Syria at the age of 210 year. Abram was seventy-five years old at this time, and God called unto him saying get thee out of this land and go into Canaan, a land that he would (480 yrs) later give as an inheritance to his seed, Israel. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were sojourners in this land which was not theirs. (Ex 12:41; Heb 11:9; Deut 5:3) At the weaning of Isaac, (Gen 21:8), Ishmael begin to mock Isaac, and this affliction would continue with his seed for four hundred years. (Gen 15:13) They would be in Egypt for four generations, (Gen 15:16) which is recorded in Ex 6:16-20, as the sons of Jacob (Levi, Kohath, Amram, and Aaron). Levi went in, Aaron came out.

At Mount Sinai, God would give a body, portion (Deut 32:9) of his people additional witnesses, that is in addition to the moral law of the fruit of the spirit. Here he would establish a code of law in stone, which would be after the flesh (Gal 4:23) to govern their conduct. This law would not effect any of the Gentiles, although many were God’s children, in possession of the fruit of the spirit. This law would add nothing more to establish the faith than that of Able, for all of his children were already in possession of the fruit of the spirit, but additional evidence would be in the form of visible evidences to guide them in their knowledge of God. In addition to the law in stone he would continue to give them visible signs such as opening the Red Sea, and manna. These additional pieces of evidence: law in stone, and signs would become a way of live with the Israelites. At the time of Jesus, the Jews were still seeking after these signs. (Rom 11:7; Jh 20:30; Acts 2:22; 2 Cor 2:12). Many more scriptures could be sighted, to establish how only a portion of his people could know who Jehovah was (Isa 43:10, Acts 17:23).

During the ministry of Jesus he would continue these signs, along with teaching them out of the law, which the Jews were very familiar with (Acts 26:27; Mt 21:32, Jh 3:10, 14:11). God came in the person of Jesus to his own (Jh 1:11), bringing them the two pecies of evidence they were aquainted with: the word (Old Testement - Lk 4:16), and works (signs - Jh 4:48). Having seen these they rejected the council againt them (Mt 21:32).

After the day of Pentecost a better covenant with more sure (2 Pet 2:19) witnesses would be given to the little flock of Lk 12:32. This witness would come to maturity in seventy AD as the sign gifts came to an end, at which time the two witnesses to the little flock would be the completed. The two witnesses are the engrafted word (James 1:23) or dealt faith (Rm 12:3, 1 Jh 5:4) of the new covenant, and the word which by it the gospel is preached, (1 Peter 1:23). This would give the little flock not only the knowledge of Jehovah, but also what he accomplished in the three hours of darkness for all of his children.

Allen Cook 8/28/07