In the long run of things, “Truth” is a narrative. We live in a bubble of words, thoughts and ideas and, because we are not God, we assume, perhaps mistakenly, that what we see, hear, touch and feel connect us to truth. Except that is not necessarily true; the narrative in which we find ourselves determines what we think is “true.” This is basic linguistic theory. The sea of words we swim in (intellectually) controls our thoughts. We ought to seek a sea of words conveyed from the Creator/Truth — and that is what we call the Bible.
Here is an example: If the story is: “the earth is millions of years old” then when we look at the Grand Canyon we reject interpretations that don’t agree with an ancient earth. If the story is “God created the earth, it flooded, and we re-populated,” then the interpretation of a canyon carved by a catalclysmic movement of water of a short period of time becomes reasonable. It isn’t the fact of the Grand Canyon that matters — it is the presuppositions we are guided by as we interpret the facts.
What is the narrative?
The narrative are the stories and records given to us by Moses, the prophets, and the Greek scriptures; the Bible.
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There are two central ideas to the Bible that I want to focus on here. First, God created blood lines and has called those bloodlines (Nations) to serve Him. He chose Abram, and then Issac, and finally Israel to created a nation/bloodline to serve Him. In Egypt, the Hebrews multiplied and were liberated by Moses. Moses presented to the Hebrews God’s Law: The Ten Commandments. The Hebrews accept God and His Law. The terms of reference for the relationship between that bloodline (from Israel) was corporate obedience to the Ten Commandments.
God calls for bloodlines/nations to serve him, distinct bloodlines.
If Israel, corporately, lived by the Ten Commandments, they would be blessed by God in time and history. If they refused to obey the Ten Commandments, they would be cursed in time and history. This is the story of the Ten Commandments. It is as valid today for the nations of the world as it was thousands of years ago.
The story of the Prophets is “did Israel (the nation) obey the Ten Commandments?” And if not, what happens to them. As one reads through the prophets it becomes extraordinarily obvious that the prophets were less soothsayer and more judge: they told that nation that they had violated the Ten Commandments and therefore would be cursed exactly as Deuteronomy 28 says.
This is the foundational principle of understanding the Hebrew Scriptures — God sought a nation, gave them His Law, and help them (corporately) accountable for adherence to that Law. Israel (the bloodline) was to obey God, prosper, and be an example to all the other nations who would then seek out from Israel (the bloodline) how to serve God and get His blessings.
The “New Testament” is about the transformation of the inner man — being born again. That “new birth” was prophesied by the prophets. In this new birth men would be given the power to obey the Ten Commandments; it was never a rejection of the Law and thus Jesus prophetically warned the church to not reject the Law nor the prophets in His very first sermon (Matthew 5). And when a man well versed in the Hebrew Scriptures expressed ignorance of the new birth Jesus castigated him: “ How can can you as a teacher of Israel not know what I’m taking about? It’s right there in the Hebrews scriptures!”
The Greek scriptures/writings focus on the individual. The Hebrew writings on the group/nation/bloodline.
They are not contradictory. The Hebrew, starting from the books of Moses, are the foundation. The prophets show the outworking of Israel’s disobedience in accordance with the blessings and curses of the Law and shown in Deuteronomy 28. The new birth inscribes those very Ten Commandments into the soul of the believer — it does not reject the Law nor create another law in it’s place.
God has still called entire bloodlines/nations to serve him — as bloodlines.
God has never intended that the bloodlines mix and nor govern themselves underneath a “neutral” government (because there is no such thing). God intends that the bloodlines go their own way in order that some would seek and serve Him (Acts 17:26-27).
Babel and Bablyon are the symbols of a unified mankind under Satanic (meaning they reject the Ten Commandments) law. God hates Babel. He came down personally and destroyed Babel right after the flood (as if the Flood wasn’t enough!). And at the end (in the Revelation) God again personally singles out that massive persona of Babylon whom the nations of the world adore and who makes the merchants rich. This is a hated beast, and despised woman, a false wife.
Bloodlines/Nations are called to their own times and lands in order that they make seek him and serve Him in accordance with the one and eternal law of the Ten Commandments.
Those concerned with personal salvation must understand that the Law remains a tutor toward grace. Under the law, the blood sacrifices were made and men accepted, by faith, the atonement from the blood. It is no different today — that narrative of the Ten Commandments remains the guideposts for corporate life (don’t kill your neigbor, don’t sleep with his wife and don’t steal his stuff). As men live, they will recognize all the commandments they have disobeyed and they are naturally inclined to acknowledge their sin and even repent when the Gospel of Jesus Christ is preached and accept the necessity of a blood sacrifice.
Take away the narrative of Moses and Prophets and the Greek scriptures and the Gospel message are much more difficult to preach.
A society (like ours today) in which the narrative is controlled by Satan and there is no Law — upon what does the preacher preach? If the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?
Jesus is Lord of all. He calls the nations — the bloodlines — to serve Him today by ordering their society in accordance with the Ten Commandments. And when that is done, evangelism yields its crop like water into wine, with much grace as ordered from the beginning of time.
Fritz Berggren
5 March 2019
Washington, DC
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