Inheritance

The title of this week's Sabbath reading is Ki Tavo, meaning "When you come in", based on the words that Moses spoke to Israel "It shall be when you come into the land which the LORD your God is giving to you as an inheritance..." in Deut. 26. The Israelites were about to cross over the Jordan River from the eastern direction into the land promised to them by God. The situation changes for the people of God when they come into their inheritance, and there are important principles for us to learn, as we also come into an inheritance when we become followers of Jesus Christ. Paul wrote of our being "...heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ..." and spoke of "...the glory which shall be revealed in us", and "...the glorious liberty of the children of God...", having "the firstfruits of the Spirit". (Rom. 8:17-23, excerpt). In another place, Paul wrote: "In Him (Christ) also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will, that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory." (Eph. 1:11-12). We who have received an inheritance from God are called to function at a different level. We will see this in this Sabbath's readings also, because we have "come in". The first thing the Israelites were to do when they arrived in the land was to bring an offering to God. This offering was not to be from what they had brought with them from Egypt, and it was not be what they had planted and grown themselves, nor accumulated during their journey. The LORD commanded: "...you shall take some of the first of all the produce of the ground, which you shall bring from your land your God is giving you...and go to the place where the LORD your God chooses to make His name abide...". (Deut. 26:2). This offering was to come from what they found already growing in their new land, from their inheritance given to them. However, a declaration was to accompany this offering. The one bringing the offering must say before the priest: "I declare today to the LORD my God that I have come to the country which the LORD swore to our fathers to give us...My father was a Syrian (Aramean), about to perish, and he went down to Egypt and dwelt there, few in number; and there he became a nation, great, mighty, and populous. But the Egyptians mistreated us, and laid hard bondage on us. Then we cried out to the LORD God of our fathers, and the LORD heard our voice and looked on our affliction and our labor and our oppression. So the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, with great terror and with signs and wonders. He has brought us to this place and has given us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey, and now, behold, I have brought the firstfruits of the land which You, O LORD, have given me." (v. 3-10). Then the offering is set before the LORD and He is worshipped, "So you shall rejoice in every good thing which the LORD your God has given to you and your house..." (v. 11). In the third year in the land, the Israelites were to begin bringing the tithe they had laid aside of all of the increase they have received. The offering of the tithe (a tenth) was also to be accompanied by a declaration ending with "I have obeyed the voice of the LORD my God, and have done according to all that You hve commanded me. Look down from Your holy habitation, from heaven, and bless Your people Israel and the land which You have given us, just as You swore to our fathers, 'a land flowing with milk and honey'." (v. 13-15), excerpt). As the people further proclaimed that the LORD was their God, and that they will walk in His ways, His commandments, and His judgments, and obey His voice, the LORD makes a proclamation in exchange: "Also today, the LORD has proclaimed you to be His special people, just as He promised you, that you should keep all His commandments, and that He will set you high above all nations which He has made, in praise, in name, and in honor, and that you may be a holy people to the LORD your God, just as He has spoken." (v. 17-19). All of these declarations are made in conjunction with the giving of tithes and offerings to the LORD, and, as we read, the LORD proclaims amazing things over His people in return. Those amazing things sound very similar to what Peter wrote to the Church of believers (see 1 Peter 2:9-10). I must ask myself, then, what I am declaring, if anything, as I bring my tithes and offerings to the LORD. We can see that making a declaration of the Lord's deliverance and inheritance to us is to be a powerful, appropriate, even a commanded, part of our giving. I have received an amazing inheritance from Him. When I bring something to the LORD, I should be declaring that inheritance. An inheritance that first found me in sin, oppression, bondage, darkness, and death, as the Israelites were in Egypt, and brought me into that place of glory that Paul wrote about above - even to the sharing of Christ's own inheritance from His Father! Isn't this worth a declaration or two? The LORD has promised here in Deuteronomy 26 that if I make my declaration while giving to Him, He will make a declaration or proclamation to me. We should be aware that there are expectations of a people "when they come in", and have received their miraculous inheritance. God has given them and us a guideline to guarding and keeping the inheritance that they, and we, have been given. In Deuteronomy 28, another portion from this Sabbath's reading, Moses brought to the Israelites the Word of the LORD: "...if you diligently obey the voice of the LORD your God, to observe carefully all His commandments...the LORD your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth." (v. 1). This is the same declaration that the LORD made to His people previously in Deut. 26. This is part of their inheritance of the land, if they obey. On top of that, the LORD declared: "And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, because you obey the voice of the LORD your God." (v. 2). The LORD then told them of all of the blessings that will manifest in their lives, including the fruitfulness of their own bodies in children. Enemies would flee from before them. "The LORD will establish you as a holy people to Himself, just as He has sworn to you, if you keep the commandments...and walk in His ways. Then all peoples of the earth shall see that you are called by the name of the LORD, and they shall be afraid of you...and the LORD will make you the head and not the tail; you shall be above only, and not be beneath (see Jesus' words in Jn. 8:23), if you heed the commandments...and are careful to observe them." (v. 2-13, excerpt). Observing the commandments and voice of God preserves and guards the inheritance which the LORD has given to His people. His intentions were not to bring them to the land, and then set them on their own without His counsel. As we continue in this Sabbath's readings, we will find that this is just the beginning of the expectations, proclamations and miraculous manifestations that God has in store for His people to whom He has given an inheritance. The inheritance includes, as Paul wrote above, the LORD's inclusion of His people in His own glory. This Sabbath's reading also includes specific portions from the prophet Isaiah: "Arise (qum - rise up, stand, come on the scene, be established, raise up, give effect to), shine; for your light has come! And the glory of the LORD is risen upon you. For behold, the darkness (hosek/hasak - darkness including destruction, death, ignorance, sorrow, wickedness; the dark place of Hades, dark as withholding light, to be surrounded with darkness) shall cover (kasa - overwhelm, hide, conceal, spread over, clothe) the earth, and deep darkness (arapel/arap - thick darkness, heavy or dark cloud, gloom, night, darkness dropping down) the people; but the LORD will arise over you, and His glory will be seen upon you...Surely the coastlands shall wait for Me...to bring your sons from afar, their silver and their gold with them, to the name of the LORD your God, and to the Holy One of Israel, because He has glorified you...And they shall call you 'The City of the LORD', 'Zion of the Holy One of Israel'." (Isa. 60:1-2, 9, 14). The inheritance of glory is not for our sake alone, but in order that the Gentiles and the nations will glorify the LORD also. The inheritance of glory given to us, if we will rise up and stand in it, is the only light that will be available to a world and its people who have been totally swallowed up in a natural and spiritual darkness, even the darkness of Hell. To understand and obediently walk in our inheritance from God through His Son, has grave importance to the world. Paul also wrote of our inheritance as sons of God: "For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing (apokalypsis - a disclosure of truth, appearance, of something previously withdrawn from view but now made visible to all, lighten) of the sons of God...because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption (phthorah- destruction, perishing from defilement, eternal misery in Hell) into the glorious liberty of the children/sons of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now." (Rom. 8:19, 21-22). We see Paul's teaching again in the Sabbath reading for this week in another selection from Isaiah regarding our salvation inheritance's effect on creation and other people: "...the desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose; it shall blossom abundantly and rejoice, even with joy and singing...They shall see the glory of the LORD, the excellency of our God...Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then the lame shall leap like a deer, and the tongue of the dumb sing (see also the words of Jesus in Mt. 11:2-6). For waters shall burst forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert. The parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water...A highway shall be there, and a road, and it shall be called the Highway of Holiness. The unclean shall not pass over it...And the ransomed of the LORD shall return, and come to Zion with singing, with everlasting joy on their heads. They shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away." (Isa. 35:1-2, 5-8, 10). As the ancient order of weekly Sabbath readings was established many generations ago, we can see that the miraculous inheritance from God of the Promised Land by the Israelites also promised and was joined to an even greater inheritance, which would include other people as well. It is an inheritance that transforms from the deep darkness of Hell into the light of God's Glory through Jesus Christ. This is an inheritance well worthy of guarding and keeping as God instructed His people to do with all diligence. If you would like to learn more about this precious inheritance from the LORD of Glory, you can pray with me: "Dear Father, You have promised in Your Word that the whole earth will be filled with Your glory. You have given Your people an inheritance of shared glory with You through Your Son, Jesus. As You gave the land to Israel, You called them to be Your holy people set high above all nations, declaring the inheritance You gave to them as You delivered them out of Egypt and bondage, and into holiness and liberty. I have also received an inheritance of salvation through Your Son, and I declare how You delivered me from deep darkness and death into Your kingdom of marvelous light and glory. Fill me with your Holy Spirit so that I can diligently obey Your Word and Your voice in guarding this inheritance received from You. All creation waits eagerly, and depends upon seeing Your people walk in this inheritance. I thank and praise You in the name of Jesus. AMEN."