Snapshots of the Kindgom: Creation by S. Jones

SNAPSHOTS OF THE KINGDOM: CREATION

By Dr. Stephen Jones

Issue Date: 05/29/2019   Issue No. 371

Post Date:  6-4-2019

Many have asked questions about life in the Kingdom after the second coming of Christ. They are curious as to the changes that will occur between now and then, both in one’s personal life and in the governments of the world. In this issue we will attempt to explore these questions.

Obviously, since we are peering into the future, we know that we seeing through a glass darkly, as it were. The future has no real precedent from the past. We have only glimpses of the future, prophesied through types and shadows and patterns. Yet it is hard to know what a shirt looks like when all you have is a pattern.

The Garden

The Garden of Eden is the first Kingdom pattern that we see in Scripture. It gives us a picture of harmony between man, animals, and the earth itself. Nonetheless, Eden was given to Adam and Eve as a mini-Kingdom, because the earth was much larger than they could manage. They needed to be fruitful and multiply in order to put all things under their feet, as it were.

They sinned and became mortal before they had time to bring forth children in the image of God. When they finally did have children, they were begotten by seed that was both mortal and corruptible, as 1 Peter 1:23 says. Hence, their children (to the present day) are “like grass” and “like the flower of grass” (1 Peter 1:24), which grows up temporarily and is beautiful for a while, but ultimately it withers, dies, and returns to the ground.

So also is it with human flesh. Because the original pristine pattern proved to be so short-lived, we are given only a glimpse of the purity of Kingdom life.

Again, there is another major difference. Adam and Eve had no history. They were innocent and naïve, having never seen or experienced either good or evil. By knowing no evil, they had no real knowledge of good either, for we know most things by their contrast. It is only from God’s view—He who knows the end from the beginning—that we were told that all of creation was “very good” (Gen. 1:31).

Kingdom Authority is Service

We are told in Gen. 1:26 that Adam was given authority to rule the earth under God’s sovereignty. God did not give man sovereignty, nor did He permit him to do as he pleased or enact laws contrary to the laws of God which expressed His Love-nature.

Adam’s primary purpose is stated in Gen. 2:15,

¹⁵ Then the Lord God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it.

This brief job description includes much more than gardening. The word “cultivate” comes from the Hebrew word avad, “to work, serve.” It is the service of one who exercises divine authority. Adam was not enslaved to the earth until later. Prior to sin, he served that which was under his authority, according to the principle that Jesus set forth in Matt. 20:25, 26,

²⁵ … You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great men exercise authority over them. ²⁶ It is not so among you, but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant.

A ruler in the Kingdom looks past his authority and focuses upon his responsibility toward those under him. He knows that he was not given sovereignty but authority, and thus he is held accountable to God for his use of power.

The Authority to Name

Adam was also supposed to “keep” it. The Hebrew word is shamar, “to guard, preserve, to watch in order to keep safe.” Again, this sets forth the guardian’s responsibility for the wellbeing of those under his authority. If we break down this word into its component parts, we see it either as shem-resh or as shama-resh.

If we view the word shamar as deriving from shama, it means “to hear, obey.” Such obedience implies service and connects well with the biblical concept of authority as we saw above.

However, if we derive shamar from the word shem, we get a little different angle. Shem means “name,” having the connotation of being well known (famous). In the context of the story in Genesis, we find God giving Adam the responsibility to name the animals (Gen. 2:19). The power to name was the right to establish identity. So even his children were named, and their identity was thus derived from the “old man” (KJV) or “old self” (NASB), as Paul described it in his writings many years later.

Paul tells us that we are to change our identity from being children of the old man (Adam) to being children of the new man (Christ) through the seed of the living word. He declares us to be His sons, because Adam’s authority to name all things was transferred to Him. So we read in Eph. 3:15,

¹⁵ from [ek, “from, out of, by”] whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name.

In other words, the Father has the power to name all things, and this authority was given to Jesus Christ. Adam had abused this authority and brought death to all, so his authority to name and to pass down his fleshly identity did not end per se but was superseded by One greater, Jesus Christ, “the last Adam” (1 Cor. 15:45). Those begotten by the Spirit have a new Father, who gives us His own name.

Hence, as believers in Christ, we have been begotten by the Spirit and are henceforth new creatures. Our identity has been changed legally, for we are no longer sons of the old man of flesh but are now children of God. This is done by the same faith seen in Abraham, who believed and was “assured that what He had promised, He was able also to perform” (Rom. 4:21).

As children of Abraham by faith, we are each named as one of the stars of heaven, for Gen. 15:5, 6 says,

⁵ And He took him outside and said, “Now look toward the heavens, and count the stars, if you are able to count them” And He said to him, “So shall your descendants be.” ⁶ Then he believed in the Lord; and He reckoned it to him as righteousness.

As children of Abraham, we are among those stars, and thus He has given us new names different from that which our flesh was given at our natural birth. So Psalm 147:4 says,

⁴ He counts the number of the stars; He gives names to all of them.

So also Isaiah 62:2 prophesied, saying,

² And the nations will see your righteousness, and all kings your glory; and you will be called by a new name, which the mouth of the Lord will designate.

The prophet says in verse 4 that the old flesh nature was called Forsaken and Desolate, but the new nature will be called Hephzibah (“My delight is in her”) and Beulah (“married”). To rename is to give a new identity that differs from the name that Adam and his fleshly descendants have given to their children in each generation.

In Rev. 2:17 Christ tells the Church that He gives the overcomers “a new name written on the stone, which no one knows but he who receives it.” In other words, He gives them a new identity by the authority originally granted to Adam in the garden.

In Rev. 3:12 this concept is expanded,

¹² He who overcomes… I will write upon him the name of My God, and the name of the city of My God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God, and My new name.

We are not given the name of the earthly city, which is fleshly and is associated with the first Adam. Instead, we are given the name of the “new Jerusalem… and My new name.” That is, we are given the new name of Christ, because we are now His children and carry His family name and identity.

In Rev. 22:4 we are told that “His name shall be on their foreheads.” This is a biblical expression referring to us as His place of residence. In earlier times, His name was put upon the tabernacle at Shiloh, and later at Jerusalem (Jer. 7:12, 14).

God’s name and presence was seen departing from the temple in Jerusalem (Ezekiel 10:18), moving as far as the Mount of Olives (Ezekiel 11:23) until Christ ascended from that spot, taking the glory with Him back to heaven. The glory then returned to a new and living temple ten days later on the day of Pentecost.

From that day onward, His name ceased to be in temples made of wood and stone, for He has now moved to a better residence in a temple made of living stones (1 Pet. 2:5; Eph. 2:21, 22). Each living stone is a temple in itself (1 Cor. 3:16), and hence, He has written His name on our foreheads.

All of this is buried within the Hebrew word shamar, which was part of Adam’s responsibility “to keep” the garden. Adam ultimately failed through sin, but the Last Adam has succeeded in bringing righteousness to the earth. The authority to name has been transferred from Adam to Christ. The power of the old man of flesh has been broken and is being broken, as Abraham’s seed become as numerous as the stars of heaven, and as God calls them all by their new names. These new names establish their identity, purpose, calling, and destiny.

The Scope of the Divine Plan

When God told Abraham to look upward and count the stars—if he could do so—He was revealing the divine plan to restore all of creation to Himself. God intended to use Abraham to save untold billions of people—not just the paltry few that hear and believe during their short life span.

Those who lack the vision of the restoration of all things are again called to go outside on a clear night and look at the stars. Most are hidden from view, and so also most of those whom God will restore to Himself are presently hidden by the church’s narrow teaching of the afterlife.

Simply put, they do not believe that God is able to do as He has promised. In other words, they lack Abrahamic faith. Their faith is in the Old Covenant vows of well-intentioned men and women. If salvation itself is based upon the vows of men, then indeed, few (if any) could be saved, for only a few throughout earth-history have ever heard of Jesus.

But if God has the love necessary to vow to save all mankind, the wisdom to devise a plan that will succeed, and the power to carry out His plan, then we may have the same assurance that Abraham had, which was reckoned to him as righteousness.

Adam and Christ

The apostle Paul compares the two men, Adam and Christ, in Rom. 5:12-21 and again in 1 Cor. 15:44-49. Where Adam failed, Christ succeeded. That means these two men had the same overall calling, though in different contexts.

I believe that Gen. 1:2 suggests a prior civilization that failed for unknown reasons. As a result, “the earth became formless and void.” Adam was not part of that original creation but was formed as part of a new creation. His calling was to restore the earth back to the Creator.

The problem was that when he sinned, he essentially became part of the problem and lost the ability to fulfill his calling. Jesus then came as the Last Adam to succeed where Adam had failed. For this reason, Jesus came to put all things under His feet, and in speaking of the coming Kingdom, Paul says that Christ “must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet” (1 Cor. 15:25).

This encapsulates the entire plan in a few words. But in order to accomplish this purpose, Christ must first reign. The first week of creation (7,000 years) prepares us for that reign, after which time He claims the entire earth as His and exercises His rightful authority over all rebellious sinners, no longer allowing them the privilege of sin.

The Slow Progression of the Kingdom

This creation week has progressed slowly but steadily toward this goal. One might say that the plan truly began to be implemented when God called Abraham and tasked his children with the job of bringing the rest of creation into subjection to Christ.

Even this phase of the plan developed slowly, for it took centuries for the Israelites to grow into a kingdom. That kingdom was established at Mount Horeb under Moses, but it was formed under the authority of the vows of men, which we know as the Old Covenant (Exodus 19:8). Israel did not keep its vow, and ultimately that kingdom ended in failure.

Nonetheless, the King was born in Bethlehem and paid the penalty for the sin of the world by giving His life at the cross. He was raised from the dead and ascended to heaven to sit at the right hand of the Father until He could make His enemies His footstool (the place to rest His feet). It paints the picture of a man who has worked all day and finally is able to rest and enjoy the fruit of his labor.

The Two Works of Christ

The law prophesies of two works of Christ, pictured by the two doves in Lev. 14 and the two goats in Lev. 16. So nearly 2,000 years have again passed before we see the second work of Christ.

To understand the two works of Christ, one must have some knowledge of the feasts of the Lord and the fact that there are two sets of feast days each year. The first set includes Passover, Wave-sheaf, and Pentecost, all of which were fulfilled in His first work.

The second set includes Trumpets, Atonement, and Tabernacles, which prophesy of the coming resurrection, repentance, and manifestation of the sons of God. This will mark the start of a new era in which the first group of the sons of God will be raised or changed to immortality and incorruption (1 Cor. 15:51-53), so that the earth may progress into the next stage of the Kingdom.

Whereas the Kingdom has already been within our hearts and among us since the first coming of Christ (Luke 17:21), it must ultimately manifest (become visible) in a greater sense, so that the earth can be reclaimed as His Kingdom. The Kingdom includes all that He owns by right of creation, both heaven and earth (Gen. 1:1). But because it was “sold” on account of Adam’s sin-debt (Matt. 18:25), it all had to be reclaimed in a lawful manner. The law speaks of slaves laboring for six years (Exodus 21:2), and I believe this was prophetic of 6,000 years of Adamic history.

The time has now come for the slaves to be set free, for this appears to coincide with the second coming of Christ and the manifestation of the sons of God, who are the first to be set free on the highest level. Their ministry will begin a whole new era of world evangelism, because they will do “greater works” than even Jesus did (John 14:12).

Since Jesus already did His death work in His first coming, and the overcomers followed in His footsteps after Him, the second work of Christ will end that death work and bring forth a living work. This is set forth in the second dove and the second goat, both of which were not to be killed.

Therefore, the second work of Christ differs from His first work, and the work of the sons of God in the age to come will reflect this change as well. No longer will they be martyred in the likeness of Christ’s own martyrdom. They will live to manifest the presence of Christ in the earth, and a great host of people worldwide will come to know Him.

Kingdom Growth and Expansion

At the same time, the empires of men, which God had empowered since the fall of Jerusalem in 604 B.C., will find so many of their citizens turning to Christ that whole nations will elect to make Jesus Christ their King (Isaiah 2:2-4). In this way the “stone” (kingdom) will grow until it fills the whole earth (Dan. 2:35).

This growth may start out strong and extensive, but at some point it will reach a point of equilibrium, where the earth will be divided. The Kingdom of Light will rule much of the earth under Jesus Christ, while the “outer darkness” will prevail over the non-Kingdom nations. Hence, anyone in the Kingdom of Light that refuses to abide by the laws of the Kingdom could potentially be cast into outer darkness. (See Matt. 8:12; 22:13; 25:30.)

After a thousand years of Kingdom growth, there will still be nations outside the Kingdom of Light. Their time must end at the Great White Throne judgment, where God lays claim to the rest of the earth. So Satan will be released for a season to induce them to make war against Christ and His Kingdom (Rev. 20:7-9).

Christ is then given lawful cause to fight back and occupy their territory, subjecting their citizens to His rule by force. The rest of the unbelievers are thus claimed among the spoils of war and will be enslaved (subjected to the authority of believers in Christ) so that they may learn righteousness by the example of their Christ-like masters.

At that point, the end of the first week is complete, and the Kingdom will move into its final phase. All of the dead, small and great, will be summoned to the Great White Throne for judgment. Those who have believed in Jesus Christ in the past will be raised life and given immortality, while those who did not believe will be judged according to their works (John 5:28, 29).

The unbelievers will be subjected to the “fiery law” (Deut. 33:2 KJV). Because all sin is reckoned as a debt, and none of them will be able to pay their debt to the law, they will be “sold” to the overcomers. Believers will then be given authority and charged with the responsibility of teaching them righteousness. Isaiah 26:9 tells us,

⁹ … For when the earth experiences Thy judgments, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.

At the Great White Throne judgment, every knee will bow and every tongue will confess (lit. profess) Christ (Isaiah 45:23, 24; Phil. 2:10, 11). When the glory of God is manifested to them directly, who would not fall to their knees and confess Him? John asks the rhetorical question in Rev. 15:4,

⁴ Who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify Thy name? For thou alone art holy; for all the nations will come and worship before Thee, for Thy righteous acts have been revealed.

In other words, rather than being forced to bow against their will, Scripture says that all will bow and worship Him once His “righteous acts have been revealed” to them. Most of these will have never heard of Jesus during their lifetime, but once He reveals Himself to them, they will want to worship Him. They will be overwhelmed by His love and the wisdom of the divine plan from the beginning.

This will mark the start of that final Age of Judgment, whose purpose is to teach the bulk of humanity the ways of God and to instill faith in their hearts toward King Jesus. Hence, it will not be a painful experience as so many view the “lake of fire.” Although they will be “under the law,” sentenced to be bondservants of Jesus Christ, they will be happier than ever in their previous lifetime.

Thus, the purpose of God for Adam will be fulfilled in Christ, all things will be under His feet, and Eden will be expanded to include the whole earth.

The Book of Ruth Parts 9 and 10

THE BOOK OF RUTH, PARTS 9 and 10

THE BOOK OF RUTH, PART 9, NAOMI AND MARA

By Dr. Stephen Jones

Orpah returned not only to her own people but to “her gods” (Ruth 1:15), much as the Israelites had often wanted to return to the gods of Egypt. It is easier to take people out of Egypt than to take Egypt out of the people. So also today, it is easier to get people to recite the formula for salvation and to join the church than to truly walk with God and receive His promises.

Ruth, however, refused to leave Naomi, even after being given every opportunity to return, for she believed in the God of Israel and was strong in faith. So we read in Ruth 1:18,

¹⁸ When she [Naomi] saw that she [Ruth] was determined to go with her, she said no more to her.

In other words, Naomi accepted the fact that Ruth truly wanted to go with her to Bethlehem and adopt this new life in God. No doubt she had seen Naomi’s faith and way of life and understood it to be far superior to the way of life of idolatrous Moabites.

The Moabite Way of Life

We should also note an underlying motive that does not appear on the surface. The Moabites were among those who offered their first-born sons to Chemosh as a burnt offering. Their worship was similar to that of the Ammonites, who worshiped Molech.  John D. Davis tells us in his notation on Chemosh:

“Chemosh. The god of the Moabites (Num. xxi. 2; Jer. xlviii. 46; Moabites Stone 3), worshiped in the same manner as was Molech, by the sacrifice of children as burnt offerings (2 Kin. iii. 27). (A Dictionary of the Bible, p. 128)

The reference above to the Moabite Stone is taken from the third paragraph of this stone pillar, inscribed by “Mesha, son of Chemoshmelech, king of Moab.” It reads:

“And I have made this high place for Chemosh in Krhh on account of the deliverance of Mesha.”

Surely this horrible practice was something that every mother dreaded as an inevitable part of their culture. Ruth must have known that in Israel such sacrifice was not practiced except, perhaps, in times of apostasy. Because Ruth was childless and yet desired to be remarried and to have children, she must have known that by going with Naomi, she might yet have a son that would not be sacrificed upon the altar of Chemosh.

The Book of Ruth was written with the laws of Sonship in mind, and so the religious practice of the Moabites provides us with a contrasting backdrop to the account of Ruth’s son, Obed, who was the grandfather of David and the ancestor of Christ. Christ, the Son of God, was the only true and perfect sacrifice for sin. No other baby born after the flesh could qualify as an unspotted lamb. Furthermore, Christ’s death on the cross was to satisfy the demands of the “fiery law” (Deuteronomy 33:2 KJV), not by a literal fire, but by crucifixion.

All judgments of the law were represented by this metaphorical “fire,” including (as Jesus said) lashes from a whip (Luke 12:48, 49). Perhaps it is significant that the law that limits such judgment to forty lashes in Deuteronomy 25:1-3 is immediately followed by the law of Sonship in Deuteronomy 25:5-10, separated only by the law that forbids muzzling “the ox while he is threshing” (Deuteronomy 25:4). This is a labor law that ensures that the one doing the work is the first partaker of its fruits (2 Timothy 2:6 KJV).

In this particular context, it indicates that when Christ received forty lashes just prior to His crucifixion, we received the benefit of healing (Isaiah 53:5). Yet Christ Himself, being the “ox” in this case, was the first partaker of that fruit, being healed of the ultimate disease of death at His resurrection. He then led “many sons to glory” (Hebrews 2:10) according to the law of Sonship in Deuteronomy 25:5-10.

By linking these three laws in this way, Moses prophesied the order of events in the process of salvation. Yet in the story of Ruth these truths are only implied as part of the backdrop of the story. In her time, the worship of Chemosh was more well known than today, making it necessary now to explain the contrast between Moabite and Israelite worship.

Bethlehem

Ruth 1:19-21 continues,

¹⁹ So they both went until they came to Bethlehem. And it came about when they had come to Bethlehem, that all the city was stirred because of them, and the women said, “Is this Naomi?” ²⁰ And she said to them, “Do not call me Naomi; call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me.” ²¹ I went out full, but the Lord has brought me back empty. Why do you call me Naomi, since the Lord has witnessed against me and the Almighty has afflicted me?”

Recall that Bethlehem means “house of bread,” and that Naomi was returning to her hometown after a famine had driven her to Moab for a decade. Her experience in Moab had been sad, having lost her husband and two sons. Her family inheritance had been sold to others when they moved to Moab, and because she probably returned to Bethlehem with very little money, there was little she could do but wait for the year of Jubilee, when her property could return to her.

From Naomi to Mara

And so Naomi told her friends and relatives in Bethlehem that they should call her Mara, “bitter,” rather than Naomi, “grace, favor.” From all appearances, God had treated Naomi not with favor but with bitterness. Of course, we immediately recognize that this was prophetic of Mary, the mother of Jesus, who came to Bethlehem many years later, where she gave birth to the Son of God.

Mary’s Hebrew name was Miriam, a derivative of Mara. We are told little about Mary’s actual circumstance in being impregnated by the Holy Spirit, but we know that it disturbed Joseph greatly until he received revelation that she was yet a virgin (Matthew 1:20). She then hastily retreated to the hill country of Judah to stay with her cousin Elizabeth, who was pregnant with John (Luke 1:39).

Much is left unsaid, but her joy in bringing forth the Christ would always be overshadowed by the pain and bitterness caused by those who did not believe that she was really impregnated by the Holy Spirit. After all, the angel’s announcement was private, not public, and so it would always appear that she was just trying to defend herself by making up an implausible story.

Joseph himself was very disturbed. Matthew 1:20 says in the NASB, “But when he had considered this…” The word translated “considered” is enthymeomai, whose root is thymos, usually translated “wrath.” The word indicates that Joseph was very angry until the angel appeared to him in a dream and explained the truth of what had happened.

The entire experience put Mary herself in danger, for by law Joseph might have had the right to have her stoned. Being the victim in this case, Joseph had the right to prosecute her to the fullest extent or to forgive her. Such is the Law of Victims Rights. Joseph had decided to divorce her quietly, but the angelic appearance changed his mind in this regard. Instead, Mary went to her cousin’s house for a season and later accompanied Joseph to Bethlehem.

Nazareth was an outpost of zealous Jews, and if Joseph had left Mary there by herself, they might have mobbed the house and stoned her to death. Hence, God used “bitter” circumstances to bring Mary to Bethlehem, where she gave birth to Jesus.

Naomi was brought to Bethlehem in bitterness as well.

Mara is the feminine form of mar, which has a range of meaning and application. The word comes from the root word marar, which literally means “a drop; flowing down.” When applied to one’s feelings or emotions, it refers to bitterness or metaphorically to sadness for having been brought low. Such was the case with Naomi, who appeared to have lost everything, and we may assume that Mary, the mother of Jesus, felt much the same in her day.

Yet it was Ruth who later gave birth to the type of Christ—her son, Obed. Would not Ruth be a type of Mary? Why then does Naomi call herself Mara? As we will see later in our study, the law of Sonship meant that Ruth’s biological son, Obed, was legally the son (heir) of Naomi, for we read in Ruth 4:17,

¹⁷ And the neighbor women gave him a name, saying, “A son has been born to Naomi!”

So they named him Obed. He is the father of Jesse, the father of David.

Hence, both Ruth and Naomi were Mara, for the child belonged to both of them in different ways, according to the law. The neighbors named him Obed, “serving,” because his name refers to one who serves another. In this case Ruth had brought forth a son for Naomi and in that sense served Naomi, so that she, her husband, and dead sons would not lose their inheritance.

Returning at the Wave-sheaf offering

Ruth 1:22 says,

²² So Naomi returned, and with her Ruth the Moabitess, her daughter-in-law, who returned form the land of Moab. And they came to Bethlehem at the beginning [techillah, “beginning, opening, first”] of barley harvest.

By law the beginning of barley harvest was the day that the first-fruits of barley were waved before the Lord on the first Sunday after Passover. This signaled the opening of barley harvest, according to the law in Leviticus 23:10, 11, 14,

¹⁰ Speak to the sons of Israel, and say to them, “When you enter the land which I am going to give to you and reap its harvest, then you will bring in the sheaf of the first fruits of your harvest to the priest. ¹¹ And he will wave the sheaf before the Lord for you to be accepted; on the day after the Sabbath the priest will wave it ... ¹⁴ Until this same day, until you have brought in the offering of your God, you will eat neither bread nor roasted grain nor new growth. It is to be a perpetual statute throughout your generations in all your dwelling places.”

In other words, the people were not to eat any of the new growth of barley until the first-fruits had been offered to God. Hence, the wave-sheaf offering was called “the beginning of barley harvest.”

We know, then, the time of year that Naomi and Ruth arrived in Bethlehem. It was the same day that Christ was later to ascend (John 20:17) and be presented to the Father as the first-fruits from the dead (1 Corinthians 15:20). Though Jesus was raised “while it was still dark” (John 20:1), He could not ascend until the priest waved the sheaf of barley at the third hour of the day. Only then was His resurrection established by the proper legal procedure.

Though Naomi had suffered the loss of all things, her return on the day of the wave-sheaf offering signified her return to life, her resurrection, so to speak. She had “died” in bitterness (Mara), but she was raised to life in grace and favor (Naomi).

THE BOOK OF RUTH, PART 10, BOAZ

Naomi and Ruth arrived in Bethlehem on the day of the wave-sheaf offering of barley. Most of the men of the town, no doubt, had gone to Shiloh for the feast of Passover and would return later in the day or by the next day to begin harvesting their fields of barley.

The setting of the story shows the connection between Bethlehem, the place of the Messiah’s birth (Micah 5:2), and His ultimate resurrection and presentation to the Father in heaven as the first-born from the dead (Colossians 1:15). To Naomi, arriving in Bethlehem completed their trip to the Promised Land and represented the place and time of entering God’s Rest.

Earlier, the Israelites had been led across the Jordan into the plains of Jericho on the tenth day of the first month—the day that the Passover lambs were to be selected (Joshua 4:19; Exodus 12:3). The men were then circumcised (Joshua 5:3-8) and recovered during the three days leading to the Passover. They killed the lambs on the afternoon of the 14^th day of the month (Joshua 5:10).

Passover itself, being the 15^th day of the month, was a day of rest, and the people then ate “parched grain” (i.e., barley) the following day, which was the wave-sheaf offering (Leviticus 23:14). This shows a three-day cycle that was repeated in the year that Jesus was crucified and raised from the dead on the third day. Since the wave-sheaf offering was waved on the day after the weekly Sabbath (Leviticus 23:11), it always fell on the day that was later called Sunday. Hence, the lambs were killed on Friday and the parched grain of barley was eaten on Sunday.

Joshua 5:10-12 tells us,

¹⁰ While the sons of Israel camped at Gilgal, they observed the Passover on the evening of the fourteenth day of the month on the desert plains of Jericho. ¹¹ And on the day after the Passover [15^th day], on that very day, they ate some of the produce of the land, unleavened cakes and parched grain. ¹² And the manna ceased on the day after they had eaten some of the produce of the land [16^th day], so that the sons of Israel no longer had manna, but they ate some of the yield of the land of Canaan during that year.

In the prophetic story, Naomi here represents Joshua who led the Israelites (i.e., Ruth) into the Promised Land and to Bethlehem, the place of Naomi’s family inheritance (farm). There is a clear progression of events that parallel Israel’s entry into Canaan as well. After leaving Egypt, the Kingdom was established at Sinai; after 40 years the people entered the Kingdom; and seven years later the people inherited the Kingdom when the land was divided among the tribes and families.

So also Naomi’s “kingdom” (family) was established in the wilderness.  Then Ruth (now an Israelite) entered the Kingdom at Passover—perhaps crossing the Jordan on the 14^th day of the first month. They arrived at their inheritance on the day of the wave-sheaf offering.

It is likely that the day of decision, when Orpah returned and Ruth decided to go with Naomi, occurred on the Moabite side of the Jordan River. Ruth then became an Israelite when she stated by faith, “Your people will be my people, and your God, my God” (Ruth 1:16). I stress this because some would teach that to become a Jew one must marry a circumcised Jew in order to have a genealogical connection to Judah and Abraham. Paul, however, makes it a matter of heart circumcision in Romans 2:28, 29.

Ruth the Israelite of Judah

Israel was originally one man (Jacob), who became an Israelite when he was about 98 years of age. He was not born an Israelite but attained that name or status after becoming an overcomer. His family were called Israelites, including their wives who were taken from other nations. After some centuries had passed, especially after a multitude of Egyptians joined them in coming out of Egypt (Exodus 12:48, 49; 12:38) Israel was a nation, not a race per se.

Isaiah 56:6, 7, 8 interprets this by prophetic decree, making provision for foreigners to become Israelites as well—not by genealogy but by nationality. To restrict the definition of an Israelite to the family of Jacob-Israel is to view the term too narrowly.

Essentially, Ruth became an Israelite—more specifically a Jew (tribe of Judah)—by heart circumcision at the time that the Israelites under Joshua had been physically circumcised. This occurred before her marriage to Boaz, and God gave her “praise” for her faith by memorializing her in the Book of Ruth. Judah means “praise,” and Paul uses this in Romans 2:29 to show that being a member of the tribe of Judah was a matter of God’s recognition, rather than depending on the recognition of men. He tells us that “his praise is not from men, but from God.”

In other words, one’s status or position as a Jew (“praise”) is based on faith and heart circumcision, not works or physical circumcision. Men’s definition of a Jew is not the same as God’s definition. Many claim to be Jews who are not really Jews at all by God’s definition, because they yet adhere to the Old Covenant and its sign of physical circumcision. But such are not recognized by God as “Jews,” nor do they receive “praise” from God.

These are the ones John mentions in Revelation 2:9 and 3:9, when speaks of “those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan.” Satan means adversary. In this case, by rejecting the Messiah, they became God’s adversaries and ought to repent of their hostility to God, as demanded by the Law of Tribulation (Leviticus 26:40, 41, 42). Only by repenting of their hostility to God and by placing their faith in Jesus Christ, the Mediator of the New Covenant, can they become Jews in the sight of God.

A major theme of the story of Ruth is about how to become a Jew. When viewed in light of the New Covenant, where “there is neither Jew nor Greek” (Galatians 3:28), God’s intent to include everyone in His Kingdom and give them equality is made clear. So Ruth, the Moabite (Ruth 1:4) was able to become an Israelite, and God was not ashamed to include her in the genealogy of Christ. Neither was Boaz reluctant to show her kindness, though she was “a foreigner” (Ruth 2:10). Neither was he ashamed to take her as his wife (Ruth 4:13).

Boaz the Kinsman Redeemer

Ruth 2:1 says,

¹ Now Naomi had a kinsman [mowda] of her husband, a man of great wealth, of the family of Elimelech, whose name was Boaz.

Boaz was Naomi’s “kinsman.” The Hebrew word is mowda, derived from the root word yada, “to know.” A kinsman, in Hebrew thought, is one who is known to you, as in a family member. The root word yada is spelled with three letters, yod (hand), daleth (door), and ayin (eye). It is also the root word from which Judah is derived.

We can view yada as seeing a hand opening a door, or as seeing hands raised in praise (“Judah”), which opens a door to heaven.

There is also the specific authority and responsibility of a kinsman redeemer, often translated “avenger of blood” (Deuteronomy 19:12). Such translations come from an Old Covenant mindset, however, causing men to justify revenge. In fact, the blood avenger was the one responsible to seek justice for family members in order to restore the lawful order when some injustice had been committed.

The blood avenger was not allowed to take justice into his own hands but was to be the family advocate in a biblical court of law to give justice to those whose rights had been violated and to restore peace between the victim and the sinner. The word translated “avenger” is ga’al, “redeemer,” and it is so translated in Ruth 4:14 in reference to Boaz.

Hence, this is more literally rendered “bloodline redeemer,” or, better yet, “kinsman redeemer,” a term most Christians understand and apply to Jesus Christ.

So we see that Ruth 2:1 calls Boaz a “kinsman,” and Ruth 4:14 calls him a “redeemer.” He was both—hence, a kinsman redeemer. As such, he fulfilled a prophetic role of Christ Himself, but in the story of Ruth, Boaz redeemed the inheritance of Naomi through the principle of the law of Sonship in Deuteronomy 25:5-10.

The Meaning of Boaz

Scholars are uncertain as to the precise origin of the name Boaz, telling us that the name is derived from an unused root of uncertain meaning. The name means “fleetness, quickness, the strength of a sharp mind.” As such, it fits well with yada, “kinsman,” which has to do with knowing or having knowledge. Perhaps the picture being painted here is a man of intelligence and knowledge of the law, and (by implication) one who was careful to act lawfully at all times.

Boaz’ prophetic position as a kinsman redeemer is more significant when we link it to the pillar on the left side of the entrance of Solomon’s temple. The two pillars were Jachin and Boaz (1 Kings 7:21). Jachin (Yachiyn) means “He will establish.” The root word kuwn, sets forth the idea of stability and firmness. In Genesis 46:10, Jachin was one of the sons of Simeon (“hearing”), which suggests that hearing God’s voice provides a double witness which establishes all things.

Putting these together, we see that to enter the temple of God (as a priest), one must be part of the body of Christ, having the authority and doing the work of the kinsman redeemer. One must hear God’s voice and establish the will of God in the earth through the proper application of justice and mercy.

By implication, Boaz was such a man. He thus represents what it means to be an overcomer, as we read in Revelation 3:12, “He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God.” This is a reference to the two pillars at the entrance of the temple, as I have said. This is the culmination of the message to the Church in Philadelphia, the “City of Brotherly Love.” The key to making this connection is found in Revelation 3:7,

⁷ And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia, write: “He who is holy, who is true, who has the key of David, who opens and no man will shut, and who shuts and no one opens, says this:”

This interprets the meaning of Jachin and Boaz, the pillars of the temple, in terms of one holding “the key of David.” The pillars in the New Temple being built are overcomers who guard the entrance and have the authority to determine who is allowed to enter and who is forbidden. They hold the key of David, which is Love.

This is also a reference to Isaiah 22:22, where we read that Eliakim replaced Shebna as the Chief of Staff of David’s house and the treasurer of Solomon’s temple:

²² Then I will set the key [maftaakh] of the house of David on his shoulder; when he opens, no one will shut, when he shuts, no one will open.

The implication is that Shebna was not an overcomer, so he was not qualified to hold the key of David. Christ Himself holds the key in the ultimate sense, but the overcomers who are part of His body, are also given responsible positions under His authority. Revelation 3:8 goes on,

⁸ I know your deeds. Behold, I have put before you an open door which no one can shut, because you have a little power, and have kept My word, and have not denied My name.

Such worthy “pillars” in the temple are those who keep his word and do not deny His name. Apparently, Shebna did not keep His word and thus denied God’s name. We know little about that story, but both Shebna and Eliakim were officials in the time of Hezekiah (2 Kings 18:18). As I wrote in The Revelation, Book 2, it appears most likely that Shebna had falsely accused Eliakim of some misdeeds, thereby succeeding in overthrowing Eliakim for a season. When the truth came out later, Shebna was exiled and Eliakim was summoned and restored to his position (Isaiah 22:20, 21).

John then links this story in Revelation 3:9 to “those of the synagogue of Satan, who say that they are Jews, and are not, but lie.” The implication is that these false Jews are like Shebna, who was deposed after attempting to usurp the authority of Christ and the overcomers. The key of David is Love, and that key is then given to the overcomers who manifest the nature of God.

Boaz himself represents both Christ and the overcomers in general in the story of Ruth. He represents one who knows and therefore keeps the word (law) of God according to His intent. As we will see as the story unfolds, Boaz was motivated by love for Ruth. He also implemented the law of Sonship, whereby he was willing to raise up seed on behalf of his near kinsman, Elimelech, who had lost his sons in Moab.

As we will see later, the purpose of the law, given in Deuteronomy 25:6, was to prevent the loss of a brother’s inheritance. It says, “that his name may not be blotted out from Israel.” Those who refuse to do this on behalf of Jesus Christ, our elder Brother who died childless, are those who deny His name (Revelation 3:8).