Man, because of the fall, has many problems. The various sacrifices, the day of atonement, the pictures gleaned from the Tabernacle and Israel's journey from Egypt to Canaan all show solutions by God to man's many and varied problems. But man's TWO MAIN problems are:
- His POSITION before God. That is, what is man's standing when ushered into the presence of the Almighty
- His DISPOSITION before God. That is, how does he react to commands by the Almighty
Aaron is a good example. He is;
- The High Priest who must, once a year, enter the presence of the Almighty. This was a singularly dangerous exercise that needed minute attention to detail in washings, and clothing and blood-letting. If any other man, Levite or not, tried this, he would be killed instantly. Here, man deals with Gods holiness, and in all things man is unworthy unto death
- A man under Law. In his everyday life he is, like all other Israelites, subject to the 620 odd Laws that make up the Covenant of Sinai. God waits to see what Aaron will do and what he will decide. If he breaks certain of these Laws, he can restore the damage and sacrifice to cover his sins. Breaking other Laws meant his death. David was "DISPOSED" to keep God's Commandments, Saul not.
In the first problem, that of man's POSITION before the Almighty, the Law cannot justify him. There is nothing on the face of the earth that man can do to be justified to survive the presence of God. So Romans 3:20 says;
"Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin."
In the second problem, REWARD and LOSS are set before the man. If he keeps the Law of Moses he is judged as "justified". Examples;
- 2nd Chronicles 6:23; "Then hear thou from heaven, and do, and judge thy servants, by requiting the wicked, by recompensing his way upon his own head; and by justifying the righteous, by giving him according to his righteousness".
- Matthew 12:37; "For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned."
- Romans 2:13; "(For not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified."
The matter of occupying the Land of Canaan is NOT a matter of POSITION before God. It is a matter of keeping the Law (Deut.5:33, etc.). In Deuteronomy 30:1-5 God sets forth a condition, NOT for ushering men into His holy presence, but for a nation to be restored to their Land. POSITIONALLY they are PROFANE - as they always were since the night of the Passover in Egypt. But DISPOSITIONALLY they have had a change of heart concerning the Law of Moses. This allows God to reverse the reason why they were ejected from the Land.
It is about the Land - not salvation from the Lake of Fire.
Because Israel has largely been ignored, and the great battle of the Reformation was "justification by WORKS" versus "justification by FAITH", we tend to be fixated on the latter. It is true that the BELIEVER'S POSITION is made by Christ's work. His work caused God to tear the Veil of the Temple and make a path for man to stand before God without being killed. But this same man has to walk before God in OBEDIENCE in his everyday life. Israel, because they did not believe, are POSITIONALLY still offside. So in the Millennium they serve the Temple to make sure nothing profane enters and defiles Emmanuel's holiness. But because of his new DISPOSITION towards the Law, he is restored to his Land amid multiple blessings.
Hope this helps.
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