(2011) At long last we begin our study of Christ s Kingdom on earth SLIDE 20-12 All preparations have been made, the citizens of the kingdom are present and ready to enter into their inheritance We noted last week that the Kingdom will consist of a variety of peoples, including a nation of Israel and other nations of the Earth While some citizens will be glorified in incorruptible bodies, no longer marrying, others enter in with the natural bodies This difference leads to some interesting questions, most of which we will address next week But we still have plenty to consider tonight SLIDE 20-13 The topic of the kingdom of Christ on earth brings with it a degree of controversy between certain denominational and doctrinal camps that war over concepts rather than following Scripture In keeping with my usual practice, I will not attempt to catalog all the various ways Christians has misinterpreted the Bible s teaching on the Kingdom As the well-known analogy goes, we don t teach bank tellers how to recognize counterfeit currency by studying counterfeits We learn to recognize counterfeits by studying the real thing Similarly, you ll learn to recognize the flaws in counterfeit views of the kingdom by studying what the Bible actually says about the Kingdom So tonight will be the first of two nights devoted to the nature and times of the Kingdom as provided in Scripture And since this is a study of the book of Revelation, we ll start by studying all that the book of Revelation teaches us concerning the Kingdom May be copied and distributed provided the document is reproduced in its entirety, including this copyright statement, and no fee is collected for its distribution.
2! of! 19 Rev. 20:6 Blessed and holy is the one who has a part in the first resurrection; over these the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with Him for a thousand years. Rev. 20:7 When the thousand years are completed, Satan will be released from his prison, SLIDE 20-14 These two verses constitute everything the book of Revelation has to tells us concerning the 1,000 years of the Lord s kingdom In point of fact, my last statement is not entirely correct, because if we look carefully at these verses, we discover that they don t tell us anything about the kingdom In v.6 we learn what happens before the kingdom begins And in v.7 we learn what happens after the kingdom ends The reality is Revelation tells us nothing about what happens during the 1,000 years of the kingdom The entire kingdom takes place between vs.6-7 insofar as the book of Revelation is concerned Does this mean that we have no hope to understand the nature and times of those thousand years? Not at all, because the Bible is literally filled with details concerning the kingdom on earth The kingdom is describes in the Torah, it s a major theme of the OT prophets and psalms, and it appears frequently in Jesus teaching So clearly, we must venture outside the book of Revelation for the next two nights to examine the life and times of the Kingdom SLIDE 20-15 Let s begin our examination of the Kingdom by reflecting on what the term kingdom has come to mean to Christians For many Christians (particularly those who lack significant exposure to the Bible s descriptions of the Kingdom), the notion of Christ s kingdom usually takes the form of clouds, harps and bright lights...stereotypes, in other words SLIDE 20-16 In fact, the term kingdom may be synonymous with the world heaven for most Christians
3! of! 19 In one sense, this confusion is understandable, since the term heaven in Scripture is less a description of a certain place than it is a description of the company we keep Biblically speaking, we enter heaven when we enter the Lord s presence At the present time, the Lord resides in the throne room of God, seated at the right hand of the Father, according to Luke 22:69 and Col 3:1 So if we were to die today, we are welcomed into Christ s presence, which is heaven When Jesus returns to Earth as we witnessed in chapter 19, heaven moves with Him Therefore, we must accompany Him to Earth And for the duration of the 1,000 years, we live on Earth with Christ, and this is our heaven So even though Heaven may begin as a trip through the clouds into the Throne Room of God, it doesn t end there We should look forward to a very real, very tangible earthly existence in sinless bodies experiencing a life far better than anything we have known so far This is the true meaning of Jesus statement in John 10:10 that He came to give us life abundantly Ironically, some Christians understand that verse in a backward sense o o The think Jesus meant He will give us abundant life on Earth today and eternal life in Heaven later In reality, Jesus is saying He gives us the blessing of eternal life now and the promise of abundant life living on Earth in the kingdom to come Since the word Kingdom is often misunderstood, what does the Bible mean when it uses the term Kingdom? SLIDE 20-17 The Old Testament speaks of the coming kingdom using a variety of terms, and descriptions and pictures or shadows We can find these references literally from Genesis to Malachi
4! of! 19 But across all these references, one consistent picture emerges: the kingdom is a literal place that will arrive on earth one day in the future The OT mentions of the kingdom are exclusively focused on Israel and on God s promises to grant Abraham and his descendants a literal realm on earth If we were to look at the details of the covenants granted to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, we would find a literal description of a grant of land in and around Israel as their inheritance The fulfillment of these promises can only be understood as a future literal kingdom More over, the kingdom promises center around Israel s Messiah reigning on Earth, from Jerusalem and over Gentile nations Again, the descriptions of this time found int he prophets and in the psalms particularly lead us to a literal interpretation of Christ ruling a kingdom on Earth The Old Testament has the distinction of being virtually the only place where we can learn the life and times of the kingdom The prophets reveal many details about life in that time While the New Testament offers very little detail Moving to the New Testament, the kingdom references change slightly SLIDE 20-18 Discussions of the kingdom were tremendously important to Jesus There are 160 mentions of the kingdom in the NT and 125 are found in the Gospels Jesus talking of entering the kingdom, living in the kingdom, ruling in the kingdom, and having an inheritance in the kingdom Paul also taught that we would receive our inheritance in the kingdom when Christ returns But the only new piece of information concerning the nature of that kingdom comes in Revelation 20 The length of this kingdom will be 1,000 years
5! of! 19 The OT prophets understood the kingdom would last for an age, but they had no idea how long it would last If we were to look at every one of the 160 mentions of the kingdom found in the New Testament, we would quickly find they fit into four different groups These groups represent four different uses of the term kingdom The groups are complimentary, but they follow a certain order And this order reflects the progression of the concept of God s kingdom in Scripture overall First, the term kingdom was used in Scripture as a promise SLIDE 20-19 Secondly, it described an offer Third, it was the name of a program of God Finally, it describes a literal place Let s look at each of these groups with a few Scripture examples to illustrate the point SLIDE 20-20 The kingdom was first given as a promise in the OT to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and to their descendants in the nation of Israel The patriarchs understood that they would receive the promised inheritance in a kingdom to come Hebrews tells us in chapter 11 that this faith is why they chose to live as nomads wandering in Israel during their earthly lives This style of life was self-imposed to witness to the world that they didn t expect to receive their inheritance in the land until a future day in the kingdom So the mention of kingdom in the OT is as a promise of God s blessing to come in eternity In the NT, we see this concept reflected in numerous verses, including Matt 8:11; Mark 11:10; Luke 1:33; Mark 15:43 When the Messiah came to Israel, He came preaching of a kingdom in their midst...this is the second use of the term: an offer SLIDE 20-21 Jesus was offering the kingdom to Israel just as God promised to do
6! of! 19 Had the nation embraced Jesus as Messiah, then God would have been obligated to forgive Israel for their sins and establish His literal kingdom on earth in that day But God s plan was to pass over Israel until the nation had paid its debt under the Old Covenant, as we studied earlier As Jesus Himself said in quoting Isaiah Matt. 13:14 In their case the prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled, which says, YOU WILL KEEP ON HEARING, BUT WILL NOT UNDERSTAND; YOU WILL KEEP ON SEEING, BUT WILL NOT PERCEIVE; Matt. 13:15 FOR THE HEART OF THIS PEOPLE HAS BECOME DULL, WITH THEIR EARS THEY SCARCELY HEAR, AND THEY HAVE CLOSED THEIR EYES, OTHERWISE THEY WOULD SEE WITH THEIR EYES, HEAR WITH THEIR EARS, AND UNDERSTAND WITH THEIR HEART AND RETURN, AND I WOULD HEAL THEM. So when Jesus came with an offer of the Kingdom, Israel responded in their flesh, which naturally rejected the offer of the Kingdom NT verses reflecting the kingdom as an offer include Luke 4:43; Mark 1:15; Matt 10:7; Matt 12:28; Matt 21:43; Matt 23:13 Since the Jews rejected the Kingdom, the kingdom was not set up on earth at that time SLIDE 20-22 Jesus departed and returned to the Father, while the Kingdom began to take shape in a new, mysterious way The kingdom did not arrive as a literal place on earth, so it became a program of preaching and spirit living for those who do believe The kingdom is built through a body of Christ created by the Spirit in the hearts of men It grows and fills the earth among the Gentiles, while only incorporating a small remnant of Israel This kingdom program will continue until such time that God is ready to return His attention to Israel in Tribulation, as we studied
7! of! 19 As we might expect, many NT scripture address the concept of the kingdom as a program in light of Israel s rejection Examples include Matt 5:3; Matt 5:20; Luke 12:31; Mark 10:15; Luke 17:21 As you probably know, some Christians have adopted a view of eschatology that sees the kingdom of God as only a program This viewpoint denies a literal, physical kingdom will ever arrive on Earth with Christ ruling in Jerusalem They see all post-christ references to kingdom as limited to the work of the Spirit in the hearts of the Church saints building a kingdom of priests on earth But scripture teaches that the kingdom will be a place, a literal, 1,000-year kingdom when Christ reigns SLIDE 20-23 The kingdom will be for the glory of Israel among Gentile nations of the earth It will be overseen by a resurrected Christ physically living on earth And this period of time offers a fulfillment to the promises God made to the patriarchs in His covenants Scripture references that require a literal physical kingdom to follow the program of the church include Matt 20:21; Matt 6:10; Matt 13:41; Mark 14:25; Luke 1:33; Luke 13:28 So let s study the life and times of this place to come (soon we hope) We could talk for weeks (literally) about all that the Bible teaches concerning the kingdom Perhaps one day we ll do a short study on just that topic But for purposes of studying Revelation, it s sufficient to hit a handful of major topic areas and sample Scripture The topics we ll explore will be the geography, the creative order, the government, daily life and religious practice SLIDE 20-24 Tonight we ll look at the first three while next week we ll study the final two and the conclusion of the kingdom in chapter 20
8! of! 19 We ve already established that during the 75-day interval period, the Lord will renovate the heavens and earth to accommodate the life of the kingdom We don t have many details concerning exactly what the earth and seas look like after the restoration, but one thing is sure The world of the kingdom can t be less of a place to enjoy than the world we know now The beauty and suitability of the kingdom earth can t be less than the world we have today So whatever changes God may make in the process of preparing the earth as our home, they must not only correct all the damage, but they must result in a stunning, beautiful, awe-inspiring world More importantly, God establishes new borders for Israel, while eliminating the historical enemies of Israel that surrounded her First, let s consider Israel historical reach in terms of borders SLIDE 20-25 Today, Israel occupies a relatively small slice of land against the Mediterranean Sea Lebanon is on the north, Egypt on the south and Jordan and Syria on the East The nation occupies a small fraction of what it once had At the height of the kingdom under Solomon, Israel was the dominant kingdom on earth SLIDE 20-26 At its zenith, Israel reached well north into Syria, including all of Lebanon It included the land east of the Jordan And it stretched southward into Egypt and southern Jordan Israel has never since controlled so much territory We might expect that God would give Israel a grant of land similar to the land they held under David and Solomon But that s not the half of it, literally Let s look back at the land God promised to Abraham and his descendants in His covenant SLIDE 20-27
9! of! 19 Gen. 15:18 On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, To your descendants I have given this land, From the river of Egypt as far as the great river, the river Euphrates: God gives the borders as from the river of Egypt to the river Euphrates The river of Egypt is at the historic border of Israel in Egypt on the Sinai peninsula And of course the Euphrates river is in Iraq Later when Israel moved into the Promised Land under Joshua, the Lord reiterated the borders of the land He was delivering to Israel according His promises Josh. 1:2 Moses My servant is dead; now therefore arise, cross this Jordan, you and all this people, to the land which I am giving to them, to the sons of Israel. Josh. 1:3 Every place on which the sole of your foot treads, I have given it to you, just as I spoke to Moses. Josh. 1:4 From the wilderness and this Lebanon, even as far as the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and as far as the Great Sea toward the setting of the sun will be your territory. SLIDE 20-28 Here the Lord elaborates on His grant of land He gave the land from the wilderness to Lebanon And from the great river Euphrates to the Great Sea SLIDE 20-29 These descriptions extend far beyond the traditional borders of Israel These are the borders God has promised will be Israel in the day He fulfills His promises to Abraham Isaac and Jacob and to Israel If we plot these geographical markers, we arrive at a much different Israel than anything we have ever known Israel will occupy a far larger area of land More importantly, God s promises for Israel to rule over their captors is fulfilled by these borders Israel will consume all the nations that historically persecuted her in this region: Moad, Ammon, Edom, Egypt, Assyria, Babylon and others
10! of! 19 As God promised in numerous places, including Is. 14:1 When the LORD will have compassion on Jacob and again choose Israel, and settle them in their own land, then strangers will join them and attach themselves to the house of Jacob. Is. 14:2 The peoples will take them along and bring them to their place, and the house of Israel will possess them as an inheritance in the land of the LORD as male servants and female servants; and they will take their captors captive and will rule over their oppressors. Is. 54:3 For you will spread abroad to the right and to the left. And your descendants will possess nations And will resettle the desolate cities. We ll touch upon geography again briefly next week when we examine religious practices, but for now we re ready to move on Next, we ll examine changes in the order of Creation itself Is. 11:6 And the wolf will dwell with the lamb, And the leopard will lie down with the young goat, And the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; And a little boy will lead them. Is. 11:7 Also the cow and the bear will graze, Their young will lie down together, And the lion will eat straw like the ox. Is. 11:8 The nursing child will play by the hole of the cobra, And the weaned child will put his hand on the viper s den. Is. 11:9 They will not hurt or destroy in all My holy mountain, For the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD As the waters cover the sea. SLIDE 20-30 SLIDE 20-31 One of the first comforting things we learn about the created order of the Kingdom is that animals exist in this time as well Do pets go to heaven? Well, your pets might be there, but mine won t My pets will be spending eternity in another place In all seriousness, the animal kingdom will be represented in the kingdom But according to Isaiah 11, the nature of the animal kingdom is changed
11! of 19! Predators like wolves, leopards and lions will live peacefully next to prey like lambs, goats and calves Apparently, the predator-prey relationship no longer exists There are no longer the hunter and the hunted Even more stunning, these large dangerous animals will pose no threat to people In fact, even a young boy will be able to lead them This means all animals can be domesticated Today, many wild animals simply can t be domesticated because they are unpredictable and may revert to their wild instincts without warning SLIDE 20-31 o We could say the same thing about many husbands But in this day, all animals will conform to the will of man Man once again has dominion over the animal kingdom Furthermore, the cobra poses no risk to a small child Animals will show no fear of men And without reason to fear men, these animals will cease attacking men with lethal defense mechanisms Taken together, these changes represent a return to the way of animals prior to the flood of Noah Gen. 9:1 And God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth. Gen. 9:2 The fear of you and the terror of you will be on every beast of the earth and on every bird of the sky; with everything that creeps on the ground, and all the fish of the sea, into your hand they are given. Gen. 9:3 Every moving thing that is alive shall be food for you; I give all to you, as I gave the green plant. SLIDE 20-32 At the point of the flood, God open the door for Noah and later generations to eat animals for food
12! of! 19 But to event the odds, God gave animals an instinctive fear of men to help them survive man s pursuit Prior to that point, animals didn t fear or attack men and men didn t hunt animals Here we see God beginning to restore creation back to a point where it began God has restored the animals kingdom on earth to a state similar to the days prior to the flood One thing hasn t changed though: the curse on Satan and the serpent will continue throughout the Kingdom period Is. 65:25 The wolf and the lamb will graze together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox; and dust will be the serpent s food. They will do no evil or harm in all My holy mountain, says the LORD. Gen. 3:14 The LORD God said to the serpent, Because you have done this, Cursed are you more than all cattle, And more than every beast of the field; On your belly you will go, And dust you will eat All the days of your life; SLIDE 20-33 Notice that dust remains the serpent s food God cursed the serpent in the Garden and required that the snake forever spend its existence on its belly A curse in Scripture is a one-way pronouncement that can t be changed So this condition will continue for the snake in the kingdom just as God stipulated in Genesis 3:14 This is a reminder that God s judgments for the serpent and Satan himself will not be forgotten and must be fulfilled eventually In fact, the entire creation must undergo an eventual restoration to correct for the fall in the Garden
13! of! 19 When Adam sinned, he set off a chain reaction that resulted in the ruin of all creation SLIDE 20-34 First, Adam s spirit died Then God cursed the ground which brought physical death to Adam, since his body was made from the ground Along with Adam s body, the curse also brought the entire physical earth under condemnation So as God works to restore all things through Christ, He begins where the problem started: in the heart of man By faith we are born again in a new spirit and the first step of restoration is accomplished Next, God will replace our dying bodies with a new bodies Third, God will replace the dying and corrupt earth Here we see part of that third step taking place But it won t be complete until after the 1,000 kingdom is complete We ll touch upon the changes in created order again briefly next week when we examine daily life, but for now we re ready to move on to the final part for tonight We re told this concerning Christ s rule in the kingdom Is. 9:6 For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. Is. 9:7 There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace, On the throne of David and over his kingdom, To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness From then on and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will accomplish this. SLIDE 20-35 SLIDE 20-36 The kingdom is a place that has a government, one that Christ rules The kingdom of God is first and foremost a place of ruling, where Christ is able to demonstrate God s perfection and power to rule over men
14! of! 19 Is. 11:4 But with righteousness He will judge the poor, And decide with fairness for the afflicted of the earth; And He will strike the earth with the rod of His mouth, And with the breath of His lips He will slay the wicked. The very existence of government implies the world has a source of injustice and strife and disagreement Clearly, sin must exist in the kingdom in order for Christ to have something to rule The Gentile believers who entered after the Tribulation are the source for that sin, and they and their descendants will populate a world that Christ will rule over So let s try to chart the government of Christ as the Bible presents it to us Starting at the top with Christ Himself Mic. 4:1 And it will come about in the last days That the mountain of the house of the LORD Will be established as the chief of the mountains. It will be raised above the hills, And the peoples will stream to it. Mic. 4:2 Many nations will come and say, Come and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD And to the house of the God of Jacob, That He may teach us about His ways And that we may walk in His paths. For from Zion will go forth the law, Even the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. Mic. 4:3 And He will judge between many peoples And render decisions for mighty, distant nations. Then they will hammer their swords into plowshares And their spears into pruning hooks; Nation will not lift up sword against nation, And never again will they train for war. SLIDE 20-37 Jesus rules the world and sits in the house of Jacob in Jerusalem All the nations come to Jesus for His rulings and judgments
15! of! 19 He renders His decisions for the nations, including nations from far away He is the President, Congress and Supreme Court all in one Because Jesus rule is so perfect and He can enforce His judgments without challenge, there is no war War is essentially the violent attempt to compel another to accept your will No violence will be necessary because God s will will reign But the world is a big place, and there is a lot to rule over, so Christ enlists others in His government First, we ll consider the Jewish nation The nation has seen kings rule over them in the past, and their most famous king will return to rule them as their prince Jer. 30:9 But they shall serve the LORD their God and David their king, whom I will raise up for them. Ezek. 34:23 Then I will set over them one shepherd, My servant David, and he will feed them; he will feed them himself and be their shepherd. Ezek. 34:24 And I, the LORD, will be their God, and My servant David will be prince among them; I the LORD have spoken. Just as we expect to be resurrected, so will David too...and he gets his old job back But he is called prince since Christ is king Under David we find the twelve tribes of Israel and they have rulers over them Matt. 19:28 And Jesus said to them, Truly I say to you, that you who have followed Me, in the regeneration when the Son of Man will sit on His glorious throne, you also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. The twelve apostles will rule over the tribes of Israel as Jesus promised And then the tribes of Israel will exist in their land and have additional rules over them
16! of! 19 We can assume that these additional rulers will be other great OT saints rewarded with positions of honor in recognition for their faith All these will live in Israel with Jesus Moving to the Gentiles, we find a little less detail, though we can learn a few things First, the Gentile nations are spread around the world and will have need of government representation too And you and I will fill that need: the church saints will rule them We saw this already in Revelation 20, when we heard that the church saints will rule with Christ When we remember Jesus teaching the parables that emphasize He will reward those who are faithful with a little with the opportunity to be faithful with much more It seems that opportunity is explained as the right to rule over more of the kingdom We may say we don t want to be a part of management now, but in the kingdom, it s a good thing Finally, we need to understand that all nations are not created equal in this age Israel will be the highest nation on the earth and all other nations will serve Israel Is. 14:1 When the LORD will have compassion on Jacob and again choose Israel, and settle them in their own land, then strangers will join them and attach themselves to the house of Jacob. Is. 14:2 The peoples will take them along and bring them to their place, and the house of Israel will possess them as an inheritance in the land of the LORD as male servants and female servants; and they will take their captors captive and will rule over their oppressors. Deut. 28:1 Now it shall be, if you diligently obey the LORD your God, being careful to do all His commandments which I command you today, the LORD your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth. The Gentiles will serve Israel and the Lord will set Israel above all other nations in honor and position
17! of! 19 This is a complete reversal of Israel s historical position ever since the Lord began to discipline the nation for their sin Now they receive their blessings under God s promises It s worth a moment to remember how Israel arrived at this point of glory They were created as a nation by God through Abraham, received promises, and entered into a national covenant to ensure God s blessings They violated the Old Covenant and so they spent many long years as a people under GOd s judgment They were dispersed and then suffered great losses Ultimately they endured the Tribulation where God brought them to their end In the end, they came to faith and received their Messiah He saved them, and brought them into the promised blessings of the covenant in sinless bodies capable of obeying God s law perfectly And He made them the chief nation on the Earth Did you know that Moses gave Israel this story in advance while they were still at the mountain? It s in Deuteronomy 30 Deut. 30:1 So it shall be when all of these things have come upon you, the blessing and the curse which I have set before you, and you call them to mind in all nations where the LORD your God has banished you, Deut. 30:2 and you return to the LORD your God and obey Him with all your heart and soul according to all that I command you today, you and your sons, Deut. 30:3 then the LORD your God will restore you from captivity, and have compassion on you, and will gather you again from all the peoples where the LORD your God has scattered you. Deut. 30:4 If your outcasts are at the ends of the earth, from there the LORD your God will gather you, and from there He will bring you back. Deut. 30:5 The LORD your God will bring you into the land which your fathers possessed, and you shall possess it; and He will prosper you and multiply you more than your fathers. Deut. 30:6 Moreover the LORD your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your descendants, to love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, so that you may live.
18! of! 19 Deut. 30:7 The LORD your God will inflict all these curses on your enemies and on those who hate you, who persecuted you. Deut. 30:8 And you shall again obey the LORD, and observe all His commandments which I command you today. Deut. 30:9 Then the LORD your God will prosper you abundantly in all the work of your hand, in the offspring of your body and in the offspring of your cattle and in the produce of your ground, for the LORD will again rejoice over you for good, just as He rejoiced over your fathers; Deut. 30:10 if you obey the LORD your God to keep His commandments and His statutes which are written in this book of the law, if you turn to the LORD your God with all your heart and soul. And then even more amazing, Moses gave Israel the secret to how they could arrive at the blessings Deut. 30:11 For this commandment which I command you today is not too difficult for you, nor is it out of reach. Deut. 30:12 It is not in heaven, that you should say, Who will go up to heaven for us to get it for us and make us hear it, that we may observe it? Deut. 30:13 Nor is it beyond the sea, that you should say, Who will cross the sea for us to get it for us and make us hear it, that we may observe it? Deut. 30:14 But the word is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart, that you may observe it. Deut. 30:15 See, I have set before you today life and prosperity, and death and adversity; Deut. 30:16 in that I command you today to love the LORD your God, to walk in His ways and to keep His commandments and His statutes and His judgments, that you may live and multiply, and that the LORD your God may bless you in the land where you are entering to possess it. Deut. 30:17 But if your heart turns away and you will not obey, but are drawn away and worship other gods and serve them, Deut. 30:18 I declare to you today that you shall surely perish. You will not prolong your days in the land where you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess it. Deut. 30:19 I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. So choose life in order that you may live, you and your descendants, Deut. 30:20 by loving the LORD your God, by obeying His voice, and by holding fast to Him; for this is your life and the length of your days, that you may live in the land which the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them. Paul quotes from this passage in Romans to remind us that faith has always been the means of salvation and the solution God offered
19! of! 19 And if Israel would simply find that solution in their mouth, they can reach this point of glory And when the entire nation comes to that understanding, they will all be there together