The Simple Answers… To Life’s Most Important Questions.
Bible Study Course Lesson 9 – 25
I’m sorry it’s taken me so long to get to the point. It wasn’t just to torture you; although I admit, that part was fun. In a large part, it took me so long because I was figuring most of this out while writing these lessons. And it’s surprisingly hard to teach that which you do not know.
On the upside, if you haven’t figured out what I’m about to say by now, you are denser than I thought. But it’s time to say it: I have a house. And in that house, there may be room for you, if you want it. And unless I’m very much mistaken, that’s exactly what you need most.
We all had parents who tried to do their best; yet they all failed, to varying degrees, to live up to what they should have been. And how could they not? They were human, same as you – but unlike you, they probably didn’t have access to the understanding you’ve seen in these lessons; the knowledge of the fractions, of approval and validation, of the plan of God.
And of course, God knew this would happen. It didn’t have to happen, of course, we chose to do these dumb things – but God knew we would. And so God devised a way for a man to “enter again into the womb of a mother” (John 3:3-5), and start all over again.
A way for us to have a second set of parents who can teach us the things our first set failed to teach us – not because they were bad people, but because they were people without the spirit of God. You cannot be born “of the spirit” by people who do not have that spirit!
Psalms 27:10-11 When my father and my mother forsake me, then the LORD will take me up. Teach me thy way, O LORD, and lead me in a plain path, because of mine enemies.
Which is why, when you indicate that you are willing and able to learn these things, “the Lord will take you up”. When you can indicate that you want the truth, no matter the cost; when you indicate that you hate your thoughts, hate your family, your friends, your job, and your own life… only then are you ready to be a disciple (Luke 14:25-27).
The multitudes who followed Him, whom we would call “Christians” today, did not need to do this. But you could not become a disciple until you realized what you are, how thoroughly incapable you are of tying your own metaphorical shoes, and accepted the fact that even if you lived a thousand years twice over, you would never become the person you should be without a Lord and Master.
There is no point in becoming a disciple until you learn that you can’t work out your problems on your own, nor even with God alone; until you realize that you can’t be the person you should be without an intermediary PREPARING you for God’s presence.
Only when you are ready to admit that you need someone to rule over you for sevens of years, that you must have someone to raise you up to be the person you should be because you can’t do it alone. Only then is it possible for someone to help you.
Which is, of course, repentance.
SINNERS ANONYMOUS
The world already knows this. If you’re an addict, it requires more than saying “I wish I drank less”, or “I should quit smoking”. That’s what the world thinks of as “repentance” in the context of sin. But even if you despise yourself for smoking, hate your weakness for drinking, it still isn’t enough for most people.
That should be enough, but if it were, there would not be such a thing as rehab. And when you think about it, what is rehab? A house you go to, where you are prevented from relapsing for a time, until you have developed a habit of not sinning.
To get over alcoholism or drugs requires more than a declaration that yes, now you love sobriety. It takes submission to a lord and master who prevents you from drinking; who discusses why you drink; who helps you to get over the inevitable side-affects of detoxing from your old lifestyle.
And even after the immediate changes have been made for the first month or so, they still need a support group; a place to talk about their challenges with others. The worst addicts even need a “sober companion”, to live with them and keep them from relapsing.
Like them, you are addicted; but instead of (or in addition to) these lesser vices, you’re addicted to far more potent and deadly drugs: selfishness and stubbornness.
Sin is not really your problem, sin is just the symptom of arrogant and proud fractions accustomed to calling the shots. Fractions which are incompetent and foolish, and it is these things which cause sins (Matthew 15:16-20).
You cannot get over selfishness on your own, because you can’t even tell when you’re being selfish. You can’t break your habits on your own, because you aren’t even aware that you are in a rut. You can’t wake up your soul, because you don’t even know where it’s sleeping.
So you need more than to admit that you have a problem; that’s a nice first step, but you won’t conquer the problem until you need to admit that you can’t fix it alone. That you’re ready to die if that’s what it takes in order to leave these things behind. You need, in other words, to go into rehab.
The primary function of the house of God is rehabilitation (2 Corinthians 5:17-21). In this house, we won’t permit your attitude, your mouthiness, your pettiness, your moodiness, your laziness, your depression; we won’t tolerate you acting like a jerk, a spoiled brat, a whiny child, a cocky idiot.
Detoxing from those things will be painful at first, for everyone involved – for addiction is an ugly thing. But this is why the house of God was created. This is what we do. Indeed, this is the only thing in this world I consider worth doing.
GOLDEN RULED
As always, everyone in the world already knows this is how you learn things. Alcoholics anonymous has sponsors. Lawyers must always start out as interns, judges start out as clerks. Doctors have internships and residencies.
Even plumbers have to apprentice on the job under a master plumber for four years! PLUMBERS, whose primary job is to make sure poop doesn’t leak out of a pipe! But the world thinks you can learn how to be a Christian in 2 hours a week? That it’s easier to be like God than to glue two pieces of pipe together??
Every profession that matters in the world, however much they hate God, have without realizing it proven that the only way to learn about God is in a house, as a disciple. Because that’s the only way to teach people, to change people, that works.
School doesn’t work. College doesn’t work. Church doesn’t work. The only thing that works is to talk of these things when thou sitest in your house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up (Deuteronomy 6:7).
Only in this way – whether you’re becoming an electrician, an astronomer, or a God – can you ever fully know someone’s “doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, longsuffering, charity, patience, persecutions, afflictions”, etc. (2 Timothy 3:10-12). Only in this way can you become AS your master, made in his likeness!
This is why Christianity was meant to be taught “as a father doth his children” (1 Thessalonians 2:10-12). Committed unto faithful men, who would pass it on to others, who would pass it on to others in their turn (2 Timothy 2:2).
Why would it matter how well you rule your own house… unless it was because it takes the exact same skill set to “take care” of the ekklesia, those called by God? (1 Timothy 3:5). Because the human family is patterned after the family of God! Which is why God said “I will be a father to them” in 2 Corinthians 6:18!
He is their Father, and has set proxy fathers over them in His physical absence, so that His words “shall not depart out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy seed, nor out of the mouth of thy seed’s seed, saith the LORD, from henceforth and for ever” (Isaiah 59:21).
That absolutely cannot be done in any way but through a house, through a parent-figure of some kind… And every skilled profession on Earth knows this! So once again… #Goldenruled
SEVENS OF YEARS
Worldly apprenticeships, internships, residencies, and so on, last for a set period of time, and generally follow a lengthy period of theoretical study. The internships alone are typically 4-7 years, but that’s in addition to practical lab work or field rotations.
So to become a doctor, depending on the specialty, it make take up to 18 years or so to become fully licensed. This is in addition to a dozen years spent in grade schools, so up to 30 years of schooling and internships to fix damaged flesh. Are souls so much easier to fix?
Jesus came, quite specifically, to confirm the covenant for one week (Daniel 9:27). Because it takes a week of bondage just to turn criminals, strangers, slaves, fools and other sorts of miscreants into conceived children of God.
But this is just the conception of these lives. Their growth has just begun. Seven literal years is the statutory limit for the bondage of our beasts… but on a higher layer of meaning, there is also a higher limit of bondage.
This is why the saints, no matter how long they lived, must rule with Him “in His throne”, associated with Him as apprentices in the kingdom, until the seven thousand year week is fulfilled (Revelation 20:6). We will be His servants. His disciples. His ministers. His prime ministers, but nonetheless, ministers.
So again, one week – but this time, seven thousand years for souls to be trained. But what of spirits? When are they trained, and for how long? The key lies in combining Exodus 21:2-6 and Proverbs 29:21. You need no special qualifications to enter seven years of bondage, to become a servant. Indeed, the people who are sold into bondage are those who have the least to offer.
But the adoption of sons requires that you show yourself worthy of more (Proverbs 17:2). It requires you to love your master, and want to become like him, and stay with him forever – and a mere servant can’t do that (John 8:35). Because how can a servant become like his master… if he doesn’t know why his master does what he does? (John 15:15).
SECOND BONDAGE
So it is this second bondage, the one after the first seven years, which involves sonship. For the first seven years you are a servant, because of your sins (John 8:32-34), and you must be freed from that by someone else (John 8:35-36).
In some sense, we are all of us in bondage (Galatians 4:1-3). And after we have served in that bondage long enough to learn which master we want to serve – whether we learn those lessons from lords in the world, or from lords in the house of God, when we are ready to say “I want to stay in God’s house forever”, only then can we be made free of that bondage (Galatians 4:4-7)
…just to be replaced by a different bondage, into the body of Christ. For only there can your sins be hidden. And only after the bondage of this life is finished can we be made free of the flesh and receive our true temple (2 Corinthians 5:1-4). And in a typical lifespan, that will be seven decades or so (one week) into the future – thus a week of bondage for the spirit as well.
So the seven literal years is bondage of the flesh; the servant need not submit his spirit to his master for correction (Proverbs 29:19). But the next seventy years (ish) of bondage is a bondage of the spirit; which is why Jesus was their Lord (owner of their flesh) and Master (owner of their spirit) (John 13:13).
For only by binding the flesh and the spirit can the soul learn how to be free (Mark 3:27). Only then can He lead the soul out of prison, out of darkness, and give it a chance to grow up in Him in all things.
By then the spirit, knowing seventy years of bondage, will be meek enough that it can be freed of its bondage, and Jesus can trust in the now-grown-up soul to control it. Which it will do for the balance of the millennial week of bondage to demonstrate harmony in its house.
A soul can’t truly prove mastery of its fractions until they are freed of all other bondage. Only then can we truly learn what it’s like to be… us. And only when we have shown ourselves the unarguable master of our freed heart and spirit can Jesus truly be considered the King of kings (Master of the masters of spirits) and Lord of lords (Lord of the lords of beasts).
CIRCUMCISION
As we’ve said, there is circumcision of the flesh which cuts you out of your physical house; but it doesn’t mean you won’t miss your house, and desire to return there when things get rough (Acts 7:38-39, Numbers 11:5-6, etc.).
A person who steals, or who flees a war-torn country, or who is hungry and sells himself into bondage, doesn’t hate his old house. He fell on hard times and has no choice. So when you buy this servant, and circumcise his flesh, you are taking him out of his physical house but not out of his spiritual house (Genesis 17:12).
So if I say to you “your life is going no where; serve me for a week, and I will give you a future”, and you leave your house for seven years, you are circumcised in the flesh (metaphorically, since that’s not necessary as a symbol today). But then you can go back home without any guilt or shame; we had an agreement, you served your time, you earned your future, you are free to enjoy it.
But if, after that week, you say “I like this house. I don’t want to go home. I don’t have anything in common with those people anymore”, then you must pierce your ear (again, metaphorically). You must symbolically create a hole in your ear so that my words can enter your spirit and make your spirit like mine.
And if my spirit enters you… well, that’s the definition of being my child, for all children are created by the spirit of their father being put into another body. And then, 9 months later, a creature that spent its whole existence in darkness can be led out of prison and into the light – a new soul.
Thus, if during your first seven years I raised you “delicately”, you may become my son or daughter at length through full immersion in my house. You can’t do that properly when you are a servant, you can only do it through living in the house with my other children.
And it is at this point – at the point when you decide you hate your former house, and will never again desire to turn back to Egypt – that you are circumcised in the heart. It is at this point that you choose to again enter bondage – but not the seven-year bondage of the flesh, but the lifetime bondage of children (Exodus 20:12, Malachi 1:6, etc.).
And it is only at this point; only when you have decided that no matter what may happen, you will thenceforth be known as a child of God, of the house of Jesus, and to a far lesser extent of the house of Natnee, that you are ready to be baptized and become a son, and serve with the heart and spirit, and not merely with the flesh (Philemon 1:6, Matthew 5:27-28, etc.).
PREPARING A PLACE
The Pharisees, like modern evangelical Christians, were desperate to gain followers (Matthew 23:15). They measure their success by their quantity, not their quality (Galatians 6:11-14). The true Christian, on the other hand, is sent to do a job and whether he gains followers or not, he still gets rewarded (Ezekiel 2:3-7, 2 Corinthians 2:14-17).
Remember the metaphor of the woman’s eggs; she could, in theory, have millions of children in her lifetime. Why can’t she? It’s not because she lacks the eggs… it’s that she lacks the time and resources to raise them. It’s the work involved in creating a life that is the limiting factor, not the availability of the eggs themselves.
So in this sense, every member of humanity is an egg of Sarah’s, a potential child of the Elohim. This is what Jesus was saying in John 4:35, and again in Matthew 9:36-38; there are plenty of potential disciples. Tons of Elohim eggs.
Which means that you are expendable; any egg will do (1 Corinthians 4:6-7). Indeed, if God has called you, it’s because you were more of a challenge than other people would have been (Deuteronomy 7:6-8, 1 Corinthians 1:26-29, etc.). That, and you just happened to be in the right place at the right time (Romans 11:5-6).
So Jesus isn’t worried about finding disciples, nor are we. No, the difficulty is in finding homes for them. It’s not a shortage of ripe grain, it’s not even a shortage of unskilled laborers for the harvest… it’s a shortage of houses in which to put them!
A shortage of apostles who are capable of managing the laborers, and of bringing an egg to birth! Because even Jesus – even JESUS – could only handle a dozen chosen disciples at a time! It wasn’t easy, not even for Him, which is why He proudly said in John 17:12 that He had kept them alive (except Judas, who didn’t count, and for whom a replacement was already prepared).
Compare to the size of the largest families today; a family of six is enormously taxing. A family of twelve is constant chaos, with the parents at their wit’s end to put food on the table, to keep the children from hurting each other, and to teach them the skills they need.
Yet this is what Jesus did, all while dealing with His own problems, like every parent must. Not without stress and frustration, to be sure (Mark 8:14-21, Matthew 17:14-21, Mark 10:13-14, Matthew 15:16, etc.). Because it’s exhausting to fight with beasts and spirits all day, as every parent knows.
Which is why after some of these events He tried to disappear for awhile (Mark 7:24, 36, etc.). And also why He occasionally disappeared to pray and work things out Himself like in Luke 6:12, which happened after He got angry at the crowd in Luke 6:6-11 (compare to Mark 3:5).
The point is, true Christians needn’t advertise for disciples: Acts 2:47. Our job is to warn the world, and as we are able to handle them, God brings disciples to us (John 6:44-45). Which is why Jesus’ main job is to prepare a place for the disciples (John 14:1-3). Which means creating houses to put them in; both here, and in the hereafter.
THE RIGHT TO SAY NO
This also means that potential lords and masters have a right to turn away disciples they don’t want (1 Kings 19:20-21), or don’t trust (Acts 9:26, Acts 15:37-39), or simply can’t handle right now (Mark 5:18-20).
Remember, like Jesus, I am under no obligation to take on the burden of your sins, nor even the burden of your training. And if I am obligated in any way, it’s because of an obligation to my own master, not to you. Unlike every other church in history, I am not interested in compassing heaven and sea for a new acolyte.
Since I can afford to be choosy, I am within my rights to ask to see proof of your repentance (Luke 3:8). I may set challenges to test you (Luke 18:18-24). I can even say absolutely not (Acts 8:18-23). Or I might say “not right now, try again later” (Acts 1:3-5).
I might have too many disciples; or you might present a challenge I’m not ready for right now because of your health, geographic location, or particular attitude problems. Regardless, as with every contract ever signed, both parties reserve the right to say “no”, or negotiate the contact up until it is signed.
After that point, it doesn’t matter why I train you, or for whose benefit (mine, God’s, yours); no matter why, I am bound to do it well (1 Peter 5:2). Likewise, no matter your motivation for seeking to be a disciple (fear of punishment, lust for wisdom, hope for salvation), and no matter whether you like me or not, you are bound to do it my way (1 Peter 2:17-25).
That bondage is important, because much of what I say to you will be uncomfortable, and much of it you won’t like hearing (Proverbs 27:5-6, Proverbs 28:23, 1 Timothy 5:20, etc.). Because as great as it is to be a son, you cannot be a son without chastening, and that’s not meant to be fun (Hebrews 12:5-11, Proverbs 3:11-12).
Without that covenant between us, your heart would turn you back to Egypt if it could; your spirit would yearn for the freedom you once had to wreck your life. Only through bondage can your soul have the strength to say “NO! We made this bargain, and we must see it through” (Ecclesiastes 5:1-6). Only by this can you dwell in God’s kingdom (Psalms 15:1-4, in particular the very last point).
Because if your soul were strong enough to make your heart love the law and your spirit love mercy on your own… you already would have done so.
PROVERBS OF BONDAGE
As I said, it’s my job to make the secrets of your heart manifest (1 Corinthians 14:25), and you won’t like what I find there (Jeremiah 17:9). You won’t want to believe that it’s there (Ecclesiastes 3:18). But it’s why you need me, or someone like me (Proverbs 20:5, Proverbs 18:17, Proverbs 21:2, Proverbs 12:15).
That’s a long string of proverbs, isn’t it? Strange, when you think about it, how many times I’ve quoted the Proverbs in this series, compared to, say, Genesis or Hosea. But not really… when you listen to what the Proverbs were written to accomplish: Proverbs 1:1-4.
Note particularly verse 3… these teach the young man and the foolish how to RECEIVE instruction! Proverbs 1:5-6 are about why you should seek wisdom and understanding; Proverbs 1:7-9 are about how you seek that wisdom… through fathers and mothers!
Proverbs 1:10, and most of the rest of the chapter, basically says not to try and learn wisdom from a church. Anyway, I’m not going to go through the whole book, but just pick one chapter – let’s say Proverbs 22. Now I know that most people think the Proverbs are just a random list of life hacks.
But they’re not – they are, as I will show, very much meant to be read in context. It’s just… if you don’t know that the entire book was meant to convince young men to seek a lord or master, and then to tell them what kind of master, how to find him and how to obey him – then no, there seems to be no context.
But when you do understand that, you immediately see that they’re not pithy one liners at all. No, they are a very well-connected string of related thoughts. And to prove that, apply what you’ve learned in these lessons.
Starting in Proverbs 22:1, “a good name” is better to be chosen than riches; which is what Jesus was offering the rich young nobleman; along with “loving favour”, i.e., grace. The rich and poor meet together; because the elder and the disciple are all serving the same Lord ( Proverbs 22:2).
But the wiser man – the apostle – avoids the evil, while the foolish child ignores it – and pays the price (Proverbs 22:3). But by the humility to be circumcised and fear the Lord, and the lord He places over him, he can regain riches, honor, and life – three good fractions (Proverbs 22:4).
The path you’ve been walking in your life was full of snares and thorns; which is why you need someone to “keep your soul”, so you can move far from them (Proverbs 22:5; compare to Hebrews 13:17). He will train you up in the way you should go, so that when you are old, you will not depart from it.
Since he has wisdom, the elder is rich (Ephesians 3:8); and so it is natural that he rule over you, who has less wisdom (Proverbs 22:7); for he is loaning you wisdom, in the expectation that you will one day repay him in kind.
Elders who teach lawlessness will see their houses emptied; those who teach with violence shall fail (Proverbs 22:8). But those who have a “bountiful eye”, which is to say, a generous soul who shares of his bread – the spirit of Christ – with the poor – shall be blessed (Proverbs 22:9).
And yet an elder who has a disciple who refuses to learn, one who argues for the sake of argument, is well justified in casting out the scorner – after the first and second admonition. When he does so, he ceases to bear reproach for the erstwhile disciple’s actions! (Proverbs 22:10).
But the disciple who loves pureness of heart, whose spirit gives grace, shall make his master his friend (Proverbs 22:11). He shall, in other words, cease to be a servant and become a son! (John 15:14-15). While he is in this “safe space”, the soul of his lord preserves knowledge, and protects the house from false doctrine (Proverbs 22:12); but a lazy disciple, who fears to do battle with the devil, will fall into deception (Proverbs 22:13).
Therefore God shall send him into the Churches from whence he came (Proverbs 22:14, 1 Corinthians 5:5); and he that doesn’t please the Lord shall receive a strong delusion to believe a lie (2 Thessalonians 2:11-12). But that is only those who are truly rebellious and just. Won’t. Learn.
Servants who have become newborn children are foolish – that’s to be expected. That’s the whole point, which is why the master is there, to correct them and drive it far from them (Proverbs 22:15).
And yet a master who abuses these disciples, who fleeces the sheep and acts as a lord over God’s heritage, instead of the steward of the same (Proverbs 22:16, 1 Peter 5:3), “shall surely come to want” – as shall he that “gives to the rich” – he that is only interested in giving truth to those who already know the truth. He that preaches to the converted, in other words.
And I don’t even have to paraphrase the rest of it; it simply says that, as a disciple, you would be wise to do the following…
Proverbs 22:17-21 Bow down thine ear, and hear the words of the wise, and apply thine heart unto my knowledge. For it is a pleasant thing if thou keep them within thee; they shall withal be fitted in thy lips. That thy trust may be in the LORD, I have made known to thee this day, even to thee. Have not I written to thee excellent things in counsels and knowledge, That I might make thee know the certainty of the words of truth; that thou mightest answer the words of truth to them that send unto thee?
Humble your heart and break your spirit; that’s the only way to have these words fitted into your own lips, so that one day you can answer these questions on your own without the need for a lord or master to do it for you.
So that, in time, you will be able to commit these things to other men, who shall commit them in turn to other men, and so on (2 Timothy 2:2); so that the knowledge of the Lord can spread over the Earth, as the waters cover the sea (Isaiah 11:9).
For only when you have mastered these words and placed them in your own heart and spirit can you actually OBEY Jesus’ last commandment: “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations” (Matthew 28:19, Weymouth).
But like any other profession, before you can do that job, you must first apprentice under someone who knows how.
I SET BEFORE YOU LIFE (AND BONDAGE) AND DEATH
Your path now forks, and there are three ways ahead. These three choices are the same options God Himself has always set before man, and I now set them before you:
You may continue straight ahead, and enter into no covenant with me. This is the choice you make by making no choice.
To the left, you may enter into a limited covenant of bondage for seven years, ministering to me and my house.
To the right, you may by baptism enter into an unlimited covenant to follow my God and serve His house forever.
In other words, as God has always offered us: be my neighbor, be my servant, or be my child.
Today, you are free to do as you wish – although as we both know, sin already owns you, and your heart and spirit have already imprisoned your soul. But as far as God and I are concerned, you owe us nothing. Likewise, we owe you nothing, but to love one another.
God brought you these lessons by grace, not by works; and I provided them for you free of charge, by grace and not in the hopes of tithes or offerings. You owe me nothing, and if you think this is all you needed, I wish you well. And I mean that sincerely.
If every person who had ever read these lessons went off and became a prophet of God, indeed, built a greater house than my own, nothing would please me more (Numbers 11:29). Like every good preacher, teacher, doctor, and judge, my greatest desire is to be rendered obsolete by your righteousness, knowledge, health, and wisdom (Jeremiah 31:34).
So go and build your house, and may you have the wisdom, understanding, and knowledge to make it live forever. Remember to do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with your God, and you too will become the way, the truth, and the life.
Just make sure you’re doing it for His glory, not your own; remember the prodigal son. Will you be better able to build God’s house in your own name, or in my name? Would you do more for His name by figuring it all out yourself, or after training in my own house?
Which way serves Him better? Which way most perfectly accomplishes HIS goals? I don’t pretend to know the answer to these questions – but they are the questions you must answer.
THE COVENANT OF BONDSERVANTS
But if you think you might not be able to do that, you could instead to enter into the Genesis 15 covenant; choose to be Christ’s servant through me; you to be my servant in Christ, and I to be your shield on this Earth. After all, it was good enough for Abraham at first.
I will pay for your mistakes, and in exchange, you will serve me, wherever, however, whenever, doing whatever I ask – subject only, as always, to the laws of my own master. You will never be asked to do something amoral or illegal; you will never be asked to violate your conscience. But you will not always understand what you do or why. And you won’t always like it.
During these years, you will learn, in the process of your ministry, how to eat healthy; how to work; how to buy and how to sell; how to learn; how to be master of your body. You should leave healthier, happier, saner, and better in every way than when you entered, and you will certainly not have less than you had when you started.
You would be bound for a period of seven years to obey my every command. You will travel when and where I say, read what I say, eat what I say. Your life will not be your own, by contract. You will help to build my house, and I will begin the work of fixing yours. You will learn what it means to say “my will is to do the will of him that sent me” (John 4:34, 6:38).
I, in turn, will shield you from the harsh realities of life – the costs of living, the challenge to be healthy, the difficulties of motivating yourself, the struggle to rule your own fractions. You will need nothing, although you will not have everything you want.
You will be a servant, not a son. You will be a minister, whose job is to make my life and my house better – whether that means doing dishes or fasting, making tea or building a barn, reading about history or posting on Ebay, whether your work lasts 4 hours a day or 18.
I won’t lie to you – life will be hard at times. Mine has been, and some days still is, and the servant is not above his master. Some days we don’t eat at all, some days we eat truffles and foie gras. Some days we spend on the Italian riviera or surfing in El Salvador; others we work for forty hours straight to do what must be done. But even on our worst days, there is a peace and a purpose and a harmony that is better than the best days in the houses of the wicked (Psalms 84:10).
As a servant, you will not be above the children, and sometimes you will be left out or left behind. You are choosing the lesser covenant and therefore you will not get the best – but even the crumbs at my table are better than the food on yours. You will see things and do things and learn things and experience things you never would have on your own.
NOT BAPTIZED YET
In this choice, you would not be baptized, because baptism conceives you as a child of God and, by proxy, of mine; but this is the covenant of servants, servants who may one day become children – but who are not yet.
So because you are a servant, you will not always necessarily keep the feasts with us. You will certainly not eat the Passover, for your heart is not circumcised. If we were eating the OC Passover of Exodus 12:44 then yes, you would eat that Passover. We don’t, and physical circumcision doesn’t entitle you to eat the NC Passover.
The whole point of this covenant is to give you a limited covenant, a trial period with an off ramp that leads back to Egypt. Because your bondage is only 7 years, at the end of that time your heart may turn back to your family, your friends, your former life. Only when that door is decisively closed and your heart is also circumcised can you partake of the Passover.
When the seven years are fulfilled, like the immigrant, thief, apprentice, and bondservant that you are, you will not be sent away empty (Deuteronomy 15:13-15); you will be given sufficient money, tools, or education to start a new life on the foundation you’ve received.
How much you receive depends on 2 Samuel 22:21-28, but remember, your main reward is your education (Psalms 19:7-14). You are not entering this to earn a reward equal to seven years of minimum wage – you won’t, that’s what McDonald’s jobs are for.
This covenant is to gain wisdom which is more precious than rubies, understanding which will allow you to earn all the fine gold you want later in life (Proverbs 3:9-18, Job 28:12-28). So in this seven years, you will earn a start to a new life, but you will be sent away with just enough to start out anew.
And when our contract is fulfilled, our future relationship will naturally be subject to open negotiation. You may never wish to see me or my God again, nor we, you (1 John 2:19). Or you may wish to start your own house in your own name, for which I will gladly give my blessing – but not my help, no more than I would help any other neighbor.
What you do then, you will do in your own name – and sin will desire you and you must rule over it yourself. Satan will desire to sift you as wheat, and knowing only the covenant of bondage, it is unlikely you’ll have the faith to resist him after only seven years of bondage.
Or you may wish to continue to be a servant, choosing to be a spiritual eunuch forever in my house; you will live a full and happy life, and help your master’s sons and their sons become heirs of God and will be rewarded by God and me for your service.
And there is no shame in this last choice; for being the heir of God is a daunting job and is not for everyone. The second resurrection will be a great place, too. And even my servants are happier and freer than the freedmen in the world (Luke 15:17-19, 1 Kings 10:8).
A COVENANT OF SONS
But if none of these options are enough for you, you may seek to be begotten into the house of God by baptism, and enter into the Genesis 17 covenant with God, and by extension, with me (Matthew 18:18).
This covenant binds you to an unlimited covenant, with no limits on the obedience God or His ministers might ask from you – but also, no limits on the rewards we might give you, up to and including His kingdom and my own. But no guarantees either – too much depends on you.
This covenant is the scariest of all, for it has no safety net. You have no off ramp at seven years, you are bound to God’s name through my name and my house until death – which is, after all, just a different type of week, at the end of seventy years.
There is no curse in this covenant; there are only seven words “walk before me and be ye perfect”; and only one possible sin – “don’t eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil until I tell you to”. In other words, you will do what I say, and do it my way; and never say “I will not” (Matthew 26:39). “I don’t want to” is fine. But never say “I will not”.
Because if you break this covenant with its one simple rule, if you rebel a year or two down the road, you will be dead to me – and, unless you were standing up against my own sins, you will be dead to God as well for the remainder of this life.
So think carefully. Is this the God you want to learn to be like? Do I know Him well enough to take you far enough along the path to finish on your own in 20 or 30 years? If you have any doubts, play it safe and choose the covenant of servants (it’s almost the same in practice, anyway).
Can you put your hand to the plow and never look back to your family, your life, your house, your hobbies and desires? (Luke 9:62). Do you really want to see all your former things pass away? For to be reborn into Christ, you must be a new creature completely, not partly.
Remember, the same waters that consume your sins consume also your family, the same washing that cleanses your heart washes away also your old dreams. By leaving behind your old man, you also leave behind his old habits, everything that made him… him. Are you truly willing to lose your life for Jesus’ sake? (Matthew 10:34-39).
Can you sell all that you have and give it to the poor and come and follow me? Because I don’t need your junk, and you’ll have no use for it in my house (Mark 10:21). I have plenty (Psalms 50:9-15). The last thing I need is the world thinking that I want your money (Genesis 14:23).
You brought nothing into this life, and when it ends in the waters of baptism you will be taking nothing out of this life into your new one (Ecclesiastes 5:15). You came out of your mother’s womb naked, and naked (metaphorically) you must enter the womb of your new mother, Sarah (Job 1:21). 13
You must decide if that’s what you want or not. Decide, and then don’t ever, ever turn back – remember Lot’s wife.
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION
Jesus founded His house by calling disciples to Him with the words “come and follow me, and I will make you fishers of men” (Matthew 4:19). Would you have followed Him? Everyone thinks they would have, but I want you to stop and think about this a moment.
Peter and Andrew had careers, they owned boats; Peter had a wife; somebody else had a death in the family to take care of, and Jesus expected him to leave them in a time of crisis. Would you have done so? Remember! He wasn’t JESUS THE CHRIST. He was Jesus, the shabbily dressed son of a carpenter. Would you really have followed Him, in their shoes?
Would you have left a secure job, a future, a family, to follow someone without credentials, without money, without so much as a contract? Would you have dropped everything to follow a man who was plain-looking, bordering on ugly? (Isaiah 53:2).
A man so direct He came across as rude and so confident He seemed arrogant? (Mark 1:22). A man so insensitive as to dismiss your legitimate excuses about why you couldn’t come right this second? (Luke 9:59-62). Would you really have followed Him?
Let’s find out.
I have been given a great deal of understanding by God, and you must believe that or you wouldn’t be reading this lesson. So if I were to say to you in Christ’s name, “come follow me, and I will make you a fisher of men”… would you?
I have no credentials, no reviews on TripAdvisor (2 Corinthians 3:1-3). You are my only witness; the truth you’ve learned here, the ways you’ve changed already without even having MET me, is the only review I need; and the only review you would ever believe anyway.
So if you want me to say those words to you in Christ’s name… if you think you are ready to be my servant, or ready to walk before God and be perfect… ask. Be prepared to convince me you’ve repented, and to prove to me that you are worth my time.
But most importantly of all… tell me the whole truth. That’s all I’ll ever ask.
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There are lots of “one scriptures” I could quote at this point, but I think Isaiah 55 says it all, not just for this lesson but the whole series. I’ve quoted it below in the ESV. I don’t think I need to bother to translate the symbols in the “one chapter” below, do I? Think about it. Try to explain every symbol, every idea. Consider it an entrance exam.
Then when you understand it, do what it says. Or don’t. It’s your choice. But like Isaiah 55:6 says, don’t hesitate overlong or the Lord might move on and offer your room in His house to someone else.
Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.
Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food. Incline your ear, and come to me; hear, that your soul may live; and I will make with you an everlasting covenant, my steadfast, sure love for David. Behold, I made him a witness to the peoples, a leader and commander for the peoples. Behold, you shall call a nation that you do not know, and a nation that did not know you shall run to you, because of the Lord your God, and of the Holy One of Israel, for he has glorified you.
Seek the Lord while he may be found; call upon him while he is near (verse 6); let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.
For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.
For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.
For you shall go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and the hills before you shall break forth into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands. Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress; instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle; and it shall make a name for the Lord, an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.