Excerpt from The Holy War in America Today: Some Observations on Abortion Rescues by James B. Jordan.
In the Old Covenant, after God set up the Tabernacle and constituted Israel as a nation, there were two kinds of war, first was Holy War, and the other was what we can call normal warfare.
Holy War (or herem warfare, as it is sometimes called, after the Hebrew for “ban”) was prosecuted in a special way, and only against certain people. There were five aspects of Holy War that made it different from normal warfare.
I say then, has God cast away His people? Certainly not! For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. God has not cast away His people whom He foreknew. Or do you not know what the Scripture says of Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel, saying, ”LORD, they have killed Your prophets and torn down Your altars, and I alone am left, and they seek my life”? But what does the divine response say to him? “I have reserved for Myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.” Even so then, at this present time there is a remnant according to the election of grace. Romans 11:1-6
Romans 11 is one of those watershed passages. How one interprets it depends on one’s “plan of the ages” paradigm. If you haven’t read James Jordan’s The Future of Israel Re-examined, you need to. Due to its ramifications for interpretation of much of the New Testament, I believe it should be recognised as one of the most important writings of our time. It puts Romans, and especially chapters 9-11, fairly and squarely within a first century context. All would be fulfilled before AD70. God would make “a short work” in the Land. And He did.
It also helps with the interpretation of Revelation. Christ was a new Moses, just as Elijah was. He ascended and gave a double portion of His Spirit to the church as Elisha. The new body witnessed to Gentiles to provoke the hard-hearted Jews to jealousy. This has nothing to do with our day. It was a process confined to the end of the Old Covenant.
Mary’s song, like most songs in the Bible, seemed to me to contain mostly extraneous material. My modern mind couldn’t relate her words to the version of Christianity I was familiar with. I guess that’s because it was a version bereft of much understanding of the Old Testament.
Mary’s song seems to follow the matrix pattern. As such, it is a new Creation, and a new Tabernacle, (John 1:14, “dwelt” is literally “tabernacled”). It is the liturgical response of the bride to the promise of Covenant succession – the Covenant succession. This new generation was also regeneration.
Systematic theology is like a man’s brain. A friend emailed me an audio of someone describing a man’s brain. It has a box for everything: a box for the job, a box for the car, a box for the kids, a box for the money, and yes, a box for the wife. And the rule was, he said, the boxes don’t touch.
“When a man discusses a particular subject, we go to that particular box, we pull that box out, we open the box, we discuss only what is in that box … alright? Then we close the box and put it away, being very careful not to touch any of the other boxes.
Then Jerusalem, all Judea, and all the region around the Jordan went out to him and were baptized by him in the Jordan, confessing their sins. But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, “Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? “Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance, ”and do not think to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as father.’ For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones.” —Matthew 3:5-9
Then, as He was now drawing near the descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works they had seen, saying: ” ‘Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the LORD!’ Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” And some of the Pharisees called to Him from the crowd, “Teacher, rebuke Your disciples.” But He answered and said to them, “I tell you that if these should keep silent, the stones would immediately cry out.” —Luke 19:37-40
The Bible is consistent with its symbols, so what is it with stones crying out? Continue reading
The next twelve orders of Totus Christus will receive a free copy of Jordan’s amazing Revelation lectures.* Details on ordering here, and details on the 204 lecture series here.
Jordan’s lectures are the gold ring in the pig’s snout in this deal.
*Note that this doesn’t include the student freebies.
And they came to Him and awoke Him, saying, “Master, Master, we are perishing!” Then He arose and rebuked the wind and the raging of the water. And they ceased, and there was a calm. But He said to them, “Where is your faith?” And they were afraid, and marveled, saying to one another, “Who can this be? For He commands even the winds and water, and they obey Him!” (Luke 8:24-25)
You know those times when all life’s troubles and hurdles and temptations seem overwhelming? (Yes, I know I live in the luckiest country in the world.) I think the devil takes great pleasure in piling stuff like that into your mind and watching you panic. Last night, I woke up and this old process began. Like water poured onto sand, it just makes the old furrows (one’s bad thought-habits) grow even deeper.
Elijah’s twelve stone altar “died” in the place of Israel, paying the debt for her idolatries, burned to nothing as a priest’s daughter who had committed harlotries. That passage follows the Bible matrix, with the prophets of Baal slaughtered as the scapegoat (washed from the Land in the “Laver” of Kidron, no less).
Did Ahab and Jezebel repent? No, they filled up their sins.[1] So Elijah made an exodus to Sinai. This, too, follows the pattern. Elijah is a new Moses, and he makes a new Covenant for the remnant which will bring about the destruction of Ahab’s dynasty. His “new creation” will be built on the corpse of the old.
I’ve been ranting a bit lately, so, to lighten things up, and to commemorate the announcement this past week that male-only clubs in Australia do not have to request exemption from anti-discrimination legislation, I offer you the following video. And I hereby begin plans to found the first Christian Gentlemen’s Club in downtown Katoomba. A grand replacement for the Freemasons, eh what?
Mike Bull is a graphic designer who lives and works in the Blue Mountains west of Sydney, Australia. His passion is understanding and teaching the Bible, and he writes occasionally for Theopolis Institute in Birmingham AL, USA.
