(090) – THE MEASURE OF GOD THE FATHER

Many people, when they read the Scriptures, are convinced that Jehovah is God the Father for the following reasons: those who were justified by Jehovah in the Old Testament are all mentioned in the New Testament as righteous. Abel offered a pleasing sacrifice to Jehovah, and is mentioned as a righteous man for this exact reason (Gen.4:3-7; Heb.11:4). It is necessary to clarify that the sacrifice of Abel is a picture of the sacrifices of the law of Jehovah that Moses gave to the people, not of the sacrifice of Christ. The text says, “And to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood, which speaks better than the blood of Abel” (Heb.12:24). This scripture explains that Abel was a picture of the sacrifices of the Old Covenant, and that for this reason the blood of Christ is superior. Abel, though, is mentioned as righteous.

Enoch, the seventh after Adam, walked with God for three hundred years, by faith, and was, therefore, taken into heaven while he lived (Gen.5:22-24; Heb.11:5). It is not written that Enoch walked with Jehovah, but with God. Theology has been dealing with the two different languages in the books of Moses: the Elohimist and the Jehovist languages, which are not the same. Secondly, Jesus says that nobody has ever gone up to heaven, therefore, nobody knows where Enoch went (John 3:13). If Enoch went to heaven while he lived, how come the apostle Paul states that no man has ever seen God, neither will ever be able to see (1 Tim.6:16)? This proves that the Old Testament heroes reached Jehovah, but did not get to God the Father, of whom Jesus said, “…no one comes to the Father, but through Me” (John 14:6).

The third great man of the Old Testament was Noah, who was divinely warned about the things that were not seen, that is, the rain and the flood, and prepared the arc for the salvation of his family, through which he condemned the world of that time, and was made heir of the righteousness that comes through faith (Gen.6:7, 14; Heb.11:7). Jehovah was the one that condemned the men who lived before the flood, and Noah was his instrument, but Paul says that sin was in the world up until the time of the Law, but sin is not attributed when there is no law (Rom.5:13). Considering this statement of Paul, the condemnation of the flood was unfair, because sins could not have been attributed. It is obvious that God, the Father of Jesus, did not attribute those sins neither condemned the souls. Paul reveals, besides, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world to Himself, not attributing their sins to them (2 Cor.5:19). We need to understand that the cross of Christ reconciled every man since Adam, because if this reconciliation were only for men who lived after Jesus, it would have been unfair. Moreover, the Father wants everyone to be saved (1 Tim.2:3-4). We read in the book of Job that the people that lived before the flood were taken ahead of their time, that is, before the only and true judgment of Christ, according to Acts 17:30-31 (Job 22:15). Jehovah killed people with no chance of repentance (Gen.38:6-10; 1 Sam.2:25; 2 Sam.6:5-8; Lev.10:1-2).

If we read carefully the stories of the great men of God of the Old Testament, we will find out that every one of them had serious flaws. David, for instance, who had a heart like the heart of Jehovah (Act.13:22), was accused of being adulterous, murderous and bloody (2 Sam.12:9-10; 1 Chr.22:8), by the very JehovahSolomon, the son of David, was a murderer, lascivious and idolater (1 Kings 11:1-3, 4-8; 2:33-34, 44-46, 24-25). Solomon was not a man of peace, as is the meaning of his name. The chosen of Jehovah could not be confirmed as righteous in the New Testament, as they were carnal men and sinners.

On the other hand, the ones of the Old Testament that were considered evil, such as Cain, Esau, Joseph’s brothers, and others, will not, by the same token, be confirmed as lost for their evil works in the New Testament.

To prove this, that Jehovah’s chosen of the Old Testament are not confirmed as righteous in the New Testament, we will mention a few very unequivocal scriptures. “He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God” (John 3:18). This text makes it clear that, for Jesus, before the New Testament, everyone was condemned. Those who believed in Jesus, such as Abraham, Moses, David and others, Christ justified in the cross (Gal.4:4).

Just as the deliverances in the Old Testament were not real (Jude 5), so the condemnations were not real and true either. Sodom and Gomorrah, for instance, Jehovah destroyed with fire and brimstone, leaving us with the impression that they were condemned, but Jesus enlightens us in Matt.11:32-34, that they were not, for they are waiting for the true judgment of Christ.

The other example is the salvation of Israel and the condemnation of Pharaoh and the Egyptians. In fact, neither the Israelites were saved, nor the Egyptians were condemned. Both peoples are waiting for the only one judgment, for God the Father is Lord of all, both of the Israelites and of the Egyptians, the Jews and the Gentiles alike (Rom.3:29).

In the book of Acts of the Apostles we read, “He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead” (Acts 17:31).

 

By Pastor Olavo Silveira Pereira

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