" And certain men which came down from Judaea taught the brethren, and said, Except ye be circumcised after the manner of Moses, ye cannot be saved.When therefore Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and disputation with them, they determined that Paul and Barnabas, and certain other of them, should go up to Jerusalem unto the apostles and elders about this question.... 

....Then all the multitude kept silence, and gave audience to Barnabas and Paul, declaring what miracles and wonders God had wrought among the Gentiles by them. 

And after they had held their peace, James answered, saying, Men and brethren, hearken unto me: Simeon hath declared how God at the first did visit the Gentiles, to take out of them a people for his name. And to this agree the words of the prophets; as it is written,' After this I will return, and will build again the -tabernacle of David-, which is fallen down; and I will build again the ruins thereof, and I will set it up: That the -residue of men- might seek after the Lord, and -all the Gentiles-, upon whom my name is called, saith the Lord, who doeth all these things.' Known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world. 

Wherefore my sentence is, that we trouble not them, which from among the Gentiles are turned to God: But that we write unto them, that they abstain from pollutions of idols, and from fornication, and from things strangled, and from blood. For Moses of old time hath in every city them that preach him, being read in the synagogues every sabbath day."

Acts 15:1-2, 12-21

" Jesus answered and said unto them, I have done one work, and ye all marvel. Moses therefore gave unto you circumcision; --(not because it is of Moses, but of the fathers;)-- and ye on the sabbath day circumcise a man. If a man on the sabbath day receive circumcision, that the law of Moses should not be broken; are ye angry at me, because I have made a man every whit whole on the sabbath day? " - John 7:21-23

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The Man with 2 Names - Ep 8 - Dissension in the ranks

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We left Barnabas and Paul in Antioch last week, they have returned from their first missionary journey with tales to tell, the growing church in Antioch. Tales of people responding to the Gospel, of signs and wonders being done by God to bear witness of their testimony, and of the opposition they are facing -from their fellow brethren- , including physical jeopardy! They have but a while to enjoy this moment, when a new issue arises!

Certain Men from Judea - that is the description we are given - come and teach that all new converts need to be circumcised. We are not told that these men had the authority of the apostles and elders at Jerusalem, simply that this was a group of people teaching these things. It would seem that they have a solid scriptural backing... after all, doesn't it say in Genesis...

" And God said unto Abraham, Thou shalt keep my covenant therefore, thou, and thy seed after thee in their generations. This is my covenant, which ye shall keep, between me and you and -thy seed- after thee; 

---Every man child among you shall be circumcised. And ye shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin; and it shall be a token of the covenant betwixt me and you. And he that is eight days old shall be circumcised among you, every man child in your generations, -he that is born in the house-, or -bought with money of any stranger, which is not of thy seed-. 

--He that is born in thy house, and he that is bought with thy money--, ----must needs be circumcised-----: 

and my covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant. And the uncircumcised man child whose flesh of his foreskin is not circumcised, ---that soul shall be cut off from his people; he hath broken my covenant---. " - Genesis 17:9-14 

and in Leviticus...

"And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, If a woman have conceived seed, and born a man child: then she shall be unclean seven days; according to the days of the separation for her infirmity shall she be unclean. 

And in the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised." - Lev 12:1-3

It is important to note that this requirement PRE-DATES the LAW! 

Like the Sabbath & Tithing, Circumcision was also a requirement OF THE FATHERS (a tradition from Abraham!)... "not because it is of Moses, but of the fathers;" as Christ Himself notes in the text from John that we have reproduced. 

It was given to Abraham as a token of the Abrahamic Covenant... and applied not just to the children of Israel, but also to those that -WERE BOUGHT WITH MONEY- in their houses! What a beautiful picture of Redemption being extended beyond Israel we have here... and have talked about this in our series on the Law....

Why circumcision? What is most closely linked with the generation of life? Where does your focus go when you are watching porn or committing infidelity? What would serve to remind you on a daily basis that you were the property and possession of LORD GOD Almighty? ?

So why would Paul and Barnabas disagree and "have no small dissension and disputation" ( an understatement if we ever saw one ) with these conscientious men?! Barnabas was a Cypriot, but Paul was a Pharisee of Pharisees, from the tribe of Benjamin! 

Interesting question isn't it? We see a visceral reaction from the Spirit (in Paul and Barnabas) to this legalism... however, as a model for us, and the church to come - the church in Antioch resolves to send Paul and Barnabas to Jerusalem to confer with the apostles and elders there - for firm guidance on this issue. 

The Spirit gives us 3 data points:

1. The reaction of Paul and Barnabas, and their experiences and testimony in their work among the Gentiles.

2. The statement of Peter. We have not reproduced Peter's argument in detail here (you can read it for yourself), but Peter goes back to his first vision in the house of Simon the tanner in Joppa, and the subsequent visit to the household of Cornelius the gentile. The thrust of Peter's argument is that:

a. He was specifically commanded not to consider "unclean" what God has now sovereignly called "clean"

b. He (and 6 others) saw for himself, how God poured out the Holy Spirit on the uncircumcised, just as He did upon the apostles.

That might have clinched it right there, but the Spirit (as is typical) speaking through (#3) James, reminds us that God's plan does not depend on physical signs! James starts his argument by leading with Peters point, and emphasizing it again... but then he quotes a passage from Amos 9:11-12(!)

"In that day will I raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen, and close up the breaches thereof; and I will raise up his ruins, and I will build it as in the days of old: That they may possess the remnant of Edom, and of all the heathen, which are called by my name, saith the LORD that doeth this." 

-What relevance does this scripture have to the point in question? -

The key lies in the term the "tabernacle of David". What is this?  The Tabernacle was a tent-like structure that housed the Ark. It was built by Moses, NOT DAVID! 

The Tabernacle, or the tent of meeting (as it was called), moved with the Israelites to Canaan, and had a checkered history. 

Post the entry into Canaan, it was setup at a place called Shiloh - that was central to all the tribes, and made it easy for everyone to meet there 3 times a year. 

The Ark remained there with it, till a war with the Philistines in the time of Samuel (1 Samuel 4:1..). The Ark was captured by the Philistines. It proved to be a burden to them, inflicting their people with ulcers/sores, till the Philistines returned it back to Israel at Beth-Shemesh, who then moved it to a place called Kirjath-Jearim. 

A priest called Abinadab, and his son Eleazer, were appointed to be the custodians of the Ark, while the Tabernacle still remained at  Shiloh. 

Saul later moves the Tabernacle to the city of Nob, and a priest called Ahimelech is appointed to preside... this is the same place that David goes when he is fleeing from Saul, and Ahimelech gives him and his men sanctified bread (from the Tabernacle) to eat. 

Throughout the rest of the conflict between Saul and David, we do not see it mentioned much, if at all. All this while, the Ark remains at Kirjath-Jearim, until David (post Sauls death) starts to move it towards Jerusalem. 

He starts out with the wrong process (moving the ark on a cart), and the ark kills Uzzah who touches it to stabilize it, when the cart goes over a pothole. Frightened, the king leaves the ark at the home of Obededom for some time till it is safe to move again (carried on the shoulders of the Levites) to Jerusalem.  

The Ark has moved to Mount Zion, and resides in a tent that David has erected for it, and there it will stay, till Solomon brings the Ark to the new Temple constructed on Mount Moriah, and bring the elements of the OLD (wilderness tabernacle) to be stored in the temple as well.

David, as King of Israel, is living in a house of cedar, and his soul is filled with the desire to build God a house. Here is what the LORD says to him...

" Go and tell my servant David, Thus saith the LORD, Shalt thou build me an house for me to dwell in? Whereas I have not dwelt in any house since the time that I brought up the children of Israel out of Egypt, even to this day, but have walked in a tent and in a tabernacle. 

In all the places wherein I have walked with all the children of Israel spake I a word with any of the tribes of Israel, whom I commanded to feed my people Israel, saying, Why build ye not me an house of cedar? {!!!}

Now therefore so shalt thou say unto my servant David, Thus saith the LORD of hosts, I took thee from the sheepcote, from following the sheep, to be ruler over my people, over Israel: And I was with thee whithersoever thou wentest, and have cut off all thine enemies out of thy sight, and have made thee a great name, like unto the name of the great men that are in the earth. 

Moreover I will appoint a place for my people Israel, and will plant them, that they may dwell in a place of their own, and move no more; neither shall the children of wickedness afflict them any more, as beforetime, And as since the time that I commanded judges to be over my people Israel, and have caused thee to rest from all thine enemies. Also the LORD telleth thee that he will make thee an house. 

And when thy days be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, ---I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build an house for my name, and I will stablish the throne of his kingdom for ever. I will be his father, and he shall be my son. If he commit iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men, and with the stripes of the children of men: But my mercy shall not depart away from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away before thee. 

And thine house and thy kingdom shall be established for ever before thee: thy throne shall be established for ever. " - 2 Sam 7:5-16

Now we are getting warm to what the apostle James is talking about!

Christ was the prophesied son of David. He was not here (in His earthly ministry) to rebuild the Jewish Temple, He was here to establish the throne of David and the HOUSE/TABERNACLE of David! This kingdom was to be an everlasting kingdom, never to pass away, and TO INCLUDE "all the heathen which are called by My Name"...(our quote from Amos)! Yashua taught His disciples well!

This is the Davidic Covenant, which builds on the Abrahamic Covenant! The Abrahamic Covenant was exhibited by Israel as a sign in their flesh... the Davidic Covenant required no such thing.

But here is the thing.... Moses and the Lord Himself saw a day, where --external circumcision--- would no longer be required as badge of the covenant... but true covenant keeping people would be distinguished by their BEHAVIOR! 

Here are the only other references to circumcision in --the LAW other than the ones we have already discussed... 

"Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no more stiffnecked." (Deut: 10:16),

"And the LORD thy God will circumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, that thou mayest live." (Deut 30:6)

Even in the OT we see inward circumcision mentioned!!!

Solomon's Tabernacle was destroyed by the Babylonians... hear what Jeremiah has to say.

"Circumcise yourselves to the LORD, and take away the foreskins of your heart, ye men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem: lest my fury come forth like fire, and burn that none can quench it, because of the evil of your doings." - Jer 4:4." 

Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make ---a new covenant---- with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: Not according to -----the covenant that I made with their fathers(!)------ in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD: 

But this shall be --the covenant-- that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD,-- I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people. Jer 31:34  

And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more." Jer 31:31-34

The Tabernacle of God was destroyed by Himself... in anger against Israel.

Shiloh was probably conquered by the Philistines ("For they provoked him to anger with their high places, and moved him to jealousy with their graven images. When God heard this, he was wroth, and greatly abhorred Israel: So that he forsook the ---tabernacle of Shiloh----, the tent which he placed among men; And delivered his strength into captivity, and his glory into the enemy's hand." Ps 78:58-60)

Solomon's temple was destroyed, and the people of Israel were told by Jeremiah to circumcise their hearts.

Herods temple - (in Jesus day) - the veil was split when Christ gave His Life, and the temple itself would be destroyed some 40 years later. Again, God moving the people away from a formal, legalistic ritualisim to a covenant keeping obedience with His Commandments - as Yashua instructed His disciples. "---Teaching--- them to --obey-- everything I have commanded you.... "

James' short argument is rich with the combined history of Israel, the wilderness tabernacle, the anointing of David with the Spirit ( his first assignment was to play anointed music for a depressed king), and the presence of God as symbolized by the Ark which David established on Mount Zion, in Jerusalem.

 Backed by the teaching and ministry of Christ himself, James is letting the Jewish hearers know that this is the NEW COVENANT, Christs blood which sanctifies... a kingdom of David that is WITHIN people and in their hearts ... not evidenced by outward signs in the flesh, but by the constant indwelling of the Spirit!

This Holy Spirit was given only to prophets and anointed kings in the Old Testament, but , based on the predeclared plan of God, is being poured out on all flesh... as Joel (referenced by Peter), and Amos (referenced by James) have predicted.

Now both disciples (Paul and Barnabas), and the legal scholars are satisfied!

This is what Paul will go on to expound to the Galatians later... when they encounter this same issue again.

God's Tabernacle is in our hearts - what house can we build him? The mark in our flesh that He desires is obedience to His Law that is written in our hearts. Hear what He says to Ezekiel...

"Son of man, when the house of Israel dwelt in their own land, they defiled it by their own way and by their doings: their way was before me as the uncleanness of a removed woman. Wherefore I poured my fury upon them for the blood that they had shed upon the land, and for their idols wherewith they had polluted it: And I scattered them among the heathen, and they were dispersed through the countries: according to their way and according to their doings I judged them. And when they entered unto the heathen, whither they went, they profaned my holy name, when they said to them, These are the people of the LORD, and are gone forth out of his land. 

But I had pity for mine holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the heathen, whither they went. 

Therefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord GOD; I do not this for your sakes, O house of Israel, but for mine holy name's sake, which ye have profaned among the heathen, whither ye went. And I will sanctify my great name, which was profaned among the heathen, which ye have profaned in the midst of them; and the heathen shall know that I am the LORD, saith the Lord GOD, when I shall be sanctified in you before their eyes.

For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land. Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. 

--A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them. And ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and ye shall be my people, and I will be your God." - Ezekiel 36:22-28

The apostles and elders are of one mind, and in One Spirit - Paul and Barnabas return to Antioch accompanied, this time, by accredited PROPHETS from Jerusalem.. Judas Barsabas and Silas.

"Then pleased it the apostles and elders, with the whole church, to send chosen men of their own company to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas; namely, Judas surnamed Barsabas, and Silas, chief men among the brethren: And they wrote letters by them after this manner; 

The apostles and elders and brethren send greeting unto the brethren which are of the Gentiles in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia: 

Forasmuch as we have heard, that certain which went out from us have troubled you with words, subverting your souls, saying, Ye must be circumcised, and keep the law: ----to whom we gave no such commandment----: 

It seemed good unto us, being assembled with one accord, to send chosen men unto you with our beloved --Barnabas and Paul--, ------Men that have hazarded their lives---- for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. We have sent therefore Judas and Silas, who shall also tell you the same things by mouth. 

For it seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things; That ye abstain from meats offered to idols, and from blood, and from things strangled, and from fornication: from which if ye keep yourselves, ye shall do well. Fare ye well. 

So when they were dismissed, they came to Antioch: and when they had gathered the multitude together, they delivered the epistle: Which when they had read, they ------rejoiced-------- for the consolation. And Judas and Silas, ----being prophets also themselves--------, exhorted the brethren with many words, and confirmed them. And after they had tarried there a space, they were let go in peace from the brethren unto the apostles. 

Notwithstanding it pleased Silas to abide there still.Paul also and Barnabas continued in Antioch, teaching and preaching the word of the Lord, with many others also." - Acts 15:22-35 

Hallelujah!