CHRISTMAS – DELIBERATE DISMANTLING OF THE OLD COVENANT AND THE “PURITY OF RACE”

For the past few years the purity of “God’s Chosen People” the Jews and the Jewish race has been in the news, in regards to who gets to live in the land between the river and the sea. Many Christians are inclined to think and firmly believe that, God gave that land to “Jews” and therefore only they have the divine right to live there. Now the question is, who is a Jew or who are the “Chosen People?” The link is drawn all the way back to Abraham, implying that the promise was meant only to the physical descendants of Abraham.

We are in Christmas season, and we are going through the biblical texts related to the birth of the promised Messiah, about whom the Old Testament, which are the Scriptures of Jews too, speak volumes about. For the “Purity of Race” that we are talking about, there is no better place than the genealogy of the LORD Jesus Christ, as used by Matthew, which is from the authentic Jewish historical records – hence there should not be any dispute about it.

Have we noticed four women are included it the genealogy of the Messiah, and all of who are of Ill repute? The faith woman Mary, the mother of Jesus, was also not spared? Jesus was called an illegitimate child by the religious leaders. It is important to note that, women, wives or mothers don’t get a mention in the Jewish genealogy. This in itself is an insight into God’s heart and His inclusivity, where, God always looked at the world, and not narrowly from a race and racial superiority perspective.  The four women are TAMAR, RAHAB, RUTH and BATHSHEBA – Matthew 1:3,5,6.

TAMAR, who according to some biblical scholars may be a gentile, behaves unconventionally and dubiously, to get pregnant with twins, from her own father-in-law Judah, one of the sons of Jacob the Patriarch. Yet she is called righteous, and included by God in the lineage of the Messiah.
– “26 So Judah acknowledged them and said, “She has been more righteous than I, because I did not give her to Shelah my son.” And he never knew her again.” – Genesis 38:26

RAHAB, a Canaanite woman, and prostitution as her profession. She is disqualified automatically. However, from being a prostitute, she became a woman of faith, courage, intelligence, and belief in God. God saw it fit to include her in this very special list of people in the lineage of the LORD Jesus Christ.
– “31 By faith the harlot Rahab did not perish with those who did not believe, when she had received the spies with peace.” – Hebrews 11:31

RUTH, the Moabitess lady, demonstrates such greatness, which very few can match. She chose to cling to her widowed mother-in-law, and not abandon her in her time of need and desperation. She called the Hebrew people, her own, and YAHWEH her God. Ruth demonstrated greater faith, kindness and goodness than many in this world. God saw it fit, and honoured Ruth by including her in the lineage of the Messiah.
– “16 But Ruth said: “Entreat me not to leave you, Or to turn back from following after you; For wherever you go, I will go; And wherever you lodge, I will lodge; Your people shall be my people, And your God, my God. 17 Where you die, I will die, And there will I be buried. The LORD do so to me, and more also, If anything but death parts you and me.” – Ruth 1:16-17

BATHSHEBA, married Uriah the Hittite. By doing so, she has effectively disqualified herself from being called a Jew, according to some Bible scholars. The sin David committed with her, had sealed her fate, yet, God chose Bathsheba to be included in the lineage of the Messiah, as the mother of Solomon the wise. What an honour!

Can there be any bigger and firmer slap on the faces of all of us, who claim racial purity, and thus, the superiority of every kind? Especially in the light of all the fighting going on about who are God’s chosen people, and who owns the land? *Through this genealogy, and the inclusion of four women, all of disrepute in one form or the other, and two of whom are certainly of gentile origin, the LORD has conveyed to us, once and for all that, everyone who accepts the LORD Jesus Christ, as their Saviour is a child of God. Every such person belongs to the Chosen People of God.* Here, there is no Jew and Gentile; no free and slave; no male and female. Everyone is a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation…
– “3 Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”…16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved…19 And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 20 For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. 21 But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.” – John 3:3,16-17,19-21

Those to whom the responsibility was given through a covenant to be God’s chosen people, and thus, His ambassadors and representatives, to spread His light and His salvation, so that others would come into this fold of the People of God, have selfishly, greedily, sinfully and self-righteously eliminated any and every possibility of spreading the salvation of God to others. Therefore, God deliberately dismantled the system, He Himself had established in and through the Old Covenant, and forcefully ushered in the New Covenant, which is inclusive, and is, as He originally intended, when He brought in the Old Covenant.
– “6 “I, the LORD, have called You in righteousness, And will hold Your hand; I will keep You and give You as a covenant to the people, As a light to the Gentiles, 7 To open blind eyes, To bring out prisoners from the prison, Those who sit in darkness from the prison house.” – Isaiah 42:6-7
– “7 Therefore, to you who believe, He is precious; but to those who are disobedient, “The stone which the builders rejected Has become the chief cornerstone,” 8 and “A stone of stumbling And a rock of offense.” They stumble, being disobedient to the word, to which they also were appointed. 9 But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; 10 who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.” – 1 Peter 2:7-10
– “They were chosen and blessed by God, not only for their own sake, but to be a blessing to all nations, for all time. God’s plan for Israel stretched beyond their borders. In a world darkened by sin and chaos, God chose Israel to be a light to the nations. They were called to be a kingdom of priests who were to reflect God’s character to all nations. Through Israel, neighboring peoples or nations discovered what obedience to God would bring and also what would follow as a result of their disobedience. God chose Israel to be a people who would showcase both His redeeming grace and righteous judgment.” – Dr. Mark Bailey

May the LORD open our eyes that are closed with bigotry and racial, religious and every other kind of superiority and exclusivity, which are all related to the darkness and the devil.
– “9 That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. 11 He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. 12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: 13 who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” – John 1:9-13

Even so, the LORD help us.