Stephen
Terry, Director
Abraham's Seed
Commentary
for the May 8, 2021 Sabbath School Lesson
"Produce fruit in
keeping with repentance. And do not think you can say to yourselves, 'We have
Abraham as our father.' I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up
children for Abraham." Matthew 3:8-9, NIV
What does it mean to
be Abraham's seed? The Jews of Christ's day claimed to be Abraham's seed or
descendants. Even today, they are often referred to as the Chosen People,
chosen to receive the covenant of inheritance offered by God to Abraham several
millennia ago. But when Philip baptized the Ethiopian eunuch like in the
picture accompanying this commentary, how could that be? According to some, his
darker skin identified him as a descendant of Ham, not Shem. Shem was the ancestor
of the Jews through Abraham. If so, this would place him outside of the covenant
offered to Abraham and his descendants. How then could Philip, one of the
chosen, baptize him, seeing he was not a descendant of Abraham. Would he not be
excluded, especially considering the Noahic curse placed on Ham's descendants?
Perhaps the baptism itself is the key to understanding.
Baptism is a key
element in transitioning from a life of self-centeredness to one of loving
service to God and others. This is made possible by the influence of the Holy
Spirit on our hearts and minds. Peter tells us this happens through a
three-step process in Acts 2:38. First, we recognize our self-centered behavior
and accept our need to change, a step called repentance. Next, we show the
commitment to a new, reborn life by baptism. Finally, we receive the gift of
the Holy Spirit to guide us in that new pathway we have freely chosen to walk. Of
course, there is much more to the Christian life than this. But this is the
path most follow into fellowship with Christ. There are exceptions like the
thief on the cross who obviously could not be baptized. But God has long been
in the business of making exceptions based on the state of a person's heart. He
allowed Rahab, the Canaanite harlot in Jericho, to become one of the ancestors
of Jesus, even though the Canaanites of Jericho were all to be put to death by
the Jewish invaders under Joshua. He also allowed Ruth, a Moabitess, to become
an ancestor of Jesus even though the Moabites were not allowed to become part
of the congregation of Israel. As Jesus told his disciples, "With man this is
impossible, but with God, all things are possible." (Matthew 19:26) However, as
a well-known aphorism says, exceptions prove the rule by the very fact that we
acknowledge them to be exceptions. Jesus, a man without sin who needed no
repentance, despite such exceptions, nonetheless demanded that John the Baptist
baptize him to "fulfill all righteousness." (Matthew 3:15) That John consented
despite knowing that Jesus did not need repentance tells us that something more
significant is taking place with Jesus' baptism, something that was echoed when
Philip baptized the Ethiopian.
Baptism has taken several
forms through the centuries. Today, some of those continuing forms include
baptism by total immersion. For that some need a "living" water source such as
a lake, a stream, or even the sea. Others are comfortable with pouring water
into a tub constructed for the purpose. In addition to full immersion, some
pour water over the person or sprinkle it upon them, this may be done while
partially immersed or without being immersed at all. Some of these choices were
decided to be necessary to baptize infants or to ensure the salvation of those
mortally wounded or unable for some physical reason, like the thief on the
cross, that prevented them from being immersed. At some point, exceptions morphed
into standard baptismal practice, and many of those capable of being immersed
in baptism now choose sprinkling instead, or as with the thief on the cross, no
baptism at all. But as Jesus shared with Nicodemus during their night meeting
and as Peter preached at Pentecost, being born of water and Spirit are
inseparable. To understand why, we need to begin back in the days of Noah.
Almost no one was following
God and living a life of loving service toward God and others. Most were out to
secure everything they could, no matter how nefarious the means to obtain it.
As the Bible says, "all their thoughts were only evil." (Genesis 6:5) As has
been too often the case, mankind was on a path of self destruction, arising
from personal greed and selfishness. But despite that, God had a very tiny remnant
who remained faithful, only eight people. Those eight were preserved in a
wooden ark while all the evil in the world was swept away by a deluge. Those
eight people, including Noah and his wife with his sons, Ham, Shem, and Japheth,
with their wives, emerged from the ark and were offered a covenant relationship
with God. They chose to follow God"s instruction rather than the demands of antediluvian
society. This was repentance. They passed through the water that had immersed
the earth. This was baptism. And they had God offering them his guidance, the
Holy Spirit. But mankind did not remain faithful to the covenant. Once again,
selfishness and greed led many astray.
God tried to call
people back to the covenant, including Abram, who became Abraham. But before
they could reach the baptism of step two, they had a long path toward
repentance. Abraham did not trust God's way fully and lied about his relationship
to his wife, and even chose to create his own heir instead of waiting on God's
promise. Isaac raised two sons, one, Jacob, a deceiver and the other, Esau,
more influenced by the Canaanites than by the God of Abraham. Jacob's
deceptions were a continual blemish on his life, and others, like Laban, his
father-in-law, deceived him in return. As might be expected, the sibling
rivalry between Jacob and Esau was played out many times over among Jacob's
sons, to the extent that they sold one of their number, Joseph, into slavery in
Egypt. The Book of Genesis ends with the brothers being repentant over their evil
and deciding to offer themselves up, if necessary, on behalf of one another.
Joseph, as a type of the messiah to come, receives their statements of
repentance and offers forgiveness, which sets the stage for the next step.
While forgiveness can
be instantaneous, the path of one's life up until then may still have
consequences. The multi-generational selfishness and greed of Abraham's
descendants would affect the Israelites for generations. Four centuries must
pass before they were ready to take that next step, baptism. Even then they
were unwilling to enter it by faith. As they stood on the shore with the
Egyptians closing in on them, many felt that they should return to enslavement
for fear of death at the hands of the Egyptian army. But Moses, exercising the
faith they needed to have urged them to remain faithful to God. Parting the
waters as God held the Egyptians at bay, Moses commanded the people to enter
the sea and pass over to dry land on the other side. In so doing, the entire
assembly, including Moses, passed through the waters of baptism. Along with
that baptism, symbolizing the abandonment of the life once lived in favor of a
new life, came the special presence of God in the assembly, the visible pillar
of cloud by day and fire by night. The wilderness tabernacle and the temple in
Jerusalem both echoed these three elements of relationship with God. There were
the sacrifices of repentance, the water for cleansing and the shekinah presence
of God for guidance with the Urim and Thummim stones worn by the high priest.
When we see the essential
nature of the three-part process and the need for baptism as a part of that
process, we can understand why Jesus needed to be baptized by John. If he
willingly refused baptism, his perfection in righteousness would have been
tainted and his death inadequate for securing righteousness for all who would follow
in his steps. There is more to it than that, though. If we can return to the
Noahic flood once more, God promises not to destroy the world with water again.
Baptism also recognizes that event and faith in salvation as opposed to
destruction by passing through the water. But this does not mean that there
will not be another universal baptism. Those who have gone through the process
and submitted to baptism by water will not then be
needing any other baptism. That baptism to come will be for those who, like the
antediluvians, eschewed baptism because it interfered with their desires. As
the waters swept away those who allowed the concepts of love and service to die
in their hearts, so the baptism to come will do a similar work. However, since
the Noahic covenant said that water would no longer be used for that purpose,
the baptism to come is by fire. (Matthew 3:11-12)
God can raise up
descendants of Abraham from stones. Our hearts are those stones he will remake
into hearts of faith. He has left us the testimony of the Bible which repeatedly
calls us to follow him through the wilderness of this world until we reach the
border of the Promised Land and Jesus, like Joshua, takes us across. Even in
their names is the connection, for Jesus is just Greek for Joshua. As Joshua said,
"Now fear the Lord and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods
your ancestors worshiped beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt and serve the
Lord. But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for
yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served
beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are
living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord." (Joshua 24:14-15)
I pray you will join with me in pledging with the people Joshua was speaking
to, "Far be it from us to forsake the Lord." (Vs. 16)