Progressive Developments

New Beginnings
Audio MP3  

“In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth” (Genesis 1:1).

Robert Wilson

Genesis 1:1 begins with the famous expression, “In the beginning.” The text refers to the beginning of the physical creation. However, there was a previous creation, beginning with Jesus as the Logos, and all the heavenly hosts, who “shouted for joy” at the creation of earth (Job 38:4,7). In this sense, Genesis 1:1 refers to a New Beginning, for there had been an earlier beginning.

“And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep” (Genesis 1:2). Earth had been in existence for a very long time. The New Beginning was that God now turned his attention in an entirely new direction, that of preparing the earth to be a home for what would be his crowning achievement in the physical universe. This creation would not function in a machine-like mindlessness. Instead, every member of this human family, propagated from the two persons God would create, would have an individual mind of its own. Each one would become god-like, in that “God is love.”

That certainly was a New Beginning for the dark and barren globe circling the sun in orbit. What a wonderful home for man it promised to be. At the end of six creative “days,” “God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day” (Genesis 1:31). Thereafter, man was told to multiply and fill the earth and subdue it. This, too, was a New Beginning, a beginning for the human family.

Fall From Grace

Another New Beginning occurred in the fourth chapter of Genesis, after Adam failed to demonstrate obedient faith in God, but followed the message of the serpent as supplied through Eve. Adam and Eve were driven from their beautiful home in Eden into a land where they must earn their bread in competition with thorns and thistles, in the sweat of their brows. They were to multiply and fill the earth with their offspring, and this began with Cain and Abel. Jealousy arose in Cain when Abel’s offering was accepted, and the Bible records the first death of man (Genesis 4:1-8). Thus, we have another New Beginning of sorts, the beginning of human sorrow, suffering, and death.

Several centuries later we come to the account of Noah and the flood, which led to the next New Beginning: “The sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose. And ... there were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown. And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually ... And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth ... for it repenteth me that I have made them. But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD” (Genesis 6:2-8, Jude 6).

God saw righteousness in Noah and carried him and his family through the flood to restart the human family without the in-breeding of the fallen angels (2 Peter 2:4,5). So here again is a New Beginning.

Call of Abraham and his Descendants

Another New Beginning came when Abraham, “Father of the Faithful,” was called by Jehovah. God asked him to “Go where I want you to go, Do what I want you to do and Be what I ask you to be.” These three two-letter words were used in a discourse on consecration by Bro. Steve Suraci years ago. He pointed out that all God wants of us is to Go where he wants us to go, to Do what he asks us to do and Be what he wants us to be. If we commit to that, we are consecrated, and Abraham fulfilled those requirements. He left his father’s house and went into a land that God showed him. He readily took his beloved son up the mountain and prepared to sacrifice him. By his faith, Abraham became the Father of the Faithful, and an example for us to emulate (Hebrews 11:8-10), for “without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him” (Hebrews 11:6).

Moving down in years to Israel’s Egyptian bondage and the emergence of Moses, we come to the day when Moses led his people out of Egypt. Hebrews 11:29 suggests that Israel crossed the Red Sea by faith and thus received for themselves “a good report” (verse 39). It was on this occasion that Israel became a nation, rather than merely a collection of Hebrews. Later, at Mt. Sinai, God called them and made a covenant with them. They became the first covenanted people of God. This certainly was a New Beginning.

This New Beginning was the start of a new episode in God’s plan for saving his human family from the death condition brought on by Adam’s disobedience. Here, a people was selected to go through a long period of training and experience to become an example for the church, and in the future, to become teachers to the world about God’s requirements for everlasting life. God gave them the Law, made a covenant with them, and led them for 40 years in the wilderness. He protected them from the heat of the day with a cloud and kept them safe at night with a pillar of fire. He fed them manna for those 40 years, and their clothes and shoes did not wear out in all that time (Deuteronomy 29:5).

As the 40 years in the wilderness were ending and Israel was poised to cross the Jordan River, Moses recited the words of the covenant that he had unfolded for them during their wilderness journey: “These are the words of the covenant, which the LORD commanded Moses to make with the children of Israel in the land of Moab, beside the covenant which he made with them in Horeb [Mt. Sinai]” (Deuteronomy 29:1). This covenant spelled out blessings for obedience and also cursings for disobedience. Both the blessings and the cursings were related to Israel’s life in the land. This law was to be read to the people every seven years (Deuteronomy 31:10,11) to remind them of their commitment and responsibility to the covenant. Moses wrote that law in a book and commanded the Levites to place it in the “side of the ark” (Deuteronomy 31:24-26).

Israel’s entry into the land was more than simply crossing the Jordan. There they observed circumcision, the sign of God’s covenant with Abraham, that had not been practiced for 40 years. There also, the Passover was kept again. Also, there was the ceremony of stones taken out of the river, and being replaced with stones from the land (Joshua chapters 3, 4).

In Deuteronomy 27, Moses instructed Israel that when they would cross the Jordan, they would take twelve stones from the river bottom, carry them to Mt. Ebal and Mt. Gerizim, write the six blessings of chapter 28 on one set of stones, and write the six cursings on the other set. Then the Israelites would stand in the amphitheater between these mountains while Joshua, the Priests, and Levites would read the covenant, reciting the blessings for obedience and the cursings for disobedience.

Unlike the scene on Mt. Sinai, where the leaders of the tribes were present, here, between these mountains, all Israel was present, including women and children, water carriers and woodcutters (Deuteronomy 29:10,11; Joshua 8:32-35). “Moses and the priests the Levites spake unto all Israel, saying, Take heed, and hearken, O Israel; this day thou art become the people of the LORD thy God” (Deuteronomy 27:9).

The Passing of Moses

When Israel neared entering the land over the Jordan River, Moses passed the leadership of Israel to Joshua, then went up a mountain and died. Joshua led Israel over the river. The men were circumcised, and the Passover observance was reintroduced — two rites unobserved in the wilderness.

Next, a new test of faith was given to these, most of whom had not passed through the Red Sea. This new test of faith was the battle of Jericho. Israel followed God’s directions concerning marching around Jericho and took that city when the wall fell down.

Without asking for God’s direction and help, Israel attacked the nearby city of Ai. Israel was defeated and chased off, losing thirty-six men. Joshua was upset with God for not helping them, but God revealed that there was sin in Israel and he would not help a sinful nation. The guilty party was Achan who had taken some forbidden spoil from Jericho. To purge the sin out of Israel, Achan, his family, possessions, flocks, and herds, were taken down to the valley of Achor: “And Joshua, and all Israel with him, took Achan the son of Zerah, and the silver, and the garment, and the wedge of gold, and his sons, and his daughters, and his oxen, and his asses, and his sheep, and his tent, and all that he had: and they brought them unto the valley of Achor. And Joshua said, Why hast thou troubled us? the LORD shall trouble thee this day. And all Israel stoned him with stones, and burned them with fire, after they had stoned them with stones. And they raised over him a great heap of stones unto this day. So the LORD turned from the fierceness of his anger. Wherefore the name of that place was called, The valley of Achor [trouble], unto this day” (Joshua 7:24-26).

Only one man in Israel had sinned, yet it was counted as if the nation had sinned. Think of Adam, whose individual sin brought death upon all men! Because of Achan’s one sin, thirty-six men had died, possibly leaving thirty-six new widows in Israel, plus children. It should make us very careful concerning our own conduct. No sin, not one iota, will be acceptable in God’s kingdom. We, who seek after the narrow way opened to us by our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, pass through and are surrounded by sin. We encounter it every day in every way from the grocery counter magazines to the billboards along the road, from the news of the day to television entertainment. And yet, we must resist and reject it all.

The Advent of Jesus

There are many more New Beginnings for Israel, but we want to move on down in history to another, larger set of New Beginnings, starting with the birth of Jesus. Here was a perfect man, in likeness to Adam, but not sinful, not of Adamic stock. Jesus was born of a woman, but through a special seed from God, so that Jesus was sinless (Galatians 4:4). No one like him had ever lived before, except Adam. He was a perfect human specimen. Like Adam, his character was untested. Adam failed his first test of character, following Eve who believed the adversary. Jesus also was challenged by the adversary. But rather than distrusting God, Jesus used the word of God as a shield and buckler, and the adversary retreated (Luke 4:1-13).

This New Beginning brought hope for the entire human race. “[God] hath given him [Jesus] authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man. Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of judgment. I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me” (John 5:27-30).

The “all that are in their graves” excludes no one from receiving a New Beginning, a new life. Encouraging to all of us, the very Jesus who showed such compassion during his earthly life is the one invested with authority to rule and judge.

“Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people ... he was moved with compassion ... because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd” (Matthew 9:35,36). “We have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin” (Hebrews 4:15). Could one ask for a better judge? A more understanding, kind, thoughtful and loving judge? He died to free Adam and his race, including all of us, to give us all a New Beginning (1 Corinthians 15:21, 22

Pentecost and Beyond

Jesus died on a cross at the age of thirty-three and on the third day was raised as a divine being. Thereafter, at Pentecost, Jesus provided a New Beginning for his followers, the church. This spiritual class has been in development for nearly two-thousand years. As footstep followers of Jesus, these will form his spiritual body and will be associated with him in the work of resurrecting the dead, giving to man the life that he never had as a son of Adam. The kingdom of Jesus Christ will be a most wonderful New Beginning! Jesus will reign for a thousand years, until all enemies are put under his feet (1 Corinthians 15:25; Revelation 20:6). Then he will deliver up the kingdom to God, and mankind will glorify their great creator and king evermore.

Israel is, and has long been, God’s time clock. In our lifetime we have observed the steps leading toward the establishment of Christ’s kingdom. We have witnessed the resurrection of the nation of Israel. In AD 70 Israel’s temple was destroyed, its land taken over by foreigners, and “Israelites” became “Jews,” a downgraded corruption of the name “Judah,” by their Roman captors.

Their religion became corrupted, their people scattered throughout the earth, and even their Hebrew language was diminished. Their nation was dead and remained so for nearly two thousand years. But now, according to the prophecy about the valley of dry bones in Ezekiel 37, those bones have reassembled to form a nation again.

Throughout Israel’s history, God indicated there would be a remnant faithful to the Abrahamic promise and the laws of God: “Since the days of our fathers have we been in a great trespass unto this day; and for our iniquities have we, our kings, and our priests, been delivered into the hand of the kings of the lands, to the sword, to captivity, and to a spoil ... And now for a little space grace hath been shewed from the LORD our God, to leave us a remnant to escape, and to give us a nail in his holy place, that our God may lighten our eyes, and give us a little reviving in our bondage” (Ezra 9:7,8).

• In 1878, following the Russian-Turkish War, at the Berlin Congress of Nations, all of the citizens of the Ottoman Empire (including Jews) were given equal rights under law. Thus, the Jewish people were able to purchase and colonize the land of Israel anew. The settlement of Petach Tikvah was founded that year.

• In 1884, the first ever Hebrew language newspaper was published in Jerusalem by Eliezer Ben Yehuda, the man who resurrected the Hebrew language.

• In 1896, Theodor Herzl published The Jewish State, and convened the first Zionist Congress the year following.

• In 1917, the Balfour Declaration affirmed England’s purpose to restore Palestine as a homeland for the Jewish people. That same year the British took Jerusalem, giving point to England’s declaration. By the end of World War I in 1918, the Ottoman Empire lay in ruins and England accepted a protectorate status for the land.

• In 1922, The League of Nations confirmed the Balfour Declaration. In 1939 the holocaust commenced, driving more Jewish people back to Palestine, and in 1948 the state of Israel was reborn. There were then about 600,000 Jews living there. Today, the number is nearly 6,000,000.

The final New Beginning is awaiting the completion of the church, the full resurrection of Israel, and the resurrection of all the dead to a kingdom of blessing.