UNDER THE FIG TREE - Part 1 of 2

 

DIVINE SELECTION 

God knew us all before the foundation of the world, and even before time began! Paul wrote that: 

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ, according as he has chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love; having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will. (Ephes 1:3-5) 

“Us” are who were blessed, and we were spiritually blessed. All that occurred before the foundation of the world.

“Foundation” implies material. Sometime after the beginning mankind was blessed. Where to look for that blessing and what was it? Between the beginning and the founding on the material world. The first occasion of a “blessing” is in Genesis — in the beginning, as it is written: 

God created man in his own Image, in the Image of God created He him; male and female created He them. and God blessed them, and God said unto them, “Be fruitful, and multiply and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moves upon the Earth.” (Gen 1:27-28) 

God blessed man in the beginning; and He did not bless any of the other kinds, even angelic-kind; God chose mankind above all the others just as Paul wrote in the passage above. God could have chosen any of the other kinds, but He chose mankind to have dominion. Hence, the blessing was for God to make man the chosen kind and not the other animals. He said to “multiply,” indicating that it would be all the seed of Adam that were chosen, not particular ones, but everyone, just as John wrote in John 3:16 (“whosoever”).

The blessing was that we should be “holy and without blame before Him.” Hence holiness was the blessing.

God much later told Moses, “You shall be holy men unto me…” (Exod 22:31). “Holy” therein is consecrated separate. Hence, the “chosen” ones were separated from the other kinds from the beginning, and God pointed that out to the Israelites:

You are the children of the Lord your God: you shall not cut yourselves, nor make any baldness between your eyes for the dead for you are an holy people unto the Lord your God, and the Lord has chosen you to be a peculiar people unto Himself, above all the nations that are upon the earth. You shalt not eat any abominable thing. (Exod 14:1-3) 

God’s intent from the beginning was that all mankind should be holy and without blame. That failed, so mankind was separated unto two-kinds: Adam and ‘Is (pronounced eesh) (Gen 4:1). The man “Cain” was not of Adam’s kind, but of the Wicked One )1 John 3:12).

Adam’s kind were the Holy Ones; the first being Abel, who was killed by the “beast” Cain. Seth was the replacement for righteous Abel (Gen 4:25). Seth’s kind became the “sons of God” and only they were the elected albeit God predestined all of Adam’s kind.

Note that something terrible happened with the original sin; mankind of Adam mutated into another kind and separated from God. Whereas Adam was cast out into the world, Cain was lost into the land of Nod, merely “wandering.” God intended for all mankind to be holy and without blame and by the time of the flood of Noah’s day, all but eight living souls were separated from the “sons of God” of God. Although all mankind was predestined, only eight remained holy. Soon Ham’s kind sinned and that left two kinds holy: Shem’s and Japheth’s as adopted children of God because they too had sinned. By grace, despite sin, God chose eight of the legions of men. Cain’s, and even Seth’s kind resisted the grace of God when they all close carnality over blessedness. 

So, for those who propagate the notion of predestination, election, and irresistible grace; Satan has conned them again; God chose everyone, and nearly everyone resisted. By the time the ark was built all had resisted the grace of God, and after the waters settled, even Noah resisted until all had sinned and come short of the Glory (Image) of God (Rom 3:23). That separation occurred until the time of Abraham, then Abraham found grace as well, and Israelites were separated from all the other nations. They too resisted God and by the time of Christ, few were left unscathed with sin.

Moses, albeit a sinner, found grace on the mountain (Exodus 34:29-35) but by the time 40 years of wandering was over, only Joshua and his crew remained. So, as you can see, “many are called, but few are chosen” to escape Hell and death (Mat 22:14), and to escape eternal damnation “You must be born again” (John 3:7) to become adopted sons of God, again made holy as He (God) is holy: “Sanctify yourselves therefore, and be you holy: for I Am the Lord your God” (Lev 20:7).

Sanctification is consecration and separation from sin. God sanctified (set apart) Adam, Seth, Noah, Abraham, and even Moses. By the time of the exodus, the Israelites were to separate themselves, meaning that genetics was no longer The Way; to “avoid foolish questions, and genealogies, and contentions, and strivings about the law; for they are unprofitable and vain” (Tit 3:9). So, it should be clear that what God intended ended because of the carnality of mankind. Hence, nobody is chosen because of who they are and from whom they descend, but holiness is chosen by each person or not. God does not force Himself on anyone. Holiness is a choice that few will make because it is easier to sin than to abstain from it.

By the time of Jesus, there were only a few righteous ones. Perhaps Mary was righteous because she was chosen to be the vessel for Jesus. Perhaps Elizaeth was holy because she was chosen to be the clean vessel for John the Baptist. Perhaps the old man, Simeon, was holy because he had stayed righteous to see the Savior because when he saw God manifested, he was taken to heaven. Simeon was holy and God had blessed him by revealing the Messiah to him.

Many forget Simeon but he was set apart by God for a purpose: “Behold, there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon; and the same man was just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel: and the Holy Ghost was upon him” (Luke 2:25).

Simeon was a special case if the same Simeon. “Jacob called unto his sons, and said, ‘Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you that which shall befall you in the last days’” (Gen 49:1). The “last days” would have been before it was finished at the crucifixion. About Simeon and Levi. God said, “Cursed be their anger, for it was fierce; and their wrath, for it was cruel: I will divide them in Jacob and scatter them in Israel” (Gen 49:7).

When Jacob separated and scattered the sons of Jacob, He said, “The blessings of your father have prevailed above the blessings of my progenitors unto the utmost bound of the everlasting hills: they shall be on the head of Joseph, and on the crown of the head of him that was separate from his brethren” (Gen 49:26).

Everlasting is the key word there. Jacob’s blessings on one of his sons would be everlasting for one that was separated.

Upon coming to the promise land, the tribes of Israel (Jacob) were consecrated and blessed and some cursed: 

 These shall stand upon mount Gerizim to bless the people, when you are come over Jordan; Simeon, and Levi, and Judah, and Issachar, and Joseph, and Benjamin:

And these shall stand upon mount Ebal to curse; Reuben, Gad, and Asher, and Zebulun, Dan, and Naphtali. (Deut 27:12-13) 

Gerizim was the hill of which Jacob had foretold and in Israel. Each tribe was separated upon entering the promised land, and Simeon got his share:

And the second lot came forth to Simeon, even for the tribe of the children of Simeon according to their families: and their inheritance was within the inheritance of the children of Judah. (Josh 19:1)

Simeon got an inheritance. God blessed him. What was the blessing? His death is not recorded in scripture, albeit external sources indicated that he died at 120 years old on his birtth date. Could it be that Simeon, like Elias and Enoch before him, never died. Or could it be that Simeon was regenerated on his 120^th birthday and became a new creation. With God all things are possible! (Mat 19:26), and a long life for Simeon would have been possible.

Could it be that scripture does record the death of Simeon but that we just missed it? Could it be that Simeon awaited the Messiah to die? Could it be that Simeon’s inheritance was a long life even until Jesus came to redeem his violent sin of which he repented?

If that is possible for God, so is Nathanael. (More on that in the next commentary.)