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NASB | Deuteronomy 7:9 "Know therefore that the LORD your God, He is God, the faithful God, who keeps His covenant and His lovingkindness to a thousandth generation with those who love Him and keep His commandments; |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Deuteronomy 7:9 "Therefore know [without any doubt] and understand that the LORD your God, He is God, the faithful God, who is keeping His covenant and His [steadfast] lovingkindness to a thousand generations with those who love Him and keep His commandments; |
Bible Question:
In no way am I looking for exotic. Rather, this thread (from Robin's original question) has been looking at the promises the Jewish people received from God as part of the covenant. God's Word doesn't fail, so those promises are still in effect... if only the human side of the covenant would hold up (which, of course, we can't do). But --- even if we could --- and here's the question I keep trying to phrase --- was heaven even promised to the Jews? My reading of the OT (help me here) is that there are hints and echoes of afterlife, but nothing like the picture we receive from Jesus, Paul, Peter, or Revelation. So, if left only with an OT definition of "Salvation" --- I think the picture would be very THIS WORLDLY. It would have a "get right with God" (forgiven) aspect, and a "kingdom of God" political aspect (liberation from Egypt and growth in the promised land). It would not, I think, have a Heaven aspect. Except in the typological sense picked up by the New Testament writers. I am trying to understand what the question, "Are faithful Jews Saved" would mean, based on the Old Testament. Your answer, about Josephus, was interesting because it shows the extent that Jewish thought about afterlife had shifted after the last canonical book. To look at Paul's answers, as you have suggested, would answer a different question. |
Bible Answer: Dear JRM, Actually the New Testament does answer your question. You are correct in the inference that the "picture" of the OT was incomplete. Nothing in Scripture explicitly says, "Become a Christian so that when you die you'll go to heaven." That kind of evangelism is alien to the gospel as taught by Jesus and the apostles. When the believer dies his heavenly experience -- called in theology the interim state -- is still an unnatural condition. Human beings were never intended to have anything other than a bodily existence. Consequently, the ultimate component of our redemption is resurrection and glorification. I'd posit, therefore, that the Pharisee understood the conclusion of redemption because of their belief in the resurrection, although they were certainly confused about the full scope of God's eternal purpose. Salvation only comes through Jesus Christ. That was Adam's hope, our hope, and the hope of the last of the elect to be saved. The fact that Jesus' atonement occurred at a specific moment in time is neither hear nor there. Remember, Scripture calls Him "the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world." Chronology is a human concern. Remember, as well, that time was created by God. He invades history at the specific moments He chooses. The OT is only comprehensible in the light of the NT. In Him, Doc |