Genesis 2:15-3 & Romans 5:11-17. Back to the Garden

Presented to Alberni Valley Ministries, Port Alberni BC, 28 July 2019 and 30 March 2025 by Captain (Major) Michael Ramsay

 

This is the 2019 version; to view the updated 2025 version, click here:

https://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2025/03/genesis-215-324-romans-511-18.html

 

Doctrine 5: We believe that our first parents were created in a state of innocency, but by their disobedience, they lost their purity and happiness, and that in consequence of their fall, all men have become sinners, totally depraved, and as such are justly exposed to the wrath of God.

Doctrine 6: We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ has by His suffering and death made an atonement for the whole world so that whosoever will may be saved.

Doctrines 5 & 6 are an important expression of our understanding of Salvation and what Salvation is all about… getting back to the Garden. Last weekend we were blessed to be a part of the Summer Rain Evangelistic Crusade here. Reinhart, Krista, Maryanne and others worked very hard and long on this event. Thank you. It was a great success. We had 6 people ‘saved’ this weekend.

In the last session of the weekend, Major Stephen Court led us in some great little tracts from www.the4points.com that give us in point form what salvation is and why we need to be ‘saved’. This corresponds nicely to Doctrines 5 and 6 of The Salvation Army.

Point 1: God loves me: God loves us: he created us innocent, happy and pure (Doctrine 5)

Point 2: I have sinned: this is true, Doctrine 5, as a consequence of the actions of our first parents, Adam and Eve

Point 3: Jesus died for me. Doctrine 6, the Lord Jesus Christ has by His suffering and death made an atonement for the whole world so that whosoever will may be saved.

Point 4: I need to decide to live for Jesus. It is neat that last weekend when we were all practicing sharing the gospel with each other in the stands that one person did decide to live for Jesus – so these are proven to be a good aid.

Today, like I said, we are going to look at doctrines 5 and 6. Doctrine 5 again:

We believe that our first parents were created in a state of innocency, but by their disobedience, they lost their purity and happiness, and that in consequence of their fall, all men have become sinners, totally depraved, and as such are justly exposed to the wrath of God.

This is our doctrine of Original Sin (or more precisely originating sin) and that concept goes back at least to Irenaeus and Augustine, based upon our text today. Reading again from Genesis 2:15-18:

¹⁵ The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. ¹⁶ And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; ¹⁷ but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.”

¹⁸ The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.”

Genesis 3:1-6

3 Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”

² The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, ³ but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’”

⁴ “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. ⁵ “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

⁶ When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it

And Genesis 3:21-24:

²¹ The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them. ²² And the Lord God said, “The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever.” ²³ So the Lord God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken. ²⁴ After he drove the man out, he placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life.

Some people have explained salvation in terms of trying to get back to the Garden. The idea of Salvation is certainly about people and even all of creation returning to our full and proper relationship with God our creator. In Revelation Chapter 22 it speaks about us being restored to the presence of the Tree of Life and of God Himself.

Some people have asked do we need to be restored. Why do we need to get back? Why are we punished for what Adam and Eve did? I never ate from the fruit of the tree of knowledge; how come I suffer the consequences? I look at the consequences of Original Sin like this: Our lives are affected by the choices of Adam and Eve, our original parents, in much the same way that our lives are affected by the choices of our actual parents and their parents before them. Adam and Eve were evicted and moved from the Garden of Eden; therefore Cain, Abel, and Seth weren’t born in the Garden of Eden. I was born and Susan and I were raised on Vancouver Island here – like Adam and Eve were raised in the Garden. However Heather was born and our eldest two daughters were mostly raised off the Island. We left the Island before Sarah-Grace was one year old for our work with The Salvation Army. It wasn’t sin that caused us to move away – like it was with Adam and Eve –but our children had no more say over the fact that they were born and raised off the Island than Cain, Abel, and Seth did that they were born out of the Garden. As our children live with the results of our actions –both good and bad: a life of serving the Lord but also growing up without family nearby – so we all live with the results of our ancestors actions – not just moving from one place to another – but the results of all kinds of choices they made: our parents, our grandparents, and their parents, all the way back to our original parents. That is why and how we are suffering the consequences of originating sin.

Walter Bruggemann, one of the foremost OT scholars today, has noted that Adam and Eve’s perfect fear here cast out love (Genesis 3:10) and notes that as Jesus sets everything right, perfect love casts out fear (1 John 4:18-20).[1]          

The Bible also speaks about the way that we and our parents can return to perfect love, to the Garden. In Genesis 15, through the ceremony of the smoking firepot and the covenant with Abraham we are shown that God will give up His Life (through Jesus Christ) as a consequence of our transgressing our covenant with God and as this will lead to our salvation insofar as Jesus will take the punishment for our sin. [2]

Doctrine 6 of The Salvation Army reads: We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ has by His suffering and death made an atonement for the whole world so that whosoever will may be saved.

In The New Testament we are told a little bit about this. A few people today have some scriptures to read for us:

·        Galatians 3:13: Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a pole.”

·        1 Peter 2:24: “He himself bore our sins” in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; “by his wounds you have been healed.”

·        Romans 5:6: You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.

·        Romans 5:17-18: For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ! Consequently, just as one trespass resulted in condemnation for all people, so also one righteous act resulted in justification and life for all people.

·        1 John 2:2: He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.

Again:

§         Galatians 3:13 says he became a curse by dying on the cross

§         1 Peter 2:24 says that he bore our sins and we are healed

§         Romans 5:6 says that he who was righteous died for the unrighteous

§         Romans 5:17-18 says that Jesus’ death and resurrection reconciles us all; undoing Adam’s death and banishment.

§         1 John 2:2 says that his atonement was for the whole world, all of creation.[3]

And let me read from near the end of the Book of Books here. Let me read from close to the conclusion of the concluding book in this more than a Devine anthology. Revelation 22:1-5 speaks about at the end of our age when God will come down with/from Heaven in the New Jerusalem and there once again will be the Tree of Life, freely available to all of us:

Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb 2 down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. 3 No longer will there be any curse [like Paul said in Galatians]. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him. 4 They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. 5 There will be no more night [Jesus is the Light]. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever.

Even though sin and death entered into the world through Adam and Eve and we have been living life outside of the garden,  Jesus is the light and he is returning and bringing in the new city, back with Him the Tree of Life from the Garden.

Do you want to reign with God forever? Do you want to be in this city, with the Tree from the Garden with no sin, no hate, no death, no deceit; where everyone is honest and loving and serving our Lord? Do you want to? You can. Salvation starts today and lasts forever.

Today, as you have accepted Jesus as your Lord and leader, you can be in the Garden, in the City of God. If you would like to live forever in this place, where there is no more pain, no more suffering, no more sin, no more hate, no more death, no more deceit; where everyone is honest and loving and serving our Lord, you can. All you need to do is ask. Jesus has done the rest.

Let us pray.

www.sheepspeak.com

https://www.facebook.com/Salvogesis/

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[1] Walter Bruggemann, Genesis (Interpretation: Westminster John Knox Press, 1982), p 53

[2] Captain Michael Ramsay, Praise The Lord For Covenants: Old Testament wisdom for our world today, (Vancouver, BC: Credo Press, 2010. (c) The Salvation Army). Available on-line: http://www.sheepspeak.com./ptl4covenants.htm

[3] Cf. Terence E. Fretheim, The Book of Genesis, (NIB I: Abingdon Press: Nashville, 1994), 369.

Acts 13:13-34: Who Will Save Us?

Presented to TSA Corps 614 Regent Park, 18 October 2015 
by Captain Michael Ramsay

Some review questions for us:

1. Who wrote Acts?
2. What Gospel did he also write?
3. About how much of the NT do these two works comprise?[1]

The General Election is coming up very quickly - tomorrow, October 19 -  and I encourage all of you, if you haven't already, to vote AFTER spending some time in prayer, fasting, and study to determine which candidate you should support in your riding. The Canadian Council of Churches has a VERY good election resource that I invite you to look at. I have a few copies of it at the back. I will also re-post it on-line and can email it to people it they like https://www.councilofchurches.ca/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/CCC_FederalElectionResource_FINAL_WEB_REV.pdf . This does seem to be a very significant election. It really does -according to some -seem to be a choice between light and darkness, love and hate, acceptance and rejection. We are encouraged in our pericope today not to reject our Salvation. We are also encouraged to learn, know, and remember who is the ONLY Messiah.

Some more questions for us today:

1. Who is the Messiah? (Jesus)
2. Messiah is a Hebrew word, what is the Greek equivalent? (Christ)
3. What is the Messiah/Christ? What does it mean? What does he do? (Anointed One/King)

This is important. Acts 1:8: " But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." Do we know what and where these places are?

Jerusalem was the capital of the united kingdoms of Israel and Judah and later the capital of the southern kingdom of Judah while Samaria was the capital of Israel. The countries of Israel and Judah both ceased to exist as independent nations by 586 BCE. As occupied nations, they were each looking for a saviour; Samaria was looking for prophet, a teacher and many in Judea were looking for a King to deliver them from their occupier and set everything right in the world.[2] Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria were looking for a saviour, a Messiah, the Christ.

One of the key differences between Christianity and Judaism is that contemporary Judaism (like Acts 13:27ff) rejects Jesus and his Kingdom while Christians accept Jesus as King of Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the world.[3] The King has come and he is gone away (sort of) but he is coming back. In both Biblical records and in history we have seen kings do this sort of thing before (cf. Luke 19:11-28). Herod the Great - for one example - who was a king of the Jews, went to the Emperor in Rome in 40 BCE to confirm his victory and authority and then returned to have his realm placed at his feet (cf. Josephus, Antiquities i..358) at which time among his supporters there was much celebration and among his adversaries a certain amount of weeping and gnashing of teeth (cf. Matthew 25).[4] Jesus won the victory between the cross and the empty tomb and Jesus is now in Heaven and he will return tot his realm placed at his feet.[5] Every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord (Romans 14:11).

Some more good news: This has been the longest election campaign in memory. Who is sick and tired of all the hate and attack ads? Who is ready  for this election to be done? Tomorrow, it is done. I hope you vote and vote well but I have some more good news: When Jesus ultimately returns you won't ever have to vote again. You won't ever have another election campaign like this one. You won't ever have to vote again. So vote now while you have the chance! Jesus is King of the world and that is NOT nor should it be nor will it ever be an elected position.[6] We are not asked to choose who we want to rule for eternity, we are only asked do we want to serve the ruler or not. If we do, we are in. If we don't we are out. It's that simple.

The Gospel of Jesus Christ really is that simple. Jesus is the King of the World. He is coming back. If we serve Him we are part of His Kingdom, if we don't we aren't. And Jesus' Kingdom is and is going to be the best of the best of best of the best.[7]

There is an even greater hope embedded in this as well. You will notice that the central part of all Christianity, what the Apostle Paul talks about most and NT relates more than anything else is the resurrection of the dead.[8] This pericope mentions Christ's resurrection more than once (Acts 13:30, 34,35,35). This Kingdom to come is the greatest thing ever and God loves us so much that he doesn't want any of us citizens of heaven to miss its culmination; he cares about us all so much that even people who die before Jesus returns will come back to life so that they can be a part of his Kingdom. All election scandals, attack ads, corruption and the like will be wiped away as the whole world is made anew!

King Jesus - who died and rose from the grave - went to be with the Father in Heaven and He will come back to claim His Kingdom here on earth. At some point (I am not going to get drawn into any amillenial apologetics, rapturous pre-trib, post-trib, or other trivial pursuits here), those of us who die before Jesus returns to sit on His throne will be raised from the dead and invited to be a part of His Kingdom forever - no more elections, just everyone loving God and loving their neighbour (Leviticus 19:18; Mathew 5:43-44, 19:19, 22:39; Mark 12:31-33; Luke 10:27; Romans 13:9-10; Galatians 5:14; James 2:8). These are the basics of early Christian beliefs. And this love for one's neighbour and serving the unelected Jesus as Christ is one reason why some good Christian groups throughout history have actually refused to partake in democracy - because we don't serve the powers and principalities of this age but instead we serve the unelected Messiah, Jesus, the Christ (Ephesians 6:12).

If ruler of this world is not an elected position and Jesus is ruler of this world and He is coming back to set everything straight anyway, why should we vote? What difference will it make? The leaders of the four of the main political parties in Canada have claimed Christianity. Justin Trudeau has a great testimony of growing in his personal relationship with Jesus Christ around the Promotion to Glory of his brother. Thomas Mulclair credits the clergy at his school for teaching him the Christian basics of loving God and loving and taking care of your neighbour. And listen to this quote from Elizabeth May of the Green Party: She said, "We have a moral obligation to our Lord and Father to ensure we don't destroy the creation that was given to us. Through the power of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, we can meet this moral obligation." That's a pretty solid proclamation of faith in action. I would probably vote for any of them if they were running in my riding, which they are not.

Even our Prime Minister I think may still attend an Alliance Church; and even in the USA - a nation born of rebellion against God, King and country - today their leaders profess Christ. But how can that be possible? I have been asked more than once in my role as an evangelist, how can servants of the King of the World - Jesus Christ - be attempting to conquer the world in the name of the twin gods of democracy and capitalism?[9] How can they be invading county after country after country after country to further the interests of their own country at the expense of all other countries and still claim to be servants of the King of the World? I am not at all convinced that we can both have this cake and eat it too. I remember being involved in ministry on the streets of downtown Winnipeg years ago and someone asked/told me: 'how can you be a Christian? George Bush is a Christian and look what he's doing!' We had a good conversation but - whether you liked George Bush's presidency or not - the question does arise that has arisen many times in history: why should Christians get drawn into all this? Why should we bother to vote? Our battle, after all is not against flesh and blood but against principalities and powers (Ephesians 6:12). The Liberals, NDP, Greens, the Conservatives won't save us.

This is truth. People will let us down. The Messiah does not lead any of these parties and I would caution you about getting drawn into the idea that He does. The prolonged feverish pitch that has overtaken social media and coffee shop conversations since this election began is terrible. You talk to some people and so-and-so is the only chosen one who can deliver us, who can save us from the enemy. Don't get drawn into all that.

Do not vote for the fallacy that a leader of a political party will make everything right. Trudeau cannot walk on water, Mulclair cannot part the seas, May may not add a moment to your life. Harper will let you down. Leaders will disappoint you. Vote and vote well but please don't put your faith in them. As important as this election is, our next Prime Minister will not cause the lame to walk or the blind to see, no matter what their campaign ads tell us; so vote to make this world a better place but remember Salvation comes from Christ alone. Jesus tells us that his followers will love God and love their neighbour. Vote for a candidate in your riding who loves God and loves your neighbour. Jesus tells us that the nations who will be a part of His Kingdom to come - Matthew 25 and elsewhere - will be the ones who take care of the sick, the poor, the widow, the prisoners, and the immigrants. After praying and fasting, vote tomorrow for the person in your riding who most reflects Christ in this way (This is one of the reasons -by the way- that I tend not to vote for proponents of tax-cuts because taxes are the primary way that a society provides for the poor and the needy; cf. Exodus 22:21, 23:9; Leviticus 19:34; Numbers 19:10, 35:15; Deuteronomy 10:18-19, 14:10, 16:11-14, 23:7, 27:19; Isaiah 10:2; Jeremiah 7:6, 22:3; Malachi 3:5; etc.). Vote for Jesus.[10]

But remember whoever wins the election tomorrow is probably not the devil incarnate and they are definitely not the Christ. Vote for someone who will help the less fortunate for Jesus' sake and then hold them accountable but more important that than even: pray, pray, pray! And pay attention to where God is moving in our community and follow the Holy Spirit. The whole book of Acts records what happens when we follow the Holy Spirit in proclaiming Jesus - not Caesar, not the president, not the Prime Minister - as Saviour of the World.  Acts 13:38 tells us that it is only through Jesus that the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed and it is only through Jesus that we can be set free from committing sin (TSA doc 10). Just think, if every Christian talked and posted on social media as much about the love and the forgiveness of sins offered by Jesus Christ as some have spoken about the election, hate, and attack ads in the past few weeks what a different world this would be (cf. Acts 13:38-39). For one, If we spent as much effort promoting God as politics, I imagine every church in this city and country would be full today. So vote tomorrow and vote well but remember: the Gospel of Jesus Christ really is simple. Salvation comes through Christ alone. Jesus is the King of the world. He is coming back. If we serve Him we are part of His Kingdom, if we don't we aren't. Salvation comes from Christ alone. 

As such it is my prayer that we will all spend our lives campaigning for Jesus.

Let us pray.

www.sheespeak.com

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[1] Luke, 2) Luke, 3) 30%

[2] Cf. Robert W. Wall, ‘Acts’ The New Interpreter’s Bible 10, (Nashville, Tenn.: Abingdon Press, 2002), 191.

[3] Cf. The Expositor's Bible Commentary, Pradis CD-ROM:Acts/Exposition of Acts/Part II. The Christian Mission to the Gentile World (12:25-28:31)/Panel 4-The First Missionary Journey and the Jerusalem Council (12:25-16:5)/C. At Antioch of Pisidia (13:14-52)/2. Paul's synagogue sermon at Antioch (13:16-41), Book Version: 4.0.2

[4] Cf. R. Alan Culpepper, Luke (NIB 8: Nashville, Tenn.: Abingdon, 1995), 363.

[5] Cf. Captain Michael Ramsay, 'Luke 19:11-27: Time, Talent and Treasure Series, Part 2: Employee Evaluation: What About the Slaves?' (Swift Current, SK: Sheepspeak, 19 December 2010) On-line: http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.ca/2010/09/luke-1911-27-time-talent-and-treasure.html

[6] Cf. William H. William, ‘Acts’, Interpretation: A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching, (Atlanta, Georgia: John Knox Press, 1988), 125.

[7] Cf. N.T. Wright, Acts for Everyone Part 2 (Louisville, Kentucky, USA: WJK, 2004), 16.

[8] Cf. William H. William, ‘Acts’, Interpretation: A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching, (Atlanta, Georgia: John Knox Press, 1988), 125.

[9] Cf. N.T. Wright, Acts for Everyone Part 2 (Louisville, Kentucky, USA: WJK, 2004), 14.

[10] Cf. Captain Michael Ramsay, 'Vote for Jesus' in Journal of Aggressive Christianity, Issue 57, October 2008 – November 2008 (pp. 27-39). On-line: http://www.armybarmy.com/pdf/JAC_Issue_057.pdf

Exodus 12:24-28: Remember Today

Presented to Swift Current Corps of The Salvation Army, 06 July 2014 and to Alberni Valley Ministries, 17 August 2025. Based on an earlier version presented 01 July 2012 by Captain Michael Ramsay

Click here to read a more detailed earlier version of this homily: http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.ca/2012/06/exodus-1224-28-remember.html

To read the 2025 version, click here:

https://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2025/08/exodus-1224-28-remember-plan.html 

I heard a harrowing story. Dave, a member of the Rotary club here in town, told this story of a family vacation that he took in Acapulco in 1968:

Dave and his wife are on holiday down in Mexico. They check into their hotel. They are near the ground floor and there are these little lizards - Geckos or something else – climbing all up the walls; so they speak to the hotel and ask to be moved as far away from the lizards as they can, up to the top floor. They do move up to the top floor. This turns out to be a mistake. In the middle of the night, they are woken up as people are running through the halls screaming. Some girls from Quebec tell them what was happening: the hotel is on fire. The stairs, they are concrete for the top few floors and then wood beneath and the wooden stairs are ablaze. The girls from Quebec jump over the railing from the 10^th storey or more up and plunge all the way down. Dave and his wife and his two sons, aged six and nine, are trapped. Without thinking they run to the elevator but the door closes with people inside it just before they get there. Actually I think Dave may have even gotten his hand in the closing door but they don’t catch the elevator, which is good because we know what happens to people in elevators in a fire. Dave and his family are trapped. They try to tie sheets together to scale down the outside of the building but as Dave is heading over a balcony, it is good that he has an arm linked through the railing because someone unties the sheets. He then climbs down the side of the balcony and swings onto the balcony below. His wife then drops one of his children for him to catch and then the other and then she scales down as far as she can, then falls and Dave catches her legs and pulls her in. They do this until the third story or so of the building when they run out of balconies. Dave then throws one child down onto a straw thatched roof, hoping that will break his fall. He sees the boy fall through the roof and run away; so he throws the other son down who makes a new hole as he crashes through the thatched roof. He runs to safety. His wife jumps next and Dave is able to scale a palm tree to the bottom. They are injured but they survive. It was quite a tale to hear recalled. They survived by the grace of God but others on their floor who leapt over the railing or who took the elevator did not.

What had happened was, apparently there was a dispute between two ownership groups – one local and one foreign – the foreign group was residing in the hotel on that day and some local people had attacked the hotel with Molotov cocktails – hoping to collect insurance, I believe.

It was quite something to hear this story. I don’t think many of us in Rotary previously knew this about Dave at all. There is more to his story here too. One of his sons had a piece of the thatched roof he fell through stuck into his foot. The other had a twig protruding from his neck with blood spurting out. They were okay though. There was another miracle in this story. Dave and his wife recognize this as a miraculous salvation. When Dave and his wife were climbing down the balconies to escape the flames, they left somewhere her straw purse with their passports, money, plane tickets, and the like. The next day Dave went back and began looking in this burned out hotel building for this straw purse. God saved it for them. It was on a balcony on a burned out floor but this straw purse with its contents was still there. It was fine. God protected it and God protected them. God was there for them in the midst of this ordeal.

It is the same with the Hebrews in our text today. Those of us who have been reading Exodus as we have been looking at it as a church family recently will have read the stories of the plagues in Exodus. They are quite something with each one becoming more awe-inspiring than the previous one.[1]

1. The Nile turning to blood (7:14–25)
2. Plague of frogs (7:25–8:11)
3. Plague of lice or gnats (8:12–15)[2]
4. Plague of flies or wild animals (8:20–32)
5. Plague of pestilence (9:1–7)
6. Plague of boils (9:8–12)
7. Plague of hail (9:13-35)
8. Plague of locusts (10:1–20)
9. Plague of darkness (10:21–29)

A few weeks ago, we shared about Susan the kids and my experience on our camping trip to Montana and how we got a little taste of hail with our tent being destroyed and us having to flee for shelter elsewhere.  And I still remember vividly the closest thing ever to a plague of darkness that I have ever experienced and that was about two years ago here in Swift Current. I don’t know how many of us were outside and experienced and can still recall that darkness that swept over a corner of the city: it was really quite something. I have not seen anything like that before. I heard people refer to that as an ominous, fear-provoking experience as that blackness approached at mid-day, even as you could see blue skies fleeing from its presence. We went to pick up Rebecca for lunch from school at that time. There was a tornado warning. The school had announced that the children were not to go outside. Some students, of course, were pressed up against the windows to see what was happening, others were in tears hiding safely under their desks. These feelings of fear and awe, of terror and wonder, that people were having here in Swift Current on that day are probably a fractional reflection of the intensity of the emotions that would be swirling around the Israelites as they sre experiencing the power of God through the first nine plagues and they would be in our text today, I imagine, in a metaphorical funnel cloud of awe and terror as they prepare for the final plague, the tenth plague: The Angel of Death (11:1–12:36).

It is in the context of the children of Israel huddled in their houses preparing for Death’s arrival that our pericope today is found. In the opening 13 verses of this chapter, God tells Moses and Aaron exactly what is about to happen. Just like a Tornado alert: ‘Get ready’, God warns them, ‘the Angel of Death is coming’.

Now there has already been a lot of flooding and states of emergency declared in this province this past week alone. And just like we have emergency disaster plans that we are to follow in the city and in The Salvation Army when disaster strikes, God here is giving Moses and Aaron their instructions as to how to save themselves and their families when the Angel of Death strikes at Goshen, in Egypt. I don’t know if anyone here has ever huddled in a storm cellar or was forced to take shelter or headed beneath deck on a boat being tossed about in a storm but I imagine that it is the same feeling. The people take all the right steps and now they are just waiting and hoping, and praying for Death to pass.

I have binders and binders full of the city’s and the Army’s plans of what we need to do in the event of a major disaster: a flood, a fire, a tornado strike, … God in Exodus here gives Moses and Aaron a disaster preparedness plan to share with the Hebrews in Egypt for the impending strike by the Angel of Death. It looks like this. Picture with me - you and your family – you have received your disaster preparedness plan from your leaders. Disaster is going to strike, you are fearful (like the school children hiding under their desks awaiting a tornado) and you are in awe as you await the Angel of Death who is coming to claim many from your country on this very night. On this very evening as Death is approaching; this is the plan:

1. You are to take a lamb or a kid to share as a meal with everyone in your household. If there aren’t enough of you in a household to eat a whole lamb, you must share it with your closest neighbour (12:3-4);
2. The animal must be 1 year-old and without defect (v.5);
3. You have already been taking care of the animals for 14 days in preparation for this day – now everyone in town is to go and slaughter the lamb at twilight (v.6);
4. You will then – this is important – take some of the blood and put it on the sides and the tops of the doorframes of the houses where you will eat the lambs (v.7);
5. Then you will eat the meat roasted over a fire with bitter herbs and bread without yeast and you must eat it all. You may not leave any of it until morning! If there are leftovers, you must burn them (vv. 8-10);
6. When you are eating this meal, you are to eat it with your cloak tucked into your belt, your sandals on, and your staff in your hand (v. 11). In our language today: you are to have your coats, hats and shoes on and your car keys in your hand. You are to be ready to go. You are to eat it in haste because it is the LORD’s Passover.

God tells Moses and Aaron that as the people follow this plan they will survive the impending strike by the Angel of Death. Then God tells them, ‘You must never forget this night. You must remember how I saved you.’ I imagine this evening must be as clear to those who experienced it as the images were to Dave and his wife of that night climbing down the side of the building – and Dave’s wife, she’s afraid of heights. I imagine that every time they think about this night, they remember every feeling that was racing through their heart and mind and I imagine that they’ll never forget it.

I remember when I was in Nipawin and the building exploded right behind The Salvation Army Ministry Centre downtown. My office shook. It felt like a truck had struck it. With others, I headed outside to see what had happened, I saw injured or dead or dying people lying on the ground as the flames began to engulf part of the downtown. My children and everyone else around on that day have stories surrounding those moments. I imagine each of us have had times like these that will never leave our minds.

The thing with these events as real as they are to us, they are not as real to people who don’t actually experience them and as time passes people tend to forget the important lessons that come from them. I had the honour of speaking at the D-Day memorial again this year. For those hundreds and thousands of soldiers present on June 6, 1944, as long as they live, this is a day they will never forget; but if I were to guess I would say that less people across this whole country officially remembered that anniversary even than lost their lives on the beaches on that day alone. Remembrance Day and the Legion remind us of the horrors of war, lest we forget. It is no coincidence that as the Cold War ended and more and more of our veterans pass away, that there are more wars in our world than ever before. Did you know that from end of the cold war -1989 or 1990, until the end of the twentieth century there were more wars in that one decade than there were in the whole rest of the century prior. People forget and then another generation experiences the same horrors. 

As the Israelite families of our pericope today are sitting in their houses awaiting the impending calamity, God tells Moses that they are never to forget this day.[3] They are to remember it forever. They are to tell their children and their children’s children. This should a permanent feature in the school curriculum, so to speak. It is to be like our annual Remembrance Day ceremonies in that there are some elements that must be observed. As far as the Passover remembrance ceremonies for the Israelites, they are to incorporate some of their Emergency Disaster Preparedness Plan into a ceremonial dinner and they are not have any yeast in the house at all for seven days prior and they are to eat only unleavened flat breads. Then God tells them, Exodus 12:24-27:

“Obey these instructions as a lasting ordinance for you and your descendants. When you enter the land that the Lord will give you as he promised, observe this ceremony. And when your children ask you, ‘What does this ceremony mean to you?’ then tell them, ‘It is the Passover sacrifice to the Lord, who passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt and spared our homes when he struck down the Egyptians.’” Then the people bowed down and worshiped.

One reason that the people were to remember this was so that they would not forget what the Lord had done for them in the past and another reason is to wait for a future deliverance. As this ceremony developed over the generations, it came to incorporate an act of ceremonially ‘looking for Elijah’. This is because tradition later stated that Elijah must return before the Messiah is to come.

Now Elijah does return and Jesus the Messiah does come and when he does and as Jesus is celebrating this very important Passover remembrance with his disciples, Jesus the Messiah utters the very important words, “Do this in remembrance of me.” This is, I think, a big reason why God wanted the Passover ceremony etched so deeply in the minds of humanity for so long because just as when the Egyptians gave up their firstborn sons, God saved His people through the blood of the Passover lamb; so when God gives up His firstborn son –Jesus Christ – He also saves us; His people, all His people, He saves through the Blood of the Lamb.[4]

This is the most important event in the whole history of the world: The death and the resurrection of Jesus Christ. God, through the giving of His only begotten son has made it – just like with Exodus and the Angel of Death – so that none of us need to perish but all of us can have salvation in Christ Jesus our Lord. This is important to remember.

This is why we come to church, this is why we go to Bible studies, this is why we pray and this is why we read our Bibles; this is why we have our Mercy Seat and this is why every year we celebrate Good Friday and Easter Sunday/Monday every year. That is why we are here today: because just as God offered salvation to all His children from the passing over of the Angel of Death and all the plagues in the Exodus account; so too He offers salvation to all of us, this very day, from Sin and Death and from everything that is plaguing us. As that is the case, it is my hope and my prayer that if any of us have not yet implemented our eternal disaster preparedness plan, that you would delay no longer and that we would all experience that salvation both today and forever more.

Let us pray.

www.sheepspeak.com

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[1] Cf. Walter C. Kaiser Jr., The Expositor's Bible Commentary, Pradis CD-ROM:Exodus/Exposition of Exodus/I. Divine Redemption (1:1-18:27)/E. The Passover (12:1-28)/1. Preparations for the Passover (12:1-13), Book Version: 4.0.2. for more detailed list.

[2] R. Alan Cole, Exodus: An Introduction and Commentary. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1973 (Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries 2), S. 113: In the evening: literally ‘between the two evenings’. Jewish scholars are not agreed as to the exact meaning. The phrase is also used of the time for the regular evening sacrifice (Exod. 29:39) and of the time for lighting the lamps in the meeting-tent (Exod. 30:8). The orthodox piety of Pharisaic Judaism understood the meaning as being between the time in the afternoon when the heat of the sun lessens (say 3 or 4 p.m.) and sunset. Other groups preferred the time between sunset and dark, or other similar explanations.

[3] Thomas W. Mann, “Passover: The Time of Our Lives.” Interpretation 50, no. 3 (July 1, 1996): 240-250. ATLASerials, Religion Collection, EBSCOhost (accessed June 28, 2012), 241-242: The Passover narrative is arguably the most important section of the entire book because it is primarily here that the experience of exodus is communicated not simply as a moment in historical time (in the past) but as a perennially recurring moment in the present life of those for whom the story is sacred.

[4] Norman Theiss, "The Passover Feast of the New Covenant." Interpretation 48, no. 1 (January 1, 1994): 17-35. ATLASerials, Religion Collection, EBSCOhost (accessed June 28, 2012), 17: In the eyes of the first three evangelists and Paul, Jesus construed his last supper with the twelve disciples as the fulfillment of God's plan to inaugurate a new Passover meal. In this new meal, Jesus interpreted his death as a new Exodus in which the new people of God were liberated from all that enslaves them and freed to serve God in holy living.

Numbers 15:22-29: Go and Sin No More!

Presented to Swift Current Corps of The Salvation Army, 22 July 2012

By Captain Michael Ramsay.[1]

We just came back from furlough (vacation) yesterday afternoon. It was a good time visiting both Susan and my families. Susan’s family lives right on Sproat Lake on Vancouver Island so we were able to spend a lot of time just relaxing there. My folks brought us down to the ocean so that Susan could show our older two girls tidal pools and other Island things that one doesn’t get to see here.

We had a good time but we also acquired a story or two. The thing about stories is that they often are the result of things not going exactly as planned and neither of my stories here went according to plan and both of them resulted in us being a little delayed in our vacation schedule and both of them resulted in us having to pay a little bit more than we had otherwise budgeted. Both incidents also involved our car as well.

On our way to the coast, Susan, the girls and I had just finished our last planned rest stop for the day; we had just all piled in the vehicle to make a run for the evening ferries to the Island; we were just turning onto the Coquihalla Highway just outside of Kelowna when – bam- a blew a tire. I had never done that before. It was a bit scary and more than a bit of a surprise – especially since we just got brand new tires put on the Uplander a few weeks ago. So there we were stranded without air-conditioning in a heat wave on the Coquihalla and the car people, when I call them, tell us that we can’t all fit in the tow truck so they have to send a taxi (with its meter running) for them. This cab ride, the tire and the extra hotel stay added a little bit to our expenses for the trip but we got to meet a lot of nice people, the girls were able to spend the evening swimming in the pool instead of driving in the car, and we were none the worse for wear.

And then there was the trip home. This time we are racing to make it back to Swift Current to unpack, take care of business and get ready for the meeting today. Everything was going well until we get to Banff. I don’t know if you saw the mud-slide on the news that wiped out the Trans-Canada Highway but the mud-slide must of missed us by no more than a minute or two. We were right near where it came sliding down when we came to a sliding stop and along with a lot of other vehicles had to turn around and find another way through the mountains. This cost us another delay and a few more dollars in gas, food, and hotels but God is good and praise the Lord that no one at all was hurt in the slide and we are none the worse for wear.

Now the only reason that I brought up the extra-added expenses in the re-telling of these stories is that it sort of relates to our scripture reading today in Numbers. In this pericope we discover a whole community of people who, even though they didn’t intentionally do anything wrong, they themselves have some consequences and some extra expenses to pay. Our passage today addresses the question: what happens if you sin by accident?

The Pentateuch has a few answers here.

q       Numbers 15:22 and 24: “‘Now if you as a community unintentionally fail to keep any of these commands the Lord gave Moses… and if this is done unintentionally without the community being aware of it, then the whole community is to offer a young bull for a burnt offering as an aroma pleasing to the Lord, along with its prescribed grain offering and drink offering, and a male goat for a sin offering.”

q       Numbers 15:27: “But if just one person sins unintentionally, that person must bring a year-old female goat for a sin offering.”

q       Leviticus 5:14:“If a person sins and does what is forbidden in any of the LORD’s commands, even though he does not know it, he is guilty and will be held responsible.”

At some point everybody has sinned and even if we do not know that we have sinned we are still guilty and responsible - Romans 3:23 reaffirms in the New Testament context, “for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” And whatever the offence and the circumstances surrounding it, when we are wrong, we are obligated to God and society to make it right (cf. Numbers 5:6).[2] We are privileged in that, even though we have sinned, we do have the opportunity to make it right. God loves us so much that He wants us to make it right.[3]

There are couple ways that people could sin unintentionally so that these specific laws in Numbers 15:22-29 about sinning by accident might apply.

1. The Israelites might sin unintentionally by being aware that a specific law exists but they might not know that they have broken it. This would be like if you were driving down the highway and you forgot to put on cruise control and accidentally you drift over the speed limit: you are aware of the law, you just aren’t aware that you have broken in (until the red and blue lights come on behind you).

2.      And, another way this might apply, another way they might sin accidentally: Since there are so many more than just the 10 Commandments to follow, someone in ancient Israel might not be even aware of a particular law and thus unknowingly break it. In our world today there are many such situations.  There are times when we might be driving along again (I did a lot of driving on our recent trip to the Island and back!) and not notice a sign informing us that speed limit has changed until it is mentioned to us by the nice policeman or woman at our driver’s side window. In this case, we didn’t know what the law was but we are still guilty of breaking it.

And just like with us, if we break traffic or any other laws, even if we didn’t know that we have broken them and/or even if we didn’t know it was a law when we broke it and even if we didn’t do it on purpose, we still broke the law and we still have to pay the fine. So it was for the ancient Israelites. For the Hebrews, as it states in Numbers 15:24 and 27, as well as in Leviticus 5:17 (see Leviticus 4 as well), they are guilty and will be held responsible. In the case of ancient Israel, the price is a young bull (Number 5:24), a year-old goat (Numbers 5:27), or a ram without defect (Leviticus 5:17) and one has to pay that fine (or sacrifice). Even though they did not know that they did anything wrong, because God loves the ancient Hebrews and He really wants them to be right with Him; He wants them to make things right with Him so they have to pay.

This makes sense, right? How many of us have forgotten an appointment? We miss it or are late and have to reschedule. Sometimes we have to pay for the missed appointment too: that is a penalty. We, in our world today just like in Bible times, have to pay for our transgressions whether they are intentional or not. Sometimes we miss an appointment that we have been waiting months for, maybe because we were even in the hospital. It doesn’t change the fact that we need to reschedule. That is one penalty that we pay today for unintentional transgressions.

Back in Numbers 15: They have to pay. Sacrifice is required. When they sin, on purpose or not, it gets in the way of their relationship with God. God is gracious though. He’ll let them make it up to Him. If they bring Him a sacrifice (which here is sort of like a cross between a fine you pay the government after receiving a ticket or the flowers you bring your wife after an argument), if they bring a sacrifice, they will be forgiven - but they need to pay.

Now in the Leviticus version of our pericope there is a time when you need to pay even more – that’s when you sin against the Lord’s holy things.[4] The Lord’s holy things points to all that is property of the Lord in a special way;[5] that can be anything: an object, some money, a location... In Leviticus 5:14-16 it address that specifically and the penalty in this case is not just a fine of a ram but it is also restoration plus 20% (a double tithe!). So if the ancient Hebrews mistakenly sin or unknowingly or inadvertently use anything inappropriately that is dedicated to God, there is this extra penalty to pay of restoration plus 20%.

Now Dusty and Laurie are on their Summer Assignment for Training College (CFOT, which is TSA seminary).  It doesn’t seem that long ago that Susan, the girls and I were in Training College. We were in the first ever session of the new college in Winnipeg; everything was brand new when we arrived, including the college vans. We were allowed to use the college vans. We were allowed to use them to get back and forth from school. We were allowed to use them for things during the week. We were allowed to use them for personal use occasionally as well. But, we must remember that in reality these vehicles are not ours; they are dedicated to the Lord.

Now I do my best to use other people’s things properly and I do my VERY best not to misuse God’s things. I can remember one day, though, I get a nice little letter for the Attorney General’s office: “You were recorded at travelling at 70 km/hr. in a 50 km/hr. zone.” I had unknowingly misused something dedicated to the Lord and there was a penalty and I had to pay.

And today, this side of the cross, there is more… in Matthew 5:17 Jesus says, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.” And James 2:10 says, “For whoever keeps the whole Law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.” There is an even greater penalty for us to be aware of. We have all committed sins knowingly or not but we also have committed capital offences – crimes worthy of the death penalty. Remember Romans 6:23, “For the wages of sin is death…” If we ever knowingly or not commit adultery even in our thoughts we are guilty of that same sin – and in the Law, the prescribed penalty is death. If we commit murder in our own mind we are guilty – and the penalty in the Law is death. If we blaspheme the Lord, whether we know Him at the time or not and whether we do it on purpose or not, the punishment is death. If we call someone “you fool!”, whether we are aware of it or not, the penalty according to the gospel of Matthew may even be eternal death (Matthew 5:22). And relating back to Adam and Eve, before we were ever born, they on our behalf disobeyed God - the penalty for us is death (cf. TSA doc. 5). We are all guilty (whether we know it or not). We have all sinned (whether we believe it or not). We have all sinned and the wages of our sins – the punishment that we deserve is death. And that is a little more pricey than a sacrifice and restitution plus 20%. This is bad news.

There is good news in our pericope though. After approaching the Lord in their guilt, Numbers 15:25, “The priest is to make atonement for the whole Israelite community, and they will be forgiven…” and, Verse 28: “The priest will make atonement for him...” You know what atonement is, right? It is making things right again so we will be forgiven. Numbers 15:28:“The priest is to make atonement before the Lord for the one who erred by sinning unintentionally, and when atonement has been made, that person will be forgiven.” The priest then will go to God and smooth things over. Even if one has acted out against those holy things of the LORD God himself, he will be forgiven. God will forgive them. It doesn’t matter that they are guilty. Even though they are guilty and do not know it. Even though they thought that they had done nothing wrong and they found out quite differently. Even though they are guilty, God loves them and God has provided a way for them to be restored.

When they go to the priest, they are confessing their sins (saying their sorry and meaning it) and he makes it okay. When they approach the priest they are repenting, turning from their error, and he makes it okay. When they approach the priest he offers their sacrifice this makes them okay with God.

So how much more is that the case for us in our world today, this side of the cross? When we admit our sins and ask forgiveness, Jesus makes us okay. In my life in working for the Lord and the Church, I have not had to give a priest a young bull, a female goat or a ram when I accidentally sinned; I have never had to pay a ticket plus 20% for speeding in a Salvation Army vehicle dedicated to God. And we don’t, none of us, have to pay the penalty in our world today: we don’t have to pay for Adam. Jesus already did (Cf. TSA docs. 5&6). Jesus has made us okay. He already paid our death penalty. He is both the offering and the High Priest (Hebrews 4:14-16). We do not have to eternally pay for accidentally committing sins. Jesus has already paid the eternal price. Jesus has made us okay.  We don’t have to pay for those sins we commit by accident or without even noticing it. Because Jesus died on that cross, we don’t have to pay for our sins, no matter how horrible they may be, whatever we have done, Jesus has already paid. Jesus has made us okay and so now we can each of us go through Christ and repent: we can say we’re sorry, mean it, and be transformed. Jesus has made us okay with God.

As we go to Jesus, the High Priest, and confess our sins and repent, we are forgiven. Jesus has already made it right for us. Jesus is the sacrifice. Jesus died so that we do not need to suffer the consequences of our own guilt (1 Corinthians 15:3-4). All we have to do is go to him. So, as Jesus is both the priest and sacrifice in our text (pericope), and it has been made right. It is okay. He died so that we can be forgiven. We can be right with God.

I don’t know what sins you have committed but they have been atoned for. You are forgiven. We have been made right with God – Jesus died and rose again; so, as Jesus told a woman who was actually caught in adultery (John 8:1-11). “Go… [Now that your guilt has been atoned for]…go and sin no more.” Go and sin no more.

In Jesus’ Name, amen.

http://www.sheepspeak.com/

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[1] This sermon is based on: Captain Michael Ramsay, Leviticus 5:14-19 (Numbers 15:27-31): Go and Sin No More, Presented to Nipawin Corps, 29 March 2009 and in Winnipeg, November 2006. Available on-line: http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.ca/2009/03/leviticus-514-19-num-1517-31-go-and-sin.html  

[2] John E. Hartley. Leviticus, (WBC 4: Dallas Texas: Word Books, 1992), 76.

[3] Ronald B. Allen, The Expositor's Bible Commentary, Pradis CD-ROM:Numbers/Exposition of Numbers/I. The Experience of the First Generation in the Desert (1:1-25:18)/B. The Rebellion and Judgment of a Fearful People (11:1-25:18)/1. A cycle of rebellion and atonement and the record of death (11:1-20:29)/e. Laws on offerings, the Sabbath, and tassels on garments (15:1-41)/(3) Instructions on offerings for unintentional sins (15:22-29), Book Version: 4.0.2: This section reminds us that God's attitude toward his Torah is complex: (1) he is serious about his commands; they are not trivial nor subject to the trifling attitudes of casual people; (2) but he is also gracious; …God made high demands and expected compliance, but he also provided avenues for redress when one did not comply fully. Therefore we conclude that in the Torah God speaks in grace; in the most exacting law there is mercy, and in all of the Torah the intention is to know him and to relate to him.

[4] Cf. Gordon J. Wenham, Numbers: An Introduction and Commentary, Downers Grove, IL : InterVarsity Press, 1981 (Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries 4), S. 146

[5] Walter C. Kaiser, Jr. Leviticus, (NIB 1: Nashville, Abingdon Press 1994), 1040.

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