Last Friday our dear brother Tom Wells was the guest speaker for the men's Reformed Fellowship meeting at the Ramada Inn in Morgantown. As usual, Tom delivered an insightful and Christ-centered message. The topic was Israel as a Sacral Society. Below are bullet points from my personal notes taken during Tom's lecture. Hopefully, my notes accurately depict the good intentions of Tom. If you would like more information on the topic that Tom spoke on, then see Mike or myself (or contact Tom if you want intelligent discussion).
Israel as a Sacral Society
DEFINING A SACRAL SOCIETY. A sacral society is a spiritual society where all people belonging to that society possess the same religion. Ancient Israel constitutes as a sacral society. In a sacral society extreme penalties exist for those who forsake the established religion (i.e. death...most common penalty). The evidence proving that ancient Israel was a sacral society can be found in Leviticus 21:1 ff. (external acts concerning laws for priests with no spiritual qualifications for their position as leaders in the society) and Leviticus 22:9 (death as penalty for priests who disobey).
HOW DOES JESUS DISTINGUISH BETWEEN HIS SOCIETY (ESTABLISHED WITH THE NEW COVENANT) AND A SACRAL SOCIETY? In Matthew 12:15 ff. Jesus establishes the fact that one can be a lawful citizen of a particular nation in which one lives and still serve God (cf. Romans 13). This was not self-evident to the original audience who heard these words from our Lord. Christ's words (spoken in the context of a sacral society) were considered radical.
NEW COVENANT IMPLICATIONS. In Matthew 12:46-50, Christ makes clear that His new nation of priests (i.e. the church) is not tied to blood or society. New Covenant citizens are a new race. Thus, we (as citizens of the New Covenant) must serve Christ and be willing to die for Him over everything. In other words, Christ's emphasis is His Church, not society or blood relatives. Thus, our first love must be for Christ, and this love for Christ will naturally flow into love for Christ's bride- the Church.
Thank you Tom Wells! What a refreshing reminder!
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