Let It Be Known unto You All, and to All the People of Israel!

 

According to these words, we must know the Word of God written in Scripture, and we must strive diligently to know it. Jesus also said that eternal life is to know God and Jesus Christ, and that if we know the truth, the truth shall make us free.

 

John 17:3 “And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.”

John 8:32 “And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”

 

At that time, the descendants of Abraham did not understand these words of Jesus. Since they had never been in bondage to any man, they could not understand why they needed to be made free. Jesus therefore answered them, saying, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin. And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the Son abideth ever. If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed” (John 8:33-36). In other words, Jesus was telling those who claimed to be Abraham’s descendants that everyone who commits sin is a servant of sin, and therefore such a person is not truly Abraham’s descendant. Because servants cannot abide in the Father’s house forever, they needed to be made free — that is, cleansed — by the Son, namely Jesus. Yet those who claimed to be Abraham’s descendants at that time did not understand this meaning, and so they did not hear the words of Jesus (John 8:47). Through this, we today must understand what great grace it is that we are able to hear the words of Jesus, and that He makes His word known to us so that we may turn back (Matthew 13:10-16).

 

In this way, knowing Jesus and not forgetting His words is extremely important for us. This is because, through the histories of long ago, God also teaches us that even if people are called the people of God, if they do not know God and forget Him, they too can at any time betray God, depart from Him, and serve other idols.

 

Deuteronomy 32:6-19 “6Do ye thus requite the LORD, O foolish people and unwise? is not he thy father that hath bought thee? hath he not made thee, and established thee? 7Remember the days of old, consider the years of many generations: ask thy father, and he will shew thee; thy elders, and they will tell thee. 8When the most High divided to the nations their inheritance, when he separated the sons of Adam, he set the bounds of the people according to the number of the children of Israel. 9For the LORD’S portion is his people; Jacob is the lot of his inheritance. 10He found him in a desert land, and in the waste howling wilderness; he led him about, he instructed him, he kept him as the apple of his eye. 11As an eagle stirreth up her nest, fluttereth over her young, spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh them, beareth them on her wings: 12So the LORD alone did lead him, and there was no strange god with him. 13He made him ride on the high places of the earth, that he might eat the increase of the fields; and he made him to suck honey out of the rock, and oil out of the flinty rock; 14Butter of kine, and milk of sheep, with fat of lambs, and rams of the breed of Bashan, and goats, with the fat of kidneys of wheat; and thou didst drink the pure blood of the grape. 15But Jeshurun waxed fat, and kicked: thou art waxen fat, thou art grown thick, thou art covered with fatness; then he forsook God which made him, and lightly esteemed the Rock of his salvation. 16They provoked him to jealousy with strange gods, with abominations provoked they him to anger. 17They sacrificed unto devils, not to God; to gods whom they knew not, to new gods that came newly up, whom your fathers feared not. 18Of the Rock that begat thee thou art unmindful, and hast forgotten God that formed thee. 19And when the LORD saw it, he abhorred them, because of the provoking of his sons, and of his daughters.”

 

In this passage, God calls the people of Israel a foolish and unwise people. This was because, when they became fat, prosperous, and flourishing, they became unmindful of God and forgot Him. And sadly, these foolish and unwise acts of the people of Israel appear throughout the Old Testament.

 

Judges 2:7-12 “7And the people served the LORD all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders that outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great works of the LORD, that he did for Israel. 8And Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the LORD, died, being an hundred and ten years old. 9And they buried him in the border of his inheritance in Timnathheres, in the mount of Ephraim, on the north side of the hill Gaash. 10And also all that generation were gathered unto their fathers: and there arose another generation after them, which knew not the LORD, nor yet the works which he had done for Israel. 11And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD, and served Baalim: 12And they forsook the LORD God of their fathers, which brought them out of the land of Egypt, and followed other gods, of the gods of the people that were round about them, and bowed themselves unto them, and provoked the LORD to anger.”

Jeremiah 3:20-21 “20Surely as a wife treacherously departeth from her husband, so have ye dealt treacherously with me, O house of Israel, saith the LORD. 21A voice was heard upon the high places, weeping and supplications of the children of Israel: for they have perverted their way, and they have forgotten the LORD their God.”

Hosea 2:13 “And I will visit upon her the days of Baalim, wherein she burned incense to them, and she decked herself with her earrings and her jewels, and she went after her lovers, and forgat me, saith the LORD.”

Hosea 4:6 “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children.”

 

Even by looking at only these few passages, we can easily infer how often the children of Israel forgot God and served other gods. But perhaps the greatest wrongdoing of all was that the Jews crucified God. To the people who committed this great wrong, Jesus said the following from the cross:

 

Luke 23:34 “Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.”

 

The Jews at that time crucified their own God, and yet they considered their actions to be righteous. But Jesus knew that what they had done was a foolish and ignorant act, done because they did not know at all, and therefore He prayed for them. In the same way, we also must take heed, because if we do not truly know Jesus, we too may oppose the truth like them, while not knowing at all what we are doing. Concerning the fact that the people of Israel, whom we examined earlier, forgot God and served idols, some people today think that because they currently attend church, they are not serving idols at all, unlike those people of the past. However, since the Bible defines covetousness as idolatry, we must know that even a person who attends church, if he puts his own desires ahead of the Word of God written in Scripture in his daily life, is committing idolatry, just as people did in the past.

 

Colossians 3:5-6 “5Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry: 6For which things’ sake the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience.”

 

Therefore, in order to know God and not forget Him, we must take heed to ourselves, diligently keep our hearts (Proverbs 4:23), and be able to teach the words of Jesus not only to ourselves, but also to our sons and our grandsons. In this same context, the Holy Spirit of truth, through Peter, made known the following salvation to all the people of Israel.

 

Acts 4:5-12 “5And it came to pass on the morrow, that their rulers, and elders, and scribes, 6And Annas the high priest, and Caiaphas, and John, and Alexander, and as many as were of the kindred of the high priest, were gathered together at Jerusalem. 7And when they had set them in the midst, they asked, By what power, or by what name, have ye done this? 8Then Peter, filled with the Holy Ghost, said unto them, Ye rulers of the people, and elders of Israel, 9If we this day be examined of the good deed done to the impotent man, by what means he is made whole; 10Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you whole. 11This is the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is become the head of the corner. 12Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.”

 

Since this passage says, “there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved,” this is certainly a word that not only all the people of Israel, but all mankind must know. In this way, when we all know this word and, by faith, do all things in word or deed in the name of the Lord Jesus (Colossians 3:17), He will give us forgiveness of sins, salvation, and life, just as He has spoken.

 

Acts 10:42-44 “42And he commanded us to preach unto the people, and to testify that it is he which was ordained of God to be the Judge of quick and dead. 43To him give all the prophets witness, that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins. 44While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the word.”

John 20:30-31 “30And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book: 31But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.”

 

The reason the disciples of Jesus preached in this way by the Holy Spirit was that, before this, Jesus had given them such a command.

 

John 16:23-24 “23...Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you. 24Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full.”

John 14:13-14 “13And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it.”

 

In this way, at the Last Supper, Jesus taught the eleven disciples to use the name of Jesus, and the disciples of Jesus, having come to know this, then made known the name of Jesus to all the people (Acts 4:10). Therefore, just as the Old Testament law below commanded us to “keep” this ordinance,

 

Exodus 13:8-10 “8And thou shalt shew thy son in that day, saying, This is done because of that which the LORD did unto me when I came forth out of Egypt. 9And it shall be for a sign unto thee upon thine hand, and for a memorial between thine eyes, that the LORD’s law may be in thy mouth: for with a strong hand hath the LORD brought thee out of Egypt. 10Thou shalt therefore keep this ordinance in his season from year to year.”

 

This ordinance of the Passover testified beforehand of Jesus, who would come in the distant future. Now, the One we must set as a sign upon our hand, keep as a memorial between our eyes, and have in our mouth is none other than Jesus alone, who is the Passover Lamb and the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth (1 Corinthians 5:7-8). Therefore, we too must keep this ordinance; and like the disciples of Jesus, whatever we do in our daily lives, we must do all in the name of Jesus. Then, just as He has spoken, the name of Jesus will give us forgiveness of sins, salvation, and life.

 

Colossians 3:17 “And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.”

 

Amen.