Category: Scheme of Redemption

The Bosque Redondo Blunder

MONDAY’S COLUMN: NEAL AT THE CROSS

Neal Pollard

In the wake of James Polk’s vision for “manifest destiny,” the United States purchased and/or fought for the territory that gave us the current boundaries of our nation. To maintain and protect this newfound territory, one of the military strategies included the building of forts throughout the west to protect settlers from especially the Native American tribes who were reacting to the invasion of their ancestral home. Kit Carson, former fur trapper, explorer, and extraordinary tracker, was a civilian ultimately urged into serving out west in a military stretched thin back east by the Civil War. He was appointed by General James Carleton to round up 9000 Navajo and 500 Mescalero Apache and place them in a reservation Carleton dreamed up. From the time he visited there, he was enamored with the terrain, trees, and beauty of the place. So the nearly 10,000 Native Americans were detained and displaced and forced to settle at Bosque Redondo. 

While it was a disaster on paper, it was even worse in real life. Neither the Navajo nor Apache were agrarian people, but both were forced to farm. They were enemies of one another, but they were forced to live together at Bosque Redondo. The crops were destroyed by cut worms and hail storms, and the army rations inadequate. The water was alkaline, making them sick. Smallpox decimated their numbers. Winters were bitterly cold and the inhabitants were ill-prepared and ill-equipped.  They were forced laborers, slaves ironically settled at this reservation by the U.S. Government and President Lincoln the very year of the Emancipation Proclamation. It was as much a failure for the government. It was an exorbitantly expensive venture, costly to start and even more to maintain. Beyond the inhumanity and immorality of the venture, it was inept and inane. Carlton envisioned paradise, but delivered purgatory (information a summary of content in Hampton Side’s book, Blood And Thunder).

Bosque Redondo is but one example of the disaster which follow’s man’s attempt to create what he vainly sees as either utopian or idyllic. Contrast that with some of God’s plans. First, He put man and woman in a perfect paradise wherein He supplied their every need (Gen. 2:8-14). Later, after they sinned and were expelled from there, God promised a land which flowed with milk and honey. It was a good and spacious land (Exo. 3:8). While sin tainted their existence there and ultimately cost them ownership, the provision was not the problem. 

Along the way, God promised the creation of a domain unlike any other. It would be for all nations (Gen. 22:18; Isa. 2:2). It would never be destroyed, nor left to other peoples (Dan. 2:44). It was the result of the eternal planning and purpose of God (Eph. 3:9-11). God left a perfect blueprint for its creation and for the citizens’ conduct (Isa. 2:3; Mic. 4:2). We know it as the church (Eph. 1:22-23; 4:4). It is described in that epistle: “So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God’s household, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit” (2:19-22). 

In this divine institution, God has brought together people diverse and unlike each other and united them through His Son. He has taken spiritual slaves and gave them freedom. He has taken those poor and emaciated by sin and made them rich (Eph. 2:7; Phil. 4:19). He has given them boundless blessings by His Son (Eph. 1:3). His church is right in design, discharge, and destiny. Far from a blunder, His body is a bountiful blessing! Only God could take a people besieged by sin and dysfunction and give us something infinitely better. Just imagine what our eternal home is going to be (Rev. 21-22)! 

The Shadow of Things to Come 

Friday’s Column: Brent’s Biblical Bytes

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Brent Pollard

Standing before a lantern flashlight, I happened to notice my shadow on the wall. I won’t lie. I was displeased by what I saw. My large stomach? No, that is not what bothered me. That has been with me most of my life. What disturbed me was seeing evidence of how advanced my ankylosing spondylitis has become. To put what I witnessed in self-deprecating humor: my shadow confirmed that a certain cathedral in France could hire me to be a bell ringer. I should start practicing my dialogue. “Sanctuary!”  

Though I am confident of my person at this point in my life, I appear to be hunched over with insecurity since my head seems downcast. I admit to being perturbed by that since confidence is a part of the initial impression one makes on another. I must bend my knees to straighten upright (somewhat). It isn’t easy to walk with your knees bent! I take a TNF inhibitor to slow the progress. (Ankylosing spondylitis has no cure.) However, my shadow is a preview of things yet to come, the substance of who I will later be. If only my material substance was going to be as marvelous as the spiritual “substance” I will eventually enjoy (1 John 3.2).

Paul calls the Old Testament the “shadow of things to come” (Colossians 2.17). The New American Standard Bible adds the adjective “mere” (“a mere shadow”). Yet, what the Old Testament portended was the wondrous substance of Christ. It is odd to see the shadow of something before seeing that which cast the shadow, but that was the case with God’s eternal plan. One might philosophize about humanity’s ability to witness the substance first that he could not do so.  

Suppose you recall the people’s reaction to Moses’ glowing face after he had been in God’s audience (Exodus 34.29-30). In that case, you ponder whether they could have endured seeing something as glorious as the transfigured Christ, like Peter (Matthew 17.1ff). Whatever the reason, God had selected the optimum time for the incarnation of Christ. That time coincided with the Roman Empire’s days (Daniel 2.40-45; Galatians 4.4). However, even then, the appearance of Christ remained as unexpected to them as vegetation sprouting from the parched ground (Isaiah 53.2). 

Paul said that this “shadow” served like a tutor taking people to Christ (Galatians 3.23-25). A “tutor” during the days of Paul was a servant who took the master’s children to their teacher. In the twenty-first century, we might call the Old Testament the “bus driver.” I can recall several of the bus drivers I had in my youth. I think a couple of drivers would serve as a good role model, but at least one would have invited me along to commit mischief.  

We note that bus drivers only need a high school diploma with no disrespect intended toward bus drivers. (I’ve had family serve as bus drivers.) On the other hand, teachers must go to college and earn a specialized degree. The teacher is the one to whom you entrust the child’s education. Yet, we have people showing a preference for the “bus driver” today. These prefer the shadow to the substance. That preference is not in the best interest of his or her undying spirit. 

In what ways do people show a preference for the shadow? For example, in worship, they might indicate a preference for manmade mechanical instruments of music allowable under the Old Testament but unauthorized in the New Testament (cf. Ephesians 5.19; Colossians 3.16; Hebrews 13.15). In Hebrews 8-10, the Hebrews’ writer discusses at length the necessity for covenant change and the transference of authority from one to the other. Saying one can use a guitar or piano because David employed a lyre in his songs overlooks that David lived in the shadow. 

People also show a preference for the shadow when doing things like following the kosher diet of Judaism for religious purposes. Some of these same people will likewise insist that the day of worship remains on Saturday. Even though Gregory XIII, an apostate from the Faith, changed the calendar, he did nothing to change the verbiage indicating Sunday (“the first day of the week”) as the day of observing Christ’s memorial feast and giving of one’s means (Acts 20.7; 1 Corinthians 16.1-2). We might also note that when people prefer the religious use of iconography and incense, they likewise demonstrate a desire to live in the shadow rather than walking by faith (2 Corinthians 5.7). 

Yes, the Old Testament was only the shadow of things to come. It cannot save (Hebrews 10.1-4). We can enjoy and fellowship with the Substance, Jesus Christ. Come out from the shadow today! Live in the blessed Sonshine of Jesus Christ.   

THE PASSOVER LAMB

Neal Pollard

  • Every home needed it (Exodus 12:3-4)
  • It was to be a male (Exodus 12:5)
  • It was to be unblemished (Exodus 12:5)
  • It was to be killed (Exodus 12:6)
  • Its blood was to be applied (Exodus 12:7)
  • Its blood was the difference in life and death (Exodus 12:13,23)
  • Its sacrifice was to be commemorated (Exodus 12:14-22,24-27)
  • Its sacrifice drew reverence and worship from the obedient (Exodus 12:27)

Interestingly, Paul says, “For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us” (1 Corinthians 5:7). Jesus, as a faithful Jew, had observed the passover throughout His public ministry (John 2:13; 6:4; 11:55), but He knew that the one recorded in Matthew 26 would be different. He told His disciples, “You know that after two days, the Passover is coming, and the Son of Man is to be handed over for crucifixion” (2). On that Passover, He would be sacrificed for us. Jesus of Nazareth, an unblemished (1 Peter 1:18) male (Mark 8:31; 9:31), was killed (Acts 2:23). His blood is applied (Romans 3:25; 5:9; Ephesians 2:13; Hebrews 9:22; 10:19; 12:24; 13:20; Revelation 1:5; 5:9) to the obedient (Hebrews 5:8-9) and is the difference in spiritual life and death (John 6:53-54). As we do every Sunday, this Sunday, which the world recognizes as Easter, we will commemorate the sacrifice of Jesus as part of our weekly worship (Acts 20:7; 1 Corinthians 11:23-29). 

Jesus was arrested on Thursday, crucified on Friday, lay buried all day Saturday, and arose on Sunday. Today, New Testament Christians commemorate this sacrifice every Sunday. The unleavened bread represents His body, and the fruit of the vine represents His blood. The God of perfect foreknowledge made these “emblems” part of the Passover feast which Israel celebrated the night they left Egypt, and it predated the first covenant (Exodus 20). The physical passover lamb sacrificed by Israel had significance to them in their generation and it was to be handed down to their descendants. But, God was drawing a picture that night that would be completed the moment His Son said “It is finished,” bowed His head, and gave up His spirit (John 19:30).  We celebrate and rejoice because He died, was buried, and rose again! May we never let this sacrifice lose its significance to our past, present, and future. 

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Heaven’s “Start Up”: The Ultimate “Rags To Riches” Story

Monday’s Column: Neal at the Cross

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Neal Pollard

Some of the wealthiest companies, Apple, Hewlett-Packard, Amazon, Mattel, Google, Tesla, and The Walt Disney Company, started in the quaint, quiet haven of a garage. Often, they had little more than an idea of a product or service, but they refused to stop until they achieved success. These rags to riches stories intrigue us and fire our imaginations.

Have you thought about the “start up” that began in heaven? It was conceived in the eternity before time. A couple of millennia ago, a poor couple staying in an obscure little village laid a newborn baby boy in an animal trough. This Child continued to grow and become strong, increasing in wisdom; and the grace of God was upon Him as He kept increasing in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men. Nothing more is said about this amazing adolescent until He is thirty years old and began sharing new ideas and promising the thing every person in every place in every generation absolutely cannot afford to be without. 

Though He was executed for His radical claims, thoughts, and actions, His followers refused to keep what He had to offer hidden. Many of them gave their lives to advance this cause, they believed so much in it. Most of them were poor, uneducated, and ordinary people, but they relentlessly carried His offer to every creature under heaven. People began to describe their efforts by saying these men have turned the world upside down! 

And indeed they have. Those who heard the Man who started it all shared it with those who shared it until this ultimate hope went everywhere. Today, multiplied centuries today, their work lives on. Taking that same, original plan, written down in one Book, people of every race, color, country, and economic strata continue to start from nearly nothing and grow in extraordinary ways. 

No wonder! That newborn is God in the flesh. What He came to offer is the eternal salvation of our souls. Where He offers it is in His body He calls the church. Anyone can have it, if they are willing to give Him everything they are and have. At this very hour, there is an untold number of men, women, and young people who desperately want what He has to offer, but they need to know how to get it. That’s where we come in. He is counting on us to share His offer today, while there’s time for them to take advantage of it. If we truly believe in the power of it, nothing will keep us from getting this indescribable gift to the masses!

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