SLIDES

Unity of God’s People

Part 1 – Old Testament

Psalm 133

The most united group of people that should exist in the United States is believes in Jesus, the body of Christ. But is it?

In churches and Bible study classes all over the United States there are divisions and disunity. Disunity can be brought about by silly or foolish things such as the color of the new carpet for the sanctuary. Some get really serious about things like that. When we were attending the First Baptist Church of Rolling Fork Mississippi, there were two major disagreements that I remember vividly. After building a new sanctuary, the church voted to bring something significant or meaningful from the old sanctuary to the new sanctuary. There were major disagreements about that. There was also a major disagreement about remodeling the old sanctuary for an activity center for teens, Usually, major disagreements are not about important things like doctrine but silly and foolish things like I have just mentioned. Some are not on the same page with the pastor and/or the leadership of a church or a Bible Study class. Many of the disagreements can be attributed to people selfishness and pride. These kinds of action are not a good witness to unbelievers. So how can a group of such diverse people be united in anything? We are going to explore that today and next week.

The theme of the 2023 Passover edition of the Atlanta Jewish Times is Unity. On the front of the AJT, the phrase Unity Creates Community is prominent. In one section of this edition of the AJT 36 prominent people in the Jewish Community wrote their thoughts on Unity Creates Community in relation to Passover. I know nine of these are rabbis personally.

Is the Christian community in the US as united or cohesive as the Jewish community? No, it is not. Persecution for the last 2000 years has caused the Jewish communities around the world to be united. It has everything to do with survival. Let me give an illustration.

When I was ministering to the Russian-speaking Jewish community, those who immigrating from the former Soviet Union, I learned many interesting things about their persecution and their unity.  One of my friends was a Russian-speaking Jewish man from Uzbekistan owned a clothing store at Five Points five years after immigration to America. He was doing very well financially. One evening someone knocked on his door.  After opening the door, he asked the gentleman how he could help him. Basically, the man told him that he had immigrated to America about a month before from the former Soviet Union. He told my friend that he had secured a job but needed transportation. He asked my friend to loan him $5000.00 so he could but an automobile. My friend lent him the money and the man asking for the money paid him back.

Do you know of a Christian who would loan another Christian $5000.00 under similar circumstances? Would you be willing to loan a stranger $5000.00 under those circumstances. When persecution of the Christian community actually arrives in force, there maybe things like that to occur.  Would you be willing to hide a Christian or Jewish family in your home with the knowledge that jail, death, or persecution might ensue if you were caught?

For the next two weeks, we are going to discuss how a group of people can be united even though they are such a diverse group of believers in Jesus. We are going to look at some Old Testament and New Testament passages that deal with the biblical view of unity and disunity among God’s people.  

Webster’s Online Dictionary defines unity as “a oneness of mind, feeling, etc., as among a number of persons; concord, harmony or agreement.” This is certainly part of being united but those who believed in and worshipped the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and those who lived in Israel in the Old Testament were to have a higher form of unity and go beyond the definition that Webster gives. We will see that God in the Old Testament and the New Testament that has a higher standard for unity than Webster gives. In the Old Testament they were to love one another as one loved himself or herself as we see in Leviticus 19:18.

You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the sons of

your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself; I am the

Lord.

The Hebrew word translated love is ahab. Ahab can describe the   marital relationship between a man and a woman and can describe the special love that exists between parents and their children. Ahab also describes the deep love that friends can have for each other. This is not sexual in nature, but attests to the deep abiding love that only God can provide to believers to display to others. This is the love that Saul had for David and that David shared with Jonathan This can be called a familial or brotherly love. In each of these situations, the concept of love involves a commitment one has to another person whether it was to a spouse, a child, neighbor, or a friend. 

The concept of unity as it relates to God’s people did not begin with the unity of the body of Christ but with Israel.  We are going to begin with the unity of the twelve tribes as it relates to the nation of Israel, families, neighbors, or individuals. Israel was also a diverse group of believes in Yahweh. Each tribe lived in a different section of Israel with which has its different positive things and challenges with the land. This made each tribe diverse from the other tribes. Over the years different traditions and customs developed among the tribes. Even Hebrew, the official language of the nation of Israel, was pronounced differently in different parts of the nation just like in America.  One example is found in Judges 12:5-6.

5.  The Gileadites captured the fords of the Jordan opposite Ephraim. And it happened when any of the fugitives of Ephraim said, “Let me cross over,” the men of Gilead would say to him, “Are you an Ephraimite?” If he said, “No,”

6   then they would say to him, “Say now, ‘Shibboleth.’ ” But he said, “Sibboleth,” for he could not pronounce it correctly. Then they seized him and slew him at the fords of the Jordan. Thus there fell at that time 42,000 of Ephraim.

The Gileadites were a branch of the tribe of Manasseh (Nu. 26:29).  We are not going to spend time discussing this but to say the civil conflict between the Gileadites and the Ephraimites cost the Ephraimites 42,000 lives.

We know that Israel was split into two nations under the rule of Solomon’s son, Rehoboam in 1 Kings 12. The ten northern tribes were called Israel while the southern two tribes, Judah and Benjamin, were called Judah. This divided nation lasted about 400 years until the return from the Jewish people from the Babylonian captivity.  

By the time Jesus was born, we also see divisions in the land, even after the return from captivity in Babylon. The tribes of Judah and Benjamin, since they were considered Judea that included the capital of Jerusalem and the Temple, were seen as cultured and sophisticated. As one went north into Samaria and the Galilee area, people were seen as half-breeds in Samaria and less cultured and less sophisticated in the Galilee area. Today some hate the blacks as Israel hated the Samaritans and others seen those of us in the South as a bunch of rednecks or country folks by some. We see this kind of thinking in John 1.

John 1:45-46 Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found Him of whom Moses in the Law and also the Prophets wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” 46 Nathanael said to him, “Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.”

Even though Jesus was reared in Nazareth, He was born in Bethlehem from the linage of King David. But at the time, Nathanial did not know that and neither did the Jewish leaders. Another example of this is found in Matthew.

During the trial of Jesus, Peter denied that he knew Jesus three times. In Matthew 26, some bystanders accused Peter of being with Jesus. They said in verse 73, “Surely you too are one of them; for even the way you talk gives you away.” Peter had a Galilean not a Judean accent. Galileans were considered “rednecks” or “county people.” Judeans did not accept the Galileans as equal to them.  Are there people in this class for different reasons whom you do not accept as being on par with you because of the way they dress, talk, or live?

From almost day one when Israel began to take the land, there were disagreements among the tribes. But what did God want concerning the unity of the tribes that made up the nation of Israel? Unity, Unity, Unity as we will see in Psalm 133.

Psalm 133– The title of Psalm 133 says that David wrote this psalm and that it is a song of assents – In Lev. 23:14-17 the Lord commanded all males 20 years old and older had to attend and celebrate three feast days in Jerusalem each year – The Feast of Unleavened Bread (Passover), the Feast of Waves Loaves (Shavuot), and the Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot). When one journeyed to Jerusalem from anywhere in Israel, one always went up or ascended to Jerusalem. The Hebrew word translated to go up to go up or to ascend is Aliyah. When A Jewish person goes to Israel to live, they are not immigrants but repatriates. Psalm 133 is one of many Psalms they sang on the way up to Jerusalem.

David probably wrote this Psalm to celebrate his coronation as King of a united Israel and Judah. For seven years David was King of Judah but not the other tribes. There was civil unrest but finally the tribes united and made David King of all 12 tribes. 

Psalm 133 deals with unity among the people of Israel wheather it be the unity of the 12 tribes, the unity of families, or the unity of individuals Psalm 133 is considered a Wisdom Psalm.  

1 Behold, how good and how pleasant it is

For brothers to dwell together in unity!

Behold is a word similar to the words truly, or truly, truly that that Jesus used in the gospels. Behold means to pay attention to what I am going to say because it is important. The word good means something that brings happiness and pleasant means something that is delightful. Unity among the tribes, families, neighbors, and individuals was something God expected because unity is good and pleasant. Unity was a blessing from God. It was supernatural like agape” love is.

   2    It is like the precious oil upon the head,

Coming down upon the beard,

Even Aaron’s beard,

Coming down upon the edge of his robes.

   3    It is like the dew of Hermon

Coming down upon the mountains of Zion;

For there the Lord commanded the blessing—life

forever.

In verses 2 and 3a David uses two similes to compare the unity that is good and pleasant to the unity of the 12 tribes, to families, and to individuals. In the first simile in verse two, David uses oil that was used in anointing a High Priest of Israel into that significant ministry office to compare it to unity. The oil represents the uniting of the entire body from the head to the feet. The precious oil is oil that was formulated by God and was of great importance and was not to be used carelessly. It was considered holy oil. It was only to be used for anointing and other uses only in the ministry of the tabernacle or temple. We see that the oil had two important points of comparison. It was holy oil that flowed down and represented uniting and consecrating all parts of the body i.e., the entire body from the from the head to the feet. What does oil represent may times in the Bible? It represents the Holy Spirit.  The unity of the tribes, the families, neighbors, and individuals were a blessing from God flowing down from heaven.

The second simile in verses 2-3a compared the dew that is on Mount Hermon to the unity of the tribes, families, neighbors, and individuals. Note that the dew also comes down. The dew that come down is heavy and covers the entire mountain. The dew that come down on Zion (Jerusalem) is also heavy. Mount Hermon represents Israel north and Zion, Jerusalem, represents Israel south. Therefore, the heavy dew that comes down from heaven represents uniting the country and refreshment from God.

The last part of verse three about God’s blessing of life forever is not referring to eternal life or immortality, but is referring to the continuation or perpetuation of the family. The substance of that blessing of the perpetuation of the family is the unity of Israelites that was good and pleasant.  

The idea of unity in this Psalm reflects much more than Webster’s definition or just peace among people. In Genesis 13:6 and Genesis 36:7 the idea of unity is seen in relatives and related tribes residing as an extended family in an area. This was done to defend family interests and to help secure the future of the family. Then, the expression dwelling together in unity reflects the obligations of those who dwell together, and again, does not simply reflect a peaceful coexistence. The expression about dwelling together in unity can also be seen in the restoration of Judahites living together in the land that God had given them as seen in Jeremiah 31:24.

Judah and all its cities will dwell together (with unity and commitment to one another) in it, the farmer and they who go about with flocks.

Dwell Together means with unity and commitment.

King David seems to be illustrating in Psalm 133 the idea of those related living in a shared area to share common interests and meet common needs. On a national level we see this in this unity displayed not only on a physical level, but more importantly on a spiritual level. The physical and spiritual unity is seen by the pilgrims going up to Jerusalem three times a year to celebrate three significant feasts of Israel, worship God, and to receive spiritual blessings. They were bound together with a common heritage and spiritual unity in the Mosaic covenant.  Dwelling together in unity was in itself a blessing but it also brought on God’s blessing Zion. The nuance of unity is displayed in Psalm 133.

Application

Psalm 133 is about the decent of God blessings on Israel that should have bound them together under the Mosiac Convent. The blessing of those who are in Christ today should bind us together under the New Covenant. We all have different gifts but we are part of the same body – the body of Christ. We have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. The New Testament Community should be bound by “agape” love which is a love of commitment to one another. It is the glue that should bind us.

But sometimes believers’ self-interests and pride get in the way of unity.

Do you find yourself sometimes putting your own interests and desires about that of the class? Are you as a believer in Jesus committed to everyone in this class regardless of their likes or dislikes? Are there some people in this class with whom you really don’t have a commitment or with someone the commitment is partial?

What would it take for someone to be more committed to those with whom they are not committed or only partially committed? What are some suggestions that might change one attitude?

1.   Prayer for the Lord to change one’s heart about someone else.

2.   Ruminate on the “one another verses.”

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