Applying the Law with Impartiality

When we identify nations discussed in the Bible, it should be clearly understood that nations are not individuals. In every nation there are good and bad, the same as with Judah when Jeremiah 24 prophesied of the good and evil figs. One's nationality, race, or genealogy may well indicate a specific trait or generational curses, but no one is doomed to remain there on account of their genealogy. In fact, the biblical motive for revealing these things is to make people aware of potential problems, so that they can take the necessary steps to be set free.

Hence, when the Bible speaks of the brothers, Ashkenaz and Togarmah, along with their uncles Gomer and Magog (Gen. 10:2, 3), it is not to say that everyone descended from these men are God's enemies or even bad people. To be sure, it prophesies that there will be a nation or group of people that will fulfill the prophecy, but individuals can always leave the nation. Better yet, they can transfer their citizenship to the Kingdom of God by declaring their allegiance to King Jesus. A man descended from Togarmah, for example, is no longer of the nation of Togarmah if he becomes a citizen of the Kingdom of God.

While these national units do function as genealogical groupings in general, the law can always trump genealogy. For example, my mother's parents came from Sweden. Their genealogy was Swede, but they changed their legal citizenship to being Americans. At that point, their Swedish genealogy was trumped by the laws of national citizenship.

The same is true with those lost sheep of the House of Israel, who were deported to Assyria from 745-721 B.C. Their genealogy did not change, but their citizenship did. God divorced the House of Israel (Jer. 3:8) and stripped them of their Birthright name, Israel. They were no longer Israelites in the legal sense (i.e., citizenship). From that point on, they were on the same legal footing as all the other nations.

The only way for a genealogical Israelite to regain citizenship in the Kingdom is to declare allegiance to King Jesus. An Israelite's path to citizenship is precisely the same as for anyone else. While he may claim greater opportunity--because the gospel was preached in Europe sooner than in other parts of the world--the opportunity itself is meaningless without the proper response.

I believe in the biblical law of Impartiality. God's judgments may seem partial at times, but this is due to other factors. If a man knows the truth and rejects it, his judgment is greater than for the one who knew not the truth (Luke 12:47, 48). This law will be applied impartially, using that standard of measure, and the result will be that those claiming Israelite heritage may be judged more severely than others. Everyone will be judged according to their unique situation, but the law will always be applied impartially.

This is also the meaning of Romans 2:11, 12,

¹¹ For there is no partiality with God. ¹² For all who have sinned without the [knowledge of the] Law will also perish without the Law, and all who have sinned under the Law will be judged by the Law.

We are judged according to our level of revelation and not merely by the pure standard of righteousness set forth in the Law. Everyone is raised in one culture or another, each having variations on its standards of right and wrong. God takes all of this into consideration in His wisdom. But when He calls someone, such as Abraham, out of a worldly culture and begins to train him in the revelation of the character of God, He expects more out of that person than of others.

One's calling is not a free pass to sin nor is it a right to enslave others. It does not indicate that the called one is better than others, or more intelligent, or that he has certain spiritual abilities that other mortals do not share. It is the calling to learn the ways of God so that he may teach the rest of the world of His ways. He is called to participate in the divine plan and purpose for the world. Ultimately, he is called to be manifested to the world as a son of God in order to set all of creation free (Rom. 8:19-21).

Religion normally seeks to impose "truth" upon everyone else. It prefers persuasion, but is willing to use force if necessary. By contrast, God lets people go until they see the consequences of their beliefs, and those judgments are the natural consequences of their own error. Jeremiah 2:19 says,

"Your own wickedness will correct you, and your apostasies will reprove you; know therefore and see that it is evil and bitter for you to forsake the Lord your God."

Being called of God is not a license to oppress others or to force anyone else to believe "truth." The day will come, of course, when various nations will accept the divine Law as their judicial system. In such nations, all citizens will have to conform their behavior to this one Law. People will be free to leave, if they find the Law oppressive to their life style, but if the Law is applied correctly, most people will find it liberating, rather than oppressive. It would only be oppressive and partial if applied by Jewish rabbis or by anyone who does not apply it as Jesus would.

Those who think that being a Jew or being an Israelite is a license to mistreat others do not understand the spirit of the Law, nor do they really know the mind of the Lawgiver (Jesus). When the sons of God are manifested, all creation will rejoice. Today they groan in travail, for creation is ruled by carnally-minded men, many of them religious. But those truly called as sons of God will set creation free. They will rule by the divine Law, which is the expression of the mind, will, and character of Jesus Christ. It is clarified further by the New Testament writers under the anointing of Pentecost. It will be fully clarified when we see Him truly as He is (1 John 3:2) under the anointing of Tabernacles.