The Righteous Acts of the Lord

GOLDEN TEXT: “And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise: God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect.” —Hebrews 11:39,40

I SAMUEL 12:6-15

IN THIS lesson we find Samuel reminding the Israelites of many wonderful things their God had done for them, beginning with their deliverance from Egyptian slavery. Many of these righteous acts of the Lord were miracles, such as the crossing of the Red Sea and Jordan; the manna; the water from the rock; the overthrow of Jericho; many of their victories in conquering the land; and their deliverances from their enemies during the Period of the Judges. Samuel assured the Israelites that if they were faithful to the Lord he would continue to bless them, and bless their king.

We cannot understand and appreciate the plan of God for the redemption and restoration of the human race to life, apart from belief in miracles. All the wonderful miracles of Old Testament times were eclipsed in glory by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. In this we have assurance that God is able to fulfill his promises to restore all the dead to life, which he will do in his own due time.—Acts 17:30,31

The Golden Text is a very important part of this lesson. The “these all” referred to in it are the entire Ancient Worthy group, beginning with righteous Abel, and onward to Moses, Joshua, the judges, and including many others from the period of the judges on down to the first advent of Jesus. Through their faith, demonstrated by their obedience, they obtained a “good report”; that is, they received the assurance that God was pleased with them. However, while the messianic promises were made to these, they died without receiving their fulfillment.

Paul explains why, saying that a “better thing” has been provided for the Gospel church of the present age, and that these Ancient Worthies “without us should not be made perfect.” What does he mean? An interesting text to compare with this one is Matthew 11:11. In this text Jesus speaks of John the Baptist, noting that there had been none born of women greater than John. Then he observes that while this is true, “he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he [John].”

Here we have the word “greater,” while Paul speaks of a “better thing.” John was the last of the Ancient Worthy class, and what Jesus says is that he will not be in the heavenly phase of the kingdom at all. But this does not mean that John will fail to obtain salvation. Jesus is not speaking of salvation but a place in the heavenly, or spiritual phase of the messianic kingdom.

There are to be two phases of Messiah’s kingdom—the heavenly and the earthly. Jesus, as the Head over his church, was the first to qualify for the heavenly phase. He promised his disciples that he would go away and prepare a place for them, and would come again to receive them unto himself. (John 14:1-3) Jesus was raised from the dead a glorious divine being, invisible to the human eye except as he miraculously appeared to his disciples on a number of occasions after his resurrection.—II Pet. 1:4; I Tim. 1:17

His faithful followers are made like him when they are raised from the dead. John wrote, “It doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.” (I John 3:1-3) These are to live and reign with Christ a thousand years. (Rev. 20:6) However, since they will be divine beings, they will be invisible to the human race, and their rulership will be exercised through human representatives.

These human representatives, the Scriptures reveal, will be the Ancient Worthies, raised from the dead. The psalmist referred to them as the “fathers” in Israel, and tells us that they are to be made “princes in all the earth.” (Ps. 45:16) Jesus, speaking of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets, tells us that the people will come to them, or sit down with them—denoting recognition—from all over the earth.—Matt. 8:11; Luke 13:28,29

Thus, while we see that all the faithful of past ages will have a very exalted position in the kingdom, the church of this Gospel age will have a “better thing,” and that the least of these, as Jesus explained, will be greater than John the Baptist. It is important to realize that there are these two phases of the kingdom.

QUESTIONS

Is it necessary to believe in miracles in order to appreciate God’s plan?

What is the “better thing” prepared for the followers of Jesus?

What place will the Ancient Worthies have in the messianic kingdom?

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