The Holy Nation
Today’s Focus: Building the Holy Nation Part 2: Peace and the Twelve Tribes
Scripture:
Greetings Kingdom Citizens
Now remember God starts the nation of Israel with the 12 sons of Jacob who in turn are also the sons of Isaac and Abraham. So, these 12 fathers have come from one father, Abraham. Now each of the tribes except Levi was given a land grant. God gave them this land grant in keeping peace. Tribes were located one next to other in the result that there should be no warrings between the tribes because they all have one father, Abraham. This makes for national peace because everyone that is a part of the nation is family and have one father in common. Isn’t it unique that you rarely do you hear about uprisings in Israel where Tribes war against one another. This is unique because everyone is brothers and sisters and have one father in common and this keeps the peace between the Tribes.
Now in each Tribe the land is further subdivided amongst clans. The clans were the sons of the fathers of the Tribes. The leaders of these clans ruled over the next set of people who were the households. The household is a arrangement of many families. The households are headed by many fathers who are the sons of the fathers of the clans who in turn are the sons of the fathers of the tribes, who in turn are the sons of the father. So the households of Israel are composed of families and the key word is families.
This arrangement of the House of Abraham is a family and it is the type and shadow portraying the heavenly family. Everyone who is a part of the House of God is family. This family is arranged by Holy Spirit and orders the relationship between fathers, spiritual fathers, and sons. Now when problems arise and threaten the peace in the family. The fathers are the delegated authority to oversee the sons of God and settle the dispute. If he does not settle the dispute then there is division in the household and his reputation is on the line. He must adjudicate and settle these differences because they have been given to him to watch over them because they are a part of his house.
Now the arrangement of identifying the person by his family is imperative. The person must be connected into the whole nation by an inheritance in land. So the son has an identity from his father that is confirmed by his inheritance in land.
Now if a son sold his land and that trend keeps going the order of the household would be disturb because remember the identity was the inheritance of land. So within two to three generations the sons will not even know who their families are. Now if you dispose or sell your inheritance of land, every next generation would be restored to the inheritance of land and this is called Jubilee.
This was the Lord’s commandment to Moses for God’s covenant community, the nation of Israel. Jubilee - the year following seven sabbatical or forty-nine years - would be a holy year (50 years). It would be a year of freedom, a time of restoration, and a season of preparation. In the year of Jubilee, debts would be forgiven and lands returned to their rightful owners. In the year of Jubilee, any Jew enslaved by another would be set free. During this holy year, injustice would be righted, oppression would cease, and the people would experience safety and fruitfulness in their land.
This is the natural order. In the next message we will look at the Spiritual Order of Households.
At Our Father’s Service,
Elder Calvin Calhoun, Jr.
