Page 263 - Through New Eyes

264 THROUGH NEW EYES

The first part of this statement is from Proverbs 3:11-12, but it is
a truth that comes to sharper focus in the New Covenant. Why?
Because in dealing with “children” (Galatians 4:1-3), we must ex-
press reward and punishment in terms of pleasure and pain; but
in dealing with adults, we can invite the wise man to consider
that chastisement is itself a reward, and a sign of sonship. To be
sure, the rewards and punishments expressed in Deuteronomy
28 are not abolished in the New Covenant, but with them also
comes a paradoxical and wisdom-inducing reward of suffering.

The Order of the Kingdom
In the New Covenant a different kind of polity was estab-
lished, though it had been anticipated earlier. The synagogue as
it developed moved gradually away from the Levites and proph-
ets into the hands of gifted laymen. In the New Covenant the
sacramental aspects of worship were transferred from the Tem-
ple to the synagogue, and the Church was born.
The Church is the first, but not the only form of the kingdom.
When the kingdom comes to a new locality, it does not come first
by force of arms and the establishment of a Christian civil order.
It comes first by persuasion and charity and the establishment of
worship. Worship is man’s first duty. When the Church as a sac-
ramental, instructional, and governmental body has become es-
tablished in a locality, kingdom influences flow out into society,
and a new Jerusalem is built around the new sanctuary.
The transition from the Mosaic establishment to the New
Covenant entailed a gradual shift from civil to ecclesiastical pun-
ishments. The Mosaic law prescribed death for a variety of
crimes. During the later years of the Davidic establishment,
when bad kings were on the throne, the Mosaic penalties were
ignored. It was necessary for the synagogues to enforce the law
through excommunication. This became even more important
during the Restoration, when the Jews were frequently under im-
perial law and could not exercise civil punishments (John 18:31).
With the opening of heaven and the restoration of the keys to
man — the flaming sword given by the cherubim back to Peter
and the apostles — the central form of discipline in the kingdom
became excommunication (Matthew 16:19). The wielding of
these keys, which must always be in terms of Biblical standards,5