The Flock Must Be Gathered Before Death Is Removed – Why Postmill?

Jacob and Rachel at the Well, Tissot

I’m going to tell you that the conquering of the nations will happen within history and is not merely an immediate transformation that will happen after the resurrection of judgment day. That is, I will argue for postmillennialism, but in a roundabout way. I could just tell you to read 1 Corinthians 15 and say that I think that about covers it, but I want to show something very fun I heard while listening to the story of Jacob meeting Rachel this week.

This post is not nearly as long as the last post, but it does have some pieces to set in place. I think it has a nifty payoff as well. I might add, I highly suggest investing zero dollars in a free app called Soundgecko. I prefer to listen to posts – it is easier than reading.

I need to set up the story context in Genesis, set up a note about the liturgical feasts of Israel, and then tie them into the Rachel and her sheep story. And suggest we do a lot of singing to make the world belong to Jesus. Here we go:

BROTHERS, SHEEP, AND DISUNITY
Once upon a time, two shepherds had so many sheep that they could not keep them from strife, so those brothers could not dwell together in unity. This was Abraham and Lot. Brother can mean relative.

“And Lot, who went with Abram, also had flocks and herds and tents, 6 so that the land could not support both of them dwelling together; for their possessions were so great that they could not dwell together, 7 and there was strife between the herdsmen of Abram’s livestock and the herdsmen of Lot’s livestock.” (Gen 13.5-7)

Now hold that thought, it will need to be brought back up in a second.

THREE FEASTS
But in the course of time God did a lot of things. Things so big that he wanted them commemorated, and things that he wanted commemorated in anticipation of bigger things to come.

• He passed over the sins of his people, while judging those who opposed him.
• He passed out his word.
• He let the people out of Egypt (taking many Egyptians with them) and allowed them to rest from slavery) taking them into a land of Sabbath Rest.

These are the three feasts of Passover, Weeks (Pentecost), Booths. Feasts which also anticipated the Cross, the coming Holy Spirit, and the in-gathering of the nations.

We know that these three feasts required a gathering of all Israel in Jerusalem every year. The flocks of Israel had to gather before the celebration. And because it meant gathering of God’s people, his sheep, it meant they would spend a week at a time in unity, in cramped quarters, in tents.…celebrating what God’s work had done to the world, and what it would do to the world to come.

And so they sang on the way to these feasts, the Psalms of Ascent (Pss 120-134). They even sang about brothers dwelling in cramped quarters and getting along, because that’s the picture of what salvation does for the world – makes the world a big, tight bundle of goodness, and full of people redeemed:

“Behold how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity!.…For there YHWH has commanded the blessing: Life Eternal!” (Ps 133.1,3)

A BASIC PROBLEM RESOLVED ON A SMALL SCALE
What we have seen so far is that one basic problem to sin is that brothers cannot dwell in unity, and sheep flocks are driven apart. Liturgically, God designed to force brothers back into unity and to sing about it on the way to doing it. (This is something God likes to do a lot).

The flock have to be gathered together, and they sing about liking it, and then we see eternal life flowing out from Jerusalem to the world… It’s just the way the story goes.

A BASIC PROBLEM RESOLVED ON A BIG SCALE
We’re all well aware that Jesus did the big work of fixing the world during Passover^a. And that he sent out his word as Spirit on Pentecost. These events necessarily took place while all Israel was gathered together in unity. He didn’t do them randomly in a moment of obscurity, but in a congregational setting, when they were together.

And there the Lord was crucified, and there the Lord was buried, and there the Lord rolled the stone out of the way of the tomb, and there the Lord commanded the blessing: Eternal Life! And there the Lord sent them out to get their inheritance of the ingathered nations.

A WEIRDER CONNECTION
Hunker down now for 14 verses from Genesis 29:

Then Jacob went on his journey and came to the land of the people of the east. 2 As he looked, he saw a well in the field, and behold, three flocks of sheep lying beside it, for out of that well the flocks were watered. The stone on the well’s mouth was large, 3 and when all the flocks were gathered there, the shepherds would roll the stone from the mouth of the well and water the sheep, and put the stone back in its place over the mouth of the well.

4 Jacob said to them, “My brothers, where do you come from?” They said, “We are from Haran.” 5 He said to them, “Do you know Laban the son of Nahor?” They said, “We know him.” 6 He said to them, “Is it well with him?” They said, “It is well; and see, Rachel his daughter is coming with the sheep!” 7 He said, “Behold, it is still high day; it is not time for the livestock to be gathered together. Water the sheep and go, pasture them.” 8 But they said, “We cannot until all the flocks are gathered together and the stone is rolled from the mouth of the well; then we water the sheep.”

9 While he was still speaking with them, Rachel came with her father’s sheep, for she was a shepherdess. 10 Now as soon as Jacob saw Rachel the daughter of Laban his mother’s brother, and the sheep of Laban his mother’s brother, Jacob came near and rolled the stone from the well’s mouth and watered the flock of Laban his mother’s brother. 11 Then Jacob kissed Rachel and wept aloud. 12 And Jacob told Rachel that he was her father’s kinsman, and that he was Rebekah’s son, and she ran and told her father.

13 As soon as Laban heard the news about Jacob, his sister’s son, he ran to meet him and embraced him and kissed him and brought him to his house. Jacob told Laban all these things, 14 and Laban said to him, “Surely you are my bone and my flesh!” And he stayed with him a month. (Gen 29.1-14)

END OF BIBLE QUOTE

DID YOU SEE IT?

We are in the same book where Lot and Abraham’s flocks and shepherds could not dwell in unity. And here we have the beginning of the story of when Israel himself is finding the wife (or wives) that will make Israel into many, many sheep, there we learn something about the plan. The shepherds wait for all to be gathered together, and then they roll the stone away, and then water can flow out to the sheep.

Just let it sit there for a bit and run over the imagistic connections for a while.

Of course, Jacob proved to be strong enough to roll the stone away on his own, and to take care of his bride’s many sheep. And we hear about brotherly unity – that bone of bones and flesh of flesh family oneness.

SINGING AND THE FUTURE OF THE WORLD – THE SOLUTION ON THE GRANDEST SCALE
We have a Lord who rolled a stone away and waters his flock weekly when we are gathered together. And he gave us a specific command to gather the nations.

The future of history looks like this (can you believe I am going to give you an outline of the future?):

1 – WORSHIP: The Church will continue the liturgical work of singing about gathering in unity while meeting with the Lord who declares salvation, and who flows out through us.
2 – INGATHERING: The nations will get gathered into the church. All the nations.
3 – FINAL RESURRECTION: The last enemy to be defeated will be death.
4 – ETERNAL CELEBRATION: Jesus will hand us all to his father together with himself as a head, and we will be a giant Trinitarian wedding gift – that bone and flesh kind.

Where do I get this outline? 1 Cor 15. (And Psalm 2 and Psalm 110).

I suggest reading Psalm 2 and 110, and then 1 Corinthians 15 and listening for promise that the Son will win the hand of all nations. That he will crush the heads of all wicked leaders of those nations and will supplant them (like Jacob) and take over their subjects. You can see the same thing in Daniel 7.

The fact that this happens on multiple levels should free us to read very similar statements (Like in Matt 24.14) as being about 70 AD and also applying to the future. This strengthens Postmillennialism and discards any hint of hyperpreterism. Postmill good. Heretical Hyperpreterism bad. We don’t need to choose between ingathering in the first century, and ingathering in the rest of history. Plus, you get to read 1 Corinthians 15 in a way that is natural to the wording in it.

Notice that this needs to happen within history, before “death” is done away with as the LAST enemy, as 1 Cor 15 explicitly says. The timing matters. The whole flock of the earth must be gathered together first, and only then will he roll the stone from our grave. Then we will receive his water for eternity. And we have the pleasure of singing that this is true along the way, until it is true. And it will become true, in part because we sing that it is true.

Luke Welch has a master’s degree from Covenant Seminary and preaches regularly in a conservative Anglican church in Maryland. He blogs about Bible structure at SUBTEXT. Follow him on Twitter: @lukeawelch
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1. That is, Passover and Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread, which was in all an 8 day combination of 4 feasts: 1) PASSOVER always fell on a numbered day of the month, but as such, it was not always on the same day of the week. The next seven days were the 2) FEAST OF UNLEAVENED BREAD. During that 8 day period would be a 3) SABBATH, and the next day would be the 4) FEAST OF FIRSTFRUITS. In the year Jesus was crucified and resurrected, Passover was on Friday, the Sabbath was on Saturday, and the Feast of Firstfruits was Sunday. Crucified on Passover, Raised on Firstfruits.  (back)

Flocks, Jacob, Postmillennialism, Rachel, Sheep