Bible Study Guides – God’s Purpose for His Church

June 27, 2010 – July 3, 2010

Babylonian Captivity, Escape and Rebuilding God’s Church

A Study for Modern Israel

Ancient Israel’s Capture and Release—A Rebuilding and a Church

God’s Purpose for His Church

Key Text

“Each of the ancient prophets spoke less for their own time than for ours … their prophesying is in force for us … Daniel, Isaiah, and Ezekiel … spoke of things that … reached down to the future, and to what should occur in these last days.” Selected Messages, Book 3, 338, 419, 420.

Introduction

In an attempt to arrest our attention to the critical purpose of His church, God, through inspiration, uses many kinds of descriptive language, illustrations, and symbols to capture the subject. Scriptures are replete with language that should continually inspire us to search for a deeper understanding of the subject.

Because of this profuse variety of description, there is no one single proper way to illustrate the church’s mission. Yet, there are common themes of illustration that are carried from prophet to prophet. This lesson encapsulates one important set of related themes by which the mission of God’s church may be summarized—and explored in rich veins of study.

Whether or not you, the student, are already familiar with the purpose of God’s church, this study is pivotal to the whole series, because the terminology used will be employed by the Bible writers to subsequently explain an outline of church history—stretching to the present and near future situation of God’s people. As we study, we will see that the tapestry woven by the prophets combines the experiences of both God’s professed and true followers.

Let’s begin our study of the purposes of God’s church through the descriptions of name, refuge, fruit, and children:

1 What purpose of God’s church is outlined in the following verses? Deuteronomy 28:10; 1 Kings 9:3; II Chronicles 7:14; Jeremiah 14:9; 15:16.

Review and Discuss:

“… all peoples … shall see that you are called by the name of the Lord.”

“I have heard the prayer … consecrated this temple … putting my name there forever.”

“My people who are called by my name.”

“… we are called by your name.”

Apply It:

The above verses are illustrations of God’s purpose to give identity to the church. Whose name was to be associated with the church?

2 What purpose of God’s church is outlined in the following verses? Isaiah 56:3–8; II Chronicles 6:32, 33; Isaiah 4:6; Esther 8:17; Ruth 1:16.

Review and Discuss:

“Let no foreigner who has bound himself to the Lord say, ‘The Lord will surely exclude me from His people.’ … to them I will give within My temple … a name better than sons … an everlasting name. … And foreigners who bind themselves to the Lord. … I will bring to My holy mountain. … My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations. The Lord who gathers the outcasts of Israel declares, I will gather still others to them.” Isaiah 56:3–8.

“… the foreigner who does not belong to your people Israel … when he comes and prays toward this temple; then hear from heaven … so that all the peoples of the earth may know Your name … and may know that this house I have built bears Your Name.” II Chronicles 6:32, 33.

“And there will be a tabernacle … for a place of refuge.” Isaiah 4:6.

“… many of the people of the land [Persians] became Jews.” Esther 8:17.

“… your people shall be my people, And your God, my God.” Ruth 1:16.

Apply It:

These verses are illustrations of God’s purpose to hold His church as a place for refuge for all who, in the midst of a revolted world, might seek asylum in God’s kingdom. Notice also that God’s Name is interwoven with the church’s mission as a refuge!

3 The 3rd related purpose for God’s church is both broad and deep. In describing it, Bible writers frequently resort to two sets of metaphors. The language of the metaphors should be examined very closely, because the Bible develops much information from them. The purpose of God’s church, stated without metaphor is:

To glorify God by producing spiritual returns on God’s investment.

This investment return relationship is described most prominently by two metaphorical descriptions. Identify them in the verses below:

a) Metaphor #1: Trees (or vines) 4 Psalm 1:1–3; Isaiah 5:1–7; Isaiah 27:6; 61:3; Jeremiah 17:7, 8; Mark 11:12–14; Romans 11:16–18.

God invests in _____ (or _____) expecting a yield of _____________

b) Metaphor #2: Marriage Isaiah 54:5, 6; Isaiah 66:7, 8; Jeremiah 3:14; Ezekiel 16:7–14.

God invests in _______expecting a yield of ________

Apply It:

(1) This last metaphor was made most striking by God’s direction to the prophet Hosea to actually live out the metaphor of God’s investment in marriage to the church by his (Hosea’s) marriage to Gomer. See Hosea, chapters 1:2, 3 and 3:1–5.

(2) Compare the living parable recorded there with what was written a few years later in Jeremiah 3:1–4, 7, 8, 14, and 20. Ellen White declares that Jeremiah 3 has a special application for those who claim to be modern Israel:

“Please read the third chapter [of Jeremiah]. This chapter is a lesson for modern Israel.” “Ellen G. White Comments,” The Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, vol. 4, 1154. [Emphasis supplied.]

(3) As an aid to further study and cross-referencing, note that children are also more generally referred to as descendants, fruit, or seed in other portions of Scriptures. See for example: Genesis 3:15; 17:7, 8; Romans 1:3; Hebrews 11:11; Revelation 12:17.

4 What do the trees or woman in the marriage relationship represent in these parallel metaphors?

a) Trees: Isaiah 61:3; Psalm 1:1–3; Jeremiah 17:7, 8.

Apply It:

(1) To see specific examples of trees as a representation of the nation-church in Christ’s day, study Matthew 3:10 and Mark 11:12–14—and associated Spirit of Prophecy comments in The Fruitless Fig Tree (Sermons and Talks, vol. 2, chapter 45).

(2) By viewing in detail the nature of the illustration of vines (or trees) in the Bible, we can also see that the proper relationship of the branches in the orchard or vineyard to the stock is also used to represent the relationship of Christ to the individual disciple. See John 15:1–5 and Romans 11:16–18 as prime examples. These lessons focus rather on the macroscopic biblical description of the collection of fruit bearing branches, the trees and vineyard, as God’s people—His church.

  1. b) Woman: Ezekiel 16:3, 8; Jeremiah 6:2; Ephesians 5:25–32; Ezekiel 23:1–4.

5 What do the fruit or children represent in these parallel metaphors?

There is more to this question than may immediately come to mind. One might say, for example, that fruit is clearly a representation of character, referring to Paul’s fruits of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22, 23; and this would be correct. Another might say that the term children clearly represents converts to the faith, referencing for example the apostle John’s endearing address, “my little Children” (1 John 2:1); and this would also be correct.

But the symbols of bearing fruit and children (or giving birth) are even more interesting in that each of these symbols, considered alone, are the weaving together of these two products. The spiritual returns that the prophets illustrate as fruit or children can best be defined to be the intertwining products of character and converts.

Review and Discuss:

Fruit as Character: “Say to the righteous that it shall be well with them, For they shall eat the fruit of their doings.” Isaiah 3:10. See also Matthew 7:20 and 12:33.

Fruit as Converts: “I will make you … fruitful … make nations of you … I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants.” Genesis 17:6, 7. (Note who Abraham’s descendants are: John 8:39; Galatians 3:7.)

Rebirth as Character: “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will … cause you to walk in My statutes.” Ezekiel 36:26, 27. See also related Ellen G. White comments on this verse; The Desire of Ages, 174.

“… unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” John 3:3.

Children and Seed as Converts: “… when he [Jacob] sees his children, the work of My hands, in his midst, They will hallow My name … and fear the God of Israel. These also who erred in spirit will come to understanding, And … will learn doctrine.” Isaiah 29:22–24.

“The Gentiles shall come. … They gather together. … Your sons shall come from afar, And your daughters are carried on the arm.” Isaiah 60:3, 4.

“… in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel.” 1 Corinthians 4:15.

“Converts from heathenism to the faith of Israel were often compared to children just born.” The Desire of Ages, 171.

Apply It:

What other Bible examples can you find that describe children and fruit as character and/or converts?

6 In describing the purpose of the church, how does the apostle Paul succinctly cross-link these images of invested marriage and returned fruit bearing, character and converts, together in the following illustrations:

“… you [woman] … be married to [Jesus] … that we should bear fruit to God.” Romans 7:4. [Emphasis supplied.]

“My little children, for whom I labor in birth again until Christ is formed in you.” Galatians 4:19. [Emphasis supplied.]

Apply It:

Also notice the Spirit of Prophecy describe the intertwining nature of fruit bearing as character and converts:

“… [Christ’s] great purpose” is “growth and fruit bearing … conforming His servants … to the image of Christ … to cause them to bear fruit abundantly … to become true … missionaries.” Testimonies, vol. 8, 186.

7 Can the purpose of Jesus to form His character in His people and to have them bring converts to His kingdom effectively be separated? Luke 8:38–40. Compare Luke 22:32 and Acts 4:20.

Apply It:

The counterexample is also interesting to note. In a general sense, it may be said that an absence of Christ-likeness bankrupts the ability of the church to win converts. The Bible student will find that the church’s growth in character (or lack thereof) is directly correlated with the growth in true converts. See Acts 2–13 for an example of growth in character and converts, and The Great Controversy, chapter 3, as an example of a decline in both.

8 Today, what does the overall health of God’s orchard (or marriage) look like to you? How is this personal to you? How do you view your spiritual health, as a tree in God’s church? Are you bearing fruit through both character and witness? Are you married to Christ? Colossians 1:27–29.

Read the first chapter in The Act of the Apostles, or the introduction to Prophets and Kings: The Vineyard of the Lord, and note how the subject of the purpose for God’s church is addressed. Below are ellipsed quotes from the reading in The Acts of the Apostles, 9-15, highlighting the terminology we have just studied:

Apply It:

“The church is God’s appointed agency for the salvation of men. It was organized for service, and its mission is to carry the gospel to the world. From the beginning it has been God’s plan that through His church shall be reflected to the world His fullness and His sufficiency. … ‘Mine house shall be called an house of prayer for all people.’ Isaiah 56:7. ‘And I will raise up for them a plant of renown. … Thus shall they know that I the Lord their God am with them, and that they, even the house of Israel, are My people. …’ Ezekiel 34:26, 29–31. … The church is God’s fortress, His city of refuge, which He holds in a revolted world. … From the beginning, faithful souls have constituted the church on earth. … From age to age, through successive generations, the pure doctrines of heaven have been unfolding within its borders. … It is the theater of His grace, in which He delights to reveal His power to transform hearts. … Wonderful is the work which the Lord designs to accomplish through His church, that His name may be glorified. A picture of this work is given in Ezekiel’s vision of the river of healing: ‘These waters issue out … and by the river upon the bank thereof, on this side and on that side, shall grow all trees for meat, whose … it shall bring forth new fruit.’ Ezekiel 47:8–12. … From the beginning God has wrought through His people to bring blessing to the world. … God chose Israel to reveal His character to men. … Of Israel God declared: ‘I had planted thee a noble vine.’ Jeremiah 2:21.” [Emphasis supplied.]

Studies prepared by John T. Grosboll PE. John T. is a mechanical engineer living near Vancouver, Washington. His secular employment includes several years of experience in primary metals and transportation-related industries. He, along with his wife Teresa, is actively involved in the work of the Historic Message Church in Portland, Oregon. He may be reached at grosbolls@yahoo.com.