Deu 21:15 | KingComments | STEP | Having two women is not according to God’s thoughts. Yet God, through circumstances brought about by sin, can teach us something about the relationship He has with the two peoples to which He has committed Himself: Israel and the church. As the bond of marriage is inseparable and the relationship in marriage is that of love, the picture of marriage is apt to understand these relationships. In the example we see a man who has two wives. One wife is loved by him, the other is unloved. Each of the wives has borne him sons. The right of the firstborn comes to the fore here. In such an instance, the man may not be led by his natural feelings. If the firstborn son is the son of the unloved wife, he must give him the right of the firstborn. He is entitled to the double potion of the inheritance. In this case, the man may not give that double portion to the son of the beloved. When we apply this to the relationship God has with His earthly people, Israel, and His heavenly people, the church, we see the following. God had to reject His earthly people, as indicates. They have been given the place of the unloved (cf. ). Following on from the rejection of His earthly people, another people took their place. This people are a people from the nations that are not God’s chosen. Now, however, they are accepted by Him to be His people ( ). In so doing, God has established analogous relationships. The church is now God’s beloved. That does not mean that God has rejected Israel forever. The firstborn is the son of the unloved and he gets the rights of the firstborn. God will indeed fulfil all the promises He has made to this people; they get their double part. In Jacob and his two wives – Lea and Rachel – we see such an illustration. Jacob works for Rachel and gets Lea. After that he works for Rachel and gets her too. In a similar vein, the Lord Jesus came for Israel yet He received the church. But He will also have Israel, as Jacob received Rachel. Israel has the rights of the eldest. The people are now the unloved wife, but soon the people will again become the beloved wife and will have the rights that are in connection with the Firstborn, the Lord Jesus, Who was born from her. The church is now connected with the Lord Jesus ( ). Can He find His pleasure in us? God allows also for the Christian testimony to go its own way. On the whole, He no longer is pleased with it. Nevertheless God continues to recognize in that Christian testimony what this principle of first birth represents: in the midst of this Christian testimony is “the church of the firstborn” ( ). God will never fail to acknowledge what He Himself has worked in it.

‏ Deuteronomy 21:15

The Right of the Firstborn

Having two women is not according to God’s thoughts. Yet God, through circumstances brought about by sin, can teach us something about the relationship He has with the two peoples to which He has committed Himself: Israel and the church. As the bond of marriage is inseparable and the relationship in marriage is that of love, the picture of marriage is apt to understand these relationships.

In the example we see a man who has two wives. One wife is loved by him, the other is unloved. Each of the wives has borne him sons. The right of the firstborn comes to the fore here. In such an instance, the man may not be led by his natural feelings. If the firstborn son is the son of the unloved wife, he must give him the right of the firstborn. He is entitled to the double potion of the inheritance. In this case, the man may not give that double portion to the son of the beloved.

When we apply this to the relationship God has with His earthly people, Israel, and His heavenly people, the church, we see the following. God had to reject His earthly people, as Deu 21:14 indicates. They have been given the place of the unloved (cf. Hos 1:6 ; 8-9).

Following on from the rejection of His earthly people, another people took their place. This people are a people from the nations that are not God’s chosen. Now, however, they are accepted by Him to be His people (Rom 9:25). In so doing, God has established analogous relationships. The church is now God’s beloved.

That does not mean that God has rejected Israel forever. The firstborn is the son of the unloved and he gets the rights of the firstborn. God will indeed fulfil all the promises He has made to this people; they get their double part.

In Jacob and his two wives – Lea and Rachel – we see such an illustration. Jacob works for Rachel and gets Lea. After that he works for Rachel and gets her too. In a similar vein, the Lord Jesus came for Israel yet He received the church. But He will also have Israel, as Jacob received Rachel. Israel has the rights of the eldest. The people are now the unloved wife, but soon the people will again become the beloved wife and will have the rights that are in connection with the Firstborn, the Lord Jesus, Who was born from her.

The church is now connected with the Lord Jesus (2Cor 11:2). Can He find His pleasure in us? God allows also for the Christian testimony to go its own way. On the whole, He no longer is pleased with it. Nevertheless God continues to recognize in that Christian testimony what this principle of first birth represents: in the midst of this Christian testimony is “the church of the firstborn” (Heb 12:23). God will never fail to acknowledge what He Himself has worked in it.