Part II
UNDERSTANDING SPECIFIC PENALTIES OF THE LAW

Chapter 10
The Principle of Penal Substitution

I have now accomplished in large measure my main purpose of showing the way in which the law of Moses testifies to Christ and how it is relevant to us in all its parts. But it seems profitable to devote extra space to judicial laws, partly because they are the most neglected, partly because they have been misunderstood, but also because the principles of justice embodied in them will be of help to us as we think about the obligations of modern states, which are one and all under the authority of God and the rule of Christ.

In principles, the laws of God in the Old Testament have implications in many directions: for economics, for state responsibilities, for family, for individual morality. I shall focus on only one area, namely the area of state responsibility for punishing crimes.

We begin with a particular case, namely the penalty for seduction to false worship in Deut. 13:1-18. We shall spend some time on this case, because of its importance in revealing principles of justice and their application to Israel as a holy nation. In subsequent chapters we shall then go on to examine in detail many other cases of judicial penalties set out in the Mosaic law.

The operation of recompense in Deuteronomy 13

Deut. 13:1-18 instructs Israel on how to deal with false prophecy and seduction to false worship in its midst. A false prophet is to be put to death (13:5). Even if a member of your own family entices you to false worship, that person is not to be spared (verses 6-11). If a whole city goes astray into idolatry, the city is to be destroyed (verses 12-18). The guilty city is destroyed in the same way that the Israelites destroyed the Canaanite cities when they entered the land of Canaan: nothing at all is left (Deut. 13:15-17; exactly as in Deut. 7:2; 20:16-18; Josh. 6:21). The people are especially warned to keep away from the "cursed" things (Deut. 13:17; 7:26; Josh. 6:18). The special word herem (חרם) is used in these cases signifying items "consecrated to God for destruction."

How are the general principles of just recompense operative here? First of all, the city committed to false worship is sinning against God. This sin like all other sins deserves destruction in hell. Those who attempt to destroy God will themselves be destroyed. But as usual, this type of observation does not help us to understand how the Israelite recompense for this crime differs from the recompense for any other crime. We should therefore ask the question whether any human beings are injured in addition to the direct insult against God. The passage itself indicates that a "detestable thing has been done among you" (verse 14), suggesting that the people are polluted by the idolatry among them. The related verses concerning small-scale rebellion have a similar note: "so you shall purge the evil from the midst of you" (verse 5); "all Israel shall hear, and fear, and never again do any such wickedness as this among you" (verse 11). The city becomes a "whole burnt offering" (verse 16), which certainly suggests that a purification is taking place in the process.

We conclude, then, that the city engaging in false worship has committed an offense against Israel, not merely against God. False worship within the land of Palestine pollutes the people. As in the case of theft and other crimes, the proper recompense involves two aspects. (1) Restoration: the guilty city is responsible to restore Israel to purity; and (2) punishment: the guilty city is to suffer the same penalty in the reverse direction. The destruction of the city accomplishes both aspects simultaneously. First, the city functions as a whole burnt offering (verse 16). Those who offer the offering, namely the people of Israel, are purified by the act of offering. This act not only removes the evil from among them but also signifies a penal substitution: the city bears the penalty that otherwise Israel would bear. Second, since the city has polluted Israel, Israel must in reverse fashion pollute the city. Since the city has already suffered a first radical pollution by its act of idolatry, the only way for Israel to bring further pollution on it is by utter destruction. Cases dealing with individuals rather than whole cities involved in false worship (verses 1-11) are to be understood along the same lines. The discussion is less elaborate, but we can assume that the same principles are operative.

In what capacity are the people of Israel involved in this recompense? The fact that Israel undertakes an operation of war against the rebellious city makes us think of the connection with war waged by modern states. But clearly not everything is the same as in a modern state. In the case of an individual involved in false worship, as in verses 1-11, the witnesses begin the execution and then all the congregation joins (verses 9-10; cf. 17:7). People with special authority, such as elders and judges, would presumably be involved in supervising the weighing of evidence (cf. 13:14; 17:4; Num. 35:24). But such authorities have no explicit role in the execution itself. The crime involved here is not an offense against governmental authorities but against the congregation. The congregation is polluted, and so it must engage in the action leading to purification. Israel is involved in recompense because it is a holy people whose holiness has been profaned. This particular crime is a crime precisely because of the holiness of Israel. The structure of recompense makes sense only when we appeal to this holiness and to the processes by which it is violated and restored.

When we apply this insight to the warfare in verses 12-18, we see that we are dealing not with ordinary war but holy war. When a city turns to false worship, it puts itself into a situation similar to the original Canaanite cities of the land of Palestine. The means of dealing with the city is to apply the same justice as was applied in the conquest under Joshua. The whole city is destroyed and devoted to destruction. Even within Israel there is a clear distinction between this type of war and wars against nations beyond the borders of Palestine (Deut. 20:10-18). The distinction makes sense in terms of the principles of just recompense. Idolatrous cities within the land of Palestine pollute the holy land (Num. 35:33-34; Lev. 20:22-26) and threaten to pollute the holy people. The pollution of holiness is itself an injury that must receive just recompense from the injured party.

The significance of holy war: justice and purity

Our observations up to this point can provide further insight into the principles of holy war. Holy war establishes justice and purity in the land of Palestine during the conquest. In addition, in the case of a rebellious city holy war maintains justice and purity after the conquest. Since God is just in his actions at all times and places, we expect a fundamental agreement between the two stages. The same basic principles of justice and of balanced recompense should be operative at both stages. So let us look at the conquest of Canaan. The conquest is first of all God's providential act to punish the Canaanites for their sins (cf. Lev. 20:23; Gen. 15:16). In this respect it is like any other case where God punishes sin. God is the just and holy judge of all the earth. His own righteous character implies that he must and will punish sin. In some instances one nation becomes an instrument for punishing another, even when the first nation acts unrighteously or arrogantly (cf. Isa. 10:5; 1 Kings 17).

But in the Canaanite conquest the human actions of the Israelites are just, unlike the actions of the Assyrians and many other conquerors. The actions of destruction are approved by God, even though less radical destruction by other nations might be labeled "cruel." Why does God approve this holy war? Because God himself commanded it. If we understood nothing more, we would still be bound to accept it as just. But in fact we can understand more. The earlier inhabitants of Canaan had sinned grievously, and were polluting God's promised land (Gen. 15:16; Lev. 18:24-25). When Israel enters the land with God in her midst, the land is in effect claimed for God, consecrated by his presence, and given to Israel. The claims of the Canaanite nations to the land are forfeited. The Canaanites represent polluters of the land and potential polluters of the holiness of Israel in her own land. Thus the process of recompense goes into effect: Israel destroys the nations in recompense for the pollution that they would do to her.

The same standards that apply to the Canaanites must in fact also apply to Israel. How can that be the case? Let us stand back for a moment to see the overall process of God's redemption. Remember that God's standards of justice and God's rule are completely universal (Dan. 4:34-35). All human beings are ruled by God and owe allegiance to God. But since the fall not all human beings are equally submissive to God's rule, and not all the earth equally conforms to his justice. The salvific presence and blessings of God were in the Old Testament uniquely focused on Israel. Hence in a sense we may speak of God "becoming king" over Israel (Deut. 33:5) and his reign as something that comes and takes hold of the world progressively through the great events of redemptive history (cf. Zech. 14:9; Isa. 52:7; Matt. 6:10). The coming of God's reign is simultaneously the coming of his justice and the enforcement of his standards over new people or new regions. The Israelite conquest of Canaan is one such establishment of God's reign. Of course we can describe the conquest as Israel's act of maintaining her purity. Equally the conquest is God's act of maintaining his purity as he in his holiness symbolically "enters" the land through the ark, the tabernacle, the priests, and the law itself which is kept in the ark.

Since God's standards of justice are truly universal, we are bound to ask how Israel comes to be under God's rule without suffering the same fate as the Canaanites. How can anyone approach God's presence without dying on account of sin? Does a different standard apply to Israel? The Old Testament contains ample indications that God brings the Israelites under his rule by a process of holy war similar to the conquest of Canaan. In the case of the Canaanites the approach of God and his rule means consecration to utter destruction. In the case of Israel the approach of God involves the use of substitutes that are consecrated to destruction: the passover lamb substitutes for the first-born of Israel, and animal sacrifices substitute for the people more generally.

The Old Testament also speaks of the fact that God was being faithful to his promise of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (e.g. Exod. 6). Israel received mercy on account of the fathers (cf. Rom. 11:28). If we go all the way back to Abraham, we find once again that Abraham enjoyed the blessing and promise on the basis of substitution: in Genesis 22 Abraham was willing to sacrifice Isaac as a whole burnt offering (22:2) and at the last minute a ram was substituted. Since the whole of Abraham's future and the future of the promise was bound up with Isaac (Heb. 11:18), Isaac here represented the whole nation of Israel in one person (see the similar reasoning in Heb. 7:9-10). In Gen. 15:9-21 God put himself under oath to fulfill the promise, in a symbolism involving not only animal sacrifice (15:9-10) but also the hint that God himself, as symbolized by the flaming torch, may be subject to destruction (15:17).¹ Abraham's faith in God's promise (Gen. 12:1-4; 15:6) implicitly looked forward to Christ as the offspring who will definitively accomplish the fulfillment of the promise.

Other passages confirm the connection between Abraham's faith and ours (Rom. 4:22-25), between the passover and Christ (1 Cor. 5:7), and between the sacrifice of Isaac and the resurrection of Christ (Heb. 11:18-19; cf. Gal. 3:16). "Baptism into Moses" in the cloud and in the sea mentioned in 1 Cor. 10:1-13 prefigures baptism into Christ, which in turn points to Christ's substitutionary death and resurrection (Rom. 6:1-11). A whole host of typological events in the Old Testament prefigure the substitutionary sacrifice of Christ. In sum, Israel came under the dominion of God by experiencing death in the form of symbolic substitutes. The same basic principles of holiness, pollution, and recompense that we have seen everywhere apply to Israel too. Israel was distinguished from the Canaanites only because of faith in promises and in symbolic institutions of substitution. These institutions pointed forward to Christ. God's holy war was waged against Israel, too (see Exod. 32:25-35), but in crucial cases substitutes bear the penalty inflicted by the war.

New Testament Applications

All these passages in the Old Testament have a bearing on us in the New Testament period. The parallel between baptism into Moses and baptism into Christ (1 Cor. 10:1-13) already suggests a deep and fruitful connection. The "baptism" of Israel in the Red Sea is a picture of going down into death and being saved from death on the other side of the sea. Such symbolism of death in the Old Testament is fulfilled in the reality of Christ's consecration to death. In the crucifixion, Christ as penal substitute bore the penalty of destruction that should have come to us because we have rebelled and tried to pollute God's holiness. Christ is not only our substitute but one through whom we experience spiritual death and resurrection (Rom. 6:1-11; Col. 2:20-3:4).

Hence as Christians we ourselves are victims of holy war. We have been crucified with Christ (Gal. 5:24; 2:20) and we have died with Christ (Col. 2:20; Rom. 6:3-5). Our flesh has been subjected to destruction (Gal. 5:24). But since Christ was raised from the dead, we also enjoy new life (Rom. 6:4). The work of Christ represents a dramatic advance in the accomplishment of salvation, not only because reality supersedes symbol, but because the Old Testament symbols typically did not prominently include the note of resurrection. The animals who were sacrificed did not come to life again. As a rule, the law of Moses killed but did not bring to life (2 Cor. 3:6-18). It revealed God's standard but did not produce in the hearts of Israelites genuine inward conformity (cf. Jer. 31:31-34).

We have established, then, that Israelites were subject to holy war through substitution, just as Christians are. But Israelites after their consecration were also active participants in holy war on God's side. The same is true of Christians. The Book of Revelation depicts a holy war of cosmic proportions in which Christians are involved. In this war they must maintain their confession and their purity in the face of every kind of opposition springing from Satan. Revelation even presents us with specific parallels between Christ's holy war and the holy war in the Old Testament. The seven trumpets of Rev. 8-11 are reminiscent of the trumpets sounded for the fall of Jericho in Joshua's holy war. The effects of the seven trumpets and the seven bowls of Rev. 8-11 and 16 are similar to the plagues on Egypt, which was a different phase of Old Testament holy war waged by God himself. The conspiracy of kings in Rev. 17:12 is reminiscent of the conspiracies in Josh. 10-11. The fall of Babylon in Rev. 17-18 is reminiscent of the fall of Jericho. And so on.

The process of holy war is described in less imagistic language in Eph. 6:10-20. Satan and his agents undertake to pollute and destroy the holiness of Christians; Christians in turn engage in war leading to the destruction of Satan (Rev. 12:11; 20:10).

What are we to conclude on the basis of these New Testament passages? Should Christians engage in holy war? Do passages such as Deut. 6:15-21 apply to us? Certainly the passages do apply to us. For one thing, we have the general principle that the Old Testament applies to us (2 Tim. 3:17; Rom. 15:4; 1 Cor. 10:11; Matt. 5:17-20). We also have specific New Testament injunctions from Eph. 6:10-20 and from Rev. confirming the thrust of the Old Testament passages. We are not importing something alien to the Old Testament. Rather, the Old Testament all along pointed forward to Christ and spoke in symbolic form of just this holy war that we are called on to wage (Luke 24:25-27, 44-49).

But a fair understanding of the Old Testament requires that we take notice of its own indications of the preliminary and shadowy character of some of its institutions (cf. Heb. 9:8-14). Before Christ came to fulfill God's plans of redemption and holy war, his purposes could be realized properly only in a preliminary way, through foreshadowing. This process of foreshadowing had several features. (1) A genuine analogy and continuity exists between the Old Testament institution and its fulfillment in Christ. (2) The continuity enables Old Testament saints to participate in the benefits of Christ's work in a preliminary way, and so to be saved and to experience his justice and holiness. (3) The coming of Christ brings a reality and an accomplishment that supersedes Old Testament symbols in depth and finality. OT symbols are fulfilled in and replaced by reality. ² (4) Old Testament symbols proclaim their own nonultimacy (e.g., the law brought death and not the promised life, 2 Cor. 3:6-7). (5) The resurrection of Christ introduces a new era where the Spirit is operative with heightened power, the power of the resurrection, in order to bring spiritual life.

Applying these principles to the case of holy war, we see the following. (1) New Testament holy war does continue the holy war of the Old Testament. (2) Old Testament holy war enabled the Israelites to enjoy a foreshadowment of the purificatory power of Christ. (3) Whereas Old Testament holy war was waged primarily against human opponents, on the level of symbol, New Testament holy war is waged against the ultimate opponents, Satan and his demonic assistants. In our age wicked human beings do become the agents of Satan in a limited way, but the fight is preeminently with superhuman forces of wickedness in the heavenly places (Eph. 6:12). Christ himself accomplished the definite victory in this holy war. Paul speaks of Christ's triumph over the Satanic hosts when he says, "Having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross" (Col. 2:15). During Christ's earthly life his actions of casting out demons proclaimed his authority and prefigured the great triumph over Satan through the cross.

(4) Old Testament holy war had a built-in insufficiency. The fight was primarily with human beings, the shadows of spiritual wickedness, rather than with the demonic sources of wickedness. Moreover, the fight did not result in ultimate cleansing. The offering of a city as a whole burnt offering, as in Deut 13:16, shared in the insufficiency of all Old Testament sacrifices (Heb. 10). (5) The power of Christ's resurrection is able to raise the dead. In this fact there is a decisive advance over the Old Testament. To be sure, Abraham's faith and the sacrifice of Isaac became an Old Testament symbolic basis for Israel's redemption, but Old Testament acts of redemption never circumcised the hearts of the Israelites and never extended much beyond the bounds of Israel. Holy war waged against Israel brought redemptive results because of the substitutes, but holy war against the Canaanites brought only disaster to the Canaanites. But now during the New Testament era there is an advance. Holy war is waged through baptism and union with Christ. The flesh is crucified (Gal. 5:24). Human beings are not simply destroyed as were the Canaanites, but raised to life because of Christ's resurrection. This situation is the foundation for wide-spread evangelism. Now the whole inhabited earth has become the new land that is to be conquered in God's name (Matt. 28:18-20). We are to wage holy war. But the nature of that holy war is redefined because of Christ. In particular, there is hope for modern wicked people in a way that there was no hope for the Canaanites. When wicked people repent and are baptized into Christ, they undergo destruction and resurrection. They are consecrated to destruction in a way analogous to what happened to the Canaanites. But they do not stay dead and destroyed because Christ raises them. When they come to Christ in faith, they experience both death to the old life and resurrection to the new life.

Applying Deut. 13:1-18 today

Now that we have understood more about holy war, we can consider Deut. 13:1-18 once again. Deut. 13:1-18 describes the continuation of holy war in the land once it is conquered. For one thing, the procedures for destroying a city match the procedures for Joshua's war against the Canaanite cities, including even the semitechnical term for things consecrated to destruction (herem (חרם), 13:17). In addition, the structure of recompense and reciprocal payment involves the threat of pollution to Israel and Israel's restoration through sacrifice (verse 16). Hence we find how this passage applies to us by connecting it to our own phase of holy war.

First and foremost, this passage prefigures Christ's own war against Satanic hosts. Spiritual wickedness had polluted humanity and the earth. Christ acts to bind the "strong man" and to destroy the the works of the devil (Luke 11:20-22; 1 John 3:8; John 12:31). Israel as God's son (Exod. 4:22-23) acts by the authority of the true heavenly Son and so foreshadows the actions of Christ's against spiritual wickedness in heavenly places. In fact, just before the beginning of Israel's holy war to conquer Canaan, a figure appears to Joshua who is "commander of the army of the LORD," whose very presence makes the ground holy (Josh. 5:13-15). Many interpreters have thought that this figure is one preincarnate appearance of Christ, and I think that they have good grounds for their view. But even if the figure is an angel rather than Christ himself, he prefigures the activity of Christ as the ultimate commander of the Lord's armies, the King of kings and Lord of lords (Rev. 17:14; 19:16).

On a secondary level, the passage from Deut. 13 also has relevance to Christians, because they wage spiritual holy war in imitation of Christ's victory and based on it (Eph. 6:10-20). How do we apply the passage on this level?

False worship in and after Joshua's conquest profaned the land and the holy people. They in return were required to give recompense. What injury is done and what guilt is incurred in modern holy war? There are several possible types of injury analogous to the Old Testament situations.

Punishment

First, any sin is an injury against God and will be repaid by him at the last judgment (cf. 1 Cor. 3:17). But we have already seen that sins against God do not in and of themselves involve human beings in responsibility for retribution.

Second, suppose that false worship or seduction to false worship occurs within the church, that is, within its membership. The church is a holy people (1 Pet. 2:9) and is profaned by this evil in its midst. Double payment is required, first to restore the church to purity (restoration), then to render the offender profane by an action in the reverse direction (punishment). The same principles operative in Deuteronomy must be operative in the modern case. In particular, the church as the injured party must be active in retribution in order to conform to the principles of justice in the Old Testament. The punishment of the offender is accomplished by the church's excommunicating him. Paul counsels the church on its duty of excommunication in 1 Cor. 5:1-8, and Jesus gives similar counsel in Matt. 18:15-18 (note especially 18:17). In excommunication, the church expels the offender from its fellowship, declares that the person is henceforth separate from the holy community. It also advises its members to treat the person like an unbeliever. Like all unbelievers the person is to be treated with love and respect, in the hope that the person may eventually repent and be united to the Christian fellowship of believers. In one respect, however, excommunication is even more serious than simple unbelief. People who have once been part of the Christian fellowship have more grievous responsibility if they reject what they have known (Heb. 10:26-31). Not only is the offender officially put outside the holy community, but "consigned to Satan" (1 Cor. 5:5) by an act invoking Christ's authority and power (1 Cor. 5:4). This act does not accomplish profanation merely on the level of symbol; that is, it does not "fight flesh and blood" (Eph. 6:12) by destroying the body of the offender. Rather, it accomplishes profanation on the level of judicial reality: it subjects the offender to the authority of Satan.

The duty of excommunication is clearly taught in the New Testament, but too seldom practiced in evangelical churches. Out of a false sense of pity and mercy we often refuse to act against sin. We thereby make the same mistake as lenient parents who refuse to discipline their children. We set a bad example for all other Christians, we contaminate the body of Christ with spiritual pollution, and we fail to honor Christ and make known his purity and holiness. In addition, we do no real good to offenders themselves. We neglect to give them a solemn warning of the danger of their position and we fail to call on them to renew their allegiance to Christ. Of course error can also arise at the opposite extreme, if we deal with offenders harshly. Then we neglect to act on the basis of the reality of Christ's ability to bring people to repentance.

Restoration

So far we have talked only about one aspect of the penalty for false worship, namely punishment. There must also be restoration. The church's purity has been damaged and must be restored. If we used a direct analogy with the Old Testament, we might still expect the church to inflict physical death on the offender, in order to purify itself by burnt offering (Deut. 13:16). In the Old Testament a person who has touched a dead body must not only stop touching the dead body and have it removed from his presence permanently, but must go through a cleansing ceremony to be restored. So the church must not only stop the contact of Christian fellowship with the spiritually dead, but must undergo cleansing. What cleansing? A burnt offering? Yes, our cleansing must use the only final and all-sufficient burnt offering for cleansing, namely the sacrifice of Christ. The church is united with Christ in the heavenly realms (Eph. 2:6). The finality and perfection of Christ's sacrifice, together with his resurrection, the permanency of his presence in the church, the efficacy of his intercession (Heb 7:25-28), and the vitality of the church's union with Christ, guarantee continual cleansing from sin (1 John 1:7-9). In this respect Christ's work fulfills and surpasses the Old Testament. The church offers as its burnt offering not the excommunicated person but the finished work of Christ, continually applied through the power of his resurrection. The vitality of Christ restores the church to new life.

Third, suppose that false worship occurs outside the church. Is the church injured? For insight on this issue, we need to consider again the Israelite situation. In Deut. 13 the holy people are profaned by evils taking place "among you" (verses 1, 3, 14). Apparently no distinction is made between native Israelite and the sojourning foreigner. Seduction to false worship brings profanation if the act takes place within the holy land (verse 12), in physical proximity to the holy people. Is such physical proximity and presence in the holy land always the significant factor? In the Old Testament the holy people apparently have no obligation for holy war in times when they are dispersed among the other nations (cf. Jer. 29:5-7). The geographical and political separation of the people from other nations is evidently part of their sanctification and the sanctification of the land.

Now what about the church? The church during its growth is dispersed among the nations and is in the world without being of it (John 17:15-16). The church's sanctification does not spring from geographical and ordinary political separation from others, but from the power of Christ's word (John 17:17-26). The significant dividing line is not a spatial separation, but the spiritual separation denoted by the distinction between church members and nonmembers.

Hence in this respect it appears that the church lives in a situation more like that of the Jews dispersed in Babylon, or like Abraham living in Canaan. We mingle socially and politically with unbelievers, but are separated by participation in the promises of God. In another respect, however, the church is nevertheless unlike the dispersed Jews. The dispersed Jews should have had hopes for returning to Palestine. We hope for the coming of Christ. In the meantime, we are to spread the gospel and "make disciples of all nations," not simply wait passively for the end of this age (Matt. 28:18-20).

Better yet, we may properly say that the church is a heavenly community. Christians have their true citizenship in heaven (Phil. 3:20). By being united to Christ they are, as it were, carried up to heaven. In worship they meet with the heavenly assembly (Heb. 12:22-24). They are seated with Christ in the heavenly realms (Eph. 2:6). Their life is now "hidden with Christ in God" (Col. 3:3). By temporarily participating in the holy community a backslider has had a taste of heavenly reality in a sense (Heb. 6:4-6), but only in a sense. First John says of backsliders that "They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us" (1 John 2:19).

It is difficult to see, then, how the church is profaned in a direct and fundamental sense through the false worship of outsiders. Such outsiders are firmly confined to earth and do not tread upon the church's heavenly holiness and privileges. But if there is no injury to the church, there is also no penalty that the church must inflict. This conclusion is confirmed when we make a direct comparison between false worship by outsiders and false worship by church members. The latter is certainly more serious. The insider does profane the holiness of the church, and greater responsibility belongs to the person who is more privileged ("everyone to whom much is given, of him will much be required," Luke 12:48). Now in the case of an insider, a church member, excommunication puts the offender into the position of being an outsider. Hence it seems just that the person who starts as an outsider would simply remain an outsider, without further penalty.

In a sense the whole world has now replaced the land of Palestine, which was the Old Testament holy land on a symbolical plane. The conquest of Palestine filled the land with God's holiness and presence and brought his justice into practice in the land. This process was a symbolic foreshadowing, as we have seen, of holy war that is now waged on a cosmic scale. Jesus Christ has authority over all parts of the earth (Matt. 28:18; Eph. 1:21). In principle Christians by their union with Jesus Christ inherit the earth (Matt. 5:5; 1 Cor. 3:22). The manner of conquest, however, is by the forces of the gospel of Christ and the power of his resurrection life to bring spiritual life to outsiders. We conquer our own "Canaan," namely the whole world, not by executing people with the sword but by bringing them to union with Christ, whereby they experience spiritual death and resurrection. Thus our manner of dealing with outsiders is fundamentally different from the practice of Israel in Canaan. The difference exactly matches the nature of this new age, which is introduced by Christ's resurrection and is continued by his reign in heaven.

At the close of this age Christ does come to wage a war of destruction against unbelievers (2 Thess. 1:7-10). Physical, geographical, and political separations return in full force at the end, when the world is completely cleansed from evil and unbelievers are physically separated in hell. Thus the physical and political separation of Israel foreshadows the judgment of the end of the age.

Until the time of Christ's coming, then, false worship is to be met with the spiritual power of the gospel, not with physical punishments.³