Chapter 5. 1
Who is Israel?
Is Israel only the tribe of Judah or a hybrid
nation of Gentiles and Jews?
Is Israel the
state that came into existence in 1948 or something
else?
Was this the
prophecy as set forth in the books of Ezekiel, Isaiah and Amos?
Old
Covenant - A little Background
When was the name Israel first recorded? It’s a long story, starting with
the promise to Abraham that he would become a great nation, which didn’t happen
in his lifetime. Abraham’s first born
by Sarah’s “maid servant” was Ishmael who is the progenitor of the religion
of Islam which brings us the grief today by way of the ISIS Muslim terrorist, but that’s another word
study. Abraham’s first born of Sarah “his wife”
was Isaac who was in line for the
promises of God. At some point Isaac had
twins, Esau and Jacob, with Esau being the first born and
entitled to the birthright promises passed down through the family Line of
Abraham.
Jacob’s name means; “heel grabber” or “supplanter”;
his reputation was that of an opportunist and his mother Rebekah also had her own form of unscrupulous
opportunism in her character; like mother like son. Together they conspired for Jacob to steal the
birthright from his brother Isaac.
Jacob stole the Birthright and then went
away for twenty years; married two sisters, Leah
and Rachel and had twelve sons; became
wealthy and then began the return trip home to where his bother Esau was
waiting with 400 warriors.
This is where we
pick up the story, as Jacob is praying to God that Esau would not kill him and
his family; the Angel of the Lord appeared to him as a man.
(I need to point out here that God had already
intended for Jacob to receive the blessing (PREDESTINED), but Jacob got ahead of God’s providence through
his “do it yourself” trickery.
(FREE WILL)
Jacob wrestled with the Angel of God and lost the PHYSICAL battle, but he would
not let the Angel go until he blessed him.
This is where Jacob won the SPIRITUAL battle and was BORN AGAIN when the Angel changed
his name from JACOB to ISRAEL; he had become a new man. This experience was a Spiritual blessing on ONE MAN.[1] At some point in time Jacob, now named Israel
passes the blessing on to his twelve sons and Israel
becomes A
NATION.[2]
The Promised Blessing
What was this promise? I will make
you a great Nation; I will make your name great and you will be a blessing to
others,[3] I
will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you. Because of you all the families of the earth
will be blessed. You will be my treasured possession among ALL peoples; you will be a HOLY
NATION and
a KINGDOM OF PRIEST.[4]
Conditional
Promise: IF Israel would obey God’s words and keep
his covenant, the blessings would be theirs; BUT they didn’t keep His covenant.
Kings and
Kingdoms
As time moved on Israel decided they
didn’t want to be ruled by the Priests
and Prophets of God, but wanted a
King like the other nations;
God warned them that this was a bad idea and what
would happen to them, but they insisted, so He gave them their King.
The first King was Saul,
then David, then his son Solomon and then a progression of other kings;
some good, but mostly bad. Then the
kingdom was divided into the Northern (Israel) and Southern (Judah) Kingdoms. Then the ten tribes in
the Northern kingdom was dispersed throughout the nations; LOST.
The name JEW
was taken from the Southern Tribe of “Judah”
with Benjamin being the smaller of the remaining two tribes; both eventually
also went into exile. This is where we
see the scattered Israelites praying for an expected Messiah to be their King
and liberate them so that they might become the great nation of the promise
again. There is now NO KING and NO NATION with only a memory of a
homeland. This all happened because they
did not follow God’s Word… Kind of like TODAY.
King of
Israel
Astrologists say that On
When Jesus started His ministry, He
entered into Jerusalem as A KING mounted
on a donkey.[5]
He went into
the Temple, read the prophecy of the Messiah from the scroll of
Isaiah and said “this day the prophecy has been fulfilled” and He sat down.
Every eye was fixed upon Him; the sitting position was crucial and
everyone knew what it meant; it was the habitual position of a Jewish Teacher
ready to receive questions and teach.[6]
The KING
was rejected. “We know
this guy’s mama and daddy; he can’t be the Messiah”.
New Covenant
The Jews today are basically a nation
of Humanism; a nation of WORKS as they have
rejected the New Covenant and continue to embrace the Old Covenant which God
Himself rendered inoperative.
The Old Covenant
eligibility for “The Promise” was determined by your birth; you had to be
descendent of Abraham whose seed gave us the “Levitical
Priesthood”. Jesus was
not from the tribe of Levi therefore He could not be a Levitical Priest. There was a change in the Priesthood when
Jesus was made a Priest after the order of Melchizedek,[7]
which was an older and higher order than that of the Levitical Priesthood. When there is a change in the Priesthood
there MUST be a change in the Law; thus a
new covenant was born.[8]
The New Covenant
begins not at the birth of Jesus, but at His death. Jesus was born “Under the Law” of the Old
Covenant. He referred often to the
Torah, the writings of Moses and amplified those laws to show that they could
not possibly be obeyed. His teachings were directed to those who were
still “under
the law”. He taught that they must be born again;[9] “Out from under
the Law”, that He would give them a new heart and put His Spirit in
them. [10]
The New
Covenant lifts the veil of the Law of Moses[11]
and with unveiled faces, we behold the glory of the Lord, and are being
transformed into the same image of His Son from one degree of glory to
another. His death demolished the
wall between the Jew and the Gentile drawing
Note: Everybody that
was not a Jew was referred to as a Gentile or Greek; that would be you and me.
New
Commandments: We now serve God without being subject to the
613 Old Laws; there are only two New
Covenant Commandments or Laws.[15]
1)
Love God with all your heart, soul and mind
2)
Love your neighbor just as you love
yourself.
These
two laws were actually from the OLD Covenant,
but they were NEW to
them because they were not observing them anymore.[16] Jesus said that He was the only way to the
Father God; that there was NO OTHER
WAY,[17] and God in His
Grace and Mercy has given man “A LIFETIME” to search for
Him and choose.
2 Corinthians 3:13-18 - The Old Covenant
veils the Messiah
13 Not like Moses, who would put a veil over his
face so that the Israelites might
not gaze at the outcome of what was being brought to an end.
14 But their minds were hardened.
For to this day, when they read the old covenant, that same veil remains un-lifted,
because only through Christ is it taken away.
15 Yes, to this day WHENEVER MOSES IS READ (The Old Covenant)
A VEIL LIES OVER THEIR HEARTS.
16 BUT
WHEN ONE TURNS TO THE LORD (The New Covenant),
THE VEIL IS REMOVED.
17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and
where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.
18 And we all, with unveiled face, beholding
the glory of the Lord, are being transformed
into the
same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes
from the Lord who is the Spirit. (ESV)
Wait a Minute
What are you saying? This sounds like you are saying that all the
followers of YAHWEH Jehovah God
before the time of Jesus Christ WILL NOT inherit the
kingdom of God; that can’t be right.
Good News; a little
background first. Before the time of
Christ’s ministry, Hell was divided into two compartments separated by a large
gulf.[18] Those who were in the Friendship of Jehovah
God and had died were in a compartment of Hell known as “Abrahams Bosom” or “Paradise”.
[19] When Jesus died he went to Hell and for three
days,[20]
preached the “Good
News Message” to those in “Abrahams Bosom” and they ACCEPTED
Him. He then took Paradise and all those captive
in it back to heaven where it is located now;[21] not
one of YAHWEH’s was lost.
Side Note: With
Paradise removed, Hell has now been enlarged to receive all those who have
rejected the Truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
OLD COVENANT MESSIAH PROPHECIES
OT Prophecy NT Fulfillment
Zechariah
Isaiah 53:7 Be silent before accusers Matthew 27:12
Isaiah 53:5 Be scourged and wounded Matthew 27:26
Isaiah 50:6 Be smitten and spat upon Matthew 26:67
Psalms
Isaiah 53:12 Put to death with criminals Matthews 27:38
Psalms
Psalms 69:21 Would suffer thirst John
Psalms 69:21 Gave gall and vinegar to drink Matthew 27:34
Psalms 22:1 Utter forsaken cry to God Matthew 27:46
Psalms 34:20 No bones would be broken John
19:33
Zechariah
Isaiah 53:9 Buried in a rich man’s tomb Matthew
27:57-60
Psalms
Psalms 68:18 Ascend into heaven Acts 1:9
Psalms 110:1 Sit at the right hand of God Hebrews
1:3
Jesus Christ did not do away with the Old Covenant;
He fulfilled it.
The
Nation of Israel
Another great star happened
again in 1941 heralding a coming King; a new dispensation had started
with the
re-birth of Israel and the
awaited return of the Messiah.[22]
The heavens are synchronized with God’s Plan.
As the Muslim prays toward Mecca, the Jew scattered among the nations
prays towards Jerusalem believing for the
day they will return to Jerusalem, like breath entering into “dry bones”
in the grave.[23]
Besides the heart’s desire of the Jew to
go home, Anti-Semitism will increase again and the Jews will feel more and more
compelled to relocate to Israel.[24] There’s already a steady stream coming out of
Russia; God is pulling them back.[25]
Before Christ the Messiah could return, Israel had to become a nation
again in the land of their forefathers, and that happened on May 14, 1948; a
nation was born in a day,[26]
breath entered Israel’s dry bones.[27] David
Ben-Gurion, the Executive Head of the World Zionis Organization and
president of the Jewish Agency for Palestine, declared "the
establishment of a Jewish state in Eretz Israel, to be known as the State of
Israel." (Wikipedia)
NOTE; The wording
here is “State”
not “Nation”;
we believe as Christians that the Spiritual Nation of Israel includes ALL believers in Jesus Christ. Neighboring Arab states invaded the next
day after Israel became a state, in support of the Palestinian Arabs. Ever since, Israel has fought wars with
neighboring Arab states. Israel
has relied on Pre-emptied strikes for survival, and will do so again.
The Prophet Amos declared that the Nation of Israel would be reborn, and
restored.[28]
The Prophet Isaiah wrote of God’s intention for the Jews to come back and live
in Israel. He said the desert would blossom when Israel returned back to their
Promised Land. At this writing the desert is being reclaimed
and it blossoms.[29]
Six Day War
On June 5, 1967, the six day
war began with Israel launching surprise bombing raids against Egyptian
air-fields including an Israeli raid into the Jordanian-controlled West Bank. Israeli initiated aerial clashes over Syrian
territory after Syrian artillery attacked Israeli settlements in the vicinity
of the border. Israeli response followed against Syrian positions in the Golan
Heights and into the demilitarized zones along the Syrian border and
culminating in Egypt blocking the Straits of Tiran. Wikipedia
Within six days, Israel had won a decisive
land war. Israeli forces had taken control of the Gaza Strip and the Sinai Peninsula from Egypt, the West Bank and
East Jerusalem from
Jordan, and the Golan Heights from
Syria.
Ever since the six day war,
efforts have been underway to get Israel to go back to the pre-1967 borders in
order to have peace; but peace will never come, because the Arabs are never
satisfied with what they have and Israelis borders would become in-defensible,
setting up another pre-emptive strike by Israel to protect herself. (Which will happen)
Who is
Israel?
May of 1948 the
population of Israel was 650,000; today it is 8,296,000 and growing. HOWEVER: the nation of Israel HAS NOT accepted Jesus Christ as
the Messiah; therefore Israel is basically a religion of humanism, a religion
of “WORKS”, BUT… in the end, a remnant of Jews WILL accept Jesus Christ as the Son of God; the
Messiah and the King of Kings.[30]
Spiritual
Israel: I started off telling
about how Jacob lost the physical battle with the angel of God, but won the
Spiritual battle and received the Spiritual Blessing. Jacob
was born again;
no longer was his name “The Grabber”, but changed to “Father of a
multitude.” The State
of Israel is Physical,
but the Nation of Israel is Spiritual.
There will be a BORN AGAIN remnant of
Jewish Believers from ALL ages that finally makes up the whole
saved Nation of Israel, plus the GENTILES that have been
grafted into the vine. Thus “ALL the BELIEVERS” in Israel will
be saved.[31]
That includes red, yellow, black and
white; all believers are precious in His sight and that includes this “Gentile” man.
The Take Away;
The NATION of Israel is
all believers in Jesus Christ as the Son of
God; the Messiah. Through Him we have been grafted
into the JEWISH ROOTS of the Olive Tree of Israel. This means that it is not the children of
the flesh who are ISRAEL, but the
children of the PROMISE that are
counted as offspring’s; the children of God.[32]
Jews and Gentile Believers; we are all SPIRITUAL ISRAEL[33]
[1] Genesis 32:26-28 - ONE MAN; Your name shall be called Israel
[2] Genesis 49:28 – A NATION; The twelve tribes of Israel
[3] Genesis 12:2-3 – Great nation; your name great; be a blessing; if you obey
[4] Exodus 19:4-6 – A KINGDOM OF PRIEST;
A HOLY NATION
[5] Luke 2:7 – The KING;
born in a manger.
-- Luke 2:11-12 – A Savior is born; The
KING -- Matthew
21:5 -The KING came mounted on a
donkey -- Revelation 19:16 - King of Kings and Lord of Lords
[6] Luke 4:16-21 –Prophecy fulfilled that day; Jesus Proclaimed the Good News
-- Isaiah 61:1-2 – Prophecy of Isaiah;
Messiah will bring the Good News
[7] Hebrews 6:20 - Jesus was
a Priest after the order of Melchizedek
[8] Hebrews
[9] John 3:3-7 – You must be
born again to see the Kingdom of God
[10] Ezekiel 36:26-27 – I will
give you a new heart and spirit. -- Hebrews
[11] 2 Corinthians 3:13-18 The Old Covenant veils the Messiah
[12] 2 Corenthians
[13] John
[14] 2 Peter 1:4 – We can now
participate in His Devine Nature -- Hebrews
[15] Matthew 22:37-40 – NT: Two Commandments only;
Love God; Love your neighbor
[16] Deuteronomy 6:5 – OT:
Love the Lord your God with all your heart -- Leviticus
19:18 – OT: Love your neighbor as
yourself
[17] John
14:6 – Jesus is the ONLY WAY to Jehovah God
[18] Luke 16:22-26 - Hell had two compartments separated by a gulf
[19] Luke 23:43 – Jesus told the thief; TODAY
you will be with me in Paradise
[20] Ephesians 4:9 – Jesus descended into Hell before he ascended
[21] Ephesians
4:8 –Jesus took those captive in Paradise; in the Friendship
of God to Heaven
[22] Numbers 24:17 – A king
will come out of Israel -- Ezekiel 37:12 – I will bring back the Nation of
Israel -- Ezekiel 36:28 - You will live in the land I gave your forefathers --
Romans 11:25 – The GENTILES
will come into Israel
[23] Ezekiel 37:4-6 – I will
put breath in the dry bones of Israel
[24] Ezekiel 37:12 – I will
bring back the Nation of Israel -- Ezekiel 36:28 - You will live in the land I
gave your forefathers -- Romans 11:25 – The GENTILES will come into Israel
[25] Isaiah 43:5-6 – I will
bring Believers from the east and west; north and south -- Ezekiel 36:24 – I
will gather you back into your own land -- Romans 11:23 – The BELIEVING Jews
will be grafted back into the vine -- Romans 11:26 – All Believers have Jewish
Roots and ALL are Israel
[26] Isaiah 66:8 – A Nation
born in a day
[27] Ezekiel 37:3-11 - These
dry bones are the house of Israel
[28] Amos 9:14-15 – I will
plant Israel in their own land
[29] Isaiah 43:5-6 – I will
bring sons & daughters from the ends of the earth -- Isaiah 35:10 – The
ransomed of the Lord; Israel will return and enter Zion -- Isaiah 61:4 – They
will rebuild the long devastated ruined cities. -- Isaiah 44:26 – Jerusalem
& Judah; rebuilt, restored & inhabited. -- Isaiah 35:1 – The desert and
wilderness will blossom as a rose
[30] Romans 9:6-8 - Not all Jews are children
of Abraham -- Ephesians 1:11-14 – Two groups; Jews and (Everybody else) Gentiles
-- Romans
[31] Romans 10:12 – There is
now no difference between believing Jew and believing
Gentile -- Romans 9:8 – The Children of promise are regarded as Abram’s
children
[32] Romans
[33] John 10:16 – I have sheep
that are not Jews, but are Gentiles -- Ephesians