Chapter Three - God's Dealings With Israel

 

1. INTRODUCTION

An amazing proof that God is directing the course of prophetic fulfillment is seen in His choice of the Jewish people and in the working out of their national history. Step by step the eternal purposes of the Almighty for the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob are being marvelously accomplished. No divine promise will ever fail, whether it relates to Israel or to any individual of any nation.

 

2. THE SELECTION OF ISRAEL (Genesis 12:1-3; Psalm 33:12)

2.1 The Background

When the human race, tested in the days of Adam and Eve and the generations which followed, dismally failed to obey the Lord and instead lifted up its heart in revolt against Him, God stepped into a tragic situation and chose one people to whom He would peculiarly reveal Himself and who in turn would be a blessing to the world.

2.2 The Reason

The Hebrews proved to be a nation of unusual religious sensitivity. Their country, Palestine, is a geographical centre. But God chose Israel, not primarily because of their worth or national or cultural or geographical characteristics, but because in His sovereign love and wisdom He desired that the nation belong peculiarly to Him (Deuteronomy 7:6-8).

2.3 The Purpose

Why did God choose Israel? In the main, there is a threefold answer to this question:

2.3.1 To proclaim the unity of the Godhead and to demonstrate the importance of knowing and serving Him

"Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord: and thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might" (Deuteronomy 6:4, 5). "Ye are my witnesses, saith the Lord, and my servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me. I, even I, am the Lord; and beside me there is no saviour. I have declared, and have saved, and I have shewed, when there was no strange god among you: therefore ye are my witnesses, saith the Lord, that I am God" (Isaiah 43:10-12). Israel was a little island of monotheism in a vast sea of polytheism. The revelation of the unity of God was given to this people only, and they were to scrupulously maintain and give witness to this truth to all people.

2.3.2 To receive, preserve and transmit the Scriptures

"What advantage then hath the Jew? or what profit is there of circumcision? Much every way: chiefly, because that unto them were committed the oracles of God" (Romans 3:1, 2). These "oracles" were the Old Testament Scriptures (compare Acts 7:38; Hebrews 5:12). "Behold, I have taught you statutes and judgments...Keep therefore and do them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the nations...(Deuteronomy 4:5, 6). The marvelous revelation of truth was given to no other people.

2.3.3 To produce the Messiah

To Abraham came the promise, "In thee shall all families of the earth be blessed" (Genesis 12:3). The first verse of our New Testament is the beginning of the fulfillment of this word. Romans 9:5, as well as 15:8, also confirms the fact that Israel was to be the vessel through whom the earth-blessing Messiah was to come.

 

3. THE PRIVILEGES OF ISRAEL

The apostle Paul had a deep concern for Israel's salvation (Romans 9:1-3; 10:1). Remember that the gospel is "the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first..." (Romans 1:16). Paul lists some of Israel's priceless, unique blessings (Romans 9:4, 5). Let us look at them very briefly.

  1. The Adoption - This is really Israel's national position of nearness to God. Nationally, they were God's sons (Exodus 4:22; Hosea 11:1; Jeremiah 31:9).

  2. The Glory - This refers to the visible symbol of Jehovah's presence, above the mercy seat in the Tabernacle and later over the Jewish Temple, and is sometimes called the "Shekinah" (Exodus 25:22; 40:34; Leviticus 16:2; 1 Kings 8:10).

  3. The Covenants - These were solemn agreements made between God and Israel. Some were unconditional, while others were conditional.

  4. The Giving of the Law - This was the Decalogue given by God through Moses at Mt. Sinai for Israel's obedience.

  5. The Service of the God - This refers to the divine instructions regarding the ritual of the Tabernacle and the Temple. Priests, Levites and common people all had their specific obligations in connection with certain sacrifices, feasts, etc.

  6. The Promises - These were chiefly concerning the Messiah and their own national future. The Old Testament is filled with them. Innumerable blessings were guaranteed to Israel as long as she remained faithful to the God (Deuteronomy 28:1-14).

  7. The Fathers - These were the illustrious men of faith, whose names shine so brightly in Hebrews 11 and other parts of Scripture.

  8. The Messiah - This One was the climax of Israel's blessing. Notice His twofold nature here - in His manhood He was of Israel; but as divine He was "over all, God blessed for ever. Amen." " As concerning the flesh Christ came..." (Romans 9:5). The Lord Jesus was Himself an Israelite.

 

4. GOD'S COVENANTS WITH ISRAEL

It is important that you know these four agreements. They indicate how closely God had bound the nation Israel to Himself.

4.1 The Abrahamic Covenant - The Patrimony (Genesis 12:1-3; 13:14-17; 15:1-21; 17:1-14)

Abraham was promised not only a seed, but also a land in which he dwelt and a vast number of descendants who would form a great nation. The boundaries of the promised land were to extend far beyond the little strip of country known as Canaan. The unconditional promises of this are found in such passages as Genesis 12:7; 13:14-17; 15:7, 18-21; 22:17, 18; and Exodus 32:13. Notice especially the word "forever." This promise was confirmed to Isaac (Genesis 26:3, 4) and to Jacob (Genesis 28:13-15). The boundaries are expressly described in Genesis 15:18-21; Exodus 23:31; Deuteronomy 1:7, 8; and Joshua 1:4. God brought Israel into the land in fulfillment of His Word, but their tenure of was conditional (see Deuteronomy 28:63-68; 30:19, 20; Leviticus 26:27-33). The people never actually occupied all the promised land, even at the zenith of their glory under Solomon. While it is true that Solomon reigned over certain kingdom, yet "Judah and Israel dwelt...from Dan even to Beersheba, all the days of Solomon" (1 Kings 4:21-25).

4.2 The Palestinian Covenant (Deuteronomy 30:1-10)

The nation is told that she would be removed from the land for disobedience; that she would some day repent (Deuteronomy 28:63-68; 30:1-3); that her Messiah would return (Deuteronomy 30:3-6); that she would be re-established in her land (Deuteronomy 30:5); that she would be nationally converted (Deuteronomy 30:4-8); and her enemies would be cursed (Deuteronomy 30:7); and that then she would enter into the blessings of prosperity (Deuteronomy 30:9).

4.3 The Davidic Covenant (2 Samuel 7:12-16)

This guarantees the establishment of the throne of David forever.

4.4 The New Covenant (Jeremiah 31:31-34)

This promises a renewed heart and mind to rejected Israel, her regeneration and restoration to divine favor, and everlasting blessing.

 

5. THE DISOBEDIENCE OF ISRAEL

In spite of the fact that God had showered His loving favor upon the nation, she grossly disobeyed Him and rushed down the pathway of rebellion, idolatry and sin. Illustrations of her sins:

5.1 In the days of Moses

Even when this servant of God was receiving the law in Mt. Sinai the people were sinning at the foot of the mountain (Exodus 32:1-6). Later, in the wilderness, they repeatedly revolted against the Lord (Numbers 11:1, 4-6; 14:1-4; compare 1 Corinthians 10:1-10).

5.2 In the days of the Kingdom

Wicked kings often led their fickle people into idolatry and iniquity (1 Kings 13:33, 34;16:30-33).

5.3 In the days of the Prophets

God often sent men of God to His recalcitrant people to warn them and to bring them back to Himself. Their refusal to heed these noble men is graphically portrayed in such passages as 2 Kings 17:7-17 and 2 Chronicles 36:15, 16.

5.4 Killing of their Messiah, Jesus Christ

When we hear her leaders avowing to Pilate at the time of the crucifixion, "His blood be on us, and our children (read Matthew 27:11-26)," we may look for some terrible national disaster to overtake them. Jehovah chose Israel to be the depository of His testimony to the world, and that because of their failure in this, plus their consummating sin of crucifying their Messiah, this people has been set aside during the present age.

 

6. THE SETTING ASIDE OF ISRAEL

6.1 The Reason

God had clearly and painstakingly warned Israel that disobedience would end in disaster (Deuteronomy 28:15-68). But she rejected the Word of God. The predicted tragedy overtook her.

6.2 The Historical Evidence

6.2.1 The Captivities

In 722 BC the ten northern tribes were taken into exile by the Assyrians. During the period 606-582 BC the two southern tribes, Judah and Benjamin, were led into captivity to Babylon. Later a remnant returned to Jerusalem. But their descendants in Palestine were overthrown by the Roman general Titus in AD70. The Jews were scattered and for many centuries had no national homeland.

6.2.2 The Persecutions

Many nations have abused and defamed the Jews. In the seventh century Spain forced tens of thousands to accept baptism. She burned thousands more during the days of her Inquisition. And in 1492 she banised the Jews from her realm. King Canute of England exiled Jews from his shores in AD1020. Many returned to England under William the Conqueror. The Czars of Russia had thousands of Jews massacred. The liquidation of six million Jews in Hilter's day was probably the most cruel tragedy of them all.

6.3 The Biblical Description of Israel's Plight

She has been blinded, has stumbled and fallen, but has not been cast away, as the result of her rejection of God (Romans 9:31, 32; 11:11, 12, 15, 25). The "times of the Gentiles," during which Jerusalem is "trodden down of the Gentiles," are under way (Luke 21:24). The natural branches (Israel) of God's olive tree have been broken off. Branches of a wild olive tree (the Gentiles) have been grafted into the good olive tree (Romans 11:16-21).

6.4 The Miracle of Her Preservation

The Jews have been vilely treated and slandered. They have had no national home, army or navy for centuries. They have been scattered among the nations of the world. The somber warnings of Deuteronomy 28:63-68 have been fulfilled. Any other nation subjected to the abuse which has been showered upon Israel would long since have perished. Where are the Canaanites, Perizzites, Jebusites, Moabites, Edomites, or Ammonites today? They have been absorbed by other peoples and have lost their identity. But Israel still persists as a nation. Why? Because God has protected and shielded her. He established His covenants with her progenitors. He has not forgotten His pledges. Israel still has a magnificent future. Hitler might try to wipe her out. But Hitler is dead and Israel still survives. The purpose of God on her behalf will not fail.

6.5 The Christian's Attitude Toward Israel

The Christian should not boast that the Jews have been nationally set aside and that he is now the recipient of divine favor (Romans 11:17-21). Instead, he should be deeply concerned about Israel's salvation (Romans 10:1). Today all who trust the Saviour, Gentile and Jew alike, form the body of Christ, "who hath made both one" (Ephesians 2:14) by His atoning work on Calvary. Then let every Christian do his best to see that Israel hears the Gospel of the grace of God; and let us all pray that many Jews will receive Christ as their Messiah and Saviour.

 

7. ISRAEL'S PRESENT CONDITION

There are three New Testament words which aptly describe her national plight. We must remember that what Israel is politically is always the result of what she is religiously. In this connection, the Holy Spirit describes the plight of this people by the words "fallen," "desolate," and "blinded."

7.1 Fallen

Jesus said, "Whosoever shall fall on this stone (meaning Himself shall be broken" (Matthew 21:44). Romans 9:32 and 1 Peter 2:8 make it clear that the nation trippped and fell over the Messiah who had come in lowly grace to deliver them. They had looked for deliverance from their Roman conquerors rather than from the enslavement of their sins, and this had blinded them to the claims of their true Messiah. They rejected Him and were consequently broken. (Read Romans 11:11, 12, however, how God has overruled this.)

7.2 Desolate

 "Behold, your house is left unto you desolate" (Matthew 23:37-39). During the past two thousand years, Israel has been nationally fallen and religiously desolate. Their temple has been completely destroyed and even its very site was for centuries in the hands of the infidel, which accords exactly with Hosea 3:4. True, the orthodox party has clung to the empty shell of ritualism, but any spiritual life has long since fled. In heaven's reckoning, they are desolate religiously.

7.3 Blinded

 "Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for; but the election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded....that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in" (Romans 11:7, 25). The story of Elymas (Acts 13:6-12) perfectly illustrates this condition. Notice, however, that the blindness was, and is, temporary and not permanent.

 

8. THE RESTORATION OF ISRAEL

No amount of human or diabolical effort to destroy the nation, or keep her from Palestine will permanently succeed. God's Word is sure.

8.1 The Repeated Prophetic Assurances

The Old Testament abounds in predictions that some day Israel will return to her land. God declared, "And yet for all that, when they be in the land of their enemies, I will not cast them away...and to break my covenant with them...(Leviticus 26:44). In Isaiah it is written: "The Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people, which shall be left..." (Isaiah 11:11; 43:5, 6). To Jeremiah the same revelation is given: "I will...have compassion on them, and will bring them again, every man to his heritage, and every man to his land" (Jeremiah 12:15; 23:3; 24:6; 30:3, 18; 31:8; 32:37-41). Other passages dealing with the same theme are Ezekiel 20:42; 28:25, 26; 36:24-27; Hosea 3:4, 5; Joel 3:1; Amos 9:11-15; Micah 4:6; Zephaniah 3:20; Zechariah 8:7, 8; 10:10).

8.2 The Great "Until" Passages

The Lord Jesus made it clear that "the times of the Gentiles" would come to an end. They would last until they were fulfilled. Then of course "the times" of Israel would commence. "Blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in" (Romans 11:25). Israel, long despised and spurned, will yet have her day.

8.3 The Testimony of Paul

The apostle Paul is explicit. "I say then, Hath God cast away his people? God forbid...God hath not cast away his people which he foreknew" (Romans 11:1, 2). On the contrary the Hebrew olive branches which have been broken off from the tree, "if they abide not still in unbelief, shall be graffed in: for God is able to graff them in again" (Romans 11:23).

8.4 The Beginnings of Prophetic Fulfillment

God has miraculously preserved Israel even in spite of her century-long persecutions. During this long period from the Cross to the present, Israel has been scattered among the Gentiles (Luke 21:24). Only in recent times has this people been re-established as an independent nation in part of their ancient land. This startling development, initiated in May 1948. Israel was recognized as a republic in the family of nations. Never forget: the promises of God stand forever.

 

9. THE FUTURE BLESSINGS OF ISRAEL

After the Church has been caught up to meet her Lord, the Hebrew people will first pass through a period of intense suffering. Then at long last they will enter into the glorious era of their history promised to the patriarchs, held in abeyance because of Israel's disobedience, but certain to be their ultimate portion.

9.1 Her Preliminary Trials (The Time of Jacob's Trouble-Seven Years Tribulation Period)

The great tribulation will prove to be "the time of Jacob's trouble" (Jeremiah 30:7). Israel will acclaim the world's greatest religious imposter-the anti-christ-as their messiah and king (John 5:43; 2 Thessalonians 2:3, 4). This is the greatest apostasy of their history. This will bring down upon them the heavy hand of God in judicial anger (Matthew 24:15-25), and will serve to separate the godly remnant from the mass of apostates. Israel will be tested and tried in the days of Anti-Christ. She will be compelled to "pass under the rod" (Ezekiel 20:37) of judgment. In the morning she will cry out, "Would God it were even! and at even...would God it were morning!" (Deuteronomy 28:67) - so fearful will her afflications be.

The reader should read carefully the Lord Jesus Christ's Olivet Discourse, as found in Matthew 24. Let us not read into this passage what is obviously not there. The company addressed are believing Jews who know almost nothing about the Church and Christianity as revealed in the Pauline Epistles. Such terms as "the holy place" (v. 15), "Judaea" (v. 16), "sabbath" (v. 20), etc., all serve to confirm the Jewish character of the prophecy. In verse 21 our Lord predicts a great tribulation, of such intensity that it will exceed anything known in either the past or the future of this people's history. As we study such passages as Deuteronomy 4:26-31; Isaiah 13:6-13; Jeremiah 30:4-9; Ezekiel 20:33-38; Daniel 9:20-27; 12:1-4; Joel 2; Zechariah 14, it is very clear that the nation of Israel, because of its rejection of the true Messiah and its acceptance of the antichrist, will undergo a terrible baptism of divine judgment in the end-times.

9.2 Her Deliverance

The calamities of the great tribulation will beget in the soul of the Israelitish remnant a fierce longing for their Messiah. And suddenly, "There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer" (Romans 11:26), the Son of God (Second coming of Jesus Christ!) returning in power to punish the mustered armies of the world after the end of the 7 years tribulation period (Revelation 19:11-20:6). Israel will behold her Messiah. "They shall look upon" Him "whom they have pierced" (Zechariah 12:10). The scales of unbelief will fall from her eyes in the presence of her Lord.

During the throes of this period of suffering and anguish, there will be a remnant, or minority, of Jewry who will penitently turn to the Lord their God in self-judgment. These will pray, in a new sense, "Thy kingdom come; thy will be done on earth" and again, "Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord." It is important that we distinguish carefully between the Jewish masses, who are thoroughly devoted to the man of sin, who is the devil's messiah, and that godly remnant, who will see through his hollow pretensions and will resist his claims and suffer, some even martyrdom, because of their faith in Christ (Joel 2:12-17; Zechariah 12:9, 10, 13:1, 2; Jeremiah 16:14, 15; Ezekiel 37; Romans 11:26; Revelation 7-19).

9.3 Her Conversion

"In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness" (Zechariah 13). The Lord will wash away "the filth of the daughters of Zion" (Isaiah 4:4). He will put His "law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts" (Jeremiah 31:33). Their iniquity will be forgiven (Jeremiah 31:34). God will put a "new spirit" within them (Ezekiel 11:19). He will "sprinkle clean water" upon them (Ezekiel 36:25). The Deliverer "shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob..." (Romans 11:26).

9.4 Her Resurrection

At the end of the great tribulation many Jews who have perished during its tragic days will be raised from the dead to meet their Messiah. This seems to be the teaching of Isaiah 26:19 and Daniel 12:1, 2.

9.5 Her Millennial Blessings

Reunited as a nation with true peace (Jeremiah 3:18; 33:14), Israel will be subject to Messiah during His beneficent thousand-year reign. She will apparently be favored above the Gentiles (Isaiah 14:1, 2; 61:6, 7). She will witness on behalf of the Lord (Isaiah 44:8; Micah 5:7). And she will be the recipient of many favors freely bestowed on her by her God (Hosea 14:5, 6; Zephaniah 3:16, 17; Zechariah 9:16).

Note:

The a-millennialist denies any future to national Israel as such. Assuming that the Church of this age is the true Israel, and that, therefore, the promises made to her find their complete fulfillment now in the Church, there can be no future application to any company. Support for this view is largely found in Old Testament quotations which are frequently applied to Christians of this age. But we believe that this "support" ignores what is known as "the law of double reference," which has been studied in the lesson 1.

 

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