Miracle People:
The state of Israel is nothing short of a
miracle.
Their very
existence could not
have come about if
not for the
providence of God.
God chose
them and has used
them to demonstrate
to the world who He
is and what His plan
for mankind was all
about.
It was
foretold long ago
that Jesus, our
Savior would come
through this
chosen race of
people (Deut
18: 18).
However
during modern times
such errors like
Replacement Theology
and Preterism
have sought to
minimize the
importance of
Israel
and transfer their
God given eternal
promises to the New
Testament Church.
But through
careful study of
scripture and
applying the common
sense literal
meaning to it, one
must come to the
conclusion that
Israel
and the Church are
separate entities.
Israel
has no other form of
salvation than what
Christ has provided
for all peoples of
the earth through
His death on the
cross.
Some believe
Israel
does through the law
and Moses, this is
another error called
dual covenant
theology.
They have
been chosen for
God’s special
purpose to display
Himself before the
world through them.
This is
wonderfully
described by Moses
to the Israelites in
Deuteronomy 4:
32-35.
Part 1:
Forming of a
Nation for God
God calls Abram:
In Genesis
12: 1-3, 15: 1-6 &
17: 1-8 God makes a
binding and eternal
promise to Abram to
make him a great
nation and provide
his descendants with
a land of their own.
This nation
would have the
distinction of being
God’s chosen or
elected
people and
this Promised
Land is the only
section of
real-estate in the
world with which God
Himself would
designate its
borders.
God could
have chosen any
people in the world
to demonstrate His
divine nature, but
through one man of
faith, Abraham, God
raised up a separate
and individual
people who have
withstood the test
of time.
In fact,
Abraham is known as
the father of those
who have faith.
(Hebrews 11:
8-12, Romans 4: 1-5)
The misery
begins:
One of the
worst examples of
man trying to help
God accomplish His
plan is found in
Genesis Chapter 16,
the story of Hagar
and her son Ishmael.
Abram was 75
years old when he
was given the
promise by God to be
a father of a great
nation through his
wife Sarah who was
barren.
At Sarah’s
prompting, they
chose to circumvent
God by using their
own resources to
have a son.
This action
created a fractured
family and unending
problems for the
future nation.
The fallout
from taking Sarah’s
Egyptian handmade as
a surrogate wife for
Abram is found
strewn throughout
the pages of
scripture and is yet
today the root cause
of the troubles that
plague modern day
Israel
at the hand of her
Arab neighbors (Gen
16: 11-12).
In this
regard, the faith of
both Abram and his
wife in God failed
as they tried on
their own to fulfill
God’s plan.
God was still
faithful and made
things come out as
He originally
intended.
This serves
as a lesson for us
all as we work out
our lives trusting
God to bring about
His will in us.
God makes good
his promise:
In the
course of time God
made good on His
promise to Abram and
Sarah and they
finally had a child,
Isaac, which means
laughter,
because Sarah
laughed at the
thought of God
bringing a child
into the world
through a 90 year
old woman and a 99
year old man.
God
gave Abram a new
name, Abraham,
father of many
nations.
God tests Abraham:
God instructs
Abraham to do the
unthinkable, to
sacrifice his only
son that he waited
for all his life
(Genesis 22: 1-2).
Without
question, Abraham
takes Isaac to a
distant place with
the fire and wood
minus the animal.
Just at the
last moment, God
calls to Abraham,
“Do not lay a hand
on the boy.”
This test has
proved to be crucial
for Abraham and the
children of Israel
as the place of this
test, Mount Moriah,
was to be the future
location of the
first and second
Holy Temples built
by King Solomon (1
Kings 6) and
Zerubbabel (Ezra 3:
7-13)
The next
generation:
After Isaac
had grown and
married, he had 2
sons.
God once
again made a choice
(election) between
the two even before
they were born.
(Genesis 25:
21-23)
All this
serves to show us
that God is
sovereign over time
and space and that
He is in control.
Scripture
indicates that Esau
was a careless man
selling his birth
right for a bowl of
lentil stew (Genesis
25: 27-34).
Esau became
the father of the
Edomites who were
bitter enemies of
the Israelites all
through scripture.
Herod, ruler
of Judea at the time of Jesus birth was an Edomite.
He attempted
to kill the Christ
child in an effort
to blot out God’s
promise to Abraham
that all peoples on
earth would be
blessed through him.
(Matthew
Chapter 2).
The story
continues:
God continued
His plan for a
special nation with
the life of Jacob
and the story of his
twelve sons who
would eventually
grow into the nation
of
Israel.
While living
in
Egypt
and nearing the time
of his death, Jacob
(Israel) gave the final blessings to
his sons.
These
blessings are
prophetic in nature
and give indications
of what each tribe
would be or do in
the course of time.
One
particular blessing
is very special
indeed, that given
to
Judah.
(Genesis 49: 8-12)
Judah is of course where King David
and Jesus would be
descended from.
Israel was
now planted in the
womb so to speak so
that it could grow
into the great
nation that God had
promised Abraham
(Genesis 15: 12-16).
Part 2:
The Law
Moses, the Law
Giver: After
the death of Joseph
the Children of
Israel increased in
number and a new
ruler came to power
in Egypt and placed Israel in slavery.
Thus we have
the story of Moses,
the liberation of
Israel
from bondage and the
giving of God’s law
on
Mount Sinai.
This is a
story filled with
the supernatural
display of God’s
power and great
glory as he raised
Moses up as His
chosen deliverer and
placed
Egypt
under the “iron rod”
of punishment.
(Genesis 12: 3).
During the
life of Moses, Israel
experienced what it
was like to live in
the presence of a
Holy God.
Many things
happened along the
way.
They were
shown God’s great
blessing and His
protection and
providence.
They were
also shown His
awesome discipline
for their sinful
disobedience.
They were
given a code of laws
to govern themselves
with chief of which
began with the Ten
Commandments (Exodus
20:
1-17).
The Law:
Why did God
give The Law
to the Israelites?
Was it not to
expose their sinful
natures?
Paul answers
this in Romans 7:
7-12.
Through the
law they (we) became
aware of how
incapable we are of
pleasing God.
Of course,
they didn’t know
this at the
beginning and as
time progressed God
put them through
many painful trials.
The Law with
all of its
requirements for
various burnt
sacrifices and grain
offerings was to
foreshadow the need
for a future better,
once for all
sacrifice, the shed
blood of our Lord
Jesus Christ.
Another very
important and
prophet thing coming
out of time of Moses
was God’s
commemoration of
events through
Jewish Feasts.
The Holy Feasts:
Feasts were
established by God
to provide
remembrance of
events that God
performed in the
past and are highly
prophetic in nature.
When Jesus
came to earth the
first time in the
form of a man, he
fulfilled the spring
feasts by acting as
the sacrificial
Passover Lamb on the
exact dates on the
calendar that the
actual feast was
scheduled to occur.
In this way
God really revealed
the way in which He
is sovereign over
time and events.
Jesus is the
final fulfillment of
the Jewish feasts.
When he
returns at the end
of the seven year
tribulation to rule
the world during the
Millennium all of
His promises to the
Jewish people will
be fulfilled.
Spring
Passover/Pesach:
(Nissan
14/normally in
April) (Ex: 12:
1-8/Lev 23: 4-8)
Passover lamb
sacrificed/Jesus
crucified.
Unleavened Bread/Matzah:
(Nissan
15) (Ex 12: 17-20/Deut 16: 1-8) Jesus burial. (John 19: 38-42)
First Fruits/Omer
or Barley Harvest:
(Nissan
17/1st
Sunday after
Passover) (Lev 23:
9-14) Jesus rises
and appears to the
disciples, (John
Chapter 20)
Pentecost/Feast
of Weeks/
Shavo’ut:
(50
days later) (Lev 23: 15-22) Commemorates the giving of the Torah
on
Mt. Sinai, Old Covenant begins. Holy Spirit
rests on the
gathered believers,
beginning of New
Covenant. (Acts
2: 1-13)
Fall
Trumpets/Rosh
Hashanah:
(Tishrei
1 around mid Sept)
Jewish New Year/High
Holy Days.
Jesus second
coming at the end of
the Tribulation
(Rev:
19: 11-16,
Zech 14:
1-1-5)
Day of Atonement/Yom
Kippur:
(Tishrei 10
or around Sept/Oct)
(Lev 23: 26-32) Jesus enters the Millennial Temple. (Zech 14:
9-11)
Tabernacles/Sukkot:
(Tishrei
15 or around
Sept/Oct) Beginning
of Jesus 1000 year
reign on earth as
King of kings. (Rev
20: 4-6, Joel 3:
18-21, Micah 4: 1-3,
Amos 9: 11-15)
This is also
the possible date
which baby Jesus was
born, not Dec 25th
although December 25th
may have been the
date of the
Annunciation of
Jesus birth. (Luke
1: 26-38)
Other Days of
Remembrance:
Tisha B’Av
(9th day of the 5th
month Av) A day of
mourning and fasting
in remembrance of
the destruction of
the first and second
temples on this
date.
This day
stands out as the
day the Israelites
rebelled against
Moses after the
twelve spies came
back from
Canaan
and ten
of them gave a bad
report to the
people. (Numbers 13,
14) Purim
(13th day of
12th month Adar)
is the story of
the Jewish Queen
Esther and wicked
Haman who sought to
destroy all the Jews
in the
Persian empire.
Esther
saved her people by
appealing to the
King. (Book of
Esther)
Hanukkah -
This remembers
the events of 167BC
when Antiochus IV
(Epiphanes) invaded Jerusalem and set up a pagan idol to be worshipped in the Temple where he also
commanded pigs and
other unclean
animals to be
sacrificed.
Commemorates
the purification of
the Temple.
(Daniel 11: 30-32, 1
Maccabees 1:54)
Part 3:
Judges, Kings
and Prophets
Israel’s relationship to their God
has been a rocky
one.
Joshua with
the strong arm of
God eventually took Israel into the land.
After him a
long series of
judges lead the
Israelites but they
always failed to
keep God’s law
(Judges 2: 17-19). Finally at
the end of Samuel’s
life, Israel
asked for a king
like other nations
(1 Samuel 8: 4-5).
The
first King, Saul was
rejected by God for
his unfaithfulness
and God raised up
David son of Jesse
(1 Samuel 16: 1).
King David
became a mighty
warrior and gained
control of the
entire land God
promised to Israel
but even though it
was in his heart to
build a Holy Temple
in Jerusalem for
God, that task was
left to his son
Solomon (1 Kings 5:
3-5, 8: 17-19).
This
Holy Temple would be built in the same
location where God
commanded Abraham to
sacrifice Isaac (Gen
22: 1-2).
Solomon was
the riches and
wisest man to ever
have lived before or
after but he failed
before God in one
great way, he had an
insatiable appetite
for women.
Those women
he married, 700
wives and 300
concubines, were
from other nations
and they drove
Solomon into
idolatry (1 Kings
11: 1-8).
Two Nation
Solution:
It was
because of Solomon’s
idolatry with
foreign women that
caused God to rip
Israel
into two kingdoms (1
Kings 11: 9-13)
The Southern
Kingdom was made up
of
Judah
with
Jerusalem
as its capitol with
Levites ministering
at the
Temple.
The Northern
Kingdom was
comprised of the
rest of the tribes
of
Israel.
The long slide
down:
Solomon’s son
Rehoboam became
ruler of Judah and Jeroboam son of Nebat became the ruler
of the
Northern Kingdom.
Jeroboam
setup two golden
calve idols, one at
Bethel and one at Dan which Israel (Northern Kingdom) were instructed to
worship so they
wouldn’t go back to
worship at Jerusalem. This became a
great snare for Israel as every king thereafter
worshipped these and
many other idols.
Finally after
much great
wickedness occurred
at the hand of the
Kings of Israel, God
sent the Assyrians
in 722BC to carry
Israel away and they
replaced the
Israelites with
people from many
other lands to
inhabit Samaria (2
Kings 17: 5-8,
14-17, 24).
The few
Israelites that were
left inbred with
these people and
adopted their
customs and this is
why the Jews of
Jesus day hated the
Samaritans so much.
Jerusalem
exiled:
Not all the
kings of Judah
were bad, some were
very good.
But the bad
ones like Manasseh
sealed the fate of Judah (2 Kings 21: 7).
The Lord
pronounced judgment
against the people
of Judah (2 Kings
21: 10-12) and in
586BC,
Nebuchadnezzar, King
of Babylon invaded
Judah and destroyed
the Temple at
Jerusalem then they
exiled the Jews for
a period of 70 years
(Jeremiah 25: 8-14,
2 Chronicles 36:
15-16).
Thus, the
prophecy given by
God to Moses was, in
the course of time,
fulfilled (Deut 31:
15-18).
The Jews were
allowed back into
the land to rebuild
the
Temple
and city walls
however Jerusalem was never a
sovereign nation
until it’s rebirth
in 1948 under United
Nations Mandate
following World War
II and the Nazi
Holocaust.
What does all of
this history show us
about God?
Israel’s history is much more
complex than this
thumbnail sketch
covers but it all
shows that the God
of the universe, the
creator of all
things, maintains an
intimate caring
relationship with
His creation.
If you really
want to know how God
feels about
Israel,
read Ezekiel Chapter
16, An Allegory
of Unfaithful
Israel.
God’s
relationship to Israel serves to show us who God is
and how our own
actions and the way
we conduct our lives
may effect our own
relationship with
Him.