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Theology

The State of Israel

E
ET101 Nov 28, 2010

Please pardon the simplicity of this question; there is much of the scriptures I still need to learn. Do the promises God made to the nation of Israel carry over into the new covenant?

I believe Paul said there is 'no Jew or gentile' in Christ.

So my question is, is there any scriptural basis for viewing the modern state of Israel as any different from any other state in the world system (with respect to favor of God etc)?

L
Lysa Nov 28, 2010


ET101,

Oh, without intending to, you've just opened a hornet's nest, my friend! LOL

There are two camps, maybe 3 or 4 camps and they all believe something diametrically opposed to one another!

On this issue as well as with all the other issues... read everything with a grain of salt.

God bless you and pray for your own answers!

Lisa

sermonindex Nov 28, 2010

So my question is, is there any scriptural basis for viewing the modern state of Israel as any different from any other state in the world system (with respect to favour of God etc)?
No different.

Remain confident in the fact that there is neither Jew nor Gentile, Bond or Free, but all are the same in Christ.

The confusion will come when you get answers that say the opposite.

The name "Jew" today and the state of Israel is not the same as the ancient people's that God called, "His chosen people". Many Christians have tried to squeeze them into some future hope for the Jews, but their hope is in the past and like any other person are required to believe in the name of Jesus Christ and what He accomplished on the cross for the redemption, not only for the Jew first, but to all that call upon the name of the Lord.

sermonindex Nov 28, 2010

The straw man argument is: There is no Jew or gentile in Christ and this somehow negates God's promises to the the nation of Israel.

This scripture is in not referring to God's promise to his people Israel

It is opening the way of salvation to all who would believe, Jew and Gentile.

You need to throw much of the Bible in order to get around
God's promises to the nation of Israel.

Or you can twist the the scripture to saw whatever you like it to say.

Modern Israel is very much part of the plan.

sermonindex Nov 28, 2010

Modern Israel is very much part of the plan.
Scripture would be nice right about now. Thanks

sermonindex Nov 28, 2010


As snufalupacus said,

Scripture would be nice right about now. Thanks
It is opening the way of salvation to all who would believe, Jew and Gentile.

You need to throw much of the Bible in order to get around
God's promises to the nation of Israel.

Why would we need to 'throw much of the Bible'?

Are you suggesting God DID NOT KEEP HIS PROMISES to (the nation of) ISRAEL so far?

Personally, I prefer to separate the people from the land. If you think back to their history, God frequently separated the people from the land, to try to get their attention.

Now some of them have 'land' again, they are intent upon building another Temple. Sounds sadly like history repeating itself.


sermonindex Nov 28, 2010

Does the Land of Israel Belong to
the Jewish People?
Sixteen Biblical Facts you Can't Ignore
by Messianic Rabbi Loren Jacobs
Congregation Shema Yisrael, Southfield, Michigan

Two peoples claim the same land in the Middle East. Whose land is it? Who is right: Israel or the Palestinians? Does it belong to both peoples? Who has the right to decide to whom the Land belongs? Israel? The Arab League? The United States? The United Nations Security Council? The United Nations General Assembly? How should it be decided? By the Koran? By the various competing claims of history? By voting? By war? When the Word of God speaks authoritatively on any subject, that is the final word. God has much to say about the Land and people of Israel in His supernatural revelation, the Bible, which is the very Word of God.

Fact #1. The Jewish people are the Chosen People: After Adam and Eve sinned, humanity deteriorated so badly that God destroyed the early world of men with the Great Flood. Noah and his family knew the Lord, and were spared, but after they came out of the Ark and started repopulating, their descendants abandoned God, became idolatrous, perverse and evil. Then God created a special nation to be a light to the other nations. The Creator of the universe specifically chose the nation of Israel to be that unique people who would witness to His reality. "For you are a holy people to the Lord your God; the Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for His own possession out of all the people who are on the face of the Earth" (Deuteronomy 7:6).

"You are My witnesses," declares the Lord, "and My servant whom I have chosen, in order that you may know and believe Me, and understand that I am He. Before Me there was no God formed, and there will be none after Me. I, even I am the Lord; and there is no Savior beside Me" (Isaiah 43:10-11). If the Chosen People were faithful to our calling, God promised to bless us above all the other nations, so that the nations of the world would know that the God of Israel is the true God who alone can save us, by reconciling us to Himself, thereby restoring us to peace, joy, blessing and life. But if we were disobedient to our calling, the Lord promised to severely punish us so that the nations of the world would learn a lesson from us, and know that it is a terrible thing to disobey the God of Israel. Either way, through our obedience or disobedience, the Chosen People would witness to the other nations of the world that the God of Israel is to be reckoned with.

Fact #2. The Land of Israel belongs to God: "The Earth is the Lord's and all it contains, the world and those who dwell in it" (Psalm 24:1). Since the entire world belongs to God, He has the right to apportion it as He chooses, and He specifically gave the nations their lands based on the Jewish people's right to the Land of Israel! "When the Most High gave the nations their inheritance, when He separated the sons of man, He set the boundaries of the peoples according to the number of the sons of Israel. For the Lord's portion is His people; Jacob is the allotment of His inheritance" (Deuteronomy 32:8-9).

Fact #3. The Chosen People needed a Chosen Land, and so the God of Israel strategically chose the Land of Israel for the People of Israel: "This is Jerusalem; I have set her at the center of the nations, with lands around her" (Ezekiel 5:5). The Land that God chose for us is located in the center of the nations, connecting the continents of Europe, Africa and Asia. Because of this strategic location, the Jewish people had ample exposure to all the nations of the world.

Fact #4. The Land of Israel was given by God to the descendants of Abraham as an everlasting possession: "The Lord appeared to Abram and said, 'To your descendants I will give this Land'" (Genesis 12:7). God further said to Abraham: "I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your descendants after you. And I will give to you and to your descendants after you, the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession" (Genesis 17:7-8).

Fact #5. Even though Abraham had many sons, the Land of Israel wasn't given to Ishmael, or to any of the other sons of Abraham, but only to Isaac: "Abraham said to God, 'Oh that Ishmael might live before You!' But God said 'No, but Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac; and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him'" (Genesis 17:18-19). God rejected Abraham's request that Ishmael be the heir of the covenant, and appointed Isaac instead. Years later the Lord God appeared to Isaac and said, "to you and to your descendants I will give all these lands, and I will establish the oath which I swore to your father Abraham. And I will multiply your descendants as the stars of heaven and will give your descendants all these lands; and by your descendants all the nations of the Earth shall be blessed" (Genesis 26:3-4). Knowing that Isaac was the heir of the covenant, which included the Land of Israel, Abraham gave all that he had to Isaac. He gave gifts to his other sons, but he sent them away to the lands of the east, not wanting the heir of the everlasting covenant to have rivalry over the Land of Israel from his siblings (Genesis 25:5-6).

Fact #6. Even though Isaac had two sons, the Land wasn't given to Esau, but to Jacob: One night Jacob had a dream while fleeing from his brother Esau. In his dream the Lord said to him, "I am the Lord, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac; the Land on which you lie, I will give it to you and to your descendants." (Genesis 28:13). God later appeared to Jacob and said to him, "the Land which I gave to Abraham and Isaac, I will give it to you, and I will give the Land to your descendants after you" (Genesis 35:11-12). This promise deeds the Land of Israel to the descendants of Jacob - the Jewish people of today.

Fact #7. There is no doubt about Israel's God-given borders because they are described for us in detail in the Holy Scriptures: "The Lord said to Abram after Lot had separated from him, 'Now lift up your eyes and look from the place where you are, northward and southward and eastward and westward; for all the land which you see, I will give it to you and to your descendants forever... Arise, walk about the land through its length and breadth; for I will give it to you'" (Genesis 13:14-17). "The Lord made a covenant with Abraham, saying, 'To your descendants I have given this Land, from the river of Egypt as far as the great river, the river Euphrates'" (Genesis 15:18-21). "I will fix your boundary from the Red Sea to the sea of the Philistines, and from the wilderness to the River Euphrates" (Exodus 23:31). Therefore we must conclude that the entire Land of Israel, including Judea and Samaria (the so-called "West Bank"), Gaza, the Golan Heights, and all of Jerusalem, was given by the God of Israel to the people of Israel in perpetuity. We, and we alone, have been given the title to the Land of Israel as a permanent inheritance by the Lord. No human government or coalition of governments has the right or authority to cede portions of the Land of Israel to anyone else.

Fact #8. In addition to the everlasting covenant (which includes the Land), God swore an oath to give the Jewish people this Land: Keep in mind that it's absolutely impossible for God to break an oath (see Hebrews 6:16-18). In the Holy Scriptures, this oath is reiterated more than forty times. Here is just one example: "He has remembered His covenant forever, the word which He commanded to a thousand generations, the covenant which He made with Abraham, and His oath to Isaac. Then He confirmed it to Jacob for a statute, to Israel as an everlasting covenant, saying, 'To you I will give the land of Canaan as the portion of your inheritance'" (Psalm 105:8-11). There is no other passage in which there are so many words used to describe God's unyielding commitment to Israel: covenant, word, oath, confirm, commandment, a thousand generations, statute, everlasting covenant. A person has to have a terrible bias not to understand that God is assuring the Jewish people the perpetual right to the Land of Israel in the strongest possible language.

Fact #9. Israel's sin and resulting exile from the Land of Israel never annulled God's covenant with His Chosen People, nor did it permanently abrogate our right to the Land of Israel: "Yet in spite of this (Israel's disobedience), when they are in the land of their enemies, I will not reject them, nor will I so abhor them as to destroy them, breaking My covenant with them; for I am the Lord their God. But I will remember for them the covenant with their ancestors" - which includes the Land of Israel (Leviticus 26:44-45). Our exile from Israel was meant to be temporary! In Deuteronomy 30:1-5, Moses specifically predicted that we would experience a time of obedience and blessing within the Land, followed by a period of disobedience and exile from the Land, followed by spiritual restoration to God and physical restoration to the Land: "So it shall be when all of these things have come upon you, the blessing and the curse which I have set before you, and you call them to mind in all nations where the Lord your God has banished you, and you return to the Lord your God and obey Him with all your heart and soul according to all that I command you today, you and your sons, then the Lord your God will restore you from captivity, and have compassion on you, and will gather you again from all the people where the Lord your God has scattered you. If your outcasts are at the ends of the Earth, from there the Lord your God will gather you, and from there He will bring you back. And the Lord your God will bring you into the Land which your fathers possessed, and you shall possess it."

It's no coincidence that after two thousand years of exile, the Chosen People are being restored to the Land that our fathers possessed, and simultaneously, we are being spiritually restored to God through the Messiah, as is evidenced by the growth of the Messianic Jewish movement in Israel and around the world.

The Son of God Himself predicted that because the majority of Israel did not believe He was the Messiah, Jerusalem would be destroyed, and we would be exiled among the nations, but eventually, we would return to Israel (Luke 21:23-24). This prophecy began in 70 AD when Jerusalem was destroyed, and then again in 135 AD, when the Second Jewish Revolt against the Roman Empire was crushed. We were scattered to the nations, and lost political control of Jerusalem. However, over the past 2,000 years, there were always some Jewish people who remained in the Land of Israel. Starting in the 1880's, this prophesied regathering of Jewish people to Israel picked up speed, and now there is a reborn nation of Israel, with Jerusalem as its capital, with 5.3 million Jewish people regathered from more than 70 countries, just as Israel's Messiah predicted.

Fact #10. In His prophetic Word, God promised to regather us to "our own Land": "I will take you from the nations, gather you from all the lands, and bring you into your own Land... And you will live in the Land that I gave to your forefathers" (Ezekiel 36:24, 28). Again Ezekiel predicts: "Thus says the Lord God, 'Behold, I will take the sons of Israel from among the nations where they have gone, and I will gather them from every side and bring them into their own Land'" (Ezekiel 37:21). Jeremiah adds: "'Behold days are coming' declares the Lord, 'when it will no longer be said, "As the Lord lives, who brought up the sons of Israel out of the land of Egypt," but, "As the Lord lives, who brought up the sons of Israel from the land of the north and from all the countries where He had banished them." For I will restore them to their own Land which I gave to their fathers'" (Jeremiah 16:14-15). Ultimately this regathering to our own Land will be greater than the Exodus out of Egypt!

Fact #11. In His prophetic Word, God calls this restored Land "Israel" - not "Palestine": "I will open up your graves and cause you to come up out of your graves, My people; and I will bring you into the Land of Israel" (Ezekiel 37:12). The name "Palestine" comes from the Philistines, the ancient enemies of the Jewish people. "Palestine" was the derogatory name given to the Land of Israel by the Romans after they conquered us. But throughout the Word of God, this Land is always called Israel - never Palestine.

Fact #12. God, speaking to us through the prophet Ezekiel, informs us that this Land is specifically reserved for the Jewish people: "You O mountains of Israel, you will put forth your branches and bear your fruit for My people Israel; for they will soon come. For behold, I am for you, and I will turn to you, and you will be cultivated and sown. I will multiply men on you, all the house of Israel, all of it; and the cities will be inhabited and the waste places will be rebuilt" (Ezekiel 36:8-10). 2,500 years ago Ezekiel told us that in the Last Days the Jewish people would be restored to our Land. The Land would begin to prosper and the Jewish population would greatly increase. In the past century these prophetic words have been coming to pass. The Land of Israel, which lay barren for centuries, has seen increasing numbers of the sons of Israel returning to our ancient homeland, repopulating the cities and cultivating the Land.

Fact #13. 2,500 years ago the Lord also told us that the Jewish return to the Land would provoke a reaction from Israel's neighbors: "Because the enemy has spoken against you 'Aha' and 'The everlasting heights have become our possession' ... Surely in the fire of My jealousy I have spoken against the rest of the nations, and against all Edom, who appropriated My Land for themselves as a possession with wholehearted joy and scorn of soul, to drive it out as a prey" (Ezekiel 36:2-5). Even though the nations surrounding Israel would claim possession of the Land of Israel for themselves, and try to drive out its rightful Jewish inhabitants, God repudiates the claims of these nations. Even though the majority of the Jewish people were exiled from our Land (there always was a remnant of Jewish people who remained within Israel), that doesn't give anyone else the right to claim the Land of Israel for themselves. If a landlord has some bad tenants that he evicts from his property, he does not expect anyone else to enter his vacant property and claim it for their own. Due to our sins, the Landlord of Israel evicted most of us from the Land, but that didn't give the Romans, the Byzantines, the Crusaders, the Ottomans or the Arabs the right to claim God's holy Land for themselves.

Fact #14. God will severely judge any nation who divides up any part of this special Land: "In those days and at that time when I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem, I will gather all the nations and bring them down to the valley of Jehoshaphat. Then I will enter into judgment with them there on behalf of My people and My inheritance Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations; and they have divided up My Land" (Joel 3:1-2). When Messiah Yeshua returns, the fortunes of the Jewish people will be fully restored, and the nations will be summoned to Jerusalem, where they will be judged for scattering the Jewish people and dividing up our Land.

Fact #15. Eventually this conflict over the Land of Israel will entangle the entire world: God, speaking through the prophet Zechariah in 12:1-3, in the Sixth Century BC, predicted: "Behold I am going to make Jerusalem a cup that causes reeling to all the peoples around" (the nations will react to the regathering of the Jewish people with senseless behavior and irrational hatred); "and when the siege is against Jerusalem, it will also be against Judah. And it will come about in that day that I will make Jerusalem a heavy stone for all the peoples" (Israel's Islamic neighbors want to destroy the hated "Zionist Entity" because the Islamic worldview teaches that the entire world will ultimately come under the control of Islam. A Jewish state in the midst of the Moslem Middle East is by its very existence an insult to Allah and Islam, and must be destroyed. Islam can have no true and lasting peace with Israel - only a temporary cease-fire. Hostilities will once again be renewed when Islamic strength is renewed. At its core, this is a religious conflict - not a political or economic one); "all who lift it will be severely injured." (The nations of the world will be drawn into this conflict and try to remove the Jewish presence from Jerusalem. However, be warned - every nation that tries to remove the Jewish people from our Land and capital city will be severely injured). "And all the nations of the Earth will be gathered against it." (The world's united nations will wage a final world war in the Middle East, directed against Israel).

It's amazing to see this 2,500-year-old prophetic scenario shaping up before our very eyes! Zechariah's prophecy continues and informs us that the army of the united nations will be defeated; God will destroy all those nations that fight against Israel; Israel will be miraculously saved and recognize Yeshua as the Messiah!

Fact #16. This will be a time of great difficulty for the Jewish people, but we will be miraculously delivered out of it: "Alas! for that day is great, there is none like it; and it is the time of Jacob's distress, but he will be saved from it" (Jeremiah 30:7). The fires of anti-Semitism will reach their hottest point in the near future, but with God's help, we will come through our fiery trials to a time of unparalleled salvation. Israel's salvation and blessing will then overflow to the other nations of the world.

Sadly, many Christians won't accept these facts because they accept "Replacement Theology," the erroneous teaching that God is finished with the Jewish people, and has replaced Israel with the Church. Speaking to us through the prophet Jeremiah, the Lord specifically warns against having a theology that denies Israel's future destiny: "Have you not observed what this people have spoken, saying, 'The two families which the Lord chose, He has rejected them?' Thus they despise My people, no longer are they as a nation in their sight. Thus says the Lord, 'If My covenant for day and night stand not, and the fixed patterns of Heaven and Earth I have not established, then I would reject the descendants of Jacob and David My servant, not taking from His descendants rulers over the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. But I will restore their fortunes and will have mercy on them'" (Jeremiah 33:24-26). All of God's promises to the Jewish people will literally be fulfilled! Christians must repudiate "Replacement Theology." No one who claims to follow the Messiah ought to teach or believe that the Jewish people have been lost, destroyed, replaced, superseded, permanently set aside or continually exiled from our Land.

Don't ignore the admonition given by Rabbi Paul, the Apostle to the Gentiles, specifically directed to Gentile Christians, which I paraphrase here: "do not be arrogant toward the natural branches, the Jewish people. God chose them to be the root of the Tree of Salvation. They support you - you don't support or replace them! Only some of them were broken off from the Tree of Salvation - not all of them. Moreover, it is God's plan to graft the entire Jewish nation back into the Tree of Salvation, so don't be arrogant or conceited toward the Jewish people. Be respectful to them, lest God punish you!" (Romans 11:17-24).

Someone observed that knowing that God will not break His covenant with the Jewish people, even in spite of our sins, should be reassuring to every Christian. If God broke His covenant with the Jewish people (which includes the Land of Israel) due to our sins, what about twenty centuries of Christian history? It's true that there has been a faithful remnant within the Church, just as there has always been a faithful remnant of true Believers within Israel, but there has also been an endless succession of anti-Semitism, heresy, apostasy, greed, immorality, division, and ceaseless struggles for power and prominence within the visible Church. Professing Christians have subjected fellow Christians to torture and death in the name of Christ. If God can annul His covenant with Israel, then He can just as easily annul His covenant with the Church! But the faithful God will never break any of His covenants with Israel or the Church.

If you are a Christian you need to stand by Israel, and support Israel as much as possible. God's ancient promise in Genesis 12:3 is still very much in effect: "I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse." And God, speaking to Israel, promises, "Behold, all those who are angered at you will be shamed and dishonored; those who contend with you will be as nothing and will perish. You will seek those who quarrel with you, but will not find them, those who war with you will be as nothing and non-existent" (Isaiah 41:11-12).

Christian churches should regularly pray "for the peace of Jerusalem," asking God to send King Messiah back to Jerusalem, so He can rule on the throne of David, bringing peace to Israel and the other nations. There will never be peace in the Middle East, or on Earth, until Messiah Yeshua is ruling from Jerusalem over a restored Israel populated by Messianic Jews. We need to pray for our Arab brothers, that they too might come into relationship with the God of Israel through Messiah Yeshua.

Rather than persecuting us for the death of Yeshua, and engaging in any form of anti-Semitism, true Christians must reach out to the Jewish people with love and mercy, and help us find God and the Messiah. Because of the way that God has used Israel to bring salvation to the other nations, every true Christian is under a special obligation to help the Chosen People, who have stumbled, come into a right relationship with God, which includes Messiah Yeshua. Rabbi Paul, the Apostle to the Gentiles, declared: "Salvation has come to the Gentiles to make Israel jealous" (Romans 11:11). True Christians should have compassion on us, love us and make us jealous of their relationship with the God of Israel. Your peace and joy, your love and mercy, and your knowledge of God and Messiah should challenge us to reevaluate our rejection of Yeshua.

K
KingJimmy Nov 28, 2010

I wish I had more time to elaborate on this important subject. But sadly, I don't. However, in brief I would say that the land belongs to God, and God has promised the land to Abraham and his offspring forever. According to the apostle Paul, in Romans he says that Christ "confirmed" the promises made to the fathers. This includes the land, and everything associated with it.

For a more detailed analysis, I would highly commend to you the sermons on this site by the late Art Katz.

A
ADisciple Nov 28, 2010

ET, may I suggest you check out some of the many other threads that have discussed this topic by using the search engine; the link is at the top of the SI main page.

Here's one:

https://www.sermonindex.net/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?mode=viewtopic&topic_id=34219&forum=36&start=590&viewmode=flat&order=1

Have a look through it; there will be some posts you'll want to skip over... but when you're finally done reading through the thread some time next spring, you'll be better informed to answer your question yourself. :)

C
ccchhhrrriiisss Nov 28, 2010


Scripture would be nice right about now. Thanks

I wish that we could highlight (embolden) certain portions, but I think that this entire chapter is worth noting in regard to Israel:

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+10&version=NIV1984

ROMANS 10

1 Brothers, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for the Israelites is that they may be saved. 2 For I can testify about them that they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not based on knowledge. 3 Since they did not know the righteousness that comes from God and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness. 4 Christ is the end of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes.

5 Moses describes in this way the righteousness that is by the law: “The man who does these things will live by them.” 6 But the righteousness that is by faith says: “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’” (that is, to bring Christ down) 7 “or ‘Who will descend into the deep?’” (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). 8 But what does it say? “The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,” that is, the word of faith we are proclaiming: 9 That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. 11 As the Scripture says, “Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame.” 12 For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, 13 for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

14 How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? 15 And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!”

16 But not all the Israelites accepted the good news. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed our message?” 17 Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ. 18 But I ask: Did they not hear? Of course they did:

“Their voice has gone out into all the earth,
their words to the ends of the world.”

19 Again I ask: Did Israel not understand? First, Moses says,

“I will make you envious by those who are not a nation;
I will make you angry by a nation that has no understanding.”

20 And Isaiah boldly says,

“I was found by those who did not seek me;
I revealed myself to those who did not ask for me.”

21 But concerning Israel he says,

“All day long I have held out my hands
to a disobedient and obstinate people.”

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=romans%2011&version=NIV1984

ROMANS 11 (NIV)

The Remnant of Israel

1 I ask then: Did God reject his people? By no means! I am an Israelite myself, a descendant of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin. 2 God did not reject his people, whom he foreknew. Don’t you know what the Scripture says in the passage about Elijah—how he appealed to God against Israel: 3 “Lord, they have killed your prophets and torn down your altars; I am the only one left, and they are trying to kill me”? 4 And what was God’s answer to him? “I have reserved for myself seven thousand who have not bowed the knee to Baal.” 5 So too, at the present time there is a remnant chosen by grace. 6 And if by grace, then it is no longer by works; if it were, grace would no longer be grace.
7 What then? What Israel sought so earnestly it did not obtain, but the elect did. The others were hardened, 8 as it is written:

“God gave them a spirit of stupor,
eyes so that they could not see
and ears so that they could not hear,
to this very day.”

9 And David says:

“May their table become a snare and a trap,
a stumbling block and a retribution for them.
10 May their eyes be darkened so they cannot see,
and their backs be bent forever.”

Ingrafted Branches

11 Again I ask: Did they stumble so as to fall beyond recovery? Not at all! Rather, because of their transgression, salvation has come to the Gentiles to make Israel envious. 12 But if their transgression means riches for the world, and their loss means riches for the Gentiles, how much greater riches will their fullness bring!
13 I am talking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch as I am the apostle to the Gentiles, I make much of my ministry 14 in the hope that I may somehow arouse my own people to envy and save some of them. 15 For if their rejection is the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead? 16 If the part of the dough offered as firstfruits is holy, then the whole batch is holy; if the root is holy, so are the branches.

17 If some of the branches have been broken off, and you, though a wild olive shoot, have been grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing sap from the olive root, 18 do not boast over those branches. If you do, consider this: You do not support the root, but the root supports you. 19 You will say then, “Branches were broken off so that I could be grafted in.” 20 Granted. But they were broken off because of unbelief, and you stand by faith. Do not be arrogant, but be afraid. 21 For if God did not spare the natural branches, he will not spare you either.

22 Consider therefore the kindness and sternness of God: sternness to those who fell, but kindness to you, provided that you continue in his kindness. Otherwise, you also will be cut off. 23 And if they do not persist in unbelief, they will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again. 24 After all, if you were cut out of an olive tree that is wild by nature, and contrary to nature were grafted into a cultivated olive tree, how much more readily will these, the natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree!

All Israel Will Be Saved

25 I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers, so that you may not be conceited: Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in. 26 And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written:
“The deliverer will come from Zion;
he will turn godlessness away from Jacob.
27 And this is[f] my covenant with them
when I take away their sins.”

28 As far as the gospel is concerned, they are enemies on your account; but as far as election is concerned, they are loved on account of the patriarchs, 29 for God’s gifts and his call are irrevocable. 30 Just as you who were at one time disobedient to God have now received mercy as a result of their disobedience, 31 so they too have now become disobedient in order that they too may now receive mercy as a result of God’s mercy to you. 32 For God has bound all men over to disobedience so that he may have mercy on them all.

Doxology

33 Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God!
How unsearchable his judgments,
and his paths beyond tracing out!
34 “Who has known the mind of the Lord?
Or who has been his counselor?”
35 “Who has ever given to God,
that God should repay him?”
36 For from him and through him and to him are all things.
To him be the glory forever! Amen.

You can click on the link above and see the same chapter from the KJV, NASB and other versions.

To me, these passages (and the chapters around it) seem to clearly indicate a "still God's chosen people" on this Earth. Now, it is clear in Romans chapter 9 that salvation is found ONLY in Christ -- and not in a physical or genealogical heritage. So, in this sense, believers are the Israel of faith. However, the Jews are the physical nation that God chose. God did not fail...nor did he change his mind.

After all, one of the Calvinists' favorite verses is Romans 11:29 -- and it is clearly (at least to me) talking about the "chosen" genealogical heritage of the Jews. Reading it in tandem with verse 28:

"As far as the gospel is concerned, they are enemies on your account; but as far as election is concerned, they are loved on account of the patriarchs, for God’s gifts and his call are irrevocable."

-Romans 11:28-30 (NIV)


In addition, I think that it is worth noting that the prophesy in Ezekiel 37 -- regarding the regathering of the nation of Israel in the "Valley of Dry Bones" -- was fulfilled via the establishment of the nation of Israel in 1948.

These are just a few things to think about.

sermonindex Nov 29, 2010

And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: “The deliverer will come from Zion; he will turn godlessness away from Jacob. 27 And this is[f] my covenant with them when I take away their sins.”
Thank you brother for bringing the full context of the scriptures to the thread.

I've chosen this portion of scripture for now to look at.

Now, I know that many of us have laboured to bring this truth out and believe me, I scratch my head many a time because I know what it's saying and what it's not saying. We have all agreed at one point that the "ALL" means all. But when we compare with other scriptures we have to come to a logical conclusion that Paul had to have speaking of the elect of Israel, not the whole of Israel.

Why? Because of Romans 9:27 Isaiah also crieth concerning Israel, Though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, a remnant shall be saved: 28 For he will finish the work, and cut it short in righteousness: because a short work will the Lord make upon the earth.

This is not a future work, this work was finished at Calvary, and Israel here is the remnant, not everyone.

So the All of Israel is the remnant.

Please please please tell me if anyone else sees that?

sermonindex Nov 29, 2010

A very hot topic indeed. I agree with most of what's been posted but must disagree with the "timing" and the implication that 1948 was anything more but the "covenant with death".

Since we can all share our feelings peacefully here, I felt a freedom to hit reply for this subject.

#1 - Yes, Israel & Jerusalem belong to GOD.

Our Messiah will return to the Mt. of Olives.

But, the majority of the Scriptures posted in the replies are pointing to the day of His Return and 'that' is when He will regather the scattered - because they'll be scattered once again when war and persecution breaks out against them.

If you look at who and what "made Israel a nation in 1948" you will find that it was no other than the Balfour letter/agreement of Mr. Rothschild and then the U.N. Declaration - and it's important to read all that surrounds that UN declaration. All the UN Resolutions that were written in connection with that Declaration. Such as making Jerusalem the International City .... thus preparing it for the seat of antiChrist one day. The Vatican owning a good portion of Jerusalem, etc..
That's why I believe it was Israel's covenant with death, as it is written.
All the prophets and Jesus spoke of the horror that will come to Israel before His Return and what He will have to rescue her from. So again, I contend that these Scriptures of their "wonderful regathering" will not be accomplished until Messiah - the True King returns.
Until then, as a whole, Israel as it is now is sinning horribly - as far as what they are allowing morally. And they (those who are not the true Remnant) will believe the antiChrist is their Messiah.
1948's actions were solely to claim Israel, to counterfeit Biblical Prophecy, so as to deceive both Christian and a portion of the Jewish peoples. But when they & we see the "abomination" that Daniel and Jesus spoke of - their eyes will be opened. The true remnant's that is.

GOD foreknew what man would do and wrote it all in His Book but the days of the glory of Israel will never come nor the majority of the Scriptures mentioned on this thread fulfilled until "That Day".

Pray that none of us, Jew or Gentiles will be deceived ... for if it were possible, as you know - even the elect much watch that they not be. Amen.


D
davidc Nov 29, 2010

Chris, you say
"Now, it is clear in Romans chapter 9 that salvation is found ONLY in Christ -- and not in a physical or genealogical heritage. So, in this sense, believers are the Israel of faith"

We must remember that the inheritance of the land for Israel will be given when Christ returns. They, the Jews will see Him whom they pierced. They will believe in Him on seeing Him, like Thomas:

27 Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing. 28 And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God. 29 Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed. John 20:27-29 (KJV)

For us, His church, we are blessed, not having seen Him, but believed on Him. This is why the church could not be born until Christ had ascended on High and sent us the Holy Spirit.

We are His heavenly people having no home or hope in this world, in the land of Israel, or our own nation. Our eyes should not be on the events happening in the world around us, but on Christ expecting His coming to take us to Himself.

But God has not left us ignorant, but has made known unto us the mystery of His will:
9 Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself: 10 That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him: Eph 1:9-10 (KJV)

That dispensation, or age of the fullness of times is when Christ returns with us His heavenly saints to His earthly ones, so gathering together all things in Christ.

David

sermonindex Nov 29, 2010

Now some of them have 'land' again, they are intent upon building another Temple. Sounds sadly like history repeating itself.

Of course it is. Hebrew prophecy is pattern. Another temple is necessary in order for the son of perdition to be revealed. Should this be surprising?

C
ccchhhrrriiisss Nov 29, 2010

Ultimately, I think that this discussion is not nearly as important as some would make it out to be.

After all, I think that these things are clear:

1. Gentiles who have met the Messiah are the "Israel of God" BY FAITH.

2. The "by faith" part is most important in terms of our eternal condition.

3. There is no "free pass" into Eternity with Christ based upon your physical genealogical heritage. The only people who make it -- whether genealogically a Jew or Gentile -- are those whose names are written in the Book of Life.

Still, and on a personal level, I don't believe that the physical genealogical heritage of the chosen people has ever "taken back" by God. That was the purpose of the statement in Romans 11:28-29 about the call of God being "irrevocable." God's promises to the genealogical Jews are still binding -- even though we now have a New Covenant that is by faith.

sermonindex Nov 29, 2010

Ultimately, I think that this discussion is not nearly as important as some would make it out to be.
It is vitally important. Either the prophets are true or they are liars. Fulfilment is important. Our whole lives revolve around truth.

Yes this is a hot topic, but you know, if anyone gets heated over this, I question their spirit.

But I have presented this "ALL" of Israel a few times in other threads as being the elect of God, the remnant, and I can't get one soul to agree with how the scripture presents that.

I find this statement offensive. Not that I am incensed or anything like that, I think the Apostles would be offended.

God's promises to the genealogical Jews are still binding -- even though we now have a New Covenant that is by faith.
The New Testament included the Jews, as it was to the Jew first.

We were not there when the Lord added to the Church DAILY, "such as should be saved", but Peter would enter this forum and say:

Were you there when we were filled with power from on high and I stood up by the power of the Holy Ghost and preached a sobering message of what my audience the Jews had done to their Messiah by condemning Him and crucifying Him to a tree?

Were you there when for Joy unspeakable and full of glory when THOUSANDS of male Jews that day dropped their heads in total surrender to the Lordship of Jesus Christ?

Were you there when a few weeks later when me and John went up to the Temple, there I saw a lame man begging, and I said silver and gold have I none but such as I have in the name of Jesus rise and walk. And the power of God snapped those ankles back together and caused that man to walk and we stood up again to preach to the THOUSANDS of Jews that were there that day surrounding the Temple, surely the Deliverer had come to save Jacob from his sins.

Such as should be saved!

C
ccchhhrrriiisss Nov 29, 2010

Hi Snuf...


It is vitally important. Either the prophets are true or they are liars. Fulfilment is important. Our whole lives revolve around truth.

Maybe I am wrong, but I think that you misunderstood what I was saying.

I meant to point out that the underlying principles found in Scripture are true no matter what people suppose or opine regarding the modern nation of Israel, the spiritual condition of physically genealogical Jews or the status of the promise that God made thousands of years ago. Those three points that I pointed out in my last post are, I think, agreed upon by most believers.

I do agree that there is a danger of straying from the simple principles toward a direction that is divisive or even ethnically, nationally or politically anti-Semitic. That is why we need to stick to the undeniable spiritual principles for any of our proclamations. Jews need Jesus. Gentiles need Jesus. People who don't know what they are need Jesus. ALL people -- Jew AND Gentile -- need Christ Jesus. There is no excuse to reject Jesus as the Christ.

Yet, it is my opinion that the promises and covenant of God to the physical, genealogical Jews is irrevocable. They are still His chosen people upon this Earth -- even though we are spiritual Jews by faith.

I have always thought of it like this: I have a home that I operate here on the Earth. I have natural responsibilities to that home (whether I am saved or not). As a Christian, I realize that this home is just a temporary dwelling and that my ultimate home is Eternal with Christ Jesus. However, I don't sell my house and move to Heaven (not yet). Until I breathe my last breath (or until Christ returns), I have responsibilities to take care of my family, provide for them and prepare a place for them.

Maybe I am getting carried away. In my mind, it is much more simple than that.

sermonindex Nov 29, 2010

I believe Paul said there is 'no Jew or gentile' in Christ.

So my question is, is there any scriptural basis for viewing the modern state of Israel as any different from any other state in the world system (with respect to favor of God etc)?

The position of SermonIndex and "most" of the biblical preachers on the website is that in the book of Romans it speaks of us being ingrafted into the promises of the jews. We therefore must be humble and fear (tremble with reverent awe). thinking we are of a higher position or of better quality then the former "people of God".

The jewish people will be "re-grafted" into the vine via the church therefore they will also humble themselves in that way but let us not be high-minded.

I believe we should "biblically" reconize there is a jewish people that God looks as seperate then all the Gentiles (all other people groups and nations).

secondly we need to realize that God has an end-time special purpose for the jewish people after the times of the gentiles is finished.

So we should therefore be excited that there is a physical representation of the jewish people in the forming of a "Israel country state". We should not be against this but glory that God is true to His word to keep these people in the end.

You either side on God with this or you side with others who hate the jews, ie muslims, hitlers, communists, satanists, and every other wicked group that hates the formation of the state, they want everyone to believe the jewish people are non-existentent.

sermonindex Nov 29, 2010


Remember: Jesus is the king of the jews. We serve a jewish king. All the apostles where jewish. And may we humbly say we are now a part of these promises of God given to us in the New Covenant. And the Jew becomes finally our litmus test also to see the genuiness of our walk with Christ. They expose the unreality of our profession if they are not provoked.

Hence in the end we will accomplish God's eternal purpose in Christ if we are in Him in such a way that provokes the Jew. I personally am excited to engage anyone of this nature and have seen God do amazing things without even the word spoken just the way I clasped onto my bible which to them represented I loved these scriptures more then any other possession on earth and that provoked them. For all Jews love the Name of their God and their scriptures highly and such was a way God used this weak servant to draw some Jews To Christ the true Messiah.

Oh brothers and Sisters let us humbly enter into God's program and read his whole New Covenant and not take out parts and emphasis others more then some.

I exhort everyone to read through the entire book of Romans carefully and not come to a different conclusion.

sermonindex Nov 29, 2010

God's Hand in the 6 Day War

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7wMIq6X4zi4&feature=related

Jerusalem of Gold
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9GHAeA-O_jw

or subtitled for non Hebrew speakers:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UlIJOAZ1pak&feature=related


Ana HaShem (PS116:16)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wMUYP8sVbHk

"O LORD, I am your servant;
I am your servant, the son of your maidservant.
You have loosed my bonds".

amen. in Jesus' love, neil

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