Who is Israel? And what is God's plan for the Jewish people?

[George]

Shalom everyone,

I thought I'd go through a deep exercise into who is Israel?  What is the plan of God for Israel?  And how this relates to your life today?

First, why should we care?  If we are truly disciples of Yeshua (Jesus) then we would have the SAME heart as the Father does.

Matthew 15:24 -28 He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”  But she came and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, help me.”  And he answered, “It is not right to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs.”  She said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters' table.”  Then Jesus answered her, “O woman, great is your faith! Be it done for you as you desire.” And her daughter was healed instantly. 

First, Yeshua was SENT to the lost house of Israel.  For those who believe that Israel means the nations ... here in this instance, a GENTILE WOMAN comes to Yeshua who is not a Jew ... and Yeshua uses her as an example of GREAT FAITH!  But have you ever considered that in this very instance ... HE HAS MADE the distinction that there is a DIFFERENCE between JEW and GENTILE?

So the heart of Yeshua ... was to the Jewish nation!

Paul the apostle stated in Romans 1:16-17 -- Romans 1:16  For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.  For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.” 

Paul makes the distinction between Jew and Gentile.  How passionate was Paul about reaching the Jewish people with the Gospel?

Romans 9:3-5  For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh.  They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises.  To them belong the patriarchs, and from their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ, who is God over all, blessed forever. Amen. 

Paul wishes he could accursed himself and cut himself for the Messiah that they would come to FAITH!  In this passage, if you didn't pay attention, Paul states who is CHRIST who is GOD over ALL ... if you had any thoughts that Paul didn't understand the DEITY of the Messiah, which often comes up!

So the question WHY should we CARE?  Because God CARES!  If you truly love Jesus ... then you'll have the HEART that Jesus has for the Jewish people!

Until next time ...

[George]

What is God's plan for Israel?  Where are we at prophetically?  What is the purpose of why Israel?

If you carefully read through Romans you'll come to Romans Chapter 8 and it concludes with ...

Romans 8:35-39  Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?  As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”  No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.  For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers,  nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. 

So Paul is showing that our FAITH cannot be separated ... so how does Paul prove his point?  He uses Israel as an object lesson.  For the next 3 chapters of Romans ... he goes point by point how Israel disobeyed, how Israel forsook the Lord ... so he starts chapter 11 with this point,

Romans 11:1  I ask, then, has God rejected his people? By no means! For I myself am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, a member of the tribe of Benjamin. 

So Paul goes on to explain, NO GOD has a PLAN!  He's proving his point in Chapter 8 ... who can separate us from the love of God?  Who can separate us from this covenant love that we have?  

Romans 11:7-8  What then? Israel failed to obtain what it was seeking. The elect obtained it, but the rest were hardened, as it is written, “God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes that would not see and ears that would not hear, down to this very day.” 

Right now, we are witnessing a HARDENING of ISRAEL ... and this fits in with Old Testament Scriptures, which I'll fill in later. [Remind me, if I forget!   ]

So Paul answers why they were HARDENED ...

Romans 11:11-12  So I ask, did they stumble in order that they might fall? By no means! Rather, through their trespass salvation has come to the Gentiles, so as to make Israel jealous.  Now if their trespass means riches for the world, and if their failure means riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their full inclusion mean!

So Paul explains that the Gentiles job is to provoke Israel to jealousy!  There is a DISTINCTION right now between Jew and Gentile ... it's clear throughout Scripture, and he states, something pertinent ... what happens when they finally believe?  There is a BLESSING coming  ...

 Charles Spurgeon said this, "I think we do not attach enough importance to the restoration of the Jews. But certainly, if there is anything promised in the Bible it is this. The day shall yet come when the Jews, who were the first apostles to the Gentiles, the first missionaries to us who were afar off, shall be gathered in again. Until that shall be, the fullness of the church's glory can never come. Matchless benefits to the world are bound up with the restoration of Israel, their gathering shall be as life from the dead."

Whether you realize it or not, God is USING ISRAEL to test the church ... how will you RESPOND to the Jewish nation?   Paul WARNS the CHURCH ...

Romans 11:17-24  But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, although a wild olive shoot, were grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing root of the olive tree,  do not be arrogant toward the branches. If you are, remember it is not you who support the root, but the root that supports you.  Then you will say, “Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in.”   That is true. They were broken off because of their unbelief, but you stand fast through faith. So do not become proud, but fear.  For if God did not spare the natural branches, neither will he spare you.   Note then the kindness and the severity of God: severity toward those who have fallen, but God's kindness to you, provided you continue in his kindness. Otherwise you too will be cut off.  And even they, if they do not continue in their unbelief, will be grafted in, for God has the power to graft them in again. 

[George]

God has a COVENANTAL relationship with the Jewish people ... NOT BECAUSE OF WHO THEY ARE ... but because of who GOD IS!  Remember Paul is using Israel to prove why the promises of God are faithful and true .. what can separate us from the love of God? 

In Ezekiel 36, it says this ...

Ezekiel 36:20-26  But when they came to the nations, wherever they came, they profaned my holy name, in that people said of them, ‘These are the people of the LORD, and yet they had to go out of his land.’   But I had concern for my holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the nations to which they came. “Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord GOD: It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for the sake of my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations to which you came.   And I will vindicate the holiness of my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, and which you have profaned among them. And the nations will know that I am the LORD, declares the Lord GOD, when through you I vindicate my holiness before their eyes.  I will take you from the nations and gather you from all the countries and bring you into your own land.  I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you.   And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 

God is DEFENDING HIS NAME ... HIS COVENANTAL promises DESPITE what Israel has done ... why Israel?  So the NATIONS will KNOW that the GOD of Abraham, Issac, and Jacob LIVES!

Ezekiel 36:36  Then the nations that are left all around you shall know that I am the LORD; I have rebuilt the ruined places and replanted that which was desolate. I am the LORD; I have spoken, and I will do it. 

God is using Israel to BRING IN THE NATIONS!

God is using the restoration of the Jewish people to the land as a SIGNAL ... a SIGN that He still REIGNS!

Isaiah 11:11-12  In that day the Lord will extend his hand yet a second time to recover the remnant that remains of his people, from Assyria, from Egypt, from Pathros, from Cush, from Elam, from Shinar, from Hamath, and from the coastlands of the sea.   He will raise a signal for the nations and will assemble the banished of Israel, and gather the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth.

So God is using prophecy and His word to PROVE that the Bible is true!   The day that UN voted in 1947 to restore Israel's place amongst the nations ... WAS THE SAME DAY the DEAD SEA SCROLLS were DISCOVERED!

[George]

Where are we prophetically in the spiritual restoration of Israel?  

The prophet Ezekiel in Ezekiel 37 describes a valley of dry bones ... and says this is the House of Israel.  In Ezekiel 37:7-8 it says ... 

Ezekiel 37:7-8  So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I prophesied, there was a sound, and behold, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone. And I looked, and behold, there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them. But there was no breath in them. 

So the Lord described a dead body ... a picture of the nation of Israel scattered, lost, and without life, but then God says in Ezekiel 36 that He will regather Israel and the reason why ... here God is describing the gathering of Israel that they would RETURN PHYSICALLY before RETURNING SPIRITUALLY!  The word 'breath' is the word RUACH ... or the Spirit (also translated as wind) and so the nation's restoration would be PHYSICAL first.  This is where we are currently ... the re-establishment of Israel in their land that was promised to them, BUT without the Spirit yet.

Side note ... the Promise to the offspring of Issac ...

Psalms 105:8-11  He remembers his covenant forever, the word that he commanded, for a thousand generations,  the covenant that he made with Abraham, his sworn promise to Isaac,  which he confirmed to Jacob as a statute, to Israel as an everlasting covenant, saying, “To you I will give the land of Canaan as your portion for an inheritance.” 

So now we are awaiting their spiritual restoration ...

Ezekiel 37:14  And I will put my Spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I am the LORD; I have spoken, and I will do it, declares the LORD.” 

So you may ask how will the Spiritual restoration take place?

National salvation will take place when this event takes place ...

Zechariah 12:10  “Then I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication, when they will look toward Me whom they pierced. They will mourn for him as one mourns for an only son and grieve bitterly for him, as one grieves for a firstborn. 

We see the triunity of God working in the salvation of the Jewish people in Israel.  Just so you know, this takes place just as the nations go to attack Jerusalem!  The verse prior ...  Zechariah 12:9  It will happen in that day that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem. 

There is a teaching called dual-covenant theology which explains away the need for the Jesus people needing their Messiah ... for those caught in this teaching ... Jesus said to His disciples, "I am the way, the truth, and the life ... no man comes to the Father but by me."  When Jesus said this ... THERE WASN'T a GENTILE in the room!

... Until next time!

[George]

So how does it relate to you?  God is using Israel to TEST you.  

Notice how the end of the age is connected to Israel.

Joel 3:13-37  Put ye in the sickle; for the harvest is ripe: come, tread ye; for the winepress is full, the vats overflow; for their wickedness is great.   Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision! for the day of Jehovah is near in the valley of decision.  The sun and the moon are darkened, and the stars withdraw their shining.  And Jehovah will roar from Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem; and the heavens and the earth shall shake: but Jehovah will be a refuge unto his people, and a stronghold to the children of Israel.   So shall ye know that I am Jehovah your God, dwelling in Zion my holy mountain: then shall Jerusalem be holy, and there shall no strangers pass through her any more. 

The gathering of the nations to battle against Israel.  [Connected to Zechariah 14]

Notice ONE OF THE REASONS that NATIONS are judged ...

Joel 3:2  I will gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat; and I will execute judgment upon them there for my people and for my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations: and they have parted my land, 

They are judged by their actions toward the Jewish people ... AND because they divided the land that was covenanted to Abraham.

Psalms 105:6-11  O seed of Abraham, His servant, O children of Jacob, His chosen ones. He is Adonai our God. His judgments are in all the earth.   He remembers His covenant forever—the word He commanded for a thousand generations—   which He made with Abraham, and swore to Isaac,   and confirmed to Jacob as a decree, to Israel as an everlasting covenant,   saying, “To you I give the land of Canaan, the portion of your inheritance.” 

THE LAND is GOD's and He determines to whom has what!  It actually says in Deuteronomy, that the nations borders are determined by the nation of Israel!

Deut 32:8  When the most High divided to the nations their inheritance, when he separated the sons of Adam, he set the bounds of the people according to the number of the children of Israel.

So Israel can be used as a means of judgment to whom will you believe?  Will you believe God and His Word?  But at the SAME TIME the promises of Abraham apply ... "And I will bless those that bless you and curse the one who curses you. And in you shall all families of the earth be blessed." [Genesis 12:3]

What is the greatest BLESSING you can give to ANYONE?  To show them the Lord ... show them Yeshua ... to pray for their salvation!

In my own personal life, it was only AFTER I moved to Israel in 2003, that my parents both came to faith ... I went to Israel to reach them with the gospel, and in return salvation came to my house!

... learn what you are called to do!

[George]

God says that He is setting up watchman on the walls of Jerusalem ...

Isaiah 62:6-7  I have set watchmen on your walls, O Jerusalem, who will not always be silent all the day nor all the night; you who remember Jehovah, do not be silent. And give Him no rest until He establishes and makes Jerusalem a praise in the earth. 

So He prophetically said that he was setting up those who would pray into the peace of Jerusalem!  What are you truly praying for when you pray for the peace of Jerusalem?  You're praying for the Prince of Peace ... the Sar Shalom ... Yeshua Ha'Mashiach ... Jesus to return because true peace will only come when He returns!

Remember what he said to Jerusalem in Matthew 23 ...

Matthew 23:37-39  “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!   See, your house is left to you desolate.  For I tell you, you will not see me again, until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’” 

[George]

There is a direct connection to the restoration of the Jewish people ... and the return of the Lord! 

It's the national salvation of Israel [Zechariah 12:10] that leads the enemies of God to try and wipe them out, so that Satan is attempting to break the promises of God ... in that day ... Zechariah 14:3-4  Then the LORD will go out and fight against those nations as when he fights on a day of battle.  On that day his feet shall stand on the Mount of Olives that lies before Jerusalem on the east, and the Mount of Olives shall be split in two from east to west by a very wide valley, so that one half of the Mount shall move northward, and the other half southward. 

This is a unique day ... and notice the beginning of the living waters flowing out of Jerusalem ... this is directly connected to Ezekiel 47 ... and notice that GOD IS KING OVER ALL THE EARTH!

Zechariah 14:7-9  And there shall be a unique day, which is known to the LORD, neither day nor night, but at evening time there shall be light.  On that day living waters shall flow out from Jerusalem, half of them to the eastern sea and half of them to the western sea. It shall continue in summer as in winter.  And the LORD will be king over all the earth. On that day the LORD will be one and his name one. 

[George]

How strong is this covenant that God has made with the Jewish people?  Remember this is connected to the promise of Romans 8!  God uses the SUN, MOON, and STARS as the proof of His covenant!

Jeremiah 31:31-37  “Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah,  not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt [sidenote: YOU CANNOT SAY THIS IS THE CHURCH ... out of the LAND OF EGYPT is only the Jewish people!] , my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the LORD.   For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people.  And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”  Thus says the LORD, who gives the sun for light by day and the fixed order of the moon and the stars for light by night, who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar— the LORD of hosts is his name:   “If this fixed order departs from before me, declares the LORD, then shall the offspring of Israel cease from being a nation before me forever.”  Thus says the LORD: “If the heavens above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth below can be explored, then I will cast off all the offspring of Israel for all that they have done, declares the LORD.” 

Notice the covenant with them is not because of WHO they ARE ... it's because of who GOD IS!  God is keeping HIS WORD!

[George]

Where are we now as far as the restoration of Israel ... we are entering what I call the HUNTERS phase of the Jewish people's return.

Jeremiah 16:14-16  “Therefore, behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when it shall no longer be said, ‘As the LORD lives who brought up the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt,’  but ‘As the LORD lives who brought up the people of Israel out of the north country and out of all the countries where he had driven them.’ For I will bring them back to their own land that I gave to their fathers. “Behold, I am sending for many fishers, declares the LORD, and they shall catch them. And afterward I will send for many hunters, and they shall hunt them from every mountain and every hill, and out of the clefts of the rocks. 

However, I'm concerned for those who think that Israel can do no wrong ... and do not have a urgency to pray for their salvation and their welfare.  Because the prophecy continues ...

Jeremiah 16:17-21  For my eyes are on all their ways. They are not hidden from me, nor is their iniquity concealed from my eyes.  But first I will doubly repay their iniquity and their sin, because they have polluted my land [sidenote:  God is not ignoring Israel's sin, as a matter of fact they are judged even more harshly than other nations! ] with the carcasses of their detestable idols, and have filled my inheritance with their abominations.”  O LORD, my strength and my stronghold, my refuge in the day of trouble, to you shall the nations come from the ends of the earth and say: “Our fathers have inherited nothing but lies, [NOTICE that GOD is USING the judgment of Israel to TEST the nations again ... and they WILL think the nation of Israel was NEVER part of God's plan ... it wasn't true ... it's a TEST!  And most will FAIL IT! ] worthless things in which there is no profit.  Can man make for himself gods? Such are not gods!”  “Therefore, behold, I will make them know, this once I will make them know my power and my might, and they shall know that my name is the LORD.” 

Then God will SAVE THEM when ALL hope seems lost ... hence, learn the term ... BUT GOD!

[George]

At the beginning of Acts ... Act 1:6  So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” 

So when is God restoring the Kingdom to Israel?

Notice, what God says in Matthew 19:28  And Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That ye which have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

Notice that the Apostles will sit on the 12 thrones judging the tribes of Israel ... WHEN?  In the REGENERATION... 

What is this word?  

Palin means RETURN TO ... Gensia ... GENESIS ... the messianic restoration is when Israel is restored as a nation!

AT THIS TIME in the future when the disciples reign with Jesus, who is Israel?