Israel

What will be examined here is God's role and dealings with Israel during five time periods.

Prior to the first advent of the Messiah

With the calling of Abraham, God created a people with whom he entered into a special relationship. God gave to Israel, covenants, through which he made specific promises. In these covenants God promised Israel that they would be his people forever, that the land of Palestine was theirs forever, that the Messiah would come from them who would set up his Kingdom, and that they would be a blessing to all peoples.

God intended for Israel to be a kingdom of priests. He made this clear in Exodus 19. The Mosaic Covenant made provision for priests to be from the tribe of Levi. As a covenant, it was temporary. It will be replaced by the New Covenant under which Israel will become a nation of priests. Also, under the New Covenant, Israel will fulfill the requirements of the Law which they failed to do under the Mosaic Covenant.

It was God's plan that his blessings to the would would come through Israel. As the plan was unfolded in the Scriptures, what was supposed to happen was the following: Israel was supposed to have a faith relationship with God. When the Messiah would appear, they were to accept him as their King and he would usher in his kingdom. Israel would be a light to the Gentiles and that through their ministry would come salvation cf. Is. 2.1-5, Is. 49.1-6, Is. 60.1-22, Is. 61.1-11, cf. Luke 4.16-21, Zech. 8.1-23.

Israel understood from the Scriptures that they were special. They had a unique relationship with God. It was to them that God revealed himself. God's promise to them was that he would one day set up his Kingdom in which the Messiah would rule. During that period, Israel would be preeminent among the nations of the world.

The history of Israel is one of a people dealing with sin and their relationship to God. They were to be a holy people, set apart to the Lord. Tragically, instead of trusting in YHVH, they put their confidence in themselves and in other gods. Over and again God remonstrated that there is no one like himself and that they should trust him cf. Ex. 20. 1-17, Dt. 6.4-25, Is. 45.19-25, Is. 46. See also the One True God.

During the earthly ministry of the Messiah

Jesus presented himself to Israel as the Messiah. His ministry was to Israel alone. Had the nation accepted him as King, the Messianic Kingdom, which the prophets had foretold would have been established.

Zechariah, under the power of the Holy Spirit, prophesied (Lk 1.67-78) and reaffirmed Israel's role and the certainty of Israel's covenants. Simeon also prophesied (Lk. 2.25-32) the same as Zechariah, John the Baptizer's father. These two testimonies fulfilled the Law's requirement of two witnesses (Dt. 19.15) regarding the matter of the Messiah. Luke tells us that Simeon was waiting for the "consolation of Israel", i.e. he was waiting for the Messiah and the fulfillment of the covenants in which God would make Israel a light to the Gentiles, forgive sin, and establish the Messianic Kingdom with the Messiah ruling from Jerusalem. During this time Israel would hold the place of preeminence among the nations of the earth.

John the Baptizer was born as the herald to the Messiah-King. His message was simple. It was a message of repentance (Matt. 3.1-3). For Israel to have her Messiah-King and the Messianic Kingdom, repentance had to come first. Jesus proclaimed the same message (Matt. 4.17). Baptism was the sign of identification and acceptance of John and Jesus' message. A part of Jesus' message of the kingdom concerned money. He told his disciples,

"Sell your possessions and give to charity; make yourselves purses which do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near, nor moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also" (Lk. 12.33-34).

Preachers usually take these verses and give a message on stewardship or a message on the place money should have in our lives. That is fine; it's a legitimate application. But that is not what Jesus was talking about. What Jesus was talking about was the actions one was to take to prepare for the kingdom of God. This explains his words to the rich young ruler. Luke tells us,

"And a certain ruler questioned Him, saying, 'Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?' And Jesus said to him, 'Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone. You know the commandments, "DO NOT COMMIT ADULTERY, DON NOT MURDER, DO NOT STEAL, DO NOT BEAR FALSE WITNESS, HONOR YOUR FATHER AND MOTHER"'. And he said 'All these things have I kept from my youth.' And when Jesus heard this, He said to him, 'One thing you still lack; sell all that you possess, and distribute it to the poor, and you shall have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.' But when he had heard these things, he became very sad; for he was extremely rich. And Jesus looked at him and said, 'How hard it is for those who are wealthy to enter the kingdom of God! For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God'" (Lk. 18.18-25).

Israel was under the Mosaic Law in Jesus' day and Jesus acknowledged its authority. This is evident in his reply to the rich ruler. Jesus also accepted the man's statement of having kept the commandments. But one thing that was characteristic of his kingdom message was selling one's possessions and leaving one's life to follow him as the Messiah. Doing so was a true indicator that one truly believed Jesus was whom he claimed to be. This is apparent in the disciples response to the encounter between Jesus and the rich ruler.

Luke continued,

"And they who heard it said, 'Then who can be saved?' But He said, 'The things impossible with men are possible with God'. And Peter said, 'Behold, we have left our own homes, and followed You'. And He said to them, 'Truly I say to you, there is no one who has left house or wife or brothers or parents or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, who shall not receive many times as much at this this time and in the age to come, eternal life'" (Lk. 18.26-30).

In the other accounts (Mt. 19.27; Mk. 10.28) Peter says that they had "left everything" to follow Jesus. This same message was in effect in the early formation of believers in Acts. In obedience to Jesus in anticipating the coming of the kingdom of God, they had sold their possessions and held all things in common (Acts 4.32-36). They did this because Jesus had commanded selling one's possessions and leaving everything for his sake. Logically, why not? Why does one need to accumulate wealth if a whole new order is about to begin? That is what they were anticipating.

Luke provides yet more testimony for the necessity of selling everything in order to become Jesus' disciple. Luke recorded,

"Now great multitudes were going along with Him; and He turned and said to them, 'If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple. Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple. For which one of you, when he wants to build a tower, does not first sit down and calculate the cost, to see if he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation, and is not able to finish, all who observe it begin to ridicule him, saying, "This man began to build and was not able to finish." 'Or what king, when he sets out to meet another king in battle, will not first sit down and take counsel whether he is strong enough with ten thousand men to encounter the one coming against him with twenty thousand? Or else, while the other is still far away, he sends a delegation and asks terms of peace. So therefore, no one of you can be My disciple who does not give up all his own possessions'" (Lk. 14.25-33).

Following the conversion of Paul this begins to change. Paul never tells believers to sell everything and follow Christ. A whole new economy (a change from Israel and the kingdom), begins. This new economy is the Church, the body of Christ.

Jesus' ministry on earth was a witness to Israel that he was the Messiah. He came and presented himself as such in fulfillment of the Scriptures and as the fulfillment of the covenants to Israel. His witness was to Jews not to Gentiles. He proclaimed that he was sent to Israel (Matt. 10.5-7), not the the Gentiles and instructed his disciples not to go to the Gentiles but to Israel. Jesus did make a couple of extraordinary exceptions. These exceptions were to the Roman centurion (Matt. 8.5-13 ) and to the Canaanite woman (Matt. 15.21-28). The lesson from these exceptions is that God responds to faith.

Throughout his ministry Jesus performed signs to the nation of Israel to demonstrate who he was. In John's gospel we have a record of these signs to the nation. The first sign was his turning water into wine at the wedding in Cana (Jn. 2.1-11). What was the purpose of this sign? Wine in the Scriptures is a sign of blessing, prosperity, and joy--all the things which will be present in the Messiah's Kingdom. Jesus turned the water into wine to demonstrate that the King was present, and as such the Kingdom also. In the Kingdom, there is joy and bounty and the Scriptures are replete with passages about the wonders of the Kingdom when the Messiah is present. The maitré d'hôte at the wedding correctly observed that the best wine is usually drunk first and then cheaper wine is served (to give an initial good impression and also, later you probably won't notice) but that Jesus had served the best wine last. The first and inferior wine (the wine which ran out) represented the Mosaic Law. The wine which Jesus made represented the New Covenant which God will make with Israel. With the coming of the Messiah is the promise of the New Covenant which is in all aspects superior to the Old or Mosaic Covenant. Jesus was witnessing that with the coming of the King a new order was arriving. The book of Hebrews was written to explain the superiority of Christ and the New Covenant over Moses and the Old Covenant.

Despite the proclamation of the kingdom of God by John and Jesus and all the signs and miracles which Jesus performed, Israel did not repent. Instead of accepting John's message, John was put in prison and beheaded. According to the Scriptures, Elijah had to come before the Messiah. Jesus said that John the Baptizer was Elijah if Israel had accepted him as such. Israel's leaders engaged in a conspiracy, rejected Jesus, and had him crucified at the hands of the Romans. But neither the will of man nor even death could not defeat God's plan. Jesus was raised from the dead.

During the ministry of the apostles following the crucifixion (early Acts)

Following the resurrection of Jesus, the apostles became changed men. They no longer were terrified by the Jewish or Roman authorities who had conspired and crucified the Messiah. They became bold as lions. What caused this dramatic change? The only reasonable answer is that they had seen Jesus rise from the dead and defeat death. But what of the role of Israel? Israel had rejected Jesus as her Messiah and had him crucified by the Romans. What was to become of the nation now? This was evidently on the disciples' minds when they asked him if he was now going to restore (Acts 1.1-9) his kingdom. It is important to notice in Acts 1.6, that the disciples asked Jesus if if he was going to restore the kingdom to Israel. When had Israel a kingdom? During the days of David and Solomon. So, they were looking for the restoration of a literal, physical kingdom to Israel. They were not looking for a spiritualized kingdom but an earthly kingdom with military and political power and authority. Jesus, however, replied that it was not for them to know the timetable of this event. Instead, they were instructed to await the baptism of the Holy Spirit. But Jesus already had instructed his disciples regarding his return and setting up his kingdom (Mt. 24). However, in that passage Jesus also said,

"But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone. For the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah. For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and they did not understand until the flood came and took them all away; so will the coming of the Son of Man be" (Mt. 24.36-39).

This is consistent with his reply to the disciples about the kingdom timetable. As far as the disciples were concerned, the plan which Jesus had begun was still in effect. He came to the nation of Israel to present himself as Messiah. The nation rejected and crucified him. But Jesus had risen from the dead. The promise of the Messianic kingdom still needed to be fulfilled. There was no "church" in existence. It had not come into being. There are just believers in Jesus and 99% of them are Jewish. Whenever the word church is encountered in the early chapters of Acts the word has its generic meaning of "assembly" or "congregation". It is not until the apostle Paul that we have the word church meaning what it does to us today, the body of Christ, composed of both Jews and Gentiles who have put their trust in Christ as their Savior. If one had approached Peter in the timeframe of early Acts and had given him this definition, he would have thought the person demented. No where had Jesus taught such a thing. Remember, Jesus came to Israel. As John tells us in John 1.11 "He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him." During his earthly ministry he ministered to Gentiles as unusual exceptions (cf. Mt. 8.5-13., 10.5-7., 15.21-28.). The same is true in the Old Testament beginning with the call of Abraham. God's dealing with Gentiles was the exception. Some of the exceptions were Nineveh, Rahab, Ruth, and Naaman. It is not until Paul that God revealed the new concept of the church as Christ's body in which both Jew and Gentile are one.

A good summary of God's program of the latter days of Israel is in Psalm 2.

1 WHY are the nations in an uproar And the peoples devising a vain thing?
2 The kings of the earth take their stand And the rulers take counsel together Against the LORD and against His Anointed, saying,

It is characteristic of Hebrew poetry to repeat a concept. This is known as poetic parallelism. We see this throughout Psalm 2. The nations are the Gentile people (Romans) and the peoples are Israel. The kings of the earth are the Gentile rulers (Rome, Caesar, and his representative Pontius Pilate) and rulers are the Jewish authorities. These actions refer to the events surrounding Jesus' crucifixion.

3 Let us tear their fetters apart And cast away their cords from us!
4 He who sits in the heavens laughs, The Lord scoffs at them.

These verses speak of mankind, Jew and Gentile, wishing to to break away from God. Here we see the basic, rebellious nature of mankind wishing to be free of God. God laughs at man's foolishness. It is critical to understand the context of this psalm. In this psalm we see not the mercy of God but the wrath of God. The mercy of God reached fulfillment in God's sending his Son to die for our sins, taking our place of judgment. Mankind as seen in this psalm is mankind who has rejected God's mercy. God's laughing in this psalm is not the laughter of delight but the scornful laughter over those who have rejected his offer of his Son.

5 Then He will speak to them in His anger And terrify them in His fury, saying,
6 But as for Me, I have installed My King Upon Zion, My holy mountain.
7 I will surely tell of the decree of the LORD: He said to Me, "You are My Son, Today I have begotten You.

In verse 5 we see God's fury in response to man's rejection and rebellion. This takes place in the Tribulation, that terrible time when God will pour out his wrath upon the earth. In verse 6 we see a reference to Jesus ruling as King out of Jerusalem during the Millennial Kingdom. Verse 7 refers to the resurrection of Christ (cf. Acts 13.33).

8 "Ask of Me, and I will surely give the nations as Your inheritance, And the very ends of the earth as Your possession.
9 "You shall break them with a rod of iron, You shall shatter them like earthenware.'»
10 Now therefore, O kings, show discernment; Take warning, O judges of the earth.
11 Worship the LORD with reverence And rejoice with trembling.
12 Do homage to the Son, that He not become angry, and you perish in the way, For His wrath may soon be kindled. How blessed are all who take refuge in Him!

Verse 8 refers to the reign and rule of Jesus in the Millennial Kingdom. Verse 9 is a reference to Jesus' military victory at the battle of Armageddon. Finally, in verses 10-12 is a warning and admonition to worship the Lord. In addition to this psalm being an outline and summary of the events surrounding Israel's latter days, it also is a powerful revelation of the Godhead. Look at the poetic parallelism of verses 11 and 12. In verse 11 is the command to worship the LORD. In verse 12 we have the parallel statement do homage to the Son. Therefore, we have a wonderful revelation that the LORD and the Son are the same and that the Son is God. Furthermore the Hebrew word for "Lord" here is YHVH, the ineffable name of God. Taking into account the Hebrew parallelism, we have testimony that the Son, Jesus the Christ is YHVH.

Now, according to Psalm 2, the timetable is the following:

Mankind's rejection of Christ
Resurrection of the Son
Judgment of the world by God
Establishment of the Millennial Kingdom
Reign and rule of Christ

From a simple reading of the psalm it seems like these events happen in a short order sequence. What has been accomplished in God's timetable so far is that the Messiah has been crucified and God has raised him from the dead. We have not seen God's judgment on the world nor God's setting up his kingdom with his Son ruling out of Jerusalem! Almost 2000 years have passed since Jesus' crucifixion and resurrection. We also notice that there is no mention of the Church. The Church as an entity in God's plan was not yet revealed.

The book of Acts is a transitional book. In it, we see the transition of God's program moving from Israel to the Church. The Church was a completely unknown entity in the Old Testament. Notice it was never mentioned in Psalm 2. It is also unknown in the Gospels. Jesus deals with Jews. His ministry was a call is for the nation of Israel to repent. The Church is also unknown in the beginning chapters of Acts. The Church is not revealed until Paul is converted and God reveals it to him.

Therefore, as far as Peter and the rest of the apostles are concerned, the original program is still in effect. God is still dealing with the nation of Israel under the set of circumstances that began under John the Baptizer and continued under the ministry of Jesus and the twelve. That program is for Israel to repent and accept Jesus as the Messiah who will usher in the Messianic Kingdom.

As time went on, however, Israel did not repent or accept Jesus as the Messiah. And the Messianic Kingdom did not appear. But God had a plan to continue his program. This plan was the creation of the Church, which was making Jew and Gentile equal "in Christ" (cf. Eph. 2.11-22). It is hard to realize after almost 2000 years of Church history that God dealt with Israel, not Gentiles for hundreds of years. It was through Israel that God revealed himself, beginning with the call of Abraham. During that time, Gentiles were separate (Eph. 2.11-22) and the covenant promises. With the rejection of the Messiah by the nation of Israel, God began a new program or administration. Paul called it a "mystery". By this he meant that it was something that God had kept hidden and unrevealed (cf. Eph. 3.4-13; Col. 1.24-28). The revelation of this "mystery" God revealed exclusively to the apostle Paul who was made an apostle to the Gentiles. Peter and the other eleven apostles ministered primarily to the Jews (Gal. 2.7-8).

Paul makes it clear that even though Israel has rejected the Messiah that God is not finished with the nation. As he says in Romans, "I say then, God has not rejected His people, has He? May it never be! For I too am an Israelite, a descendent of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. God has not rejected His people whom He foreknew" (Rom. 11.1-2). This whole matter is another mystery which God has revealed to Paul. Paul revealed this mystery in Romans:

"For I do not want you, brethren, to be uninformed of this mystery, lest you be wise in your own estimation, that a partial hardening has happened to Israel until the fulness of the Gentiles has come in; and thus all Israel will be saved; just as it is written, 'THE DELIVERER WILL COME FROM ZION, HE WILL REMOVE UNGODLINESS FROM JACOB. AND THIS IS MY COVENANT WITH THEM, WHEN I TAKE AWAY THEIR SINS.'" (Rom.11.25-27).

Therefore, while it is true that not many Jews accept Jesus as the Messiah, God is not finished with them as a nation. One day Paul says all Israel will trust in Jesus as Messiah. This trust will come on the heels of God's chastening hand upon Israel and the world at large. It is referred to as the "time of Jacob's trouble" (Jer. 30.7) by Jeremiah. Jesus called it the Great Tribulation.

During the Tribulation

As the Tribulation begins, the Church (composed of all who have put their trust in Jesus) will have been removed from the earth. This is necessary because of God's promises through the covenants to the nation Israel. The last seven years of Daniel's 70 weeks regard Israel (Dan. 9.25-27) will be fulfilled prior to the return of Christ. Paul says in 1 Corinthians that not everyone will experience death. He said,

"Behold, I tell you a mystery; we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound , and the dead will be raised imperishable, wand we shall be changed" (1 Cor. 15.51-52).

The time of the Tribulation is a time of God's wrath. Jesus, in speaking of this time to the Jews said that this would be a time of great tribulation such as the world had never seen, nor would it ever see again and that unless the days of this tribulation were shortened by God that no life would survive (Mt. 24.21-22). Jeremiah refers to this time as the "time of Jacob's trouble" (Jer. 30.7). During this time God will judge Israel for her unfaithfulness to him. The end of this judgment will result in a repentant and cleansed people (cf. Ezek. 20.33-44). After chapter 3 of the book of Revelation there is no mention of the Church. Instead, the focus is upon Israel. In chapter 7, 144,000, 12,000 from each of the 12 tribes of Israel are sealed. Theirs will be a ministry of proclaiming the Messiah (cf. Rev. 14.1-5). In chapter 12, the women who gives birth to a son is Israel. The final battle takes place in Israel, at a place called Har Magedon (Rev. 16.16). In Revelation 19, John recounts the return of the Messiah and his military victory over all the armies gathered to battle against him. Following this victory, Satan is bound for a thousand years (Rev. 20.1-3). During this time, the Messiah sets up his kingdom.

During the time following the Messiah's second advent

Following God's judgments upon the earth during the Tribulation, he will set up his kingdom on earth. This kingdom had been prophesied for hundreds of years by the prophets of Israel. It is the same kingdom that John the Baptizer preached and which Jesus proclaimed during his first advent. The nation at that time was unwilling to accept the message of John and Jesus, and rejected it so completely that John was beheaded and Jesus crucified. The King and the Kingdom were totally rejected by the nation. Following Jesus' crucifixion and subsequent resurrection, Peter appealed to the nation to repent and accept the Messiah. The result was again the same. The nation rejected the offer. During the Tribulation, Israel will recognize and accept Jesus as the Messiah. This repentance, so long resisted by the nation, will be accepted by God. He will then establish his kingdom.

The Messianic Kingdom will be the final fulfillment of God's covenant with Abraham. God had promised Abraham a land and a seed. The seed promise was fulfilled with the birth of Isaac and ultimately in the person of Christ. Paul says in Galatians 3.16: "Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. He does not say, "And to seeds," as referring to many, but rather to one, "And to your seed," that is, Christ."" The land promise, never before fulfilled, will be fulfilled in the Messianic Kingdom. In Genesis, God says to Abraham, "To your descendants I have given this land, from the river of Egypt as far as the great river, the river Euphrates (Gen. 15.18). This land is an everlasting possession. God declares to Abraham, "And I will give to you and to your descendants after you, the land of your sojourning, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God" (Gen. 17.8).

The chief characteristics of the Mosaic system were law and obedience. The chief characteristics of the present system, the Church age are believe and grace. The chief characteristics of the Messianic Kingdom will be peace and righteousness cf. Is. 2.1-5, Is. 11.1-10, Jer. 23.5-8). Other characteristics during the kingdom are long life, perfect environment, and wealth.

During this period the New Covenant will be established with Israel and Israel will become a nation of priests as God had intented. This covenant will be fundamentally different from the Mosaic Covenant which Israel could not obey. God will write his laws upon their hearts rather than on stone cf. Jer. 31.31-37.

tw~| a)gapw~nti h(ma~j kai\ lu/santi h(ma~j e)k tw~n a(martiw~n h(mw~n e)n tw|~ a(i/mati au)tou~.

Updated November 04, 2004