Read Romans 11:25-36
I confess to using a title simply to get your
attention. Although there is a
connection. This past 7 days has seen
the United States, by abstention, allowing the United Nations to in essence
censor Israel. We have seen Secretary of
State John Kerry blast Israel and tell her she cannot be both Jewish and a
democracy. These actions are part of a
consistent pattern of President Obama in dissing Israel and her
leadership. At the same time we hear
Donald Trump telling Israel to just hold on for another little while and things
will be different. Everyone expects the Donald to be much more supportive of
Israel and many evangelicals are assuming this means good for America given the
promise of the Abrahamic Covenant to bless those who bless Abraham’s
descendents.
None of the aforementioned human beings are of
any ultimate consequence as far as a secure future for Israel. As the New Year begins it is quite proper to
think about Israel. The Bible makes it
clear that the world turns on an axis that is centered in the Middle East and
Israel in particular. For that reason we
are going to begin our blogs in 2017 with devotional thoughts based in Isaiah
40-66, one of the strongest sections of Scripture on the issue of God’s promise
to restore and to save Israel. Paul
taught, And so all Israel will be saved. The immediate base of his confidence was
Isaiah 59:20-21. But we need to know
that this promise to Israel, that after she suffers double for her sins (Isa.
40:1f) she will be cleansed and will experiencing the great outpouring of the
Spirit of grace, this promise is all over the Old Testament. Following are bits and pieces of various
passages. It is in no way exhaustive. But I will say each comes from a context by
which we can agree that what was promised has not been seen yet; it has not yet
been fulfilled. Thus, given the nature
of the God who made the promise, we are sure it is still in the future. It will happen. And who knows what movements in the direction
of that fulfillment will happen in the year to come.
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Isaiah 45:14: Thus says the Lord: ‘The labor of Egypt and merchandise of Cush and of
the Sabeans, men of stature … they will make supplication to you, saying, “Surely
God is in you and there is no other; there is no other God.”’
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Dan. 12:1-3: And
there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation …
And at that time your people shall be delivered, every one who is found written
in the book.
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Hosea 2:14-23: Therefore, behold, I will allure her, will bring her into the
wilderness (Rev. 12:13-17) and speak
comfort to her. … in that day, says the Lord, ‘that you will call Me ‘My
Husband,’ and no longer call Me ‘My Master,’ … I will betroth you to Me in
righteousness and justice, in lovingkindness and mercy; I will betroth you to
Me in faithfulness, and you shall know the Lord. … I will have mercy on her who
had not obtained mercy; then I will say to those who were not My people, ‘You
are My people!’ And they shall say, ‘You are my God!’”
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Joel 2:28-3:2: I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; …And it shall come to pass
that whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there
shall be deliverance, as the Lord has said, “Among the remnant whom the Lord
calls.” For in those days and at that time, when I bring back the captives of
Judah and Jerusalem, I will also gather all nations and bring them down to the
Valley of Jehoshaphat; and I will enter into judgment with them there on
account of My people, My heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the
nations.
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Amos 9:8-12: Behold,
the eyes of the Lord God are on the sinful kingdom, and I will destroy it from
the face of the earth; yet I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob, says
the Lord. … On that day I will raise up the tabernacle of David … That they may
possess the remnant of Edom and all the Gentiles who are called by My name.
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Obadiah 17: But
on Mount Zion there shall be deliverance, and there shall be holiness; the
house of Jacob shall possess their possessions.
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Micah 4:1-8: In
the latter days the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established on the
top of the mountains … He will teach us His ways and we shall walk in His paths
… In that day … the Lord will reign over them in Mount Zion from now on, even
forever.
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Zechariah 2:11; 3:9; 9:11-17; 10:12; 12:10;
13:8: Many nations shall be joined to the
Lord in that day ... And I will dwell in your midst…. And I will remove the
iniquity of that land in one day. … (9:16) The Lord their God will save them in that day, as the flock of His
people. For they shall be like the
jewels of a crown …So I will strengthen them in the Lord, and they shall walk
up and down in His name, says the Lord … And I will pour on the house of David
and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then
they will look on Me whom they pierced.
Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve
for Him as one grieves for a firstborn. … But one-third shall be left in it; I
will bring the one-third through the fire, will refine them as silver is
refined, and test them as gold is tested.
They will call on My name, and I will answer them. I will say, ‘This is My people’; and each one
will say, ‘The Lord is my God.’
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Malachi 4:1-2: The day is coming … that will leave them neither root nor branch. But to you who fear My name the Sun of
Righteousness shall arise with healing in His wings; and you shall go out and
grow fat like stall-fed calves. You
shall trample the wicked … on the day that I do this, says the Lord of hosts.
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Revelation 11:13: In the same hour there was a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city
fell. In the earthquake seven thousand
people were killed, and the rest were afraid and gave glory to the God of
heaven.
Obama cannot destroy what God has promised to
save. And Trump cannot deliver those who
do not fear God. One of Israel’s issues
is her dependence on the USA and her presidents. Pray for the peace of Jerusalem because
peace can only come from God through Jesus Christ. Pray that the people of Israel will see
Christ whom they pierced and will mourn their sin and call upon His name (Rom.
10:13) and thereby receive Him by faith (John 1:11-12).
(We will be in Jerusalem the first 2½ months of
2017 at the Garden Tomb.)
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