God has an Ongoing and Special Interest in Israel:

 

Even though Israel has largely been in rebellion against God, their God has not given up on His sign people:

 

Isaiah 49:14–16 But Zion said, “The LORD has forsaken me; my Lord has forgotten me.” “Can a woman forget her nursing child, that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you. Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are continually before me.”

 

Isaiah 54:5–8 For your Maker is your husband, the LORD of hosts is his name; and the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer, the God of the whole earth he is called. For the LORD has called you [Israel] like a wife deserted and grieved in spirit, like a wife of youth when she is cast off, says your God. For a brief moment I deserted you, but with great compassion I will gather you. In overflowing anger for a moment I hid my face from you, but with everlasting love I will have compassion on you,” says the LORD, your Redeemer.

 

Hosea 2:18–20 …And I will abolish the bow, the sword, and war from the land, and I will make you lie down in safety. And I will betroth you [Israel] to me forever. I will betroth you to me in righteousness and in justice, in steadfast love and in mercy. I will betroth you to me in faithfulness. And you shall know the LORD.

Shouldn’t we Christians also model our lives in conformance with our Lod’s love for Israel! If Christ loves Israel, shouldn’t we also?

Our Responsibility to Participate in God’s Love for Israel?

The Church has a responsibility to remember God’s Chosen People:

 

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.

 

God will remain faithful to Israel despite their ongoing rebellion: Romans 3:1–4 Then what advantage has the Jew? Or what is the value of circumcision? Much in every way. To begin with, the Jews were entrusted with the oracles of God. What if some were unfaithful? Does their faithlessness nullify the faithfulness of God? By no means! Let God be true though every one were a liar, as it is written, “That you may be justified in your words, and prevail when you are judged.”

 

Romans 11:1 I ask, then, has God rejected his people? By no means… 11:15–16 For if their rejection means the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance mean but life from the dead? If the dough offered as firstfruits is holy, so is the whole lump, and if the root is holy, so are the branches… 25–29 Lest you be wise in your own sight, I do not want you to be unaware of this mystery, brothers: a partial hardening has come upon Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. And in this way all Israel will be saved, as it is written, “The Deliverer will come from Zion, he will banish ungodliness from Jacob”; “and this will be my covenant with them when I take away their sins.” As regards the gospel, they are enemies for your sake. But as regards election, they are beloved for the sake of their forefathers. For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.

 

Even in their rebellion, Israel remains central to God’s purposes. Shouldn’t they also figure prominently in His purposes! In the end, Israel will become one with the Gentile believers:

 

Romans 15:8–12 For I tell you that Christ became a servant to the circumcised to show God’s truthfulness, in order to confirm the promises given to the patriarchs, and in order that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. As it is written, “Therefore I will praise you among the Gentiles, and sing to your name.” And again it is said, “Rejoice, O Gentiles, with his people [Israel].” And again, “Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles, and let all the peoples extol him.” And again Isaiah says, “The root of Jesse will come, even he who arises to rule the Gentiles; in him will the Gentiles hope.”

 

To be on God’s side is to be on Israel’s: Deuteronomy 32:43 “Rejoice with him, O heavens; bow down to him, all gods, for he avenges the blood of his children [Israel] and takes vengeance on his adversaries. He repays those who hate him and cleanses his people’s land.”

 

As God’s People, both Church and Israel are Targets of the Devil

 

Revelation 12:4–6 …And the dragon stood before the woman (Israel] who was about to give birth, so that when she bore her child he might devour it. She gave birth to a male child, one who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron, but her child was caught up to God and to his throne, and the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, in which she is to be nourished for 1,260 days… 12:17 Then the dragon became furious with the woman and went off to make war on the rest of her offspring, on those who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus. And he stood on the sand of the sea.

 

Why is the devil persecuting both of God’s people—Israel and the Church? Both are hated as the people of God! How else are we to understand the world’s irrational hatred of both!

 

The Church has been remiss in speaking up for the welfare of its persecuted saints worldwide. We have also been remiss in speaking up for the now rebellious and hated people of God—Israel!

The Gift of the Knowledge of Our Unworthiness

 

 

Brethren, Do not be discouraged by what you discover when you look inside and see your many failures and unworthiness. This is hard to accept because we are taught that we are new creations in Christ, but all we can see are our filthy rags. However, the way up is the way down through the valley of the Shadow of death:

·       1 Peter 5:6–7 Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.

The way to life is the way to death, dying to ourselves and any expectation the we can rely on our own goodness rather than on the righteousness of Christ alone.

·       2 Corinthians 4:8–11 We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh.

Consequently, Christ has taught us to regard ourselves as unworthy servants:

·       Luke 17:10 So you also, when you have done all that you were commanded, say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty.’ ”

The Assyrians threw the worst king of Judah, Manasseh, into a dungeon where he humbled himself greatly before the Lord:

·       2 Chronicles 33:13–14, 16 He prayed to him, and God was moved by his entreaty and heard his plea and brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the LORD was God…And he took away the foreign gods and the idol from the house of the LORD, and all the altars that he had built on the mountain of the house of the LORD and in Jerusalem, and he threw them outside of the city. He also restored the altar of the LORD and offered on it sacrifices of peace offerings and of thanksgiving, and he commanded Judah to serve the LORD, the God of Israel.

We too need to be humbled to become the men and women God wants us to be. Jesus likened it to pruning:

·       John 15:1–2 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit.

King David had been pruned from an early age, the product of an illicit affair (Psalm 51:5).  Consequently, he was an outcast from his own family. God had directed the Prophet Samuel’s to go to the household of Jesus to anoint one of his sons to be the next king of Israel. However, the Lord rebuked Samuel who was about to anoint Jesse’s first son whose appearance greatly impressed him:

·       1 Samuel 16:7 But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the LORD sees not as man sees man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart.”

Nor was God pleased with any of Jesse’s sons. Perplexed, Samuel asked if he had another son. David hadn’t even been asked to attend. He had been assigned the lowest and most dangerous job as a shepherd who had to protect the sheep from Lions. Consequently, David had no other alternative but to trust in God. Nevertheless, our Lord had chosen this unlikely shepherd boy. Why? Years later, Paul explained:

·       Acts 13:22 “And when he had removed [King Saul], he raised up David to be their king, of whom he testified and said, ‘I have found in David the son of Jesse a man after my heart, who will do all my will.’”

David had learned that since God was for him, no lion would be able to prevail against him. Consequently, his trust was in God alone even as he faced the giant Goliath with only his sling.

I too had been everyone’s last choice. I had been so devastated by decades of depression and years of panic attacks I was sure that I could never be of use to Christ, and so too was everyone else. Yet for all of us, the pruning must continue (2 Corinthians 12:7-11).