Lately, it seems like Israel's list of friends has grown quite short.
In their rush to establish "peace" in the Middle east, several nations have been "dialoguing" with the enemies of Israel. Seeking to curry their favor, they have even gone so far as to label Israel as a "troublemaker," blaming her for all the problems that have occurred in the ME. Add to this those nations that have hopped onto the band wagon as well as the US pressuring Israel to cave in to PA demands for land to create "Palestine", and you begin to see that Israel is fast finding herself alone in a hostile world; one that simply wants Israel to cave in to any demand, no matter how unreasonable, all in the name of "peace." The Palestinians want their own "capital" and their own "homeland", and are willing to go to any lengths to get it, no matter how underhanded they have to act, or how much they have to whine and cry to the United Nations. Never mind that Israel has a rightful claim to the land that predates the claims of anyone else.
No one seems to pay that any mind.
To add insult to injury, there are Christians out there who believe in "replacement theology"; because Israel rejected Jesus as their king, they lost all the promises that the Lord made to them. That in effect, the Church has become "spiritual Israel" in place of the original nation, and will now receive the promises that were once hers. According to this, God has rejected his chosen nation, and the church replaces it for all time.
This is UNBIBLICAL, and extremely unwise; Israel is STILL God's chosen nation!!
While some promises to Israel were conditional in the Bible (such as being allowed to remain in the land until they turned from the Lord), the following promise had no conditions:
As for Me, behold, My covenant is with you, And you will be the father of a multitude of nations. No longer shall your name be called Abram, But your name shall be Abraham; For I have made you the father of a multitude of nations. I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make nations of you, and kings will come forth from you. 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. 8I will give to you and to your descendants after you, the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.(Genesis 17:4-8, NASB, emphasis mine)
God made no conditions to Abraham when he made this promise to him. He spoke plainly, telling Abraham all that would be needed for the covenant. Abraham had to do nothing for the covenant, except believe that God would uphold it. And since Abraham was the representative head of the entire nation, that promise extended through him down to all his descendants who would come into the land after him.
Now, as for God rejecting the Hebrew nation because they rejected their king, many forget the words that Jesus spoke on the cross:
"But Jesus was saying, "Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing." And they cast lots, dividing up His garments among themselves." (Luke 23:34, NASB, emphasis mine)
Jesus KNEW that the people would cry out for his death, that they would reject him. But instead of calling out for vengeance, Christ asked his father to have mercy on them. Yes, Jesus predicted the destruction of Jerusalem, and Jerusalem was destroyed a second time and the people were scattered; but as God promised, Israel has once again been regathered in her home land. God STILL has promises to keep to his chosen nation, and he had mercy on them, leaving a remnant that would one day regather in the Jewish homeland. Even though the are gathered in unbelief, the time will come when Israel will see again the awesome power of God Almighty, and call once again upon him, going so far as to rebuild the temple.
Israel and the Church are not one in the same now, nor are they intended to be. They have separate destinies. Yet, anyone who seeks to become a member of the Church now before the "window of grace" closes may do so. The hours grow fewer and fewer, yet there is still time for those who truly seek Christ to come to him and find him. There is yet daylight, however much it is waning, left to us. it is not entirely dark yet.
We need to remember one important promise that God made to Abraham that has carried on through the centuries, and it is just as much in effect today as when Yahweh first spoke these words to Abraham millenia ago:
"I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you."(Genesis 12:2-3, NASB, emphasis mine)
And, the POWERFUL promise God makes to Israel in the book of Amos:
"Also I will restore the captivity of My people Israel, And they will rebuild the ruined cities and live in them; They will also plant vineyards and drink their wine, And make gardens and eat their fruit. I will also plant them on their land, And they will not again be rooted out from their land Which I have given them, Says the LORD your God." (Amos 9:14-15, NASB, emphasis mine)
Those verses ALONE should blow "replacement Theology " out of the water and send it sinking to the bottom of the theological drink!
As far as the nations that ally themselves with the enemies of Israel go, they are signing their own death warrant; God has not forgotten that he has made promises to Israel, and HE WILL KEEP THEM. He has not invested all that time and all his resources into his holy nation simply to allow them to come to utter destruction. Even in their bleakest state, God has preserved a remnant to restart Israel when he has brought them back from captivity and the diaspora.
As it concerns the church, the Lord warns us not to add or subtract anything from scriptures:
"You shall not add to the word which I am commanding you, nor take away from it, that you may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you. ( Deuteronomy 4:2, NASB)
I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues which are written in this book; (Revelation 22:18, NASB)
We dare not to read our own wills or desires into God's words, but to allow the words to shape us instead. We are subject to the Bible, not the other way around, and to twist scripture to fit our own slanted interpretations is to truly play with some serious fire that we would do well NOT to test in the first place. Saying that Israel has been replaced by the church is a prime example of this, and by doing so, we are joining in with those that would make friends with the enemies of that nation.
This is where the two subjects tie in.
The enemies of Israel seek to deny her her rightful place by stealing her land, killing her people, and erasing her from history. If we believe the dreck of replacement theory, then we are saying that Israel is not God's chosen nation.
Isn't that what the enemies of Israel are saying also by trying to destroy her?
One other thing that this topic brings up, that we should think on: if we are claiming that God will not honor the promises He clearly made to his chosen nation unconditionally, are we not also saying then that we doubt he will keep the promises he made to US unconditionally? That he will not uphold his word and that we do not trust him to keep his word?
My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Fathers hand. " (John 10:27-29, NASB, emphasis mine)
Under the same thinking that lies at the heart of "replacement theory", all the sins we committed or ever will commit should have disqualified us from salvation. But here, God promises that he will not lose a single one of us.
And God STILL has promises to keep to Israel.
The Bible promises that Jerusalem will become a burdensome stone and a cup of trembling to those that wish to trifle with her. We best heed the words of scripture, and not put words into place that God never spoke. Israel needs all the friends she can get right now, and God is watching everything that we do, and our words are being recorded as well. Will we the church be able to say we stood by her side up until we were called home by our Master?
It's something to think about.
I bid all of you peace.
YBIC,
-Robert
Reprinted with permission from my brother in Christ, Robert
In their rush to establish "peace" in the Middle east, several nations have been "dialoguing" with the enemies of Israel. Seeking to curry their favor, they have even gone so far as to label Israel as a "troublemaker," blaming her for all the problems that have occurred in the ME. Add to this those nations that have hopped onto the band wagon as well as the US pressuring Israel to cave in to PA demands for land to create "Palestine", and you begin to see that Israel is fast finding herself alone in a hostile world; one that simply wants Israel to cave in to any demand, no matter how unreasonable, all in the name of "peace." The Palestinians want their own "capital" and their own "homeland", and are willing to go to any lengths to get it, no matter how underhanded they have to act, or how much they have to whine and cry to the United Nations. Never mind that Israel has a rightful claim to the land that predates the claims of anyone else.
No one seems to pay that any mind.
To add insult to injury, there are Christians out there who believe in "replacement theology"; because Israel rejected Jesus as their king, they lost all the promises that the Lord made to them. That in effect, the Church has become "spiritual Israel" in place of the original nation, and will now receive the promises that were once hers. According to this, God has rejected his chosen nation, and the church replaces it for all time.
This is UNBIBLICAL, and extremely unwise; Israel is STILL God's chosen nation!!
While some promises to Israel were conditional in the Bible (such as being allowed to remain in the land until they turned from the Lord), the following promise had no conditions:
As for Me, behold, My covenant is with you, And you will be the father of a multitude of nations. No longer shall your name be called Abram, But your name shall be Abraham; For I have made you the father of a multitude of nations. I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make nations of you, and kings will come forth from you. 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. 8I will give to you and to your descendants after you, the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.(Genesis 17:4-8, NASB, emphasis mine)
God made no conditions to Abraham when he made this promise to him. He spoke plainly, telling Abraham all that would be needed for the covenant. Abraham had to do nothing for the covenant, except believe that God would uphold it. And since Abraham was the representative head of the entire nation, that promise extended through him down to all his descendants who would come into the land after him.
Now, as for God rejecting the Hebrew nation because they rejected their king, many forget the words that Jesus spoke on the cross:
"But Jesus was saying, "Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing." And they cast lots, dividing up His garments among themselves." (Luke 23:34, NASB, emphasis mine)
Jesus KNEW that the people would cry out for his death, that they would reject him. But instead of calling out for vengeance, Christ asked his father to have mercy on them. Yes, Jesus predicted the destruction of Jerusalem, and Jerusalem was destroyed a second time and the people were scattered; but as God promised, Israel has once again been regathered in her home land. God STILL has promises to keep to his chosen nation, and he had mercy on them, leaving a remnant that would one day regather in the Jewish homeland. Even though the are gathered in unbelief, the time will come when Israel will see again the awesome power of God Almighty, and call once again upon him, going so far as to rebuild the temple.
Israel and the Church are not one in the same now, nor are they intended to be. They have separate destinies. Yet, anyone who seeks to become a member of the Church now before the "window of grace" closes may do so. The hours grow fewer and fewer, yet there is still time for those who truly seek Christ to come to him and find him. There is yet daylight, however much it is waning, left to us. it is not entirely dark yet.
We need to remember one important promise that God made to Abraham that has carried on through the centuries, and it is just as much in effect today as when Yahweh first spoke these words to Abraham millenia ago:
"I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you."(Genesis 12:2-3, NASB, emphasis mine)
And, the POWERFUL promise God makes to Israel in the book of Amos:
"Also I will restore the captivity of My people Israel, And they will rebuild the ruined cities and live in them; They will also plant vineyards and drink their wine, And make gardens and eat their fruit. I will also plant them on their land, And they will not again be rooted out from their land Which I have given them, Says the LORD your God." (Amos 9:14-15, NASB, emphasis mine)
Those verses ALONE should blow "replacement Theology " out of the water and send it sinking to the bottom of the theological drink!
As far as the nations that ally themselves with the enemies of Israel go, they are signing their own death warrant; God has not forgotten that he has made promises to Israel, and HE WILL KEEP THEM. He has not invested all that time and all his resources into his holy nation simply to allow them to come to utter destruction. Even in their bleakest state, God has preserved a remnant to restart Israel when he has brought them back from captivity and the diaspora.
As it concerns the church, the Lord warns us not to add or subtract anything from scriptures:
"You shall not add to the word which I am commanding you, nor take away from it, that you may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you. ( Deuteronomy 4:2, NASB)
I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues which are written in this book; (Revelation 22:18, NASB)
We dare not to read our own wills or desires into God's words, but to allow the words to shape us instead. We are subject to the Bible, not the other way around, and to twist scripture to fit our own slanted interpretations is to truly play with some serious fire that we would do well NOT to test in the first place. Saying that Israel has been replaced by the church is a prime example of this, and by doing so, we are joining in with those that would make friends with the enemies of that nation.
This is where the two subjects tie in.
The enemies of Israel seek to deny her her rightful place by stealing her land, killing her people, and erasing her from history. If we believe the dreck of replacement theory, then we are saying that Israel is not God's chosen nation.
Isn't that what the enemies of Israel are saying also by trying to destroy her?
One other thing that this topic brings up, that we should think on: if we are claiming that God will not honor the promises He clearly made to his chosen nation unconditionally, are we not also saying then that we doubt he will keep the promises he made to US unconditionally? That he will not uphold his word and that we do not trust him to keep his word?
My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Fathers hand. " (John 10:27-29, NASB, emphasis mine)
Under the same thinking that lies at the heart of "replacement theory", all the sins we committed or ever will commit should have disqualified us from salvation. But here, God promises that he will not lose a single one of us.
And God STILL has promises to keep to Israel.
The Bible promises that Jerusalem will become a burdensome stone and a cup of trembling to those that wish to trifle with her. We best heed the words of scripture, and not put words into place that God never spoke. Israel needs all the friends she can get right now, and God is watching everything that we do, and our words are being recorded as well. Will we the church be able to say we stood by her side up until we were called home by our Master?
It's something to think about.
I bid all of you peace.
YBIC,
-Robert
Reprinted with permission from my brother in Christ, Robert
or b) God is protecting His chosen people. A couple of months ago, the Palis cried out because a dozen people were injured and a couple of people when the IDF hit a house in Gaza. What they didn't mention is that the "house" that was hit was being used to store ammunition while they made the family STAY there! I mention reports from Israel because you won't get news reports here in this country that aren't biased. They believe that peace will come to the middle east if Israel gives her land to a government formed by terrorist----AND they believe that because if they don't say that they believe it, people will start blowing up things here!
