Distinctives of Israel and The Church

Transcript

GRM 947
1/8/2006
Distinctives of Israel and the Church
Selected Verses
Gil Rugh


Tonight I thought it might be good for us just to go back and review again God’s unfolding plan for Israel and the church and to make sure we’re clear on the distinctions in that plan. There certainly is much confusion on this, it seems to me, as there is in the evangelical world. For some reason people think it’s all right to take a jump in their hermeneutics (hermeneutics being the way you interpret the Scripture) and operate with what is called a dual hermeneutic so that you interpret the Bible literally when it talks about salvation and God’s works and so on. You interpret the Bible literally relating to all prophecies that have already been fulfilled, whether relating to nations and issues in the Old Testament or the first coming of Christ, but when you deal with things that are yet future or matters relating to the Second Coming, it’s all right now to just jump over to a totally different kind of hermeneutic. Instead of interpreting the Bible historically and grammatically with a literal hermeneutic, you can spiritualize or allegorize what the Bible says. And so it leads to confusion, it leads to what is called replacement theology, where you replace Israel with the church. And then the Bible becomes a muddle and it only leads to confusion.

If you’re going to understand the scriptures correctly, you have to be consistent with your hermeneutics and you have to recognize the two basic groups of people God is dealing with in the scripture--the first is Israel, the second is the church. And all but 11 chapters of the Bible focus on either Israel or the church. From Genesis chapter 12 on through the whole rest of the Bible you’re either talking about Israel or the church as the focal people that God is dealing with in His work of salvation. And from Genesis chapter 12 to Acts chapter 2, the subject focus is Israel. In other words, God’s plan of redemption centers in the nation Israel, and that is the focus of His work in the world. From Acts chapter 2 on to Revelation chapter 6, He will deal with the church. And as you are aware, Revelation chapter 6 through chapter 19 deal with the 7-year tribulation. We’ll just mention that, and then you deal with events relating to the Second Coming of Christ, the Kingdom, which is still Israel-focused, and then you’re into eternity. And even in eternity the distinctions between Israel and the church and other peoples will be recognized.

The first 11 chapters of Genesis just deal with humanity. There is no Israel, there is no church in the first 11 chapters of the book of Genesis. The first 3 chapters deal with the creation, Genesis 1 and 2, and the fall into sin, Genesis 3. And then in Genesis 4-5 you have issues relating to Adam’s descendents. Chapters 6-9 deal with the flood of Noah and chapters 10-11 will deal with the dividing of the world into different national groups, preparing us to focus on one nation, Isreal, which chapter 12 will begin with what we know of as the Abrahamic Covenant. Come back to Genesis 10. You’ve had the flood of Noah in chapters 6-9, and events relating to the flood—the building of the ark and the flood that destroyed all human life except for the family of Noah. And then chapter 10 you really have what we call the Table of Nations, because all the nations of the world are going to flow out of Noah and Noah’s sons. Genesis 10:1, now these are the records of the generations of Shem, Ham and Japheth, the sons of Noah. And the sons that were born to them after the flood. So you’ll start out in verse 2 with the sons of Japheth, and you find out where the nations of the earth settled but tracing these families. Then you have the sons of Ham in verse 6, and then you come down to verses 21-22 and you have the sons of Shem. Now Shem is the focal point and the point of interest for the Bible, because it’s going to be from the line of Shem that you have Abraham and the Jewish people descending. So you have what is called the Table of Nations in chapter 10 because all the nations of the earth will come out of these three sons of Noah.

And you get some of the basic lines. I mentioned in verse 2 the sons of Japheth, and the first 2 mentioned are Gomer and Magog. That reminds you of some peoples when you get to some key chapters in Ezekiel 38, and you have peoples that are descended from Japheth involved there. When you come to chapter 11 you are told how the nations got divided. I mean in chapter 2 we’re talking about the descendents in one family. And all the people on the earth are descendents of Adam, and all the peoples on the earth are descendents of Noah. Those 2 men really become key.

Now how did you get all the different nations, nationalities, language groups. Well that’s chapter 11 with the Tower of Babel. And verse 1 says the whole earth used the same language, the same words, and they functioned together as one people. And they were intense on keeping their unit as one people. Instead of being fruitful and multiplying and filling the earth, they wanted to stay together and they wanted to have a religious center that would keep them together. Which becomes of interest to us, in one world government, because it’s not God’s intention that all the nations of the earth be unified until His Son rules and reigns with a one-world government centralized by one world religion, focused in the worship of the Son who is the King. But these descendents of Noah in chapter 11 decide they’re going to build a tower and the top will reach to heaven, will be a center of worship. God comes down and confounds the languages. So now they’re broken down and this group can talk to one another and understand one another, this group can talk to one another and understand one another, but they can’t communicate to each other. So why hang around with people you can’t understand that are speaking nothing but gibberish. So these groups move off into different places, and that’s how then naturally they’re going to intermarry and develop and they have that language group developing that nationality. And that’s how the nations of the earth come.

Picking up with Genesis 11:10 you’ll note, these are the records of the generations of Shem. We’re back to Shem. We talked about him beginning with his sons in Genesis 10:22, but now we’re going to go back and not just look at the general overview of all his sons, we’re going to follow one line—the line that will culminate with Abraham. Because we’re interested in how we get to Abraham, because he’s going to be the father of the Jewish nation. And so you come down, these are the records of the generations of Shem, and you pick out just one son. Back in Genesis 10:22, the sons of Shem, and they’re mentioned—Elam, Asher, Arpachshad. Lud, Aram. But now when you come over to chapter 11:10, these are the records of the generations of Shem. He became the father of Arpachshad. We don’t care about the other sons he had now in chapter 11, because we just want to follow the line that is going to lead us to the Jewish nation. So now it comes from Shem through his son, Arpachshad and down you come until you have a son here in verse 15 named Eber. I mention him because some believe that is where the name Hebrew comes from, and the Hebrews, because their ancestor was Eber. Since we don’t really know where the name Hebrew came from, this is mentioned repeatedly.

Then you come down to Nahor and Terah, and Terah becomes a significant figure because he is the father of Abram. And now you have Abram in verse 29, and now we want to know Abram’s wife—it was Sarai, and she had no child. And Terah took Abram, his son, and Lot the son of Haran, the brother of Abram who had died. So Lot, Abram’s nephew……….now we have some key figures here, and we’re ready for chapter 12.

The Lord said to Abram, go forth from your country, from your relatives, from your father’s house to the land which I will show you. I will make you a great nation, I will bless you, make your name great, you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, the one who curses you, I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed. And from here on the Bible is interested in Israel, and all the other nations of the earth come into play as they relate to Israel. You don’t find the Bible talking about China, because China doesn’t interact with Israel. So they’re not on the focal screen of scripture. Other nations of the earth as well. The Bible is only interested in what impacts Israel, and God’s plan for Israel and the nations that will intersect with Israel, and have an impact on Israel. Other portions of the world……the Bible is not just writing a history of the world, it’s unfolding God’s purposes and plans in salvation. And the center now from chapter 12 in the nation Israel.

So you have the Abrahamic Covenant, we read a portion of it in chapter 12. Turn to Genesis 15:4 and following. The situation here is Abram at this point has no child of his own. God has promised him descendants, a huge number of descendents. He’s getting older, he’s beyond child bearing years, his wife is beyond child bearing years, no children. Verse 3, Abram had asked God, you’ve given me no offspring. Well what do we do? I mean I guess the heir of my house, all my possessions will be for Eliezer, my faithful servant, and his children. My line will end with my death. No, God says, one that’s out of your own loins, comes forth from your own body, verse 4, will be your heir. Verse 5, now look toward the heavens, count the stars. If you’re able to count them, so shall your descendents be. Then he believed in the Lord, he reckoned it to him as righteousness. And God said to him, I am the Lord who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans, to give you this land to possess it. And God tells him to bring the appointed sacrificial animals, verse 9, and they are described. And then He tells him to cut them in two and lay the halves apart from each other with a path down the middle. Then in verse 12, a deep sleep falls on Abram. God said to Abram, in verse 13, no for certain that your descendents will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, where they will be enslaved and oppressed 400 years, the 400 years in Egypt. That’s crucial because that will form the transition from Israel just being a family to Israel becoming a great nation. We’ll say more about that in a moment. Afterwards I will judge the nation and you will come out with many possessions, your descendents.

Verse 17, when the sun had set it was very dark. Behold there appeared a smoking oven, a flaming torch which passed through these pieces. On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram saying, to your descendents I have given this land, from the River of Egypt as far as the great river, the River Euphrates, and the land of all these peoples who live there. And as you remember, the significant thing about this, and this is where the Old Testament expression for making a covenant is literally cutting a covenant, because you cut the animals in two, you walk through. But Abram is sleeping, only one person passed down the middle—God manifesting His presence with the smoking oven and the flaming torch, because the covenant is made solely on the basis of His person. He is the guarantor of the covenant, it doesn’t depend on Abram. God has sovereignly declared a covenant with Abram, entered into it solely on the basis of His own person. It’s not conditioned on Abram, or something Abram does. God has taken upon Himself solely to be the fulfillment of the promises. That doesn’t mean there won’t be obligations on Abram’s descendents, but God is the one solely responsible for the fulfillment of the Abrahamic Covenant. It can never be abrogated, it can never be changed. The book of Hebrews uses this argument, once a covenant is in force, it cannot be altered. So you cannot make a change in this covenant down the road and say Israel is now replaced by the church. You can’t change the covenant once it’s in force. So that means God’s covenant with Abraham is a permanent covenant.

Look in chapter 17, and you have a reiteration. Abram is 99, he was 75 in chapter 12 when God told him to leave Ur of the Chaldeans. Twenty-four years later you know what? This old man has gotten older, his wife Sarai has gotten older and they still don’t have any kids. But God’s promises haven’t changed. God said to him in verse 1, I am God Almighty. That solves everything, doesn’t it. What are you going to do with Abram and Sarai—99-year-old guy with an 89-year-old wife. I mean this is hopeless. I am God Almighty, there is no such thing as hopeless. I mean He’s not God Almighty if He can’t do it. I will establish my covenant between me and you, I will multiply you exceedingly. Verse 4, as for me, behold my covenant is with you, you will be the father of a multitude of nations. Because God won’t be done with Abraham when he and Sarah have Isaac, the son of promise. There are going to be other nations, already started in chapter 16 with Hagar and Ishmael, and later Keturah, chapter 25, who will become Abraham’s wife after the death of Sarah. He will have other sons who will become ancestors of nations, fathers of nations.

Verse 5, I’ll change your name to Abraham, you’re going to become the father of a multitude of nations, I’ll make you exceedingly fruitful. Verse 6, nations and kings will come from you. But we’re going to focus on one nation. So you come to verse 8, I will give to you and to your descendants after you the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan an everlasting possession. I will be their God. This is the covenant, verse 10, it will be marked by the sign of circumcision. It’s a sign of the covenant between me and you. Verse 13, this shall be my covenant in your flesh, an everlasting covenant. And He changed the name of Sarai to Sarah and she is going to be blessed.
Abraham still has questions, verse 17, how can you have a kid when you’re 100 and Sarah 90? And Abraham’s prayer is, oh that Ishmael might live before you. I mean I do have a son, he’s not the son between Sarah and me, but it is my son. So, Lord, I’ve helped you out because we can get through this because I have a son. Well I’ll honor your prayer, and I’ll bless Ishmael, and Ishmael is going to be the father of 12 princes. But the promises of the Abrahamic Covenant won’t go through Ishmael. God says, no, it will be the way I have said. I don’t need any help getting my plan carried out. Sarah, your wife, will bear you a son. I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant for his descendents after him. As for Ishmael, I’ve heard your prayer. He’ll become the father of 12 princes, he’ll become a great nation.

My covenant I will establish with Isaac, verse 21. You see the issue in the covenant. It has to be God’s way. Now why 4000 years after Abraham, here we are with supposed scholars telling us why the Abrahamic Covenant and all the promises given to Israel will not now be fulfilled in Israel, because Israel has been replaced by the church. Ishmael couldn’t replace Isaac, the church can’t replace Israel. It has to be God’s way. Why? Because God said it. I mean, that’s it. He is God Almighty, He said this is the way it’s going to be. And it’s an everlasting covenant. My understanding of an everlasting covenant is, this covenant will be fulfilled when we are in Revelation 21-22, in the eternal dimension of the Kingdom. Israel will still be Israel and the promises of this covenant will be still enjoyed by that nation. Can be no change.

All right, turn over to Deuteronomy 7. Obviously we’ve moved along the 400 years of Egyptian bondage, but I want to jump ahead here for you just a moment to look at something. Verse 7, this choice of Israel by God. It didn’t have anything to do with what God saw in the Jews. In other words, looking ahead and seeing they would be such wonderful people, such faithful people. They are the kind of people I want for myself, I’ll pick them. Look at Deuteronomy 7:7. Verse 6 says, for you are a holy people to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for His own possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. The Lord did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any of the peoples. You were the fewest of the peoples. Back when God chose them it was just one man with a barren wife. But because the Lord loved you and kept the oath which He swore to your forefathers, the Lord brought you out by a mighty hand from the Egyptian bondage, and so on. Know therefore that the Lord your God, He is God, the faithful God who keeps His covenant, His lovingkindness to a thousandth generation for those who love Him and keep His commandments. And He punishes those who don’t, and He rewards those who do. Point here to note, God chose Israel because God chose Israel, and this is a covenant He entered into on the basis of His own character. And you don’t find a reason for the choice in Israel, you find it in God. You don’t find it in Abraham or Abraham’s father, Terah. Remember we read in Genesis 11, the father of Abraham was Terah. You know what Terah was? He was an idol worshipper.

Turn to Joshua 24:2, Joshua said to all the people, thus says the Lord, the God of Israel. From ancient times your fathers lived beyond the River, namely Terah, the father of Abraham, the father of Nahor, and they served other gods. Then I took your father Abraham from beyond the River, led him through all the land of Canaan, multiplied his descendants, gave him Isaac, to Isaac gave Jacob, Esau and so on. What was the family of Abraham, religiously speaking, when they lived in Ur of the Chaldees? They were idol worshippers. God sovereignly reached down into that family of idol worshippers and placed His hand on Abraham. I mean, we say, I wish I knew more of the details. We don’t need to know anymore. We can’t keep up with all the details God has given us. Why would I want Him to give me more? He sovereignly reached in, selected Abraham for Himself and to be the father of the nation that He would choose.

We read in Genesis 15 when God reiterated the covenant with Abraham that his descendants would be in a strange nation for 400 years. And it’s in the time in Egypt, and remember when we studied this, they were isolated because the Egyptians didn’t have anything to do with shepherds. And the family of Jacob, Joseph’s father, were shepherds, so they put them in the land of Goshen which was good for shepherding. But the Egyptians wouldn’t have to be involved with them. God placed them in the kind of context where they would develop from just a family to a nation.

Turn back to Genesis 46:26, all the persons belonging to Jacob who came to Egypt, his direct descendents, not including the wives of Jacob’s sons, were 66 persons. And the two sons of Joseph who were born in Egypt were two. All the persons of the house of Jacob who came to Egypt were 70—66 sons plus Jacob plus Joseph who was already in Egypt, plus Joseph’s two sons. So 70 men plus their wives and children. They go down into Egypt. That’s a large family for a family reunion, but it’s a far cry from being a great nation. Four hundred years later when they come out of Egypt they will be a nation of 2 million or more people. So that’s what God is doing with them in Egypt, He’s building them into a nation and a kind of environment where there’ll be no intermarriage and intermingling. So that they will have become a nation.

Look over in Numbers 1. Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers. Numbers 1:45, they numbered the men of the sons of Israel by their father’s household, from 20 years old and upward, who was ever able to go out to war. So nobody under 20 is numbered here, no women are numbered, these are just the men of war. They numbered 603,550. Now when you add women and children into this, that’s where we get a figure of 2 million or more. These are just the men old enough to go to war, no women, no children here. So if you add in women and you add in children you can easily have 2 million people. This number of 600,000+ is reiterated again in Numbers 2:32, that were numbered here. And the Levites aren’t numbered in this either because the Levites have the responsibility for the care of the tabernacle and the religious activities of Israel. They are not to go out to war. They are those who are the defenders, if you will, of the worship center in Israel.

When God is ready to bring Israel out of Egypt, now, with identity as a nation, there are the plagues on Egypt in Exodus 7-12, and we’re not going to turn there. But God did mighty miracles, the plagues brought on the nation. And those miracles are at the time when Israel gets its identity as a nation among the nations of the world. Before that they have a distinct identity in Egypt, but they are just a group of slaves in Egypt. When they come out of Egypt they take on the identity of the Hebrews, the nation Israel, they are a nation to be reckoned with by the nations. And will be so identified. These miracles not only done in the plagues on Egypt, but in the crossing of the Red Sea, the miracles during the 40 years of wilderness wanderings. That made an impact that was not forgotten.

Turn over to I Samuel 4. Now we are over 400 years after the exodus has taken place, so the Egyptian bondage lasted 400 years and then Israel was led out by God, crossed the Red Sea and spent 40 years in the wilderness and then went into Canaan. Four hundred years after the exodus the nations of the area still remember the mighty works of God on behalf of His people. So you read, the Philistines in verse 8 are in battle with the Israelites on this occasion. Woe to us, who shall deliver us from the hand of these mighty gods? These are the gods who smote the Egyptians with all kinds of plagues in the wilderness. I mean, they remember 400 years later. It’s still known among the pagan peoples that the Jews, the Israelites, yes, they are the nation that is protected by mighty gods. They’re pagans, they don’t understand the one true and living God, but they know that the gods, as they view it, of the Jews are mighty and powerful. And He could intervene to destroy the Egyptians with His mighty works. So you see the establishing of Israel as a nation. Those miracles around that time when Israel is given the recognition as an independent nation were significant.

Go back to Deuteronomy 18. I want to make a transition to the church, here in a moment. Of course in the Abrahamic Covenant there is a promise that will be fulfilled in Christ—in your seed all the nations of the earth will be blessed. And the New Testament tells us that that particular promise—seed, singular and not plural—was focused in Jesus Christ through whom salvation blessings would be provided for all nations, not just the nation, Israel. That in no way nullifies the covenant promises to the nation, Israel. But the covenant God made with the nation, Israel also included provision for a Savior, not only for Israel, but for all nations and all peoples. That was included in the original covenant. It had nothing to do with a replacing or a doing away with Israel, it was part of the original covenant. In Deuteronomy 18:15 Moses speaks, the Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like Me from among you, from your countrymen. You shall listen to him. Verse 17, the Lord said to me, they have spoken well. I will raise up a prophet from among their countrymen like you. I will put my words in his mouth. He shall speak to them all that I command him. And it shall come about whoever will not listen to my words which he shall speak in my name, I Myself will require it of him. Acts 3:22-23, Acts 7:37 we are told that these words refer to Christ, find their fulfillment in Him. He is the ultimate prophet that would come to speak on God’s behalf. In the Old Testament we’re told that this coming prophet, the Messiah of Israel, would be rejected. Isaiah 53 is clear on unfolding the rejection of Israel’s Messiah, God’s servant. His suffering and death, His burial with the rich men and so on.

So all of that and much more, part of what is unfolded as God reveals His purposes and plans for Israel. Even the suffering and death of their Messiah will not cancel His promises to Israel because His promises of the salvation for the nation require the death of the Passover lamb, does it not? So all that God is promising Israel for their redemption and salvation require the death of the one who is their Messiah. There could have been no salvation for Israel, not Kingdom for Israel, for the redeemed, if it were not for the death of the Messiah. So the death of the Messiah will not cancel God’s covenant plans for Israel, they are an essential part of the fulfillment of God’s covenant plans and promises for the nation, Israel.

But there is a dimension unrevealed in the Old Testament, and that is the church, the period of time in which we live. That ought not to confuse us. The Bible has what we call progressive revelation. Down, over the 1400 years that the Bible was written, God unfolded more and more of His plan. It reveals more and more of His will. And then when you get to the New Testament, at the completion of the Old Testament, we have what we call the 400 silent years where the Old Testament is completed, but God gives no new revelation through the prophets, until John the Baptist comes on the scene. And now God is speaking again, and then we have Jesus Christ’s birth, and you have the gospels—Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. As I mentioned they are lived under the Old Testament economy. People get confused and say we’re in the New Testament, and so they try to read the Gospels as though it’s the church. The Gospels are connected to the Old Testament. The church does not begin until Acts 2. So we are still under the Old Testament economy as we would speak, the mosaic law is still in force, and so on. We have the death of Christ and His resurrection, and then the establishing of the church. In the establishing of the church you have something new that has not been revealed before.

Turn over to Ephesians 3 in the New Testament. Now Christ had promised, prophesied in Matthew 16:18, I will build my church. The gates of Hades will not prevail against it. There the rejection of Christ has already occurred. Yet He is promising to build His church. That’s yet a future event. He promises His disciples on that last night with Him as recorded in the Gospel of John that it was important for Him to go away, because if He doesn’t go away, the Spirit , the promised Comforter, will not come. But if I go I will send Him to you. So He’s coming in a unique way, the Holy Spirit was present in the world. Jesus Christ did His miracles, as we saw in the study of Mark, through the power of the Spirit. But the Holy Spirit is going to come in a unique and special way. He had not been present before and that required the death, resurrection and ascension of Christ to heaven. And in Acts 1 it is still future—you shall receive power after the Holy Spirit has come upon you. And that would happen shortly. In Acts 2 it happens and you have the establishing of the church, fulfillment of the promises that they would be baptized with the Holy Spirit. You read Acts 2 and Acts 11, Acts 11 tells you that the fulfillment of the promised baptism of the Holy Spirit occurred in Acts 2. And in I Corinthians 12:13 we’re told that the body of Christ, the church, you are placed into the body of Christ by the baptism of the Holy Spirit. For by one Spirit we’ve all been baptized into one body, the body of Christ, the church, that began in Acts 2.

Ephesians 3, for this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ for the sake of you Gentiles, if indeed you’ve heard of the stewardship of God’s grace which was given to me, that by revelation there was made known to me the mystery. I wrote before about this in brief. By referring to this you can understand my insight into the mystery of Christ. How does he know so much about this mystery concerning Christ? It was given to me by special, direct revelation from God. What is the mystery? It’s that which in other generations was not made known to the sons of men. That’s what a mystery is. It’s not something puzzling or hard to understand, it’s something that has not been revealed before. The mystery of Christ which in other generations was not made known to the sons of men. But verse 3 says, by revelation there was made known to me the mystery. Here is new material from God, not before made known. So if you read the Old Testament looking for the church, it’s not there, because Paul said it wasn’t made known until God made it known to him. Christ referred to it, but nobody knew what He was talking about. They didn’t understand the unique emphasis as we studied on the use of the word church, ekklesia, in the New Testament. And the specialized meaning that would have.

And that means, verse 6, the Gentiles are fellow heirs and fellow members of the body, fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel. And verse 8, to me the least of all the saints, grace was given to preach to the Gentiles the unfathomable riches of Christ, bring to light what is the administration of the mystery. This isn’t a change in God’s plan, this isn’t something new in God’s plan. This is something newly revealed to man about God’s plan. He not only has a plan to deal with Jews as a nation, He also has a plan to deal with the Gentiles as a special entity, the church. In the Old Testament Gentiles who turned in faith to God became converts to Judaism because God’s salvation centered in Israel. All the sacrifices centered in Israel, the priestly system required a Jewish priest offering sacrifices acceptable. Salvation was found in Israel. Now the focal point won’t be that salvation is basically Jewish with a few Gentile converts. Now salvation is going to be basically Gentiles with a few Jewish converts. And as Romans 11 talks about, this is the day of Gentile salvation. And that’s the Church Age. Doesn’t mean Jews can’t be saved, but let’s face it—how many of you are Jews? A few have a little bit. Marilyn’s mother comes from a Jewish line, Russian Jews. Was told, mentioned to you when we were over in Israel, Greg could become a citizen in Israel because of the line of the mother that would establish who is what. So he would be accepted as a Jew there. Now if persecution breaks out against Jews, he won’t want that to be known. But you know basically we get a hand here, a hand there. Why? We’re a Gentile church, right? And that’s true of the church around the world, it’s basically Gentiles. By God’s grace some Jews are saved. Paul says there is a remnant according to God’s grace and he was part of that remnant of Israel that becomes part of the church. So in this period of time now God is not dealing with Israel as the nation, He’s dealing with the church. Does that mean now God is done with Israel, and the church has replaced Israel? No.

Romans 11 says what? Why don’t you turn there, we’re not going to do Romans 11, we’ve done that a number of occasions. But I want to just see one verse with you. Ought to settle the discussion for all time. Romans 11:28, and verse 25 he’s talked about the mystery, I don’t want you to be uninformed, brethren, of this mystery, so you’re not wise in your own estimation. A partial hardening has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. And so all Israel will be saved. Clear, right? Here’s where we are—a partial hardening has happened to Israel, so Paul would write to the Corinthians in II Corinthians 3 that when a Jew read the scripture he has a veil over his eyes, he doesn’t see Christ revealed there. In Christ the veil is lifted, it all becomes clear, but they don’t see it. They are under the judgment of God and a partial hardening has happened to Israel. It is partial because there are Jews saved. Paul is a testimony to that. But there is going to be a time when Israel as a nation will experience God’s salvation, the Messiah will come.

So verse 28, from the standpoint of the gospel they are enemies for your sake. Now note this. From the standpoint of God’s choice, literally from the standpoint of election, they are beloved for the sake of the fathers. Nothing has changed in the plan of God for Israel. What’s all this parading around by Gentiles who are wise in their own estimation and think they’ve come to some insight on the Word of God and they know that God is done with the nation and the church has replaced. They’re just parading their ignorance. Why? Verse 29, the gifts and calling of God are irrevocable. I mean, and Paul says why do you have a hard time understanding that, Gentiles. At one time you were disobedient. Now by God’s grace you’ve come to salvation. What makes you think God can’t restore Israel? I mean it shouldn’t be so difficult.

So we live in a period of time, now, that God is dealing primarily with Gentiles. We ought to take advantage of it, we ought to be zealous. The time of the fullness of the Gentiles will come in and be brought to completion. And God will resume His program with Israel.
Let me say something about the beginning of the church in Acts. What happened when Israel was established as a nation? You had all the miracles through Moses and the plagues on Egypt, the crossing of the Red Sea. With the chapters in Acts, Acts 2, Acts 7, referred to as the works of power, the miracles done during the wilderness wanderings with the provision of manna, the provision of the quail, and how are you going to sustain. By its very definition the wilderness was a place where there was not enough rain and so on to sustain normal life. And you have a nation over 2 million people wandering around there for 40 years, and they survived. They survived, the ones that God wanted to, all those under 20. The others died under judgment. Miracles, miracles, and all connected with the establishing, so that when Israel crosses the Jordan into Canaan, the land He has promised, they are a nation with identity. The miracles of God have established them as such. You go to the book of Acts what do you find out with the establishing of the church? Day 1 we have the miracle of Pentecost, speaking in tongues. That’s chapter 2 of Acts. Chapter 3 you have the healing of the lame man. Chapter 4 you have the death of Ananias and Sapphira for lying to the Holy Spirit. And then various miracles in that opening portion of the church’s history, because God is establishing the church, giving it its identity.

Hebrews 2, why don’t you turn there, that’s the only passage. I have a list of passages but we don’t have time for them. The writer to the Hebrews is talking to these Jewish believers about the importance of responding in faith to the message that’s been preached. You can’t escape if you neglect, verse 3, how will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? After it was at the first spoken, and the contrast there is in the Old Testament. Everybody was held accountable. How much more so now with the full revelation we have concerning Christ and God’s marvelous plan of redemption. After it was at the first spoken through the Lord it was confirmed to us by those who heard. Christ spoke of it during His earthly ministry, then it was spoken to us by the apostles. God also testifying with them. Now note, the writer to the Hebrews does not identify himself as one of them, like Paul does in his writings. Tells the Corinthians about the miracles that he did to establish his apostleship. But God testifying with them those who heard it directly from the Lord, both by signs and wonders and various miracles, and by gifts of the Holy Spirit according to His own will. The early church was established and God testified to it by the demonstration of miracles. And He validated His word, the authority of His messengers by miracles. That doesn’t mean they’re going to be ongoing throughout all of church history and should be going on today. I read some material recently, and the writer was trying to establish from the book of Acts that we ought to expect the Spirit to be doing the same thing today. Then they always use the verse, Jesus Christ the same yesterday, today and forever from the book of Hebrews. He is the same yesterday, today and forever. That does not mean He does exactly the same things in the same way. He is not walking in an earthly body in Israel today as He did 2000 years ago. Does that mean Jesus Christ is not the same yesterday, today and forever? He’s not on earth in a physical body today as He was 2000 years ago. But the Bible says Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever. That must mean He is in a physical body, we ought to get over there and find Him. We say, that’s ridiculous. Well it’s just as ridiculous to say He must be doing the same miracles in the same way today as He did at the beginning of the church, because He is the same yesterday, today and forever. He’s the same in His character and nature and being, because He is the unchanging God. But He is not delivering Israel right now with mighty works of power as He did at one time, and as He will do at a yet future time. But He is the unchanging God.

We need to be careful that we handle the scripture. Greg tells me I have to quit reading this stuff, it gets me all worked up. I can’t help it.

All right, one more thing I want to say, then we’re done. And go to Daniel 9. As you go to Daniel 9, I’ll just tell you I Corinthians 15 and I Thessalonians 4, I take it, speak of the removal of the church. And we’re not going to go into the reasons for a pretrib rapture, but we do know that when the fullness of the Gentiles has come in, and when God’s dealings with the Gentiles are over He’s going to resume His program with Israel. And in Daniel 9 you have unfolded the 70 weeks of Daniel. We’ve done this many, many times. Daniel 9:24, seventy weeks have been decreed for your people. Now this is for your people, Daniel, the Jews. We ought to just read the Bible and let the Bible speak for itself. The 70 weeks are for Jews, your people, Daniel, your holy city. Doesn’t refer to Washington, doesn’t refer to Moscow, refers to Jerusalem. And that’s to finish the transgression, to make an end of sin, to make atonement for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy, to anoint the most holy place. Then you have it broken down, these will be broken down into sections, segments.

We’ve accomplished the first 69 weeks. Remember the church is a mystery. The Old Testament does not talk about what happens between the 69th and 70th weeks. So it’s not surprising, you know you might think these 70 weeks run sequentially. But there is an indication in verse 26, after the 62 weeks, which were after 7 weeks, according to the previous verse. There are 7 weeks and there are 62 weeks. After the 62 weeks which follow the 7 weeks, which is a total of after 69 weeks totally, Messiah will be cut off. Interesting, he doesn’t say in the 70th week. You would think, well if it’s after the 69th week, we’re in the 70th week, right? Wrong. Why? Well Daniel didn’t know it, but God did because it’s His plan, there is going to be a break after the 69th week. The 69th week will come to a conclusion about a week before Jesus Christ is crucified on the cross. He’s not crucified in the 70th week. The 70th week will start, verse 27, He will make a firm covenant with the many for one week, referring to the coming western world leader. There was a program on, some of you might have seen it the other night on the history channel, on the antichrist. And they were talking about dispensationalists, and they take this literally and they’re expecting a coming literal 7-year period. And they were talking to some people who held to that, but they always reminded you that scholars don’t interpret it this way. Some people interpret it this way, but scholars don’t agree with that. They never give the idea that there may be some scholars who interpret it this way. They don’t say some scholars interpret it this way, but the majority interpret it this way. No, it’s some people interpret it this way, but scholars don’t agree because they don’t take it literally.

Well scholars or not, he does say that the 70th week, this one 7-year period, that will start with the signing of a covenant. So what happens? After 69 weeks Messiah will be cut off, not in the 70th week. So the Bible in the Old Testament doesn’t talk about that gap, but it’s careful in its language to allow for it. Because in God’s plan He’s not going to reveal that until He brings Paul on the scene, the one who says this revelation was made known to me so we could understand the mystery of what the church would be. And now that gap between the 69th and 70th week has gone on about 2000 years. We live in the time of the fullness of the Gentiles, when God’s focus in salvation centers in Gentile nations. When the fullness of the Gentiles is done, the church will be removed, because the church as flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom. I Corinthians 15, flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom, referring to the church there, he’s writing to the church. But there will be people in flesh and blood who will inherit the Kingdom, but the church can’t inherit the Kingdom in flesh and blood.

Well you know there are going to be children born in the kingdom and so on. Isaiah talked about a child dying at 100. So the Bible is clear and it unfolds the plan, if we just stay and say we’re going to interpret the Bible literally, historically, grammatically. We’re not going to say well we’ll interpret it literally up to this point, then we’re going to jump over here and now we’re not going to interpret literally. Israel will always be Israel, Israel is never called anything ………….. nobody else has called Israel, but Israel. The church is never anywhere called Israel in the New Testament. No where is the church said to replace Israel. Now we come into covenant blessings under the provision made in the Abrahamic Covenant. That was there from the beginning. In you all nations of the earth will be blessed. It’s true in the seed of Abraham that salvation is provided not only for Jews, but for Gentiles. This is part of the original covenant. That’s not a new twist. How that would all unfold, we had to wait until God gave His progressive revelation to clarify it.

After the 7-year tribulation, the 70th week of Daniel, Messiah will intervene and shatter the kingdoms of the world, as Daniel 2 pictures it. That huge stone falls, crushing the nations of the world, powdering them, and He establishes His Kingdom on earth as He promised. And passages in the prophets, the lion will lie down with the lamb, Jerusalem will be the center of the world, Christ will rule. All will be fulfilled how? Well spiritually, it’s a kingdom in our hearts. Wrong. Because it’s a kingdom that was promised to have a land identified with it, to have a city identified with it. I can’t change it. God has said He cannot change it because He has bound Himself by His word. There are some things God cannot do. God cannot lie, God cannot tempt someone to sin, God cannot violate His character. What if God sinned? What would happen to the universe? Cannot happen, God cannot do that. There are some things God cannot do. We keep that in mind.

So beautiful plan. We’re clear so when we study the Old Testament we understand what’s going on. We study the New Testament epistles to the church we understand what’s going on, and we look forward to the literal fulfillment of the future. I hope heaven is not just some spiritualized idea of how I feel after I’ve had a good piece of dessert. I mean, who wants to say the Kingdom is just that in your heart? And I hope it is actually as God said it, there is a literal place that I’m going to be in the literal presence of the living God. And I will behold Him on His throne, and I will behold the angels, and I will join with them in worship as Revelation 4-5 picture for us so clearly. What a great God we have, what a might salvation. What an awesome plan unfolded in His Word, and we are a central part of that plan as His church.

Let’s pray together. Thank you, Lord, for your great grace. Thank you for the beauty of your plan, its clarity and simplicity. Lord, it falls to man and his stubborn pride to often confuse things, to muddle what you have given us clearly. You have spoken, your Spirit gives us understanding as we are diligent in the study of your truth, it becomes clearer. Lord, thank you for your marvelous grace and salvation, thank you for saving us wretched, undeserving Gentiles, that we might become the body of Christ, that we might have a glorious destiny because of your glorious grace. Thank you for the joy that is ours, thank you for the fellowship that is ours. Bless our fellowship together through the remainder of this evening. We pray in Christ’s name. Amen.