If you miss one part of the puzzle that is being put together in these studies, you will never see and understand the whole picture.
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(2) Israel’s Performance, God’s Judgement, and a New Economy—God’s Grace
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God Desires That All Nations Choose To Glorify Him
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Jerald Finney
Copyright © December 28, 2017
God promised the nation Israel He would bless those that bless her and curse those who curse her. This promise was for all time. No such promise was ever given to any other nation.[1]
To suggest that Israel has only the rights God has given to all nations is a shocking rejection of clear biblical teaching! God distinctly tells Israel that He has “separated [and] severed [her] from other people”[2] and that she will not be “reckoned among the nations”[3] because He loved Israel and chose her to be a “special people … above all people.”[4]
God promises repeatedly, “O Israel … I am with thee … to save thee: though I make a full end of all nations whither I have scattered thee, yet will I not make a full end of thee.”[5] “The Bible identifies the true god as ‘the God of Israel’ 203 times, ‘the God of Jacob’ 28 times, ‘the God of Abraham’ 17 times, and ‘the God of Isaac’ 13 times. Never is He called the God of any other ethnic group. These designations are foundational to everything the Bible teaches, including the character of God. To profess to believe in God and at the same time to hold a prejudice against God’s chosen people, the Jews, or against Israel, which turns these clear biblical identifications into meaningless titles, casts doubt upon whether one really knows the true God.”[6]
The land of Israel was unconditionally given to Abraham and to his seed in the covenant God made with Abraham (the Abrahamic Covenant).[7] God said to Abraham, “For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever;”[8] “And he said unto him, I am the LORD that brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give thee this land to inherit it.”[9]
“The Abrahamic Covenant as formed (Gen. 12.1-4) and confirmed (Gen. 13.14-17; 15.1-7; 17.1-8) is in seven distinct parts:
- “‘I will make of thee a great nation.’ Fulfilled in a threefold way: (a) In a natural posterity—‘as the dust of the earth’ (Gen. 13.16; John 8.37), viz. the Hebrew people. (b) ‘In a spiritual posterity—look now toward heaven … so shall thy seed be’ (John 8.39; Rom. 4.16, 17; 9.7, 8; Gal. 3.6, 7, 29, viz. all men of faith, whether Jew or Gentile.) Fulfilled also through Ishmael (Gen. 17.18-20).
- “I will bless thee.’ Fulfilled in two ways: (a) temporally (Gen. 13.14, 15, 17; 15.18; 24.34, 35); (b) spiritually (Gen. 15.6; John 8.56).
- “‘And make thy name great.’ Abraham’s is one of the universal names.
- “‘And thou shalt be a blessing.’ (Gal. 3.13, 14).
- “‘I will bless them that bless thee.’ In fulfillment closely related to the next clause.
- “‘And curse him that curseth thee.’ Wonderfully fulfilled in the history of the dispersion. It has invariably fared ill with the people who have persecuted the Jew—well with those who have protected him. The future will still more remarkably prove this principle (Deut. 30.7; Isa. 14.1, 2; Joel 3.1-8; Mic. 5.7-9; Hag. 2.22; Zech. 14.1-3; Mt. 25.40, 45).
- “‘In thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed.’ This is the great evangelic promise fulfilled in Abraham’s Seed, Christ (Gal. 3.16; John 8.56-58). It brings into greater definiteness the promise of the Adamic Covenant concerning the Seed of the woman (Ge. 3.15).
“NOTE.—The gift of the land is modified by prophecies of three dispossessions and restorations (Gen. 15.13, 14, 16; Jer. 25.11, 12; Deut. 28.62-65; 30.1-3). Two dispossessions and restorations have been accomplished. Israel is now in the third dispersion, from which she will be restored at the return of the Lord as King under the Davidic Covenant (Deut. 30.3; Jer. 23.5-8; Ezk. 37.21-25; Lk. 1.30-33; Acts 15.14-17).”[10]
Thus God made three kinds of promises in the Abrahamic Covenant: (1) personal promises to Abraham, (2) national promises concerning Israel, and (3) universal promises that would affect all the people of the world.[11] Some of those promises have been fulfilled, but His promises “to give the land of Canaan for an everlasting possession to Abraham’s physical descendants (Genesis 17.8) and to give the Abrahamic Covenant for an everlasting covenant to those same descendants (Genesis 17.7, 19)” have not yet been fulfilled.[12]
The Abrahamic Covenant was an everlasting covenant dependent upon God and not upon what Abraham did. A theological controversy surrounds this issue, but the Bible makes clear that the covenant is everlasting.[13]
As pointed out above, Israel entered the land under Joshua after Israel wandered forty years in the wilderness under the conditional covenant God made with Israel prior to their entering the land, the Palestinian Covenant. The Palestinian Covenant, which was established by God with Israel after He gave the Mosaic Covenant, was separate from the Mosaic Covenant. “These are the words of the covenant, which the LORD commanded Moses to make with the children of Israel in the land of Moab, beside the covenant which he made with them in Horeb.”[14] In conjunction with the covenant, God made very significant promises to Israel.[15]
These promises are to be fulfilled with literal, not spiritual, Israel, and reveal that God always leaves the way open for unfaithful Israel to be reconciled to Him. The final fulfillment of these promises to Israel is in the future. Since God intends to fulfill these promises to Israel when all the curse of Deuteronomy 28 concerning the nation Israel has been completed, this shows that literal Israel, as distinguished from the church (identified by some theologians as spiritual Israel), will survive the curse of God. God’s promise to restore Israel to the land which he gave to Abraham and his descendents when all the curse of Deuteronomy 28 has been fulfilled is another guarantee of Israel’s permanent ownership of that land. The Word of God in the promises of the Palestinian Covenant guarantees that literal Israel will repent and become saved in the future.[16]
The future blessing of Israel as a nation rests upon the Palestinian Covenant of restoration and conversion and the covenant God made with David, the Davidic Covenant of the Kingship of the Messiah, David’s Son, and this gives to predictive prophecy its Messianic character. The exaltation of Israel is secured in the kingdom, and the kingdom takes its power to bless from the Person of the King, David’s Son, but also “Emmanuel.” The interpretation of “Emmanuel” is “God with us.”[17]
Later, after Israel rejected the theocracy and demanded a king, and after God anointed David as King, God made a covenant with David as recorded in 2 Samuel 7.8-17.[18] The Davidic Covenant, “upon which the glorious kingdom of Christ ‘of the seed of David according to the flesh’ is to be founded, secures:
(1) A Davidic ‘house’; i.e. posterity, family.
(2) A ‘throne’; i.e. royal authority.
(3) A kingdom; i.e. sphere of rule.
(4) In perpetuity; ‘for ever.’
(5) And this fourfold covenant has but one condition: disobedience in the Davidic family is to be visited with chastisement, but not to the abrogation of the covenant (2 Sam. 7.15; Psa. 89.20-37; Isa. 24.5; 54.3). The chastisement fell; first in the division of the kingdom under Rehoboam, and finally, in the captivities (2 Ki. 25.1-7). Since that time but one King of the Davidic family has been crowned at Jerusalem and He was crowned with thorns. But the Davidic Covenant confirmed to David by the oath of Jehovah, and renewed to Mary by the angel Gabriel, is immutable (Psa. 89.30-37), and the Lord God will yet give to that thorn-crowned One ‘the throne of his father David’ (Lk. 1.31-33; Acts 2.29-32; 15.14-17).[19]
Utterly violating the conditions of the Palestinian Covenant, the nation was first disrupted[20] and then cast out of the land.[21] The dispersion was for disobedience, as foretold by God.[22]
A temporary dispersion within was prophesied, to come before the extended dispersion. “The LORD shall bring thee, and thy king which thou shalt set over thee, unto a nation which neither thou nor thy fathers have known; and there shalt thou serve other gods, wood and stone.”[23] This refers to Babylonian captivity of 70 years prophesied by Jeremiah.[24]
God, through Moses, told Israel that her continued disobedience would be punished by a worldwide dispersion.[25]
The Lord Jesus confirmed Moses’ words: “And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.”[26] After the siege and total destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. almost all Judea became a desert and remained that way for nineteen-hundred and fifty years until 1948.
But the same covenant unconditionally promises a national restoration of Israel which is yet to be fulfilled. We see this in many prophecies. See En27[27] for some of those prophecies.
This is where we are in prophecy at the present time: “And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.”[28]
God told Israel, “If my people [Israel], which are called by my name, shall humble themselves and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”[29] Israel will repent in the future while still in the dispersion: “And shalt return unto the LORD thy God, and shalt obey his voice according to all that I command thee this day, thou and thy children, with all thine heart, and with all thy soul[.]”[30] God will then forgive them, restore them to their land which He gave them, and heal them.
Go to the following webpage for links to more in-depth Bible studies on Israel: The Bible Doctrine of Government.
Go to much more extensive essay by clicking here.
Endnotes
[1] 2 S. 7.23-26. David understood this. David said to the Lord after the Lord proclaimed to him what is called the Davidic Covenant: “And what one nation in the earth is like thy people, even like Israel, whom God went to redeem for a people to himself, and to make him a name, and to do for you great things and terrible, for thy land, before thy people, which thou redeemedst to thee from Egypt, from the nations and their gods? For thou hast confirmed to thyself thy people Israel to be a people unto thee for ever: and thou, LORD, art become their God. And now, O LORD God, the word that thou hast spoken concerning thy servant, and concerning his house, establish it for ever, and do as thou hast said…. And let thy name be magnified for ever, saying, The LORD of hosts is the God over Israel: and let the house of thy servant David be established before thee.”
[2] Le. 20.24, 26.
[3] N. 23.9.
[4] De. 7.6-9: “For thou [Israel] art an holy people unto the LORD thy God: the LORD thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth. The LORD did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people; for ye were the fewest of all people: But because the LORD loved you, and because he would keep the oath which he had sworn unto your fathers, hath the LORD brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you out of the house of bondmen, from the hand of Pharoah king of Egypt.”.
[5] Je. 30.10-11.
[6] Dave Hunt, “God of Jacob, God of Israel, Part I,” The Berean Call, August 2006, Vol. XXI, No. 8, pp. 3, 5. See Matthew 22.29-31; See article for more good information on those who think the covenant with Israel was broken. See also, Dave Hunt, “God of Jacob, God of Israel, Part Two,” The Berean Call, September 2006, Vol. XXI, No. 9, pp. 3-4.
[7] Ge. 12.1-4: “Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee: And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed. So Abram departed, as the LORD had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him: and Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran.”.
[8] Ge. 13.15.
[9] Ge. 15.7.
[10] 1917 Scofield Reference Edition, n. 3 p. 24 to Genesis 15.18. This notation was made before the Jews were restored to the land in 1948. But even in 1948 and thereafter, there has not been a complete restoration to all the land that God gave to the Jews.
[11] Renald E. Showers, There Really Is a Difference: A Comparison of Covenant and Dispensational Theology (Bellmawr, New Jersey: The Friends of Israel Gospel Ministry, 1990), p p. 57-58.
[12] Ibid., p. 59.
[13] Ibid., pp. 60-68: Renald E. Showers sums up the dispensational arguments against the conditional position.
[14] De. 29.1.
[15] De. 30.1-10: “And it shall come to pass, when all these things are come upon thee, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before thee, and thou shalt call them to mind among all the nations, whither the LORD thy God hath driven thee, And shalt return unto the LORD thy God, and shalt obey his voice according to all that I command thee this day, thou and thy children, with all thine heart, and with all thy soul; That then the LORD thy God will turn thy captivity, and have compassion upon thee, and will return and gather thee from all the nations, whither the LORD thy God hath scattered thee. If any of thine be driven out unto the outmost parts of heaven, from thence will the LORD thy God gather thee, and from thence will he fetch thee: And the LORD thy God will bring thee into the land which thy fathers possessed, and thou shalt possess it; and he will do thee good, and multiply thee above thy fathers. And the LORD thy God will circumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, that thou mayest live. And the LORD thy God will put all these curses upon thine enemies, and on them that hate thee, which persecuted thee. And thou shalt return and obey the voice of the LORD, and do all his commandments which I command thee this day. And the LORD thy God will make thee plenteous in every work of thine hand, in the fruit of thy body, and in the fruit of thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy land, for good: for the LORD will again rejoice over thee for good, as he rejoiced over thy fathers: If thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to keep his commandments and his statutes which are written in this book of the law, and if thou turn unto the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul.”
[16] Bible teaching on this is outlined in this chapter, infra. See also, Showers, pp. 81-82.
[17] Mt. 1.23.
[18] 2 S. 7.8-17. “Now therefore so shalt thou say unto my servant David, Thus saith the LORD of hosts, I took thee from the sheepcoat, from following the sheep, to be ruler over my people, over Israel: [a]nd I was with thee whithersoever thou wentest, and have cut off all thine enemies out of thy sight, and have made thee a great name, like unto the name of the great men that are in the earth. Moreover I will appoint a place for my people Israel, and will plant them, that they may dwell in a place of their own, and move no more; neither shall the children of wickedness afflict them any more, as beforetime. “And as since the time that I commanded judges to be over my people Israel, and have caused thee to rest from all thine enemies. Also the LORD telleth thee that he will make thee an house. And when thy days be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build an house for my name, and I will stablish the throne of his kingdom for ever. I will be his father, and he shall be my son. If he commit iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men, and with the stripes of the children of men: [b]ut my mercy shall not depart away from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away before thee. And thine house and thy kingdom shall be established for ever before thee: thy throne shall be established for ever. According to all these words, and according to all this vision, so did Nathan speak unto David.” “Although this passage does not call God’s promises to David a covenant, other passages clearly indicate that God was establishing a covenant with His servant (2 Sam. 23:5; 2 Chr. 7:18; 21:7; Ps. 89:3-4, 28-29, 34-37; Jer. 33.19-26).” Showers, p. 85.
[19] See also, 1 Chr. 17.7-15.
[20] 1 K. 12.
[21] 2 K. 17.1-18; 14.1-25.11.
[22] De. 30.1-3: “And it shall come to pass, when all these things are come upon thee, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before thee, and thou shalt call them to mind among all the nations, whither the LORD thy God hath driven thee, And shalt return unto the LORD thy God, and shalt obey his voice according to all thine heart, and with all thy soul; That then the LORD thy God will turn thy captivity, and have compassion upon thee from all the nations, whither the LORD thy God hath scattered thee.” De. 28.25, 63-64: “The LORD shall cause thee to be smitten before thine enemies: thou shalt go out one way against them, and flee seven ways before them: and shalt be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth…. And it shall come to pass, that as the LORD rejoiced over you to do you good, and to multiply you; so the LORD will rejoice over you to destroy you, and to bring you to nought; and ye shall be plucked from off the land whither thou goest to possess it. And the LORD shall scatter thee among all people, from the one end of the earth even unto the other; and there thou shalt serve other gods, which neither thou nor thy fathers have known, even wood and stone.” See also, Le. 26.32-39
[23] De. 28.36.
[24] Je. 25.11-12: “And this whole land shall be a desolation, and an astonishment; and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years. And it shall come to pass, when seventy years are accomplished, that I will punish the king of Babylon, and that nation, saith the LORD, for their iniquity, and the land of the Chaldeans, and will make it perpetual desolations.”. God gives explicit details of what will happen in that dispersion in De. 28.35-62.
[25] Deuteronomy 28.63-64. “And it shall come to pass, that as the LORD rejoiced over you to do you good, and to multiply you; so the LORD will rejoice over you to destroy you, and to bring you to nought; and ye shall be plucked from off the land whither thou goest to possess it. And the LORD shall scatter thee among all people, from the one end of the earth even unto the other; and there thou shalt serve other gods, which neither thou nor thy fathers have known, even wood and stone.” See verses 63-68.
[26] Lk. 21.24.
[27] Is. 11.11; Isaiah 48 explains that Israel will be restored & why; Isaiah 49.8-21: Israel to be preserved & restored; Is. 51.3; Is. 52.8, 9; Is. 54 describes Israel the restored wife of Jehovah & security and blessing of restored Israel; Is. 61.3-11; 62: The restoration of Israel; Is. 65.17-66.24: The eternal blessing of Israel in the new earth.
Is. 65.1-16 tells of all the bad things Israel, the rebellious people had done. Is. 65.17-25 tells of the eternal blessing of Israel in the new earth. Verse 17 looks beyond the kingdom-age to the new heavens and the new earth, but verses 18-25 describe the kingdom-age itself. Longevity is restored, but death, the “last enemy” (1 Co. 15.26), is not destroyed till after Satan’s rebellion at the end of the thousand years (Re. 20.7-14).
Je. 16.15c (see Je. 16.14-16); Je. 23.1-40: the future restoration and conversion of Israel. This chapter tells the bad things the nation, the prophets, the priests, the people had done, and also states. “And I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all countries whither I have driven them, and will bring them again to their folds; and they shall be fruitful and increase…. Behold, the days come saith the LORD, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth. In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is his name whereby he shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.”
Je. 24 speaks of both the good and the evil and the good people who will be deported & the evil who remain in Judah and those who dwell in Egypt. God says he will remove the evil “into all the kingdoms of the earth for their hurt, to be a reproach and a proverb, a taunt and a curse, in all places whither I shall drive them … and will send the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, among them, till they be consumed from off the land that I gave unto them and their fathers” (Je. 24.9-10). But He will “set [his] eyes upon them for good, and … will bring them again to this land: and … will build them, and not pull them down; and … will plant them, and not pluck them up.” (Je. 24.6). Je. 30.8-11, 16-24; 31; 32.37-44: Israel will be restored; Je. 32.32, 37-41; Jeremiah 33: God will restore Israel and Judah; Je. 46.27-28; Je. 50.19-20, 51.5; Ezekiel 11.17-21: Israel to be restored to the land and converted; Ezekiel 16.60-63: The promise of future blessing under the Palestinian Covenant and the New Covenant; Ez. 28.25-26; Ezekiel 34.11-31. Israel to be restored and the Davidic kingdom to be set up.
Notice the reason God restores Israel: “Therefore say unto the house of Israel, thus saith the Lord GOD; I do not this for your sakes, O house of Israel, but for mine holy name’s sake, which ye have profaned among the heathen, whither ye went. And I will sanctify my great name, which was profaned among the heathen, which ye have profaned in the midst of them; and the heathen shall know that I am the LORD, saith the Lord GOD, when I shall be sanctified in you before their eyes. Not for your sakes I do this saith the Lord GOD, be it known unto you: be ashamed and confounded for your own ways, O house of Israel.” Ez. 36.22-23, 32 [Bold emphasis mine]. One purpose for God setting aside the nation of Israel was to point other nations to God. Israel failed miserably. See Ezekiel 36 and many other passages in the OT. Man always fails. Only God succeeds. As was mentioned in Chapter 2 above, the God-given purpose of man is to glorify God, but man seeks his happiness, and seeks not the glory of God.
“Jehovah gives [in Ez. 37] the method of the restoration of the nation. The “bones” are the whole house of Israel who shall then be living. The “graves” are the nations where they dwell. The order of the procedure is: (1) the bringing of the people out (v12); (2) the bringing of them in (v12); (3) their conversion (v13); (4) the filling with the Spirit (v14). The symbol of the 2 sticks follows. The 2 sticks are Judah and the ten tribes; united, they are one nation (vs. 19-21). Then follows (vs 21-27) the plain declaration as to Jehovah’s purpose, and verse 28 implies that then Jehovah will become known to the Gentiles in a marked way. This is also the order of Acts 15.16, 17, and the two passages strongly indicate the time of full Gentile conversion. See also Isa. 11.10.” 1917 Scofield Reference Edition, n. 1 to Ezekiel 37.1, p. 881.
Ez. 37.26-28; Ezekiel 39.25-29: Vision of restored and converted Israel. Ez. 40.1-48.35: Israel in the land during the kingdom-age. Vision of the future temple. Vision of the glory of the Lord filling the temple. The place of the throne of the future kingdom. The measure of the altar. The offerings. 43.19-27. The gate for the prince. The priests of the future temple. Etc. Ez. 43.7-12: The place of the throne of the future kingdom.
“That Israel is the wife of Jehovah (see vs. 16-23), now disowned but yet to be restored, is the clear teaching of the passages [in the book of Hosea]…. Israel is, then, to be the restored and forgiven wife of Jehovah, … Jehovah’s earthly wife (Hos. 2.23)[.] …” Schofield, n. 1 to Ho. 2.2, p. 922. Ho. 2.14-23: Israel, the adulterous wife, to be restored. Ho. 13.9-16: The ultimate blessing of Israel in the kingdom.
Joel 3.1; Joel 3.17-21: The kingdom blessing; Amos 9.13-15: Full kingdom blessing of restored Israel; Micah 4.6-8: Israel to be regathered; Zephaniah 3.14-20: The kingdom blessing of Israel; Zec. 2.4-13: Jerusalem in the kingdom age; Zec. 8.1-8: Jehovah’s unchanged purpose to bless Israel in the kingdom; Zec. 8.20-23: Jerusalem to be the religious center of the earth; Zec. 9.10-17: The future deliverance of Judah and Ephriam, and the world-wide kingdom; Zec. 10: The future strengthening of Judah and Ephraim and the dispersion and regathering of Israel in one view.
Luke 1.26-38 (Here the angel Gabriel says to Mary): “He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.”
Zacharias, filled with the Holy Ghost, prophesies… “And he raised up an horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David; As he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets, which have been since the world began: That we should be saved from our enemies, and from the hand of all that hate us; To perform the mercy promised to our fathers, and to remember his holy covenant; The oath he sware to our father Abraham, That he would grant unto us, that we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies might serve him without fear, In holiness and righteousness before him, all the days of our life.”
When Jesus taught the apostles after he was risen, they “asked of him saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel? And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power” (Ac. 1.6-7). Notice, Jesus indicated that this would happen, but would not tell them when.
“… Taken together, the N.T. teachings concerning the return of Jesus Christ may be summarized as follows: (1) That the return is an event, not a process, and is personal and corporeal (Mt. 23.39; 24.30; 25.31; Mk. 14.62; Lk. 17.24; John 14.3; Acts 1.11; Phil. 3.20, 21; 1 Thes. 4.14-17). (2) His coming has a threefold relation: to the church, to Israel, to the nations.
“(a) To the church the descent of the Lord into the air to raise the sleeping and change the living saints is set forth as a constant expectation and hope (Mt. 24.36, 44, 48-51; 25.13; 1 Cor. 15.51, 52; Phil. 3.20; 1 Thes. 1.10; 4.14-17; 1 Tim. 6.14; Tit. 2.13; Rev. 22.20).
“(b) To Israel, the return of the Lord is predicted to accomplish the yet unfulfilled prophecies of her national regathering, conversion, and establishment in peace and power under the Davidic Covenant (Acts 15.14-17 with Zech. 14.1-9). See “Kingdom (O.T.),” 2 Sam. 7.8-17; Zech. 13.8, note; Lk. 1.31-33; 1 Cor. 15.24, note.
“(c) To the Gentile nations the return of Christ is predicted to bring the destruction of the present political world-system (Dan. 2.34, 35; Rev. 19.11, note); the judgment of Mt. 25.31-46, followed by world-wide Gentile conversion and participation in the blessings of the kingdom (Isa. 2.2-4; 11.10; 60.3; Zech. 8.3, 20, 23; 14.16-21).” 1917 Scofield Reference Edition, n. 1 to Ac.. 1.11, p. 1148.
“A distinction must be observed between the ‘last days’ when the prediction relates to Israel and the ‘last days’ when the prediction relates to the church (1 Tim. 4.1-3; 2 Tim. 3.1-8; Heb. 1.1, 2; 1 Pet. 1.4, 5; 2 Pet. 3.1-9; 1 John 2.18, 19; Jude 17-19). Also distinguish the ‘last days’ (plural) from ‘the last day’ (singular); the latter expression referring to the resurrections and last judgment (John 6.39, 40, 44, 54; 11.24; 12.48). The ‘last days’ as related to the church began with the advent of Christ (Heb. 1.2), but have especial reference to the time of declension and apostasy at the end of this age (2 Tim. 3.1; 4.4). The ‘last days’ as related to Israel are the days of Israel’s exaltation and blessing, and are synonymous with the kingdom-age (Isa. 2.2-4; Mic. 4.1-7). They are ‘last’ not with reference to this dispensation, but with reference to the whole of Israel’s history.” Ibid., n. 1, p. 1151 to Acts 2.17.
Acts 15.13-17: James declares the result of the council at Jerusalem which considered the issues of whether it was “needful to circumcise [the Gentile believers], and to command them to keep the law of Moses” (Ac. 15.5). the outcalling of the Gentiles agrees with the promises to Israel. Peter had argued, “And God, which knoweth the hearts, bare them witness, giving them the Holy Ghost, even as he did unto us; And put no difference between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith. Now therefore why tempt ye God, to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear? But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved, even as they” (Ac. 15.8-11).
Romans 9-11: The Gospel does not set aside the covenants with Israel. 9.4-5 gives the sevenfold privilege of Israel. “I SAY then, Hath God cast away his people? God forbid. For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. God hath not cast away his people which he foreknew…. And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob: For this is my covenant unto them, and I shall take away their sins” (Ro. 11.1-2, 26-27).
“That Israel has not been forever set aside is the theme of [Romans 11]. (1) The salvation of Paul proves that there is still a remnant (v. 1). (2) The doctrine of the remnant proves it (vs. 2-6). (3) The present national unbelief was foreseen (vs. 7-10). (4) Israel’s unbelief is the Gentile opportunity (vs. 11-25). (5) Israel is judicially broken off from the good olive tree, Christ (vs. 17-22). (6) They are to be grafted in again (vs. 23, 24). (7) The promised Deliverer will come out of Zion and the nation will be saved (vs. 25-29). That the Christian now inherits the distinctive Jewish promises is not taught in Scripture. The Christian is of the heavenly seed of Abraham (Gen. 15.5, 6; Gal. 3.29), and partakes of the spiritual blessings of the Abrahamic Covenant (Gen. 15.18, note); but Israel as a nation always has its own place, and is yet to have its greatest exaltation as the earthly people of God. See ‘Israel’ (Gen. 12.2; Rom. 11.26); ‘Kingdom’ (Gen. 1.26-28; Zech. 12.8).” (1917 Scofield Reference Edition, n. 2 to Ro. 11.1, p. 1204).
[28] Lk. 21.24.
[29] 2 Chr. 7.14.
[30] De. 30.2.
Civil government was established within the covenant God made with Noah. The elements of that covenant are:
After the fall, God established family government. He said to the woman: “I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.”
After the fall, God gave mankind a chance to be directed by his conscience (an awareness of doing wrong), still to be individually controlled only by self-government. God had told man, prior to the fall, “For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof [of the forbidden fruit], then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.”
A basic definition of government is “direction, control.” God is the highest Ruler. His government is above all other governments; all other governments derive their authority from God. He, as the Sovereign of the universe ordained and rules over all other governments. “Ordain” means “to establish or order by appointment, decree, or law” (WEBSTER’S COLLEGIATE DICTIONARY 818 (10th ed. 1995)). Men know that God is in control because God put a God-consciousness in every person (See Ro. 1.18-32).
This study is designed for the born again believer who wishes to learn what the Bible teaches about government, church, separation of church and state, and how those principles have been and are applied in America. The topics covered are extremely important to our Lord Jesus Christ, to individuals, to families, to churches, and to the nation. The guiding light is the Bible.
This course is presented at the spiritual grade school level. Each lesson will be only about five to eight minutes in length. The course presents basic knowledge. At first, only an elementary analysis and understanding is taught and required by the student. For those who are already more advanced, they can listen to the study and go to the resources cited in the accompanying written (and probably more thorough, but still grade school level) study for more in depth and detailed studies which will connect to further studies. One can progress as far as he wants, even to the graduate level, if he continues to follow the links to the top studies such as God Betrayed. At that level, meditation, analysis, and study become very important.
A child of God should never just accept what he is told. He should make sure what he is told is in line with the Word of God. Even on the grade school level, some verses will be cited as the basis for a teaching. The more mature student will want to make sure those verses are not taken out of their immediate context and the overall context of Scripture.
One should not attempt to start with the final phase of the course without understanding the foundational principles and the application of those principles.
Simply Church 