Israels Past
John D. LaVier
In the preceding lessons a great deal has een said about God's covenant people, the nation Israel, and some may thereby think any further word is redundant. It is highly important, though, if one would have a correct understanding of the Word, to be thoroughly familiar with Israel's history, and of God's dealings with them and His purposes for them. It is only then we will discern where we fit into the picture and can be found working in harmony with God's program for members of the Church in this age of grace. The major portion of Holy Scripture is devoted to Israel and in the next two lessons we will briefly cover Israel's past, present, and God's plans for their future.
During the
first two thousand years of man's history there was no such thing as nations. :
"And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech' , (Genesis 11
: 1). During this time the wickedness of man had become so great that God sent
the flood, destroying all flesh, and began the human race all over again with
the eight souls saved in the ark. But even after the flood it was the same old
story of sin and departure from God. Romans 1:21-25 describes that time and
indicates that even though the people had sufficient spiritual light to guide
them, they turned away from the truth of the one true Creator God, made their
linages and became idolaters. This brought judgment upon them at their
idolatrous tower of Babel, where God
onfounded their language and scattered them abroad. This was the
beginning of the disunited nations. It was then God determined to bring on the
scene a new nation. He called Abram out ofUr of the Chaldees, promising to make
of his seed a great nation, and through that nation, Israel, to bring the
scattered nations back to Himself.
The Old Testament is the history of the nation Israel.
They were a nation highly favored of God. He considered them as His vineyard,
the vine of His planting, and He could say, "What could have been done
more to my vineyard, that I have not done in it?" (Isaiah 5:4). He brought
them out of Egypt, safely through the sea, destroying the enemy who pursued
them. He led them through the wilderness, ministering to their every need, and
brought them into the land of . promise, giving them victory over nations
greater and mightier than they. And best of all He gave them His Word, making
them custodians of the truth. The question is asked in Romans 3: 1, "What
advantage then hath the Jew?" and the answer is given, "Much every
way; chiefly, because that unto them were committed the oracles of God."
In addition, the Lord was continually sending unto them His spokesmen. He
said, "Since the day that your fathers came forth out of the land of Egypt
unto this day I have even sent unto you all my servants the prophets, daily
rising up early and sending them" (Jeremiah 7:25). What was the nation's reaction to all of the Divine favor,
and their response to His message by the prophets? We are very plainly told:
"And the Lord God of their fathers sent to them by his messengers, rising
up betimes, and sending; because he had compassion on his people, and on his
dwelling place; But they mocked the messengers of God, and despised his words,
and misused his prophets, until the wrath of the Lord arose against his
people, till there was no remedy" (2 Chronicles 36: 15-16). In spite of
God's care and concern, and every effort to bring them back to Himself, the
nation turned away and their condition became incurable; there was no remedy.
About 700 B.C. Israel (the tribes of the north) was carried away into Assyria
and to this day are referred to as the ten lost tribes. Some time later Judah
(and Benjamin) were carried off to Babylon. After seventy years of captivity a
remnant retumed under Ezra and Nehemiah to rebuild the temple and the city of
Jerusalem. Four centuries later, when Christ came, the Jews were there in the
land but under Gentile rule.
The period
between the two testaments is referred to as the four hundred silent years,
when Israel was in disfavor with God and He had withdrawn from the scene. This
was similar to the present two thousand years when Israel is again in disfavor
with God and the heavens are again silent. The lot of the Jews in Palestine
during the four hundred years was quite stressful and they have been described
as being "between the anvil and he
hammer. " They and the land suffered much as a result of the constant wars
between the neighboring nations. Midway in this period Antiochus Epiphanes
came in control of the land, plundering Jerusalem and enslaving many of the inhabitants.
He profaned the temple by offering a sow on the great altar and erecting an
altar to Jupiter. In all this he was a type of the Beast of the last days, and
the "abomination of desolation" spoken of by the Lord in Matthew 24:
15. His excesses brought about the revolt of the Maccabees and Israel's history
of this time is the record of fierce fighting and many deeds of heroism. hlenc
oe four centuries was broken with the birth of John Baptist, the forerunner of
Messiah, and then with the birth of Messiah Himself. The nation Israel had
ignored the message of their prophets, but now the Son of God has come to them
and what will be their response to Him? The answer is in Matthew 21:33-39 in
the parable spoken by Jesus of the householder and the husbandmen. The
householder is God, the vineyard the nation Israel, and the husbandmen the
leaders of that nation. The servants were the prophets whom God sent to them
from time to time, whom they mistreated and some of whom they killed. Last of
all God sent His own dear Son and they said, "This is the heir; come, let
us kill him, and let us seize on his inheritance." And this is what they
did. In recent times efforts have been made to absolve the Jews of the crime of
bringing about Christ's death, but the
record is clear. When Peter was speaking to his Jewish audience he said,
"But ye denied the Holy One and the Just, and desired a murderer to be
granted unto you; and killed the Prince of life, whom God hath raised from the
dead" (Acts 3: 14-15). Later, when speaking to the Gentiles, Peter said,
"And we are witnesses of all things which he did both in the land of the
Jews, and in Jerusalem whom they slew and hanged on a tree" (10:39). In
his dying address Stephen charged that nation with their sin and wickedness. He
said, "Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always
resist the Holy Ghost; as your fathers did, so do yeo Which of the prophets
have not your fathers persecuted? and they have slain them which shewed before
of the coming of the Just One; of whom ye have been now the betrayers and
murderers" (7:51-52).
In spite
of what is commonly taught we are not to think that Israel, having rejected the
Son of God and having brought about His death, is then and there set aside.
After Christ's resurrection Israel was given another opportunity to repent
and to acknowledge that Jesus of Nazareth was indeed the promised Messiah and
King. The Holy Spirit was given to convict them of their sin; of sin because
they did not believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Another of our Lord's parables,
the parable of the fig tree in Luke 13 :6-9, is illustrative of this second
chance which was given to the nation. In this parable God is the Owner of the
vineyard, the Lord Jesus Christ is the Israel's Past.
Dresser, and Israel the fig tree.
The three years in which the Dresser had worked with the tree represent the
three years of the Lord's ministry in the midst of that nation. When the Owner
said to cut down the fruitless tree it was the Dresser who requested that it
might be given another chance. Israel was given that additional opportunity as
the twelve apostles preached to them with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven,
and it is interesting to note that it was just about one year between the
resurrection of Christ and the stoning of Stephen. In a previous lesson it was
stated that with Stephen's martyrdom Israel's "all day long" of God's
favor had come to an end. There the nation was judicially found guilty and
sentence pronounced, but the sentence was not executed until the close of the
transition, and beyond that to the destruction of Jerusalem.
Israel was
tested and tried in many ways and failed repeatedly, proving that all of Adam's
race, Jew and Gentile . alike, stand guilty before God. It has been said that
God made a difference to prove there was no difference. We read:
"F or
there is no difference; for all have sinned, and come short of the glory of
God" (Romans 3:22-23). Following are a few of the ways in which Israel was
tested:
They were tested under the Covenant. This was the
covenant of law. When God was to enter .into this covenant relationship with
them all the people answered together and
said, "All that the Lord hath spoken we will do" (Exodus 19:
8). But did they? No, they did not. The Lord said, "Which my covenant they
brake, although I was an husband unto them" (J eremiah 31: 32). Israel
failed under that old covenant but the Lord is going to make a new covenant
with them and He says, "This shall be the covenant that I will make with
the house of Israel; After those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law in
their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and
they shall be my people" (vs. 33).
2) They were
tested under the Commission. Yes, they had a commission. The Lord planted them
in the midst of all the heathen and said, "Ye are my witnesses"
(Isaiah 43: 10). They were to make the name of God known among the Gentiles,
but because of their failure and sin it was written:
"For
the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles through you" (Romans
2:24). Jonah was typical of the nation. He was commissioned to go to the
Gentiles but refused and landed in the belly of the big fish. Israel would not
go but are there anyway, swallowed up of the nations. The big fish could not
digest Jonah and had to give him up. The nations cannot digest the Jews in
their midst and some day will be forced to give them up. Jonah received his
commission again and this time he went and the entire ci ty repented from the
least to the greatest. Israel will be commis-
sioned again and this time will go
and the result will be a great worldwide turning to God.
3) They were tested under the Christ.
The
fulness of time had come and the prophesied, long-awaited Messiah was in the
midst of His people, yet went unrecognized. He had come to save them from their
enemies and they knew Him not. Worse, though, than their nonrecognition was
that He was despised and rejected and hated without a cause. In His lament over
Jerusalem and the nation that had refused Him He says, "Ye shall not see
me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the
Lord" (Matthew 23 :39). Israel, in the day of their trouble, will say that
very thing. They will look on Him whom they pierced, they will acknowledge
their sin, and find forgiveness and salvation in Him.
4) They were tested under the Convictor. Havig rejected Christ Jesus and seeing Him put to death Israel was given one last opportunity to· repent and to receive the proffered blessing. The Holy Spirit came at Pentecost to convict them of their sin, and the Spirit-filled apostles made one [mal appeal to the nation, but they blasphemed and did their best to silence God's messengers. For the past two millenniums they have been a castaway people. The day is coming, however, when God will tum again to them, for He has said: "And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them. And ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and ye shall be my people, and I will be your God" (Ezekiel 36:27-28).
4) They were tested under the Convictor. Havig rejected Christ Jesus and seeing Him put to death Israel was given one last opportunity to· repent and to receive the proffered blessing. The Holy Spirit came at Pentecost to convict them of their sin, and the Spirit-filled apostles made one [mal appeal to the nation, but they blasphemed and did their best to silence God's messengers. For the past two millenniums they have been a castaway people. The day is coming, however, when God will tum again to them, for He has said: "And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them. And ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and ye shall be my people, and I will be your God" (Ezekiel 36:27-28).
In reading
of Israel's failures let no Gentiles be puffed up. All of us are nothing but
failures in ourselves, and remember that which is written: "For if God spared
not the natural branches, take heed lest he also spare not thee" (Romans
11:21).
The
stoning of Stephen marked the close of God's dealings with Israel and the
culmination of the kingdom offer. Immediately thereafter Saul of Tarsus is
converted, he who was the Lord's chosen vessel to bear His name before the
heathen world. In Acts 13 Barnabas and Saul, with John Mark as their attendant,
start out on the first great missionary journey, to be used of God in opening
the door of faith to the Gentiles. Their first stop was on the Island of Cyprus
where they came in contact with a Jew named Bar-jesus, who was with the deputy
of the country, Sergius Paulus, a Gentile. The latter is referred to as being a
prudent man and seemed to be a seeker after truth,for he called for the
servants of the Lord desiring to hear the Word of God. The Jew, however, sought
to turn away the deputy from the faith and to keep him from hearing the Word of
truth, proving that though his name was Bar-jesus, SOl1 of Jehovah the Saviour,
he was really a hild of the devil. Paul
(name is here changed) for the first time exercises the sign of an apostle by
pronouncing judgment on this Jew. He said, "And now, behold, the hand of
the Lord is upon thee, and thou shalt be blind, not seeing the sun for a
season. And immediately there fell on him a mist and a darkness; and he went
about seeking some to lead him by the hand " (Acts 13: 11). This blinding
of Bar-jesus at the outset of Paul 's ministry is typical of the blindness that
has been pronounced on the Jewish nation. In neither case is the blindness
permanent. Bar-jesus was blinded, not seeing the sun for a season, while the
nation has been blinded, not seeing the Son for a season. The season is this
present church age, for Paul wrote that Israel's blindness is only until the
fulness of the Gentiles be come in. Then they will look upon the Son of God,
seeing Him as the Sun of Righteousness arising on the world horizon to lighten
their path and lead them to a brighter day.
Bar-jesus did not want the Word of God himself nor did
he want the Gentile to hear it and to be saved. God had raised up that nation
for this very purpose; in order that through them the Gentiles might be saved,
but sadly it turned out otherwise. Israel had over and over turned their back
on the Word of God, and now would be trying to keep the Gentiles from hearing
it. The Apostle Paul wrote concerning them, "Who both killed the Lord
Jesus, and their own prophets, and have persecuted us; and they please not God,
and are contrary to
all men;
forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles, that they might be saved, to fill up
their sins alway; for the wrath is come upon them to the uttermost" (I
Thessalonians 2:15-16).
Thankfully,
the deputy did get saved, for we read, "Then the deputy, when he saw what
was done, believed, being astonished at the doctrine of the Lord" (Acts
13: 12). Notice, he was not so much astonished at the judgment pronounced on
the Jew, but he was astonished at the doctrine of the Lord. Everyone of us ought
to be truly amazed and astonished at the doctrine of the Lord; the truth that
poor, lost, helpless, undeserving sinners can be saved by the grace of God
apart altogether from human effort; that we can have the righteousness of God
by faith alone in the Lord Jesus Christ, who bare our sins in His own body on
the tree and put them away by the sacrifice of Himself. All that the God of
grace has done on behalf of fallen man is cause for astonishment. We bow our
heads in worship and call upon all that is within us to bless His holy name.
Also Read
Israels
Future - John D. LaVier
(A 10 Minute Video)
How
God Saves Men
Believing
Christ DIED, that’s HISTORY.
Believing
Christ DIED for YOU SINS and Rose again that’s SALVATION.
ead
Acts 16L31 Romans 1:16, and 1. Corinthians 15:1-4
(A 10 Minute Video)
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