Why Israel is Important - Part 1
Romans 9:26-10:3
1.
Chapters
9-11: God’s plan for Israel, which is a
picture of
a. The sovereignty of God
b. The responsibility of man
c. The future of Israel, and the human race.
2.
Israel has been in the news, and will continue, as we are heading into the End Times as prophecy in scripture has foretold. Psalms 83 War:
Psalm 83:1-8
1 Do not keep silent, O God! Do not hold Your peace,
and do not be still, O God! 2 For behold, Your enemies make a tumult; and those
who hate You have lifted up their head. 3 They have taken crafty counsel
against Your people, and consulted together against Your sheltered ones. 4 They
have said, “Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation, that the name of
Israel may be remembered no more.” 5 For they have consulted together with one
consent; they form a confederacy against You: 6 The tents of Edom and the
Ishmaelites; Moab and the Hagrites; 7 Gebal, Ammon, and Amalek; Philistia with
the inhabitants of Tyre; 8 Assyria also has joined with them; they have helped
the children of Lot.
Psalm 83 Coalition:
·
Tents of Edom = [decedents of Esau] Palestinian Refugees
and Southern Jordanians
·
Ishmaelites = Saudi Arabians
·
Moab = Palestinian Refugees and Central
Jordanians
·
Hagrites = Egyptians
·
Gebal = Northern Lebanese
·
Ammon = Palestinian Refugees and Northern
Jordanians
·
Amalek = Arabs South of Israel
·
Philista = Palestinian Refugees and Hamas of
Gaza Strip
·
Inhabitants of Tyre = Hezbollah and Southern
Lebanese
·
Assyria = Syrians and perhaps Northern Iraqis
included
·
Children of Lot = Reference to Moab and Ammon
(above)
1.
This impending war in the Middle East will be a
major and devastating war. The Arab confederacy of Psalm 83 will be defeated
and destroyed by the army of Israel:
Jeremiah 49:2
But the days are coming, "declares the
LORD," when I will sound the battle cry against Rabbah of the Ammonites
[Ammon, Jordan]; it will become a mound of ruins, and its surrounding villages
will be set on fire. Then Israel will drive out those who drove her out,"
says the LORD.
Jeremiah 49:8
Turn and flee, hide in deep caves, you who live in
Dedan [Saudi Arabia], for I will bring disaster on Esau at the time I punish
him [Southern Jordan].
2.
Damascus, the oldest continually inhabited city
on earth, will be drawn into the conflict, as presently, almost every known
Middle Easter terrorist organization has representation in Damascus.
a.
In this battle, Damascus will be instantly and
completely destroyed and Syria will be crushed by the IDF [Israeli Defense
Force].
Isaiah 17:1, 9
1 An oracle concerning Damascus: "See, Damascus
will no longer be a city but will become a heap of ruins.
9 In that day their strong cities, which they left
because of the Israelites, will be like places abandoned to thickets and
undergrowth. And all will be desolation.
3.
Israel is important because its at the center of
what we are seeing, a Middle East war that is fast approaching.
a.
Obadiah 1:15-16 is a key scripture, revealing
that Esau’s judgment will happen before Tribulation or "the day of the
Lord."
4.
This is what God said:
“Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of drunkenness to
all the surrounding peoples, when they lay siege against Judah and
Jerusalem. Zech 12:2
a.
And so it is!
3.
This may help us understand why is Israel important
to the world, but you may ask:
a.
Why important to you & I?
4.
Why is Paul writing about Israel?
a.
The sovereignty of God,
b.
The responsibility of man,
c.
Understand that our future is tied to the future
of Israel
5.
See, not only is Israel is a timepiece for the
ages – what happens in Israel shows us where we are in the age of man, but also
a.
Israel is a living example of God’s love and
mercy
Paul’s concern for
Israel
1 I tell the truth in Christ, I am not lying, my conscience
also bearing me witness in the Holy Spirit, 2 that I have great sorrow and
continual grief in my heart. 3 For I could wish that I myself were accursed
from Christ for my brethren, my countrymen according to the flesh…
5.
Even though Israel rejected Christ, the fact of
the matter is that God loves Israel, as did Paul.
a.
If you consider the character and nature of God,
He will not cast aside Israel as a nation because of their unbelief.
b.
How many of us rejected the gospel at some point
in the past, perhaps like me some of you accepted Christ, then walked away for
a time.
c.
Did God toss us out with no hope? Neither will He Israel.
6.
Doesn’t that change the way we see the people
around us that reject God?
Children of flesh
vs. Children of the Promise
6 But it is not that the word of God has taken no effect.
For they are not all Israel who are of Israel, 7 nor are they all children
because they are the seed of Abraham; but, “In Isaac your seed shall be
called.” 8 That is, those who are the children of the flesh, these are not the
children of God; but the children of the promise are counted as the seed. 9 For
this is the word of promise: “At this time I will come and Sarah shall have a
son.
7.
The Israelite’s considered themselves to be
right with God because they were descendants of Abraham, because they had the
law, because they had the temple worship.
8.
Regardless of who a persons “father” is, a
person isn’t right with God because their family “has always been Christians”
or “my granddaddy was a preacher”
a.
God is seeking for men and women to become
“children of the promise,”
b.
The promise given to Abraham that “through your
descendants, all the nations will be blessed,” which was fulfilled in Jesus
Christ.
9.
But the problem presents itself when we consider
that Israel did not receive Jesus Christ as Messiah, yet some Jews were saved,
a.
And to the Christian in Paul’s day, it would
have seemed that God kicked Israel to the curb… which is why Paul addressed it
here.
b.
(Put your seatbelts on…)
Israel’s (future?
Final disposition?):
(v25) “I will call them My people, who were not My people,
and her beloved, who was not beloved.” (Hosea 2:23)
(v26) “And it shall come to pass in the place where it was
said to them, ‘You are not My people,’ there they shall be called sons of the
living God.” (Hos 1:10)
(turn to Hosea)
10. Hosea
was a prophet, and often God would direct His prophets to literally live out
the prophecy that they were to communicate, and God told him:
“Go, take yourself a wife of harlotry, and children of
harlotry, for the land has committed great harlotry by departing from the
Lord.” Hos 1:2
a.
So Hosea took Gomer as his wife, we don’t know
if she was already a prostitute, or if she became one after they married,
b.
And Gomer bore Hosea a son, God told him to name
the boy Jezreel." You know what Jezreel means? “Scattered”
c.
She had another child, God told him to name her
Lo-ruhamah, means “not pitied.”
d.
Another boy, Lo-ammi, means “not my people”
11. So
here is Hosea, married to a prostitute, she gives him three kids, one named
"scattered," the other named "not pitied," and the other
named "not My people."
a.
Now what does this mean?
12. The
Lord is saying that Israel, because of her unfaithfulness to God, would be
scattered, they would not be pitied, and not be known as Gods people, and we know
from history that this very thing happened.
a.
In 722 BC the Assyrians conquered the Northern
kingdom, and took away the people into captivity.
b.
In 589 BC the Babylonians conquered the Southern
kingdom, and took away the people into captivity.
c.
In 70 AD, the Romans finished the job, destroying
Jerusalem, and Israel ceased to be a nation,
d.
The Jewish people were scattered all over the
world, and for nearly 2,000 years Israel was no more.
13. The
point being not that we should be excited that God judged Israel, but rather
that God revealed His plan for Israel through the prophets, and we can clearly
see that God’s word came to pass.
a.
And we want to remember the context of Paul’s
letter, he’s writing to the church, made up of Jews and Gentiles,
b.
If you remember when we started chapter 9, there
was the question
“If Israel is lost, how can we trust God won’t cast us
aside?”
c.
Which is why Paul is talking about Israel.
14. And
He’s trying to help us understand the
a.
The sovereignty of God,
b.
The responsibility of man,
c.
and that our future is tied to the future of
Israel
d.
keep that in your mind as we dig into this deep
stuff
15. So
back to our text, so far Israel has abandoned God for false gods (spiritual
adultery), and so it looks like it's the end of Israel, but NOT SO FAST…
a.
In Hosea 2 God says He is going to bring them
back. There's a beautiful picture beginning in verse 14,
Hos 2:14-17
“Therefore, behold, I will allure her, will bring her
into the wilderness,
and speak comfort to her. I will give her her
vineyards from there, and the Valley of Achor as a door of hope; She shall sing
there, as in the days of her youth, as in the day when she came up from the
land of Egypt. “And it shall be, in that day,” says the Lord, “That you will
call Me ‘My Husband,’ and no longer call Me ‘My Master,’ For I will take from
her mouth the names of the Baals, and they shall be remembered by their name no
more. Hos 2:14-17
b.
God is speaking of the gathering of the Jewish
people back to the Promised Land, further in chapter 3:
Hosea 3:4-5 "For the Israelites will live many
days without king or prince, without sacrifice or sacred stones, without ephod
or idol. Afterward the Israelites will return and seek the LORD their God and
David their king. They will come trembling to the LORD and to his blessings in
the last days." Hosea 3:4-5
c.
After 70 AD, there was no king, no prince, no
temple worship, but “afterward,” in “the last days” Israel will return to their
Promised Land.
16. That
prophecy began to be fulfilled in the early 1900’s, as Jews began purchasing
land in the area through the Jewish National Fund, est 1901, a fulfillment of
Jeremiah 32
"Fields will be bought for silver, and deeds will
be signed, sealed and witnessed in the territory of Benjamin, in the villages
around Jerusalem, in the towns of Judah and in the towns of the hill country,
of the western foothills and of the Negev, because I will restore their
fortunes, declares the LORD."
Jeremiah 32:44
a.
Leading up to the rebirth of the nation on May
14th, 1948, fulfillment of Isaiah 66:
"Who has ever heard of such a thing? Who has ever
seen such things? Can a country be born in a day or a nation be brought forth
in a moment? Yet no sooner is Zion in labour than she gives birth to her
children." Isaiah 66:8 NIV
b.
Speaking of the Law of Return, Alyiah, the
organized resettlement of people with Jewish ancestry to the nation of Israel.
“And in that day there shall be a Root of Jesse, who
shall stand as a banner to the people; For the Gentiles shall seek Him, and His
resting place shall be glorious.” It shall come to pass in that day that the
Lord shall set His hand again the second time to recover the remnant of His
people who are left, from Assyria and Egypt, from Pathros and Cush, from Elam
and Shinar, from Hamath and the islands of the sea.Isaiah” 11:10-12
17. All
of which ties into what Paul is telling us in verses 27-29,
(v27-28) Isaiah also cries out concerning Israel: “Though
the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, the remnant
will be saved. For He will finish the work and cut it short in righteousness,
because the Lord will make a short work upon the earth.” (Is 10:22-23)
(v29) And as Isaiah said before: “Unless the Lord of Sabaoth
(Hosts) had left us a seed, we would have become like Sodom, and we would have
been made like Gomorrah.” (Is 1:9)
18. Paul
uses a description of the Lord, Sabaoth, meaning “Lord of Hosts,” or better
“Lord of EVERYTHING!”
a.
The hosts are the angels, the stars, the
heavenly bodies, the planets, Lord of ALL
b.
"The Lord of the much and the Lord of the
many and the Lord of the hosts has determined that He will preserve a seed,
c.
a small segment of the Jewish nation, that will
again rise from the ashes and establish His nation on the earth.”
d.
CRAZY STUFF!
What other nation that existed from ancient history has gone through this?
19. REMEMBER: Paul is talking about the sovereignty of God,
the responsibility of man, and the future not only of Israel, but of humanity.
a.
Now he turns to the Gentiles – you and I
Present Condition
of Israel
30 What shall we say then? That Gentiles, who did not pursue
righteousness, have attained to righteousness, even the righteousness of faith;
31 but Israel, pursuing the law of righteousness, has not attained to the law
of righteousness.
20. It
would be funny if it weren’t so tragic, that the Jews who were hyper-zealous in
following the law of Moses and the traditions of Judaism, MISSED God,
a.
While the Gentiles, people who are NOT the
people of God, who are and were FAR from God, FOUND righteousness!
b.
In verse 32 Paul asks the same question we have:
32 Why? Because they did not seek it by faith, but as it
were, by the works of the law. For they stumbled at that stumbling stone. 33 As
it is written:
“Behold, I lay in Zion a stumbling stone and rock of
offense, and whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.”
10:1 Brethren, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for
Israel is that they may be saved. 2 For I bear them witness that they have a
zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. 3 For they being ignorant of
God’s righteousness, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, have not
submitted to the righteousness of God.
21. The
greatest threat to the soul of a man or woman is self-righteousness, thinking
that we can attain standing through our actions or our obedience.
a.
The statement Paul makes,
“Because they did not seek it by faith, but as it
were, by the works of the law,” and…
For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and
seeking to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted to the
righteousness of God.”
22. Remember
it was by faith that Abraham believed God, and God declared him to be righteous
before Him.
a.
Abraham wasn’t perfect, he just believed, and so
he lived by his belief.
23. It
is by faith that we believe in Christ, and when we do, God declares us righteous
before Him. ‘
a.
We aren’t perfect, we simply believe, and so we
live by our belief.
24. NOW
GET THIS – Faith leads to obedience!
a.
If God says stealing is wrong, I believe it, and
I live according to that belief.
b.
If God says adultery is wrong, I believe it, and
I live according to that belief.
c.
Our obedience does not save us; it is an
indicator of our faith in God.
25. That’s
why the bible says:
Faith without works is dead James 2:2
a.
That’s why Israel stumbled; they put works ahead
of faith!
26. But
now, one last point, not ALL of Israel stumbled, some Jews WERE saved.
a.
God didn’t reject Israel nationally, many individually
Jews died without Christ, but SOME Jews accepted Christ.
b.
Individually we too must make a decision – will
I accept Christ?
Copyright © 2014 Clay Ritter.
This data file is the sole property of Clay Ritter. It may be copied only in
its entirety for circulation freely without charge. All copies of this data
file must contain this copyright notice. This data file may not be copied in
part, edited, revised, copied for resale or incorporated in any commercial
publications, recordings, broadcasts, performances, displays or other products
offered for sale, without the written permission of Clay Ritter. Requests for
permission should be made in writing and addressed to Pastor Clay Ritter, c/o
Calvary Chapel of Wilmington, 2831 Carolina Beach Rd, Wilmington NC, 28412.
No comments:
Post a Comment