Opus 2026-333: Keep the Entire Promise in Mind

What does it mean to be God’s chosen people?  Not what you think.

It is the promise, for sure.  God offered blessings, physical and spiritual.

It was also the reality.  God made it all available, gave them access and opportunity.  At the same time He knew that His second gift after life, free will, would open avenues of choice that would drag most of them into perdition.

Some like to focus on God’s promises to Israel.  For the moment set aside if they were conditional or unconditional.  The pattern that developed after the first round of promises was that Israel almost unanimously chose to ignore the expectations of God and try to take advantage of the riches offered as God’s people.  They did it by ignoring Him and living lives of evil and self gratification.  

God says they will eventually return to Him.  Again I don’t care if He forces the issue of repentance or if it comes before the restoration.  Under either scenario there is also the assurance of massive destruction.  To make that clear:  Almost all of Isreal will be killed by violence and suffering.  Take you pick.  You can have the sword, disease, starvation or natural disaster.  This is portrayed as extinction level although it seems that some will always survive.  

We have no comprehension of what this means.  We apply our comic book view of a battle.  We play video games where we can gain extra lives.  When we hear about massive casualties we are usually referring to 10% or less and that includes the walking wounded.  Picture the massive invasion of D-Day in this Biblical rendering.  Out of the hundreds of thousands of troups who stormed the beaches picture a dozen being able to walk out at the other end.  That would be the nature of the preservation of Israel.  All were invited, few survived to celebrate.

Is the modern state of Israel the fulfillment of prophecy?  Except for the name and a small percentage that are serious about the things of God, there is nothing that correlates to the descriptions in the Prophets.  In both types of predictions, conditional or unconditional, there is a return to faithfulness and righteous living.  That has no indication of being in the cards after all these years.  The land?  The parameters of Solomon’s kingdom are still not reached.  

Either way, unless you are Jewish, it does not make any difference in your life or mine.  Pray for the peace of Jerusalem but trust in the blood of Jesus.  

homo unius libri

Opus 2026-142: Every Coin Comes with Two Sides

I don’t know what labels to use or categories to indicate, but we have a group of people who believe the modern nation of Israel can do no wrong because of what they call Bible prophecy.  This comes to mind, not because I dwell on it but because we covered one of those prophecies in our journey through the book of Jeremiah.

Notice this verse,

Jeremiah 25:5 (KJV) They said, Turn ye again now every one from his evil way, and from the evil of your doings, and dwell in the land that the LORD hath given unto you and to your fathers for ever and ever:

This is just one place we see this “promise of the land” as it is called.  This is just one example to indicate what I am referring to.

The interpretation of this is that God gave them a specific land and it would be theirs forever, thus when the nation of Israel was established in 1948 it was considered a continuation of this promise.  They like a literal interpretation which ignores the first part of the verse and only sees “the land”.  Other places you can find a description which fits nicely with the greatest extent of Solomon’s kingdom from a branch of the Euphrates River in northern Syria to just below the Gaza Strip.

The problem this group encounters is found only a few verses later,

Jeremiah 25:8-9 (KJV) 8 Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts; Because ye have not heard my words, 9 Behold, I will send and take all the families of the north, saith the LORD, and Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and will bring them against this land, and against the inhabitants thereof, and against all these nations round about, and will utterly destroy them, and make them an astonishment, and an hissing, and perpetual desolations.

otice that this verse declares that as a result of ignoring the first part of verse 5 He will “utterly destroy them”.  When I pressed the pastor on this he declared it to not apply to everyone, in other words it was figurative.

I don’t ask for much.  All I want is for people to take the entire Bible and be consistent with what it says and not switch horses in order to fit it into your narrative.  If a phrase in verse 5, ignoring its context, it taken as a literal promise how can a similar phrase in verse 9, declaring utter destruction, is just a figure of speech?

The consistent way to look at this is to declare them both as conditional statements in context.  You find this all through prophecy.

Is modern Israel the nation of prophecy?  Like so much of prophecy it could go either way depending on them and the context of unfolding history.  So far I see a very small percentage of the population that would be considered faithful but that could have been said about any time in Israel’s history.

Stay tuned.  The final chapter has not been written yet.

homo unius libri

Opus 2026-089: Scapegoat Phoenix

They’re at it again.  In this case “they” are the Jew haters who seem to always emerge from the rotten cellars whenever they’re running out of other conspiracy theories.  Right now I’m seeing it frequently in mentions of the Epstein files.  They’re dripping with nauseating accusations about the Jews.  True, they are quoting some things expressed in the emails but it’s just the old scapegoat emerging again.

Right now it seems to be coming from both sides of the aisle.  Historically it’s been around since almost the beginning of time.  I’ve been reading about medieval times and how the Jews struggled through those time and persecution was prevalent.  Some of the accusations that we’re hearing today are just repetitions of what they threw around 1,000 years ago.  They were accused of drinking babies blood.  They were accused of murdering Christians in their rituals.  They were accused of witchcraft and all sorts of nonsense.

Some things never change.  You may not like the Jews.  You may think Israel is an aberration.  You may think that Jewish bankers are at the center of all our economic problems.

As the medieval world would say, hold my beer.  These accusations are nothing new.  I would assume that being human beings the Jews have their share of nefarious individuals, but these accusations are nothing but liable and insults to our intelligence.

What does it say about our intelligence, let alone our moral fiber, that we believe them so readily.

homo unius libri

Opus 2026-074: Terms in Transition

We like to use words without being forced to define them.  There are so many different ways you can use the same term.  Currently a word that comes to mind it “ice”.  Spoken quietly at the dinner table it can mean you want a few more cubes in your glass.  Screamed in a mob it can mean, “Attack the nazi thug.”  Totally different uses.  My most common example is the word “can”.  Just stop and think of all the different ways it can be used.

What started me down this road is a recent discussion by Steven Gregg on the future of Israel.  In the process, a lot of time was spent on “Who is Israel?”  It occurs to me that this is a question that has parallels in New Testament vocabulary also.  Have you ever wondered “Who is the church?”  I find the same definitions are necessary.

In the OT you have the nation of Israel juxtapositioned with what might be called the True Israel.  One is based on DNA and geography.  The other is based on on faith and obedience.  The nation of Israel is repeatedly turned over to invasion and God’s wrath.  It is exciled and dispersed.  Words like “destroyed” are used and yet the Jews kept coming back.  The key word here is “remnant”.  In the midst of the threats of wrath there is a constant reminder that there will be a faithful remnant.  That represents the true Israel which is the recipient of the promises.

We see the same problem of definition emerging in the New Testament.  Here the word of confusion is “church”.  In the Greek it means “called out ones”.  During NT times it was probably a good word to describe the saved people of God.  In modern times the word has become almost meaningless.  It has become a building.  It is often nothing but a social club.  It has often lost its spiritual meaning.  We sometimes talk about the “true church” just like we might have talked about the “true Israel”.

There are Biblical words that are more accurate.  When you want to refer to the Israel that is the recipient of God’s promise it is the remnant.  When you want to refer to the church that God is saving, refer to the body of Christ.

I think that understanding would go a long way toward clarifying issues.  If you are one of those people who don’t want clarification then try reading the L.A. Times.

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Opus 2026-002: Chosen People Syndrome

I think that ancient Israel was impressed with themselves because they were the chosen people.  God had said that He picked them.  That much is clear.  He also said he didn’t choose them because of their sterling qualities, but they were chosen.

I think they fell into the trap of thinking just because God chose them, their theological professors had declared them enternally secure, and that God was so rigid and immutable that once he declared them chosen, nothing could unchoose them.

What a tragic place to be.

How did that work out for you Israel?  When the Chaldeans were descending upon Jerusalem, were they still sitting there sticking in their thumbs and pulling out a plum and saying what a chosen boy am I?  Judging from what scripture tells us many of them didn’t even stop drinking and partying until the enemy was actually breaking down the gates.  At that point, it was a little bit late to repent.

I sometimes think that our modern theologians fall into the same trap.  They seem to think that God is bound by the system that they have put together.  They think that God has to follow their charts and graphs.  They think they have the final word from God and since God by their definition is immutable, they’ve got the winning hand.  Do they feel like they have five aces in a poker game?  Unfortunately God seems to be playing a different game and five aces in a poker game can get you shot.

I don’t think it will work out any better for us than it did for Israel.  God’s patience amazes me, waiting for Israel to respond, hoping for repentance, reaching out time and time again, and being rejected.  It should be very revealing when God says that He doesn’t care about the sacrifices.  He’s more concerned with obedience.

If God is immutable, then remember those people that say if He doesn’t punish America, He’s going to have to apologize to Sodom and Gomorrah.  I think you could take that statement and substitute the church.  You might be getting closer to where we are today.

Think of your position as more being the waitress in the restaurant rather than the customer.  How many times has a customer ordered the wrong thing and when he realizes the mistake, changes his order, and gets what he really wants.  The waitress doesn’t have much choice in the matter.  God is the customer.  The customer is always right, even when he decides he wants his fish grill instead of fried.

Are you chosen?  So was Judas and look how that worked out for him.

homo unius libri

Opus 2025-315: The Curse of the Blessed

One of the paradoxes that seems to come out in the Bible is the contrast between the blessing that God has given to Israel and the rejection of God that seems to permeate Israel.

God promised to Abraham that He would bless the world through his people.

(Gen 12:2 KJV)  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:
(Gen 12:3 KJV)  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.

This could be interpreted many ways.  God can present His standards for civilization through the law.  I think the ultimate blessing of course is the Messiah to come from the house of David.  That is certainly a blessing for the world.  I think there’s also the blessing that the Jewish people have given the world and the gifts of their genius, creativity, and productivity.  So many blessings.

But I notice, while Abraham will be blessed, there is no statement that his descendants will be blessed.  We assume that.  Maybe we should but it makes me wonder.

While they were blessing the world, they seem to be committed to a priority of defying God and going the opposite direction that He has commanded them to go.  Much of the Old Testament documents this rebellious attitude.  And Jeremiah is told to search Jerusalem to try and find one righteous person, and he cannot do it.  It is incredible.

In this there is a lesson.

Those who come loaded with gifts tend to be overcome by hubris.  That is a great word that says so much.  It speaks of being filled with your own importance.  It speaks of being aware of how gifted you are, and how other people should be grateful for your presence.  It makes you so obnoxious that no one is grateful for your presence even though you bring great benefits through your skills and contributions.  I’m talking here of our “scholars”.  I’m talking about the great scientist who have made major breakthroughs.  I’m talking about political leaders who seem to be able to get things done.  There are many people who are incredibly gifted and they know it.

Education tends to confuse people in their self-worth.  They think that had knowledge makes them better than people who have not had their opportunities or who do not have their abilities.  Well, great coordination may make you a better athlete, it does not make you a better human being.  Great ability tends to drag people down.  We see this everywhere.

There’s not much we can do for people who think too highly of themselves.  All we can really do is examine our own hearts and minds.  All we can do is submit to the authority of Almighty God, who certainly is smarter and more gifted than we are.  I guess part of the problem is that some people whether through education, or just a natural ability to inflate their egos, think of themselves as superior to God.  That is the tendency that Satan played upon when dealing with Eve in the garden.  It’s something which we have to deal with every day as he tries to get us to think we are more blessed than others.  Along with that is the thought that we deserve it.

Be a blessing.  Make sure that as you are a blessing to the world and not a curse to yourself.   As the song and scripture say,

(Jas 4:10 KJV)  Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.

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Opus 2025-270: Conditional Throne

Most people are familiar with,

2 Chronicles 7:14 (KJV) If my people, 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.

The same people are not familiar with the context.  Immediately before this is the consecration of the temple and Solomon’s palace.  After that, we have a conditional statement about the throne of David.

2 Chronicles 7:16-20 (KJV) 16 For now have I chosen and sanctified this house, that my name may be there for ever: and mine eyes and mine heart shall be there perpetually. 17 And as for thee, if thou wilt walk before me, as David thy father walked, and do according to all that I have commanded thee, and shalt observe my statutes and my judgments; 18 Then will I stablish the throne of thy kingdom, according as I have covenanted with David thy father, saying, There shall not fail thee a man to be ruler in Israel. 19 But if ye turn away, and forsake my statutes and my commandments, which I have set before you, and shall go and serve other gods, and worship them; 20 Then will I pluck them up by the roots out of my land which I have given them; and this house, which I have sanctified for my name, will I cast out of my sight, and will make it to be a proverb and a byword among all nations.

This makes the promise of the eternal throne totally dependent on obedience, and specifically rooted out if they follow other gods.  Noticed it extends back to David.

If you take the time to read about the end of Solomon’s life in I Kings 11 you will see that he turned totally away from the Lord.  He checked all the boxes of turning away.  For that reason I question the position of Israel as forever God’s chosen ones.

The Bible has many promises but keep in mind that God is not stupid.  He does not make blind promises that require nothing from us.

homo unius libri

Opus 2025-244: One or Many

One of the questions that comes up in conversations with people who like to have conversations is the place of Israel in God’s agenda.  We accept the fact that Abraham was chosen and through him the nation of Israel was chosen to be special in God’s eyes.  He promised Abraham that his descendants would be a blessing to the world.  We see that blessing fulfilled in the coming of Jesus and His death on the cross.  We see a hope for the future by His resurrection.

But that doesn’t answer the question about the place of Israel in God’s final agenda.  What about the end times?  Personally, it’s not a big issue for me, because I am not a part of the nation of Israel, and I have trusted in Jesus for my salvation, so the future is secure for me.  It’s still a question that comes up.

In my reading one of the issues that emerged recently was the fact that in dealing with Israel as a whole God was looking at the nation.  He called them to be a blessing.  That blessing culminated in the cross.  Was He just using Israel to prepare the world for the coming of Jesus?  Was that all there was to be in called by God?  Not really.  The Jews were incredibly blessed by having the law, by knowing the standards God expected them to live by, and by leaders who personally talked to Him.  They had all the offerings of the blessings of God.  The problem is as a nation, they rejected those expectation.  They continually spat in the face of God.  He continually came back and offered chances of repentance.  In response they would spit again.

The point is they still had the offering of being blessed themselves if they would live in obedience and seek to live upright and righteous lives.  We know there were individuals who met that criteria.  We think of Enoch who was before the law and was taken by God because of his righteousness.  We think of Noah being singled out because he was trying to live in righteousness.  The list goes on.  But the nation as a whole rejected God, and when Jesus came the leadership ratified that rejection.

Ultimately salvation, in terms of eternal life, is a personal matter.  We see some references to that in the Old Testament.  We see Moses and Elijah meeting with Jesus on the mount of transfiguration.  Salvation that concerns us as Gentiles seems to be totally individual and personal.  God still works for the church.  Whether God still works through Israel is a question that I have.

That question about Israel is pretty much an intellectual one for me.  Ultimately, the question of each of us has to answer is how do we respond to Jesus.

homo unius libri

Opus 2025-172: The New Chosen

If you look at the Old Testament, you find a lot of references to Israel as a nation. We consider them the chosen people.

All of that changed at Calvary.  No longer is God dealing with us as a nation or a large organization.  He has no blanket promises to those who are citizens of America or any other country.  He is now dealing with us as individuals.  It a sense He always has dealt with individuals, but the theme of the Bible is about Israel preparing the world for the coming of the Messiah.

So Calvary changed everything.  I have a friend who accuses me of being guilty of something he calls “replacement theology”.  I didn’t even know the term when he first brought it up.  When he gave me his interpretation of the title I rejected it.  The problem is the more often he accuses me of this and I look at what the Bible is telling me, the more guilty I am of a heresy, his definition not mine, I never thought of committing.

God is not dealing with a chosen people now so much as he is dealing with chosen persons.  What that does to Israel is that each member of that nation is responsible for personal decisions.  No longer is there a blanket pardon or one-size-fits-all blessing.  If you are selling red heifers or have a piece of the new temple stored in your garage that might upset you but you can still rebuild a temple if you want.  Just don’t plan on fitting it into Revelation because it ain’t there, as the apostle John said,

(Rev 21:22 KJV)  And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it.

homo unius libri

Opus 2025-169: Contrast

The law of the Old Testament stands against the blood of the New, not against grace.

Grace is present from Genesis to Revelation.  All depends upon the decision of God to extend his power in whatever realm it’s needed.  It can be the grace leading to salvation.  You can see the grace of Jesus growing in His knowledge and wisdom.  Witness the grace that saved us from Hitler and the Nazis in World War II.  Grace has always been with us.

What is different is the blood.  The Old Testament sacrificial system did not forgive sin.  Yes, it made atonement, but it did not remove the sin and cleanse the heart.  That was the role of the blood.  Sacrificing a bull and pouring his blood on the altar was a type.  A type is an activity, a ritual or thing which points down the road to something more significant.  I believe Hebrews tells us there is no forgiveness without the shedding of blood.  That blood was poured out on the cross, it did not happen in the temple.  Yes, blood was shed.  But that blood that was shared in the temple was not adequate for all mankind.  That’s why John said, “Behold the Lamb of God Who cometh to take away the sins of the world.”

What got me started on this?  I was again looking at Deuteronomy 28.  The first 14 verses talk about the blessings from following the law of God and keeping the commandments.  The rest of the chapter. which is really long, on all of the curses produced by disobedience.  I just read the blessings today.  As I was reading, my radar was turned on looking for any promise of forgiveness of sin and eternal life.  I didn’t see it.  Maybe I just missed it.  Maybe it’s there somewhere.  I will check again.  But I don’t think so.

Every promise given in the first part of that chapter deals with boots on the ground.  One of the things that I think I keep seeing is that the purpose of the law was to give Israel the advantage in their cultural and civic living.  There’s a place earlier in Deuteronomy, where it says that as long as the law is kept it will help them to conquer the promised land.  The law has a place.  Any pagan culture could have adopted the law and it would improve the quality of life and standard living.  It would not bring them salvation, nor make them the chosen people.

Israel did not become the chosen people because they excepted the law.  They became the chosen people, because God pointed at them and said, “You.”

We are not the chosen people but we can rejoice in the standards and values shared with us by the law of God.

homo unius libri

Opus 2025-097: Is It More than a Title

Israel is God’s chosen people.  There are times when that fills me with awe.  There are times when I say, “So What?”

One of the latter hit me as I was reading Deuteronomy 28.  I was not even thinking about the chapter I was in.  I was just slowly reading through the book.  When I got to the section regarding curses I read a few and sat back.  I looked at what I was reading and realized it was chapter 28.  I have had this entire chapter read out loud to me.  I managed to stay awake.  How many curses can you process?  It does show how creative God can be.

The thought came to me, “If this is how God is going to treat His ‘chosen people’ then who would want to be part of that?”

One of my theories, which I wrote about somewhere in the distant past, is that God’s curses are often, if not usually, passive instead of active.  What that means is that God curses by withholding blessings rather than active “Gottcha”.  It works out the same but lays more of the burden on us rather than God.

homo unius libri

Opus 2025-080: The End of Israel?

People who are into eschatology love to quote these verses.

(Jer 31:35 KJV)  Thus saith the LORD, which giveth the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night, which divideth the sea when the waves thereof roar; The LORD of hosts is his name:
(Jer 31:36 KJV)  If those ordinances depart from before me, saith the LORD, then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before me for ever.
(Jer 31:37 KJV)  Thus saith the LORD; If heaven above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, I will also cast off all the seed of Israel for all that they have done, saith the LORD.

It is vital to them to keep Israel in the game.  They reject any other thinking as “Replacement Theology” and say it as if that is heresy.  My friend also threw a couple of other big words at me that I was supposed to cringe at.  Meh.  Maybe it is heresy.  Maybe they are over reacting a bit.  Maybe they have a chart or graph that they want to sell.  They still act like this is the final word in regard to verse 36.

Challenge accepted.

In order for Israel to fall out of favor certain milestones need to be passed.  Keep in mind that these are all future.  It has nothing to do with Israel’s importance today.  This is a discussion of theory and the question of how God plans to work in history.

Notice,

(Rev 6:12 KJV)  And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood;

Evidently the sun is no longer giving light by day and the moon doesn’t seem to be much help either.

Keep reading,

(Rev 6:13 KJV)  And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind.
(Rev 8:12 KJV)  And the fourth angel sounded, and the third part of the sun was smitten, and the third part of the moon, and the third part of the stars; so as the third part of them was darkened, and the day shone not for a third part of it, and the night likewise.

Stars are falling.  In my level of astronomy they won’t be giving much light if they fall.  The prophecy enthusiasts also like to make much of the parable of the fig tree which seems to be having some serious problems here, but that is for another day.

As for the sea,

(Rev 21:1 KJV)  And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.
(Rev 21:23 KJV)  And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof.
(Rev 22:5 KJV)  And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever.

No more sea and it continues with reference to the sun and moon.  It is a great picture.  I like it.  The problem is it does not fit their narative so, guess what?  They ignore it and never quote these verses.

I find the last verse referred to in regard to measuring the heavens and penetrating the earth to be somewhat fulfilled also.  We have telescopes and theories that are measuring the universe.  We have mines and drilling going miles below the surface of the earth.

It would seem that there is a possibility that somewhere in the future Israel will cease to be the chosen nation.  Make sure that does not create any anti-semitism in your heart.  Jews are people and deserve the same courtesy and consideration you would give any other human being.

homo unius libri

Opus 2024-347: Do the Math

I went to the meeting, even though I didn’t qualify. It was billed as a pastors conference, and as you went in there was a sign saying ,“Welcome, pastors, and leaders”.  I joked with people that I was the “and”.  It was actually open to anybody who wanted to come, so I was not trespassing or being offensive.

They were two speakers.  The first one was a guru on eschatology.  The second was a lawyer who is very involved in the political process.  The lawyer was one of two that I know that I believe are actually going to make it to heaven.  What he had to say was solid.  Believers need to be involed in the political process, their current government and in their society.  The guru, not so much.

When the guru got up to speak, I realized that I had heard him at this event last year and my general feeling was fuzzy neutrality.  When he started to speak, he turned me off a bit because he started off with a startling “gotcha statement”.  He said that 30% of Christians don’t believe that Jesus is God.  At best that is an oxymoron.  At worst it is deceitful.  If you don’t see the problem immediately then follow me here.

If Jesus is not God, then He was just a man.  And CS Lewis points out that is not an acceptable option because He was either God or a lunatic.  If Jesus was just a man, and let’s say He was a good man, then everything He said, was just the opinion of another human being.  All of the teachings that you find in the gospels is just another self-help book or a best seller, waiting to make it on the charts.  It’s just the opinion of another man.

In addition to that if Jesus is not God then He was no longer the perfect lamb.  That means that His death on the cross, assuming it actually happened, was just a tragic moment in history.  A man was killed who did not deserve it.  If He was not the perfect lamb then his blood being shed did nothing to bring forgiveness of sin.  If He was not God, then we have no hope in Him and the term “Christian” becomes nothing more impressive than being called a vegetarian.

So basically, if you do not believe that Jesus is God, you are not a Christian.  Now I would like to think that what the man meant was that 30% of those who called themselves Christians, or consider themselves Christians, don’t believe that Jesus is God.  That would be a statement that makes sense.  Of course, it wouldn’t be as startling and wouldn’t get peoples attention so it wouldn’t work very well.  Such is the dilemma of a public speaker.

From there he went on to speak about Israel and his love with the Jewish people.  I had heard it before, so it was nothing new.  He was very involved with the Jewish people and talked as if he was a member of the synagogue.  Having heard him before I knew where he was going, and a bit about where he was coming from.  He’s one of those who is big on Israel in the end times, and how God is going to reestablish Israel and how we have to pray for Jerusalem and so forth.

Being someone who has read the book of Isaiah and a lot of the prophecies that he talks about and historical books of Israel, I have my doubts that it will work out as smoothly as he proclaims.  Two passages of scripture comes to mind.  The first has to do with the remnant of 7,000.

1 Kings 19:18 (KJV) Yet I have left me seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth which hath not kissed him.

Then you have this prediction that you find in the book of Isaiah,

Isaiah 1:9 (KJV) Except the LORD of hosts had left unto us a very small remnant, we should have been as Sodom, and we should have been like unto Gomorrah.

It doesn’t sound like God is concerned with preserving the masses of people who considers themselves Jews, or even those who are actually in the lineage of Abraham.  Do the math.

Let me look at the passage from I Kings since it’s more specific in its numbers.  The statement is that after all of the butchery and damage bringing Israel to account there will still be 7,000 who are faithful.  We are used to hearing that number I guess and say “Go team”.  Most of us attend churches that are relatively small and 7,000 sounds like a big number.  I think in terms of gestalt.  What is the big picture and what do these numbers mean?

When Moses lead the children of Israel out of Egypt, there are numbers given about how many people were involved.  I am too lazy right now to go back and add them up, but let’s go with the number of one million.  I think that’s reasonable.  When they finally entered the promised land and conquered it, I would suggest that the numbers went up.  We are now 3000 years later.  Surely, that 1 million has grown.  But let’s go with that number as if it were the same.  Do the math.  If there were 1 million Jews, children of Israel, alive at that time and 7,000 are still loyal to God, that means that 993,000 have been sent on their way to hell.  Those are not exactly what I would call encouraging numbers if I were Jewish.  When the end times come and it says that all Israel will be saved in the book of Romans you have to say to yourself that means that the only ones still alive are the faithful ones and everyone else has been killed one way or another.  Not good odds.

Will God bring Israel back?  The prophecies seem to indicate that.  Will it be a great homecoming involving multiplied millions of people with Jewish blood?  Not only is that not consistent with a rational, holy God, but it doesn’t make any sense.

Stay tuned and you will eventually find out.

homo unius libri

Opus 2024-343: Renewal

I have reading through Isaiah and I am seeing the points someone made about how much of this was written to Israel.  How does it apply to us?  That’s a question for another day.

What struck me here is that the prophecies that I’m seeing have to do with God renewing his covenant and his relationship with Israel in the end times.  This is after a long period of apostasy and neglect. That is to be fulfilled in the future.

Turn the clock back.

The current age of being out of favor with God, began with the destruction of Herod’s temple in the year 70.  From that point until today Israel has had no way to sacrifice, no way to achieve atonement, no way to in reality worship their God through the official means.  Somehow they still go through the motions but I don’t see how it gives them any hope.

Turn the clock back.

Go back to the exile when the temple was destroyed and Israel was hauled off to Babylon.  Hard times for the Jews.  No temple for sacrifice.

Turn the clock back.

Israel has been brought out of Egypt and is now being given the law and a clear direction in which to go. This will last for a while, but even after the temple was built, they begin to ignore the word of God and the rabbis take over.

Turn the clock back.

The children of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob have been moved to Egypt.  God was in this.  He was doing it to save his people.  Somewhere in the process of living in Goshen, the children of Israel began to assimilate into the Egyptian culture.  They begin forget about their God, and they became more and more Egyptian.  Now we are into my speculation.  I think the time came when the only way God could keep them from being completely absorbed and dissolved was to raise up a pharaoh that did not know Joseph.  When this happened, they were made slaves.  It did not return them to being faithful, but it did separate them from the Egyptians and make them amenable to what Moses had to say when he returned.

Time and time again God has had to slap down His people in order to try and reach them and to keep the covenant alive.  Israel kept killing the covenant, and God kept refusing to allow it to die.

As far as salvation goes and eternity, we are still seeing that struggle between national salvation and personal salvation. I don’t have an answer for that.  As we watch events unfolding in modern Israel and listen to all the You Tube click bait about rebuilding the temple you wonder if we are coming to the time when it will all make sense.  There is nothing you can do to fulfil the prophecy meant for Israel.  What you can do is make sure that your house is in order.

I don’t need any prophecy for that.

homo unius libri

Opus 2024-341: Selective Hindsight

Don’t tell me I don’t listen.  I do listen.  I may not respond immediately.  I may never respond.  It may be that what I hear is not worth responding to.

One of the things that I heard as I listened recently was a Guru of Eschatology who told us that Israel was ultimately safe in the midst of the onslaughts because God promises to sustain his people and protect their land.  I think there was some scripture quoted, which might’ve backed up what he had to say.  My problem is that he wants to ignore thousands of years of history and other scripture references.

Shortly after the life of Jesus, I believe it was the year 70 A.D., the Romans not only devastated the land of Israel but leveled Jerusalem and destroyed the temple.  If that is not an example of someone bringing disaster to God’s people in God’s land, I don’t know what it is.  Then you have the long reign of the different Islamic governments.  They controlled the area.  Again the land did not belong to the people of Israel.  It was not until 1948 that you get a group of people who claim to be descendants of Abraham, forming a government in the land.  They set up a nation.  Suddenly, this prophecy becomes popular again saying it can’t happen.

It has happened.  It has happened repeatedly.  So don’t assume the modern nation of Israel is the Israel that God is talking about in the prophet.  It might be, but it also might not be.

I support Israel because they are the only land in the Middle East that has anything close to the American idea of rights and the rule of law.  That is a political position of me as an American.  As a Christian, I have a high regard for God’s people.  That very well could be the ones living in Israel today and if I err, I want it to be on the side of the angels.  It’s just that I have need of a definition of who God’s people are.  It isn’t enough that they wear funny hats and live in the land.

homo unius libri

Opus 2024-303: Israel’s Place

I struggle with the idea that Israel is some special group chosen by God.  I can’t deny that the Bible seems to say that.  They are special.  I think we tend to misinterpret and misunderstand that specialness.  I look at verses like this,

Romans 11:26 (KJV) 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:

And all I can do is scratch my head and ask, “What?”  My first reaction is a disconnect between centuries of rebellion and rejection of God that I see going on in the Jews and the fact that all will be saved.  I think the key is in the second part of that verse and a better and modern translation of that.

Romans 11:26 (NASB95) and so all Israel will be saved; just as it is written, “THE DELIVERER WILL COME FROM ZION, HE WILL REMOVE UNGODLINESS FROM JACOB.”

Notice the difference.  What does it mean remove ungodliness from Jacob?  I think there are clues like one of the places and I came across one in my reading recently.

Isaiah 1:9 (KJV) Except the LORD of hosts had left unto us a very small remnant, we should have been as Sodom, and we should have been like unto Gomorrah.

The context at the beginning of Isaiah has God dealing with disobedient people by bringing in other nations to destroy them.  In the middle of the destruction, there is the promise that there will be some left over.  Here it uses that word remnant.  What is hard for us to understand in our gentle, modern attitudes is the destruction that God is willing to wield when it comes to the disobedient.

It is a hard teaching, yet it is consistent through scripture.  Yes, God will bring Israel back as a nation.  But before He brings them back, He will purge them.  That means that the only ones being brought back will be those who have responded to the leadership of the Holy Spirit, and embraced the Messiah and the God of Israel.  I make that a double yardstick because Jesus is necessary and most Jews today have no idea who Yahweh is.  

It goes against my turn-the-other-cheek mentality, but God will not be mocked and His holiness will not be polluted.  Israel will be restored but it will be a much reduced Israel.

homo unius libri