What Is God Going to Do with Israel

What Is God Going to Do with Israel?

Which one is correct? Many accept the first view. Is that true, or is it the second view? Tonight, we want to see what the Bible says.

On July 11^th of this year, we began a study with an event in the life of our Lord as He was here on earth:

(Luke 4:16-21 NKJV) So He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. And as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read. {17} And He was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written:

(Luke 4:18) "The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me To preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives And recovery of sight to the blind, To set at liberty those who are oppressed; {19} To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD." {20} Then He closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed on Him. {21} And He began to say to them, "Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing."

What is very significant is where this passage came from and what Jesus saw as He read this passage.

(Isa 61:1-2 NKJV) "The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon Me, Because the LORD has anointed Me To preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives, And the opening of the prison to those who are bound;

{2} To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, [Jesus stopped here, but Isaiah continues] And the day of vengeance of our God; To comfort all who mourn,

I find it to be very significant that Jesus stopped in mid-sentence. He did not say, and the rest of this passage does not apply, but notice what He did say: "Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing."

The big question is this, what do we do with the rest of the passage?

(Isa 61:2-3) And the day of vengeance of our God; To comfort all who mourn, (3) To console those who mourn in Zion, To give them beauty for ashes, The oil of joy for mourning, The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; That they may be called trees of righteousness, The planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified." {4} And they shall rebuild the old ruins, They shall raise up the former desolations, And they shall repair the ruined cities, The desolations of many generations. . . .

(Isa 61:7) Instead of your shame you shall have double honor, And instead of confusion they shall rejoice in their portion. Therefore in their land they shall possess double; Everlasting joy shall be theirs.

Now some serious questions:

· Did God change His mind and decide the Jews were just too bad to have all of this?

(Rom 11:25-29 NKJV) For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. {26} And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: "The Deliverer will come out of Zion, And He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob; {27} For this is My covenant with them, When I take away their sins." {28} Concerning the gospel they are enemies for your sake, but concerning the election they are beloved for the sake of the fathers. {29} For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.

What is interesting about the statement in Romans is the fact that all the tenses of verbs are speaking of things that were still to take place. Things that haven’t happened yet, but will.

But Let’s return to the Old Testament Prophets

(Ezek 37:1-14 NKJV) The hand of the LORD came upon me and brought me out in the Spirit of the LORD, and set me down in the midst of the valley; and it was full of bones. {2} Then He caused me to pass by them all around, and behold, there were very many in the open valley; and indeed they were very dry. {3} And He said to me, "Son of man, can these bones live?" So I answered, "O Lord GOD, You know."

(Ezek 37:4) Again He said to me, "Prophesy to these bones, and say to them, 'O dry bones, hear the word of the LORD! {5} 'Thus says the Lord GOD to these bones: "Surely I will cause breath to enter into you, and you shall live. {6} "I will put sinews on you and bring flesh upon you, cover you with skin and put breath in you; and you shall live. Then yu shall know that I am the LORD."' "

(Ezek 37:7) So I prophesied as I was commanded; and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and suddenly a rattling; and the bones came together, bone to bone. {8} Indeed, as I looked, the sinews and the flesh came upon them, and the skin covered them over; but there was no breath in them. [which means they were still dead.]

This gets more and more figurative, but this may be a reference to their spiritual condition. They were still dead spiritually.

(Ezek 37:9) Also He said to me, "Prophesy to the breath¹, prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath¹, 'Thus says the Lord GOD: "Come from the four winds¹, O breath¹, and breathe on these slain, that they may live."' "

The same word can be translated as any of these four words. The Hebrew translation of this verse translates wind as breath for some of these words.

(Ezek 37:10) So I prophesied as He commanded me, and breath came into them, and they lived, and stood upon their feet, an exceedingly great army. {11} Then He said to me, "Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They indeed say, 'Our bones are dry, our hope is lost, and we ourselves are cut off!'

There is a shift in this verse from the physical: 'Our bones are dry’ to the spiritual meaning:

our hope is lost, and we ourselves are cut off!'

{12} "Therefore prophesy and say to them, 'Thus says the Lord GOD: "Behold, O My people, I will open your graves and cause you to come up from your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel. (Ezek 37:13) "Then you shall know that I am the LORD, when I have opened your graves, O My people, and brought you up from your graves. {14} "I will put My Spirit in you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I, the LORD, have spoken it and performed it," says the LORD.'"

This indicates a slight change in the subject matter being discussed.

The Divided Kingdom is to be Re-United

{16} "As for you, son of man, take a stick for yourself and write on it: 'For Judah and for the children of Israel, his companions.' Then take another stick and write on it, 'For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and for all the house of Israel, his companions.' {17} "Then join them one to another for yourself into one stick, and they will become one in your hand.

{18} "And when the children of your people speak to you, saying, 'Will you not show us what you mean by these?'; {19} "say to them, 'Thus says the Lord GOD: "Surely I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel, his companions; and I will join them with it, with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they will be one in My hand."' {20} "And the sticks on which you write will be in your hand before their eyes.

Now God tells what it will take to do this.

{21} "Then say to them, 'Thus says the Lord GOD: "Surely I will take the children of Israel from among the nations, wherever they have gone, and will gather them from every side and bring them into their own land;”

This is Israel – “The ten lost tribes.” – God knows where they are, and He is going to find them, and bring them home!

{22} "and I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king over them all; they shall no longer be two nations, nor shall they ever be divided into two kingdoms again. {23} "They shall not defile themselves anymore with their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions; but I will deliver them from all their dwelling places in which they have sinned, and will cleanse them. Then they shall be My people, and I will be their God.

(Ezek 37:24) "David My servant shall be king over them, and they shall all have one shepherd; they shall also walk in My judgments and observe My statutes, and do them. {25} "Then they shall dwell in the land that I have given to Jacob My servant, where your fathers dwelt; and they shall dwell there, they, their children, and their children's children, forever; and My servant David shall be their prince forever.

(Ezek 37:26) "Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them, and it shall be an everlasting covenant with them; I will establish them and multiply them, and I will set My sanctuary in their midst forevermore. {27} "My tabernacle also shall be with them; indeed I will be their God, and they shall be My people. {28} "The nations also will know that I, the LORD, sanctify Israel, when My sanctuary is in their midst forevermore."' "

The question is, Have we heard this somewhere else?

(Rev 21:1-4 NKJV) Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea. {2} Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

{3} And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, {"Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God.}{4} "And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away."

(Ezek 37:27: {"My tabernacle also shall be with them; indeed I will be their God, and they shall be My people.}

Don’t forget! The UN won’t have the final say about Israel, nor anything else for that matter. God will have the final say about everything!