Pastor Ramsey is preaching about Israel and the church to help people think biblically (covenant theology) about modern Israel and the church. He is not addressing current problems in the holy land.
This sermon is part one of three, he titled it ‘Israel.’ The next sermons will be, ‘the temple,’ and ‘the land.’
SERMON HIGHLIGHTS:
- The recent tragic events in the middle east have moved many to think about the relationship between Israel and the church
- Questions such as: Is Israel still God’s special holy people?
- Does Israel have a right to the land of Palestine?
- Do Old Testament (OT) promises regarding Israel, the land and the temple pertain to modern day Israel?
- Will Israel gain full control of the land; rebuild the temple; offer sacrifices again; become the greatest nation on earth?
- How should we, the church, view Israel and the Jewish people?
- These questions are not new but people have been asking the modern state of Israel, 1948
- For around 1500 years Israel occupied the land that God promised to give to Abraham’s descendants
- A.D. 70, Israel lost the land until 1948
- That event spurred much interest in Bible prophecy
- The theology that underlies the popular discussion in America is a relatively recent development
- Dispensationalism originated with John Nelson Darby in the 19th century and was disseminated via the Scofield study Bible in the 20th century
- Classic dispensationalism holds that there are two distinct and separate peoples of God, the church and Israel
- According to this view, we are in the ‘church age,’ ‘church dispensation’
- Dispensationalists believe that since Israel rejected Jesus, God instituted plan B, sending the gospel into the Gentile world via the formation of the church
- They also believe that OT promises to Israel will be fulfilled literally: in Canaan, Palestine, Jerusalem… and be experienced by the nation of Israel
- They believe that God will unfold these events after the church is raptured and Jesus returns to rule over a converted Jewish nation
- Prophecy buffs believe that the rapture and tribulation will occur soon
- Dispensationalists also believe that OT promises to Abraham refer to Israel and not the church
- These views are held by much of Christianity in America today
- Current example given of a radio talk-show host calling for prayer for Jerusalem
- What would that prayer look like if it were before 1948 and Muslims controlled Jerusalem?
- Were listeners to pray for the modern state of Israel?
- The one calling for prayer likely thought that the land belongs to Israel, they are God’s special holy people, God’s promises belong to them…
- What should we think?
- To answer that question, we are going to discuss this topic from three perspectives: Israel; the temple; and the land
- I will not be addressing the formation of the state of Israel; political matters related to that or the current issues (except to say that the actions of Hamas were horrific)
- Point 1: Israel
- What / who is Israel?
- Most would say, a nation like Canada…
- Such a position would suggest that all the citizens of Israel are Jews
- What about Jews around the world, in America?
- You do not have to be a citizen of Israel to be a Jew or to be part of Israel
- There are 2 ways to become a Jew: 1. To be born into a Jewish family, i.e., ethnicity; 2, to convert to Judaism, i.e., religiously (those converting to Judaism are considered to be Jews)
- The words Israel / Jew, were used like this in OT Israel as well
- There were different religious parties in the nation of Israel; not everyone agreed, or was equally religious
- For example, Sadducees did not believe in resurrection whereas Pharisees did
- Tax collectors, sinners, prostitutes… were part of the nation externally, culturally, socially
- People who converted to Judaism were regarded as fully Jewish and part of the nation Israel
- So, in one sense, Israel refers to the nation and to the people who were Jewish; ethnically, culturally, or religiously
- There is another sense in which we ought to understand the word Israel
- In terms of relationship to the one true living God: Israel, Gods special people in the OT and NT
- The story of Israel began with Abraham. God called him from the Pagan land of Ur
- Abraham had been a Pagan rebel against God
- God via His grace, called Abraham out of Ur and made a covenant with him, his household and descendants
- A covenant is a formal legal relationship between two parties; it includes promises and obligations for both sides
- Marriage is a covenant; marriage between a man and woman is used allegorically in scripture to describe the relationship between God and his people
- God is the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (Israel)
- Abraham’s descendants multiplied in Egypt; God delivered them from enslavement there and took them to Mount Sinai and made a covenant with them in line with the promises to Abraham
- Of all the people of the earth, God chose Abraham and his descendants
- Exodus 19:5 Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; 6 and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel”
- Exodus 20:2 “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. 3 “You shall have no other gods before me
- Romans 9:3 For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh. 4 They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises
- So, we can define Israel in terms of their covenant relationship with God
- Based on covenant, not blood, God chose Abraham
- God chose him in grace
- The covenant God made with Abraham passed from generation to generation
- Yet, it is not based on ethnicity: one born in the covenant could be cut off
- Genesis 17:14 Any uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin shall be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant.”
- Because God’s relationship with His special people is based on a covenant, that is why one born outside of the covenant, a Gentile, could trust and believe in God an join the people of Israel and thereafter be part of the nation Israel, an Israelite, though not one ethnically
- Two famous biblical examples: Rahab and Ruth
- Since Israel’s relationship with God is based on covenant and not on blood, what would happen if Israel broke covenant, forsook the Lord, refused to repent and come back to Him?
- Covenant curses would be theirs…
- [In Deuteronomy 28, Moses told them what would happen in such an instance, they would experience covenant curses; see Leviticus 26 also for covenant curses spoken more forcefully than in Deut 28]
- That is, if they broke their covenant with God, then they could not be saved by their heritage, the presence of the Ark and temple, promises would not save them
- Rejection of God’s covenant = cut off from God, no longer His special people
- Hosea 1:9 And Yahweh said, “Name him Lo-ammi, for you are not My people, and I am not your God.”
- God always preserves a ‘remnant’ He is saving to whom He would give the promises He made to Abraham
- A covenant is a relationship between 2 parties that need to be faithful and love one another
- Dispensationalism is correct in saying that Jesus came to fulfill the OT promises, but He did not need the Jewish nation of His day to accept Him so He could do so
- Matthew 3:1 Now in those days John the Baptist *came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea, saying, 2 “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” …9 and do not suppose that you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham for our father’; for I say to you that from these stones God is able to raise up children to Abraham.
- John 8:39 They answered and said to Him, “Abraham is our father.” Jesus *said to them, “If you are Abraham’s children, you would do the deeds of Abraham.
- Joh 8:40 “But now you are seeking to kill Me, a man who has told you the truth, which I heard from God. This Abraham did not do.
- Joh 8:41 “You are doing the deeds of your father.” …44 “You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies
- Romans 2:28 For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh. 29 But he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that which is of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter; and his praise is not from men, but from God
- That is, breaking God’s covenant makes circumcision uncircumcision; and even if one had been part of the Jewish nation by birth, he is the same as a Gentile with no covenant benefits
- So, the NT Jews were Jews only in the outward sense, their hearts were not obedient
- …if the root is holy, the branches are too. Romans 11:17 But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a wild olive, were grafted in among them and became a partaker with them of the rich root of the olive tree, 18 do not boast against the branches. But if you do boast against them, remember that it is not you who supports the root, but the root supports you. 19 You will say then, “Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in.” 20 Quite right! They were broken off for their unbelief, but you stand by your faith. Do not be haughty, but fear, 21 for if God did not spare the natural branches, He will not spare you, either.
- [They broke God’s covenant by their unbelief]
- That doesn’t mean the God no longer has a people for Himself, or that there is no longer a true Israel in the covenant sense
- Remember, God could raise up children to Abraham from stones
- That is, He doesn’t need physical descendants of Abraham
- God basically did that by calling the Gentiles to faith in Jesus and pouring out His Spirit upon them
- The Gentiles were grafted into the cultivated tree and became part of God’s people Israel
- Romans 9:25 As He says also in Hosea, “I WILL CALL THOSE WHO WERE NOT MY PEOPLE, ‘MY PEOPLE,’ AND HER WHO WAS NOT BELOVED, ‘BELOVED.’”
- Ephesians 2:11 Therefore, remember that formerly you—the Gentiles in the flesh, who are called “Uncircumcision” by the so-called “Circumcision,” which is performed in the flesh by human hands— 12 remember that you were at that time without Christ, alienated from the citizenship of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.
- Galatians 3:6 Just as Abraham BELIEVED GOD AND IT WAS COUNTED TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS, 7 so know that those who are of faith, those are sons of Abraham
- Philippians 3:3 For we are the circumcision, who worship in the Spirit of God and boast in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh
- That is, the Gentile Christians are Jews, per Jesus, the people of God, children of God
- John 1:12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, 13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God
- That is, born of the promise as in Galatians [see, Gal 4:21-31 regarding allegory about Hagar and Sarah] Gal 4:23 But the son of the slave was born according to the flesh, while the son of the free woman was born through promise
- 1Peter 2:9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. [like God said of Israel in Exodus 19, cited earlier]
- 1Peter 2:10 Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy
- Galatians 6:15 For neither circumcision counts for anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation. 16 And as for all who walk by this rule, peace and mercy be upon them, and upon the Israel of God. [context implies this is a reference to all the faithful Christians, including Gentiles]
- CONSIDER: if Gentile Christians can be called the ‘sons of Abraham;’ ‘the circumcision;’ and ‘a people for God’s own possession;’ then it should not be to hard to believe they also should be called the ‘Israel of God’
- Since the church consisting of believing Jews and Gentiles are God’s special people, and are in covenant with God via the Lord Jesus Christ, they are the sons of Abraham
- That is, the church inherits the promises of Abraham, not modern Israel; not secular or religious Jews, but Christians – those who are united to Jesus Christ
- In the NT, God did not start anew with the church; the church is a continuation of OT Israel
- Gentiles are grafted in, brought near, made fellow citizens
- They are not two peoples of God, but one; the church of the Lord Jesus Christ, the assembly of the saints
- The modern Jews and the Palestinians are both strangers to the covenant and promises, are outside the people of God
- Both need Jesus to be saved
- The church is to love them by proclaiming the gospel and doing good works, lest we become proud and are broken off by God, as in Romans 11
To hear other recent sermons by Pastor Ramsey at Sermon Audio, click the following link:
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