ONE COLOSSAL ERROR
     In 1948, when the State of Israel was established, many assumed that now God's promises to Israel were going to be fulfilled. This was, and still is, a colossal error.
     God said, "I will have mercy upon the house of Judah, and I will save them, NOT by weapons of war, but by the Lord, their God" (Hos. 1:7).  
      From 1948 to this year, the year 2002, instead of peace there has been war; instead of blessings there have been death and destruction in  "the promised" land. It has not been a pretty picture!  This has not been the fulfillment of God's promises.  His plan was revealed to Abraham long before Israel became a nation.  Isaiah wrote, "Listen to me, you who follow after righteousness, you who seek the Lord;  look to Abraham your father" (Isa. 51:1-2).
      The Lord said to Abraham, "Leave your father's house and go to a land that I will show you, I will make you a great nation, I will bless you and all the nations of the world will be blessed through you" (Gen. 12:1-4).  In obedience to God, Abraham left his birthplace, just as he had been told to do.  Abraham trusted God.  The fact that Abraham would become a blessing to every nation on earth, reveals the inter-racial, inter-national scope of God's divine intention.
     Later, when Abraham was concerned that he and Sarah had no children, God told him that his descendants would be as numerous as the stars.  Abraham believed God and his faith was credited to him as righteousness. (Gen. 15:1-5).
      Righteousness is a product of faith and obedience.  Abraham's life was a good example of both.
     When Abraham was ninty-nine years old, God said to him, "Live a holy life for I will make my covenant between me and you and I will multiply you exceedingly...you will be a father of many nations...and I will establish my covenant between me and you and your  descendants for an everlasting covenant...and I will give you and your descendants all the land of Canaan for an everlasting possession. And I will be their God" (Gen.17:18).
     The word "everlasting" reveals the eternal nature of the covenant.  It is the promise of eternal life!  Only those who live forever can inherit  the land forever.  Only a land which is an eternal place, can be possessed forever.
     Those promises were given to a righteous man and only the righteous descendants of Abraham will inherit those promises.  David understood this;  he wrote, "The righteous will inherit the land and dwell in it forever" (Psm. 37:29).
     David realized that such a future blessing would require the resurrection of the dead.  He wrote, "I will behold your face in righteousness; I shall be satisfied when I awake in your likeness" ((Psm. 17:15) .
     But what about the promise that they would inherit all the land of "Canaan" for an "everlasting possession"?  God explained it this way, "I will create new heavens and a new earth.  The former things  will not be remembered nor come to mind" (Isa, 65:17).
     God's promises are always even better than they might seem to be.  God gives his righteous people the power to look beyond the beyond.  He loves to surprise his people!
     Because the prophet Isaiah encouraged people to look to Abraham their father, no doubt he did some looking himself.  He saw that God cared about the Gentiles, too.  Isaiah passed on this message from God, "My house shall be called a house of prayer for all people" (Isa. 56:7).
      Isaiah was quoting God when he wrote, "Hello, everyone...come to me...and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David...seek the Lord when he may be found, call upon him when he is near...let the wicked forsake their ways...let them return to the Lord...and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon" (Isaiah 55:1-7)
     We know what God had promised Abraham, but what did God promise Israel?  Abraham was only one person but Israel was a nation. The big difference  between Abraham's covenant and Israel's covenant was the little word "IF". 
     As the children of Israel camped near mount Sinai, Moses went up the mountain to commune with God.  He was sent down to them with this message, "IF you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to me above all people; for all the earth is mine and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation...(Ex. 19:5-6,11 ). A covenant which begins with the word "if" is not an unconditional agreement.
     About 900 years later, God said, " I will make a new covenant with you, not like the one I made with your fathers at mount Sinai,  because you have broken that covenant" (Jer. 31:31-32).
     "You went after other gods...The house of Israel and the house of Judah have broken my covenant...the Lord called you a green Olive tree with good fruit...but the branches of it are broken" (Jer. 11:10,16).
      What is the new covenant?  When will it be introduced?  Who will be the one to announce it?
     God said to Moses, "I will raise up a prophet from among your people...and I will put my words in his mouth...and those who do not listen to my words that he shall speak in my name will be held accountable to me" (Duet. 19:15, 19).
     That prophet was Jesus!  Isaiah introduced Him to the world with these words, "He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities:...and with his stripes we are healed.  All we like sheep have gone astray...and the Lord has laid on him the iniquities of us all"  (Isa. 53:5-6).
     As Jesus gathered his disciples together to celebrate the Passover one last time, he took the bread and the wine and said to them, "This bread is my body which is broken for you...This cup is the new covenant in my blood which is shed for you, do this in remembrance of me" (Luke 22:14-20).       
     Jesus became the real passover Lamb!  That same night as they went to the mount of Olives to pray, Judas, leading some of Jesus' enemies, betrayed him with a kiss. (Luke 22:47-48).
     After Jesus' crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension into the heavens, John wrote, "No man has ascended up into heaven but the One who came down from heaven.  He is the Son of man who is now in heaven. Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, the Son of Man was lifted up, so that whoever believes in him should not perish  but have eternal life" (John 3:13-15).     
     Jesus' first words to his disciples after his resurrection were, "All power is given to me in heaven and on earth, go, therefore, and teach all nations  those things I have taught you" (Matt.28:18-20).
     God needed a well educated, knowledgeable Jew to preach and teach  the New Covenant.  He chose Saul who was a fanatical Jew, one who was determined to wipe out those who had become followers of Jesus.  As he was on his way to Damascus, a very bright light shined around him and he heard a loud voice saying, "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?"
     When Saul said, "Who are you?"  The answer was, "I am Jesus",  Saul replied, "What should I do?"  Jesus answered, "Go to Damascus and you will receive further instructions".  Saul, now blind, was led there by his men who had heard what Jesus said. After three days, God sent one of Jesus' followers to go lay hands on Saul and pray for him that he might be healed and be filled with the Holy Spirit.  He was told that Saul was a chosen vessel to teach about Jesus and the new covenant to the Gentiles and to the children of Israel. Later Saul's name  was changed to Paul. (Acts 9:1-17).
     Paul, in his letter to the church in Rome, wrote, "Now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed...even the righteousness of God which is by faith in Jesus Christ, to all who believe. For there is no difference, for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God" (Rom. 3:21-23), "The promise that he would be the heir of the world was not to Abraham or his descendants through the law, but through the righteousness of faith" (Rom. 4:13).
     To the Gentiles in Galatia, Paul wrote, "You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus...for there is neither  Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you belong to Christ then you are Abraham's seed and heirs of the promise" (Gal. 3:26-29).
     To the believers in Corinth Paul wrote of over 500 people that had seen Jesus after his resurrection from the dead, then he went on to say, "Christ has indeed risen from the dead and become the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep...For as in Adam all die so in Christ shall all be made alive but each in his own order, Christ the first fruits, then afterwards,  those who are Christ's at his coming" (I Cor. 15:1-23).
     In the same chapter Paul wrote, "Just as we have borne the likeness of the earthly man, so shall we bear the likeness of the man from heaven.  I declare to you, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God...This mortal must put on immortality" (I Cor. 15:49-53).
     David would say, 'Amen" to that!
     Paul refers to the fact that God called Israel an Olive tree which has some branches that are broken off.  He explains that if branches from wild olive trees (the Gentiles) are grafted in among the branches which remain,  they are also nourished by the roots of that Olive tree.
     When the grafting in of the Gentiles has been completed then the Olive tree will be completed; and it is in this way that "all Israel will be   redeemed"  (Rom.11:11-26).
      Zionism was an effort to use earthly means and earthly power to restore God's promise to Israel.  It did not work and it never will.  Someday Jesus will come and gather his elect (both Jews and Gentiles) together and in this way "a nation will be born in a day" (Isa. 66:8).
     That nation will be born by the resurrection of the dead and the transformation of those still living when Jesus comes. The Lord God which gathers  Israel, said, "I will gather others also" (Isa. 56:7-8).
     In Hebrews, Chapter 11, we find a list of the righteous.  Abel, Noah, Abraham, Moses, David and the prophets (etc.), "And all these who obtained a good report through faith have not yet received the promise; God having provided something better for us, that they without us  should not be made perfect." (Heb. 11:39-40).  This means that all the righteous, Jews and Gentiles, will be transformed together at the same time!
     The new covenant is simply a continuation of God's everlasting promises to Abraham.  Under that covenant are two special gifts; eternal life and an eternal home in which to spend our endless years.
     God alone can fulfill those two promises.  There is no other hope, there is no other way, there is no other One.
     No nation, no organization, no person, no religious group of any kind can offer what God is offering each and every one of us: the opportunity to live forever in a glorious home that will be ours forever.  
     Turn to Him, He is nearer than your telephone; He knows our thoughts, our hopes and our dreams, and He will supply something even better!   Glory be to the Father, to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

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