2012-07-20
Good Morning Dear Ones,
Last week, I wrote the difficult side of the coin, God’s need to discipline Israel for her disobedience to Him. Yet, the point has to be made again and again that He has not given up on Israel, as those teaching the untrue replacement theory would have us believe. Scriptural proof of that is found clearly in RO 11: 25-27, “I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers, so that you may not be conceited: Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in. And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written, ‘The Deliverer will come from Zion; He will turn godlessness away from Jacob. And this is My covenant with them when I take away their sins.’” There is OT evidence of this too. IS 45: 17, “But Israel will be saved by the Lord with an everlasting salvation; you [His anointed] will never be put to shame or disgraced.” JER 31: 34b [also HE 8: 12], “I will forgive their [Israel’s] wickedness and remember their sins no more.”
God’s forgiveness is seen with Israel, as she learns the lesson we all should learn: being in a covenant relationship of any kind demands commitment. In return for our faithful obedience to Him and His precepts revealed in His word, the practice of our true faith in His son, Jesus Christ, He will provide for us, protect us, guide us toward eternal bliss with Him, and bless us in countless ways. He will take retribution against our enemies, and we should leave that to Him. RO 12:19, “’Do not take revenge, My friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written [in LV 19: 18], ‘It is mine to avenge; I will replay,’ says the Lord.” [For more on how the Lord alone should take revenge, see PR 10: 22; PR 24: 29; DT 32: 35; PS 94: 1; JER 51: 36]. Israel finds herself in a predicament due to her geography [being surrounded on three sides by Arab enemies], the prejudice of anti-Semitism, and her own internal disobedience. This has gone on for over 3000 years. And yet, God has never, nor will He ever, give up on her. Israel was God’s original chosen people. Gentile and Jewish believers in Christ have now been added to that; they are the “branches that have been grafted on to the cultured olive tree” [RO 11: 17].
The notion of God not forgetting His covenant with the Jews is outlined quite clearly in LV 26: 42-45. God even reveals that He will punish the Jews for their disobedience by scattering them and temporary loss of their nationhood before this ever happened. But He also makes the point that the land will remain “desolate” but awaiting their return to it. (45) “But for their sake, I will remember the covenant with their ancestors whom I brought out of Egypt in sight of the nations to be their God. I am the Lord.” We know from a review of Israel’s history that she was one nation under the human kings, Saul, David, and Solomon, before splitting into Israel with its capital at Samaria in the north and Judah with its capital at Jerusalem in the south. This displeased God, and He allowed the Assyrians to capture Israel (722 BC) and the Babylonians to capture Judah (586 BC). It wasn’t until Jeremiah’s prophecy of JER 25: 11comes true in about 444 BC that these captivities ended with Cyrus of Persia’s order to begin allowing the Jews to return to rebuild a united Israel again. By that time Persia with Media had conquered the Babylonian empire [outlined in DN 5: 26-30].
We must understand just how important a covenant relationship is to God, so important that He will never forget it. DT 4: 31, “For the Lord your God is a merciful God; He will not abandon or destroy you or forget the covenant with your forefathers which He confirmed to them by oath.” In view of God’s consistency with the Jews over their 3000 year history, how can we assume God isn’t just as consistent with us in our Covenant of Grace? It just wouldn’t make sense. What we must know is that when something is important to God, it is repeated numerous times in the Scriptures. DT 7: 9, “Know therefore that the Lord your God is God; He is the faithful God, keeping His covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love Him and kept his commands.” In Deuteronomy in the Hebrew language Bible, the word “beriyth” is used more times than in any other book. This word, you’ll remember, means “covenant.” When I first arrived at Woodbury Lutheran Church 18 years ago, I has a good working knowledge of the OT. I had been studying it all my life. What I encountered were wonderful people who had a great working knowledge of the NT, but little experience with the OT. My willingness to teach Bible classes was welcomed, and I soon realized that while I was teaching from my own Biblical experience, my students and other friends at WLC were teaching me things I needed to know from theirs. That’s the secret of loving being a teacher; sometimes you learn as much or more from your students that you teach them. I brought the richness of Torah to them. That’s why the Holy Spirit has told me this is the right time for all of us to take up a subject near and dear to God’s heart-our covenant relationship with Him. If we think about it, we are actually getting a very special look into God’s heart this way, for He wants us to be in covenant relationship with Him and with each other. God is love. 1JN 4: 12, “No one has ever seen God, but if we love one another, God lives in us and His love is made complete in us.”
PRAYER: O Lord, You give us so much in return for so little. You ask us to look back in our history with You and give us the ability to do that, while at the same time dealing with our present lives and whatever challenges face us in the future. PS 107: 43, “Those who are wise will take all this to heart; they will see in our history the faithful love of the Lord.” All You ask of us is to repent of our sins and to believe in Your Son, Jesus Christ, taking Him as our personal Savior. In return we can claim so many blessings. We can ask You for Your guidance. PS 27: 11, “Teach me how to live, O Lord.” If we listen for You when we pray and study Your word daily. You give us the path to eternal life. For what more can we ask? In an attitude of reverence and contrition for our sins, we can utter PS 51: 2, as King David did so many years ago. “Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin.” You refresh our lives with Your forgiveness and bless us with Your word. PS 119: 24, 93, “Your instructions give me pleasure; they are my advisors…I will never neglect Your precepts, because by them, You have preserved my life.” Your Son, the Lord Jesus, suffered and died on the cross, making it possible for us to be saved [JN 3: 16; RO 3: 24-25]. How great a God You are to make such a Sacrifice for us! You entered into a covenant relationship with us and inspired John to write, in 1 JN 2: 12, “I am writing to you, Dear Children, because your sins have been forgiven on account of His name.” Dearest Abba, You are to be forever praised and thanked for the love You show us every day. We say this in the holy/mighty name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
NEXT WEEK: We will return to David and his recollection of the giving of the Ten Commandments. It helps us to understand the early history of the Ark of the Covenant, something extraordinarily important to the Jewish people. It is also important to each of us in a covenant relationship with God today. Those who either don’t know Scriptures well or haven’t yet come to full faith in them might claim that the Ten Commandments are important but the Ark of the covenant mattered only in past times. But they don’t know that we are reminded in HE 13: 7-8 of the NT that this isn’t so. “Remember your leaders who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, and today and forever.” This is wise advice, advice worthy of consideration and meditation. It’s hard for us to think in terms of eternity, but God is encouraging us to do this. We can take some direction and comfort in 2 PET 3: 8-9, “But do not forget this one thing, Dear Friends. With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” So, He asks us to think in terms of eternity and to be faithfully obedient in our covenant relationship with Him. He reminds us that He is always faithful, always righteous, and always consistently loving toward us. Even though, He found it necessary to punish His people Israel at times, He has never forgotten His covenant with her or with anyone with whom He has a covenant relationship. We are truly blessed to have a God like Him. He deserves our forever praise and thanks!
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn
JS 24: 15