Israel ~ Called To Be An Ambassador
How it All Began ~ An Overview
Dear Brethren,
In the beginning God created a spectacular, beautiful world and He made man and woman and said that they were made in His (Elohim's) image. The land and seas, the lights in the skies, the animals, the plants, and the two humans; God said all the things that He created were very good. There was no sin in the world to mar the peace and serenity that covered the earth. It is easy for us to underestimate the word "good" because of its overuse in our modern language. We know that God's creation was dazzling beyond description!
Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
1:2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
On the sixth day, the Creator made man out of the dust of the ground and the man, too, was proclaimed as being very good.
Genesis 1:26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
1:27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
1:28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.
1:29 And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.
1:30 And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so.
1:31 And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day. (See Genesis 1 whole chapter)
When God created Adam and Eve, He provided for them everything that they could possibly want and placed them into an incredibly lovely home in the midst of the Garden of Eden. In addition, the Creator God walked with them and He taught them His laws and His truth and gave them the Sabbath Day (Genesis 2:2-3). Their life must have been filled with joy and they surely must have rejoiced in their Maker and in the way of life He had provided for them.
Genesis 2:7 And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.
2:8 And the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed.
2:9 And out of the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.
God gave Adam a job to do and and gave him instructions as to what trees he could freely eat from and which tree he was absolutely forbidden to eat of.
Genesis 2:15 And the Lord God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.
2:16 And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:
2:17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.
Elohim created Adam first and then He provided Adam with a beautiful loving marital partner.
Genesis 2:18 And the Lord God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.
Genesis 2:21 And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof;
2:22 And the rib, which the Lord God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man.
2:23 And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.
2:24 Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.
2:25 And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.
The newly created married couple had all the physical blessings of a brand new beautiful sinless world with all the marvelous animals living close by to watch and to enjoy. They had the spiritual blessings of knowing God, being taught by Him and living in His presence, able to commune with Him probably whenever they wanted to.
And then one day Satan presented himself in the form of a serpent and entered the Garden of Eden and tempted Eve to eat the fruit from the forbidden Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. She succumbed to his temptation and she ate of the forbidden fruit, and then Adam joined her in partaking of the fruit. When they rebelled against God's clear instruction to not eat of this tree, sin entered the world and the horrible consequences of sin began to affect Adam and Eve and all the rest of humanity that would come from them.
Genesis 3:1 Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?
3:2 And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:
3:3 But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.
3:4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:
3:5 For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.
3:6 And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.
3:7 And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.
Satan used deceitful tactics to entice Eve with his lies to get her to take of the forbidden fruit and he succeeded. These lies have stuck with mankind all through the ages and all the major religions and the philosophers of the world incorporate these lies into their teachings and traditions.
This was Satan's first message to Eve and therefore it was his first message to mankind. Satan presented three lies to Eve that she eagerly listened to and then acted upon his lies. Satan has used these three lies repeatedly throughout history.
(1). "Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?" By saying this, Satan implied that God could not be trusted. Satan sowed seeds of doubt [and therefore a lie] in the mind of Eve which prepared her to accept his next lie. Mankind still does not believe God and rather than believing Him and His Word, the people of the world believe in myths and fables that are diametrically the opposite of what God commands.
By teaching this directly, or by subtle implication, this idea that God is untrustworthy and that His Word is not really true has been the rudimentary basis of man's relationship with God ever since Adam and Eve came to this conclusion for themselves in the Garden. This idea that we cannot believe God and His whole Word forms the bedrock of all of the false religions of the world. From this false premise at the very core of their religions, they go on to form their own mythical creeds as to what they believe God is about and what should be considered as right and wrong.
( 2) "Ye shall not surely die". After Satan planted distrust in Eve's mind that perhaps God had not really told her the whole truth, she began to doubt God, Next, Satan told Eve that she would not surely die if she ate of the forbidden tree. This was a bold-face lie to Eve, as earlier we read in Genesis 2:16-17 that God told Adam that they WOULD die if they ate of the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.
Satan lied to Eve that she was immortal and that she would not die as God had said. This heresy has been embraced ever since the time of Adam and Eve by all of humanity down through the ages. The lie that man cannot die is still very much a tenet in most of the world's religions and in the New Age movements. Most people throughout the ages have believed in some kind of immortality of the soul in spite of the fact that the Bible clearly says that "the soul that sinneth, it shall die" (Ezekiel 18:20) and that "the wages of sin is death"; not eternal life somewhere beyond the grave.
Satan's third lie to Eve was: that if she ate of the fruit, her eyes would be opened, she would become enlightened to see as God sees and therefore she could become like God knowing good from evil.
(3) "For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil".
To tell Eve that she "shall not surely die" was to assure her of freedom from the death penalty that God had said that He would impose for disobedience. Satan then cunningly added to that lie by telling her that she would receive great god-like wisdom in which she could determine for herself what is good and what is evil if she were to partake of the forbidden fruit and then she and Adam could be as God.
Eve did eat of the forbidden tree and then she gave some of its fruit to Adam and he ate of it also. Instead of looking to the Sovereign God as their source of knowledge of what is right and what is wrong, now Adam and Eve would look to Satan as to the source for their knowledge, deciding for themselves what was sin and what was not sin. By taking of the forbidden fruit they could now allow for themselves the right to determine right from wrong which is what the whole world has done ever since.
Effects of Satan's Lies
Combined with "ye shall not die" with having the right to make up our own rules, doing what we want, makes us believe we do not have to obey God and suffer any repercussions for not doing as He says. Mankind has bought into this deception ever since Adam and Eve rebelled, and therefore men do not fear God and they don't think that they need to keep His commandments and ordinances. Mankind, for the most part, breaks all of Gods laws with impunity with out any fear.
All through the ages, men separated from God, have made up their own religions that suit them. Men and women then pursue mystical knowledge from all kinds of sources except God's divine Word in seeking to become wise. People seek out false gods and false religions that they believe provides them with superior knowledge about how they should live and that gives them insights of the hidden things pertaining to life and death. All of the religions of the world are devoid of truth and logic and are demonic for their beliefs come from the minds of mere men who have made up their own rules and regulations which are, in actuality, the precepts of men and are based on the rudiments of the world.
Colossians 2:8 Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. (See also 1st Timothy 4:1)
[See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception (pseudo-intellectual babble), according to the tradition [and musings] of mere men, following the elementary principles of this world, rather than following (the truth-the teachings of) Christ. AMP]
And those who do not profess to any kind of religion still are a religion to themselves as they do as THEY please and allow for themselves. Atheists say that there is no God that needs to be feared so they obey the dictates of their own heart.
God tells us throughout His Word that the wages of sin is death.
Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. (See Proverbs 11:19, Ezekiel 18:4, Matthew 25:46, Romans 6:16, 21, 1st Corinthians 6:9)
Those who continue in their sin and refuse to repent will die. It is God's prerogative as to who will be granted the privilege of eternal life and that is only by a resurrection to a spirit body. God holds total sovereignty over His creation and He will allow those to die who show during their lifetimes that they are NOT willing to be subject to His way of life, who will NOT keep all of His commandments and who REFUSE to allow God to have the rule in their lives. God is not obligated to give eternal life to anyone; but does promise to give it to those who believe God's truth, are repentant and seek to have the sacrificial blood of Christ applied to their sins, and then prove themselves faithful by going and sinning no more. God will give the gift of eternal life to only the one who is willing to follow His way of life and show that he will be loyal only to Him throughout his physical lifetime to the very end.
However, by distorting the truth about how one is able to gain eternal life and by believing Satan's lie that people already have immortality, Satan can deflect men and women from the truth of God and instill reasons in their minds for NOT listening to God, NOT wanting to obey what God says. Most people do not look into their Bibles to see what God has to say about how they may be forgiven of their sins; or how to live a life of obedience to God's commandments to qualify to be resurrected to spirit to live forever as a son of God by attaining to it through legitimate means; by God's way, and not listening to Satan's falsehoods!
Ever since Satan enticed Adam and Eve to rebel against God, the whole world has been deceived by Satan's lies.
Revelation 12:9 And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
1st John 5:19 And we know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness. [the people of the world are under the power of the evil one, are under his mindset which opposes God and His precepts].
Romans 3:23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
And not only are the people of the world deceived by Satan's lies but he entices them with the pleasures and the riches of this life as a way to bait the people to sin and go after all of the glitzy things that the world has to offer. He tells them that they can have riches and pleasures if they will just obey him in how to achieve those things; and most follow after his ways of deceit, lying, cheating, murdering to attain them.
1st John 2:16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.
Rather than illuminating our minds to see the truth of God, the people of the world are blind to what constitutes the true value of a life lived for Christ and the eternal blessings that He offers.
2nd Corinthians 4:4 In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.
Satan's encounter with Eve was the very beginning of all of mankind partaking of the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, because ALL her children have come to believe his lies. It takes a supernatural act of God the Father to remove the veil off a person's eyes to see rightly God's truth; and that happens when that person is called by the Father and he responds to that call by believing what God says is true, that His laws are right and then committing himself to live by them forevermore. When God calls us and we receive the gift of His Holy Spirit, it is like God pulls back the curtain to allow us to see what is really real and what is happening behind the scenes in this world that we were born into. It is a truly marvelous thing.
2nd Corinthians 3:14 But their minds were blinded: for until this day remaineth the same vail untaken away in the reading of the old testament; which vail is done away in Christ.
First Eve, then Adam, succumbed to Satan's temptation, ate of the forbidden fruit and ever since, man has rejected God's standard of righteousness and instead has followed the dictates of his own heart. Therefore we have the miserable conditions that we have had all through the history of mankind and the wars, disease, famine, pain, etc. continues even to our day in our modern world. All because mankind believes in Satan's lies and refuses to turn to God and to believe that His ways are the ways to life and happiness.
The Promise of the Messiah and of the Final Destruction of Satan
After Adam and Eve sinned against God, God put them on trial and gave His judgment; not only for the two people that He had created and had now rebelled against Him, but also for the serpent who really was Satan.
Genesis 3:8 And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden.
3:9 And the Lord God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?
3:10 And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.
3:11 And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?
3:12 And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.
3:13 And the Lord God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.
3:14 And the Lord God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:
Just after Adam and Eve disobeyed God's clear directive to not eat of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, God pronounced a curse on Satan but the judgment also contained a promise.
Genesis 3:15 And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.
This was the first mention of the PROMISE that God would send the Messiah to die for the sins of all humanity so that mankind might be saved if they would accept Christ's atoning sacrifice for their sins and then live in accordance with God's way of life forever more.
"And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed...."
The term "enmity" denotes a disposition of hostility, whether between individuals (Numbers. 35:21-22), or between nations (Ezekiel. 25:15-17; 35:5-6).
Between what parties is there to be enmity? The text denotes the initial spirit of antagonism between Eve and her enemy (Satan who wanted to destroy her and Adam), together with the suggestion that there would be an ongoing spiritual hostility between the woman's seed, Christ (along with His people; both the physical nation of Israel and also His called out ones), and Satan, the demonic world, and Satan's followers.
This truth regarding the enmity between God's children and those who are under the influence of Satan is well illustrated in the parable of the tares (see Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43, 1st John 3:10) and elsewhere throughout the whole Bible. And the difference between the two kinds of seeds (children) is spoken of in 1st John 3:10 when John states: "In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother."
The "seed of the woman" pertains to the coming of the Messiah (Christ) who would be born of a woman at a future date and then die for the sins of the would thereby offering mankind an opportunity to repent of their sins and not suffer the penalty of eternal death. Jesus Christ would offer Himself so that men could be saved.
This verse truly is comforting, providing the very first biblical glimpse of God's plan of redemption; the promise to send a Savior to die for mankind's sins, but also bringing our attention upon the ultimate destruction of the one that had just tempted Adam and Eve in the first place. By what Satan had done, in tempting the first human beings to sin, he had sealed his own fate; but he was given an additional 6000 years to rule and influence the future descendants of Adam and Eve. Satan is being kept alive to test all who have ever lived and to teach them lessons; but after the 1000 year millennium, he will finally be cast into the burning Lake of Fire (Revelation 20:10) and will be burnt up, no longer able to deceive or influence the masses ever again.
"It shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel." is a prophecy that Satan would bruise the Christ by having Him killed (at the time of the crucifixion and death of Jesus) but it would only be a temporary bruise for Christ would not stay dead, but would rise up; and, ultimately, Satan would be hit with a severe blow to his head; meaning that he will be destroyed in the end.
The Hebrew word for bruise is shuph (Strong's #7779) and means break, bruise, cover, to overwhelm. (Strong's Exhaustive Concordance)
And lest we think that "bruise" only means to cause a black and blue mark, Paul used the Greek word suntribó that is translated "bruise" to describe what is going to happen to Satan shortly and the word he used means to utterly crush and break into pieces. That is Satan's fate when God is done using him as a tool to show mankind what listening to and obeying him does in bringing total misery and death to their lives and to the world.
Romans 16:20 And the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen.
The Greek word for "bruise" is suntribó (Strong's #4937) Definition: break by crushing, break in pieces, shatter, crush, bruise. (Strong's Concordance)
Genesis 3:15 is a wonderful promise from God that the Messiah would some day have the ultimate victory and would bruise [crush] Satan's head after all of humanity has been taught that Satan's ways do not bring blessing and happiness. Some day in the future, Satan will be destroyed forever more and all traces of evil and wickedness will be obliterated from the face of the earth, or anywhere else for that matter, for God says that Satan will be tossed into the Lake of Fire.
Revelation 20:10 And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.
In Malachi we have the prophecy that all who are proud and do wickedly will be burned up, which pertains to all those who are prideful and wicked and refuse to repent. It seems that this would include Satan and his demonic cohorts for they are the epitome of pride and wickedness.
Malachi 4:14 For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.
This is what happened at the very beginning of the 6000 year rule of man and to know and understand these things helps us to have the proper worldview of God's great plan that He has decreed from the foundation of the world. Without this knowledge and understanding of the plan of God, mankind wanders around aimlessly blinded to the truth of God, not knowing why there is so much evil and suffering in the world. Some even blame God for it; but happy are those who know and understand these things for it gives them great hope. God grants to those who follow and obey Him the realization that at a certain time in the future, mankind is going to be delivered from the misery that is in the world as a result of Adam and Eve's sin and the continuance of rebellion against God among all of their descendants right up to the present day.
God also pronounced curses on Adam and Eve that would effect their entire progeny for the next 6000 years that has had a detrimental effect on all of creation, not only the children that came from the two. For the whole of creation has been affected by sin that began almost 6000 years ago in the Garden (Romans 8:18-23).
The Curse on Adam and Eve and Their Offspring
Genesis 3:16 Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.
3:17 And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;
3:18 Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field;
3:19 In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.
The first humans failed to stay loyal to God and there arose a need of a Savior to rescue humanity from their sin. The failure of mankind to be able to govern their own lives began right in the Garden of Eden and has propagated throughout all the families that have come from our first parents. This failure began in the lack of proper leadership on the part of Adam and Eve and spread to their children and has morphed into all aspects of life; including governments, commerce, education, relationships, etc.
A Need For Righteous and Loyal Leaders On Earth
This is where the called out to the Father comes into play to act as His ambassadors on earth. God has been calling certain ones ever since the sons of Seth, and then Enoch, and giving them the opportunity to be taught and trained in this life to provide proper leadership under Jesus Christ in His coming Kingdom. God is calling some to come into His Body to prepare them to lead righteously under the overall direction of Jesus Christ following His return.
The government under Christ will be supplied by tried and tested leadership, those who have passed the tests of temptation and adversity as they lived out their lifetimes. Those called to the Father and that become His children are tested to see if their faith in Him and His Way is genuine. Through trials and tests, God will come to know that they can be trusted throughout eternity. These called out who have passed their tests and who have stayed faithful until the end, will be chosen at the resurrection of the just because they proved loyal to God and to His Word even as they had to endure severe trials. And like Noah, and so many others that we read about, many of them stood mostly alone in the face of the majority going the way of Satan. God uses those He is preparing as His representatives at this time; and will use His tried and tested children as His ambassadors following Christ's return when they will be put into positions of leadership to lead and to teach the others whom God will call in the future.
Those in training to be ambassadors must study into the Word of God and they need to understand the purpose and the details of the law and the Covenants. The Word of God and the early history of our ancestors provides those God is preparing insights as to why the world is the way it is and how God is going to deliver mankind from the mess that the children of Adam and Eve have wrought. This knowledge of the history of mankind provides them with a broad base of understanding for directing their lives regarding their beliefs and conduct so that they will not fail as Adam and Eve, did but will go on to become the kings and priests that Christ will use to assist Him in the administration of His Kingdom. He wants mature loyal leaders who are skilled and competent that can represent Him and all of His ways and to be able to teach His ways to the others who will be called when it is their turn. Those who belong to God must be tried and tested so that He can count on them to never give in to the lies of wicked men and spirits no matter how good and lofty the liars may seem to be.
After Adam and Eve's Sin the Condition of the World Grows into More Wickedness
After Adam and Eve rebelled, sin entered the world and continued to grow. The first murder was perpetrated by Cain against his brother Abel, and from the time of Seth we read of only a few who did walk with God and sought to live for Him.
Genesis 4:25 And Adam knew his wife again; and she bare a son, and called his name Seth: For God, said she, hath appointed me another seed instead of Abel, whom Cain slew.
4:26 And to Seth, to him also there was born a son; and he called his name Enos: then began men to call upon the name of the Lord.
Genesis 5:22 And Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah three hundred years, and begat sons and daughters:
5:23 And all the days of Enoch were three hundred sixty and five years:
5:24 And Enoch walked with God:
But as time went by, the whole world progressed in wickedness; the people became more and more wicked to the point that Moses recorded for us in Scripture:
Genesis 6:5 And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
6:6 And it repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.
God decided to send a flood to wipe wicked mankind off of the face of the earth. But there was one just man and his family (after about 1500 years after Adam and Eve) that did what was right. Noah was the only one who was righteous; God says that Noah was faithful to Him and to His to Word out of all of humanity who lived on earth at that time.
Genesis 6:8 But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD. And the LORD said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the ark; for thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation.
6:9 These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God.
6:10 And Noah begat three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
6:11 The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.
6:12 And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.
Noah walked with God and he was was just and perfect before God. Noah was one person on earth that it could be said that he represented the way of God. In 2nd Peter 2:6 we learn that Noah was a preacher of righteousness. "And spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly;" (2nd Peter 2:6).
Like the people in our modern times, the men and women of Noah's day were most likely busy enjoying the pleasures of sin, and also embroiled in all the violent activities that were taking place and did not believe or care that judgment was coming. During the many years when Noah was working on the Ark and as the building project progressed and grew obvious, it must have been a curious symbol to those living around him. One can imagine that Noah was often asked about his building of such a huge ark in the middle of dry land with no water in sight. Indeed, Noah must have been the object of much ridicule and derision when he told them that God was going to send a flood to wipe out the wicked people of his day. Did they listen to Noah? we know from the rest of the narrative that they did not.
Noah was found faithful to God, walking with God during his lifetime and God wanted to save Noah and his family because of his faithfulness to Him and because he lived and taught the way of God even though the whole world was immersed in wickedness. God chose Noah and his wife to save a small remnant of humanity. After the destruction of the rest of mankind, all that would come after would be descended from Noah; God was going to start the world over with Noah and his family because Noah proved faithful.
God wiped out the world with a flood except for righteous Noah and his family and when the flood waters abated, God told them to spread out through the earth and replenish it.
Genesis 8:16 Go forth of the ark, thou, and thy wife, and thy sons, and thy sons' wives with thee.
8:17 Bring forth with thee every living thing that is with thee, of all flesh, both of fowl, and of cattle, and of every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth; that they may breed abundantly in the earth, and be fruitful, and multiply upon the earth.
But in spite of Noah's righteousness, after just a few generations, the earth again became filled with wickedness with men serving themselves and their false gods, wanting to make a name for themselves rather than looking to God. They also became rebellious toward the ways of God, refusing to live righteously as their father Noah had done. One thing they refused to do was to spread throughout the earth and replenish it as God had commanded. Therefore God had to scatter the families throughout the earth to keep them from building a one world government in opposition to what God had commanded Noah and his progeny to do.
Genesis 11:1 And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech.
11:2 And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar; and they dwelt there.
11:3 And they said one to another, Go to, let us make brick, and burn them thoroughly. And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for morter.
11:4 And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.
11:5 And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded.
11:6 And the Lord said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do.
11:7 Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another's speech.
11:8 So the Lord scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the city.
11:9 Therefore is the name of it called Babel; because the Lord did there confound the language of all the earth: and from thence did the Lord scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth.
God Calls A Nation to Be A Light to the Rest of the World
God had a plan that He would raise up a nation from one man and use that nation to be a blessing to the rest of the world as a light of God's way of life; and also would be the group of people that the promised Messiah would come from. God called Abraham to come out from Babylon, away from his own people and to go to the land that God wanted him and his descendants to inherit. From Abraham's family through his son Isaac, and then through Issac's son Jacob, the promise that God made to Adam and Eve and to the serpent would be brought about.
Genesis 12:1 Now the Lord had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee:
12:2 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:
12:3 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.
12:4 So Abram departed, as the Lord had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him: and Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran.
We all know the story of Abraham's life and then the life of Isaac and Jacob and how God made a Covenant with them that their descendants would enter into a marriage Covenant with the Lord. God promised that their descendants would become great, that they would be His people and He would be their God if they would adhere to His commandments and all of His ways and forsake all the pagan gods in the land. We have been studying Genesis on James' blog for the last couple of weeks. We know that God chose the twelve tribes of Jacob to become His own betrothed nation of Israel that would have God's laws and be a holy people that would represent to the other nations around them of what a nation of God would be like.
Deuteronomy 4:1 Now therefore hearken, O Israel, unto the statutes and unto the judgments, which I teach you, for to do them, that ye may live, and go in and possess the land which the Lord God of your fathers giveth you.
4:2 Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you.
4:3 Your eyes have seen what the Lord did because of Baalpeor: for all the men that followed Baalpeor, the Lord thy God hath destroyed them from among you.
4:4 But ye that did cleave unto the Lord your God are alive every one of you this day.
4:5 Behold, I have taught you statutes and judgments, even as the Lordmy God commanded me, that ye should do so in the land whither ye go to possess it.
4:6 Keep therefore and do them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the nations, which shall hear all these statutes, and say, Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.
4:7 For what nation is there so great, who hath God so nigh unto them, as the Lord our God is in all things that we call upon him for?
4:8 And what nation is there so great, that hath statutes and judgments so righteous as all this law, which I set before you this day?
God choose the nation of Israel to be His holy people because of His Covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and even though they were a weak and small nation. He wanted to make them an example of the greatness that can be attained by having Him as their God and having His laws as the basis of their greatness.
Deuteronomy 7:6 For thou art an holy people unto the Lord thy God: the Lord thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth.
7:7 The Lord did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people; for ye were the fewest of all people:
7:8 But because the Lord loved you, and because he would keep the oath which he had sworn unto your fathers, hath the Lord brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you out of the house of bondmen, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.
7:9 Know therefore that the Lord thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations;
In this way God demonstrates that it is really He who makes a nation great (and not of their own selves) if they will walk in all of His ways. Just as He calls the foolish, the weak, the despised, to become part of His Ekklesia, that no one can glory in his own greatness but glory in the power and might of our Almighty God.
1st Corinthians 1:26 For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called:
1:27 But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty;
1:28 And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are:
1:29 That no flesh should glory in his presence.
1:30 But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption:
1:31 That, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.
The 29th chapter of Deuteronomy captures the essence of what the Covenant that God made with the people of Israel was about and what they were to do if they desired to be God's people and what God required of them. It also warns of what would happen to them if they failed to keep the whole word of the Covenant as individuals and as a nation.
Deuteronomy 29:9 Keep therefore the words of this covenant, and do them, that ye may prosper in all that ye do.
29:10 Ye stand this day all of you before the Lord your God; your captains of your tribes, your elders, and your officers, with all the men of Israel,
29:11 Your little ones, your wives, and thy stranger that is in thy camp, from the hewer of thy wood unto the drawer of thy water:
29:12 That thou shouldest enter into covenant with the Lord thy God, and into his oath, which the Lord thy God maketh with thee this day:
29:13 That he may establish thee to day for a people unto himself, and that he may be unto thee a God, as he hath said unto thee, and as he hath sworn unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.
29:14 Neither with you only do I make this covenant and this oath;
29:15 But with him that standeth here with us this day before the Lord our God, and also with him that is not here with us this day:
29:16 (For ye know how we have dwelt in the land of Egypt; and how we came through the nations which ye passed by;
29:17 And ye have seen their abominations, and their idols, wood and stone, silver and gold, which were among them:)
29:18 Lest there should be among you man, or woman, or family, or tribe, whose heart turneth away this day from the Lord our God, to go and serve the gods of these nations; lest there should be among you a root that beareth gall and wormwood;
29:19 And it come to pass, when he heareth the words of this curse, that he bless himself in his heart, saying, I shall have peace, though I walk in the imagination of mine heart, to add drunkenness to thirst:
29:26 For they went and served other gods, and worshipped them, gods whom they knew not, and whom he had not given unto them:
29:27 And the anger of the Lord was kindled against this land, to bring upon it all the curses that are written in this book:
29:28 And the Lord rooted them out of their land in anger, and in wrath, and in great indignation, and cast them into another land, as it is this day.
29:29 The secret things belong unto the Lord our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law.
The Books of the Old Testament are a chronicle of Israel's repeated failure to obey God, of her refusal to keep His commandments and statutes and of going after the pagan gods of the surrounding nations.
There were a few short periods of times when Israel and/or Judah were faithful to the Covenant but it never lasted for long and eventually both Israel and Judah were removed from the land and were rejected by God because of their stubbornness and rebellion against the Mighty One who had delivered them from the bondage of Pharaoh.
In Psalm 78, Aseph summarizes for us the failure on the part of Israel to keep the Covenant they had made with their Creator.
Psalm 78:5 For he established a testimony in Jacob, and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers, that they should make them known to their children:
78:6 That the generation to come might know them, even the children which should be born; who should arise and declare them to their children:
78:7 That they might set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments:
78:8 And might not be as their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation; a generation that set not their heart aright, and whose spirit was not stedfast with God.
78:9 The children of Ephraim, being armed, and carrying bows, turned back in the day of battle.
78:10 They kept not the covenant of God, and refused to walk in his law;
78:11 And forgat his works, and his wonders that he had shewed them.
78:12 Marvellous things did he in the sight of their fathers, in the land of Egypt, in the field of Zoan.
78:13 He divided the sea, and caused them to pass through; and he made the waters to stand as an heap.
78:14 In the daytime also he led them with a cloud, and all the night with a light of fire.
78:15 He clave the rocks in the wilderness, and gave them drink as out of the great depths.
78:6 He brought streams also out of the rock, and caused waters to run down like rivers.
78:17 And they sinned yet more against him by provoking the most High in the wilderness.
And here we read of the reasons why the people of Israel were no longer considered to be Gods' people.
2nd Kings 17:7 For so it was, that the children of Israel had sinned against the Lord their God, which had brought them up out of the land of Egypt, from under the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and had feared other gods,
17:8 And walked in the statutes of the heathen, whom the Lord cast out from before the children of Israel, and of the kings of Israel, which they had made.
17:9 And the children of Israel did secretly those things that were not right against the Lord their God, and they built them high places in all their cities, from the tower of the watchmen to the fenced city.
17:10 And they set them up images and groves in every high hill, and under every green tree:
17:11 And there they burnt incense in all the high places, as did the heathen whom the Lord carried away before them; and wrought wicked things to provoke the Lord to anger:
17:12 For they served idols, whereof the Lord had said unto them, Ye shall not do this thing.
17:13 Yet the Lord testified against Israel, and against Judah, by all the prophets, and by all the seers, saying, Turn ye from your evil ways, and keep my commandments and my statutes, according to all the law which I commanded your fathers, and which I sent to you by my servants the prophets.
17:14 Notwithstanding they would not hear, but hardened their necks, like to the neck of their fathers, that did not believe in the Lord their God.
17:15 And they rejected his statutes, and his covenant that he made with their fathers, and his testimonies which he testified against them; and they followed vanity, and became vain, and went after the heathen that were round about them, concerning whom the Lord had charged them, that they should not do like them.
17:16 And they left all the commandments of the Lord their God, and made them molten images, even two calves, and made a grove, and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served Baal.
17:17 And they caused their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire, and used divination and enchantments, and sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the Lord, to provoke him to anger.
17:18 Therefore the Lord was very angry with Israel, and removed them out of his sight: there was none left but the tribe of Judah only.
17:19 Also Judah kept not the commandments of the Lord their God, but walked in the statutes of Israel which they made.
17:20 And the Lord rejected all the seed of Israel, and afflicted them, and delivered them into the hand of spoilers, until he had cast them out of his sight.
Read the whole of Psalm 78, Ezekiel 16, the book of Hosea, 1st and 2nd Kings, 1st and 2nd Chronicles, all the minor and major Books of the Prophets and most of the whole Old Testament to see how Israel utterly failed in her calling to be an Ambassador for God and His ways here on earth to the other nations and to be a beacon of His laws and ordinances.
In the Book of Amos the prophet warned Israel:
Amos 9:8 Behold, the eyes of the Lord God are upon the sinful kingdom, and I will destroy it from off the face of the earth; saving that I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob, saith the Lord.
The patriarch fathers: Abraham, Isaac, Israel were, as God's Word states faithful and loyal to God. However, the people of Israel failed to keep the terms of God's Covenant and therefore the promises were withheld from them. Israel demonstrated again and again of her refusal to obey God and went after the gods of the other peoples in the land. As a result the peace, prosperity, and eternal possession of the land that God promised the patriarchs has not materialized.
Paul, too, attests to the fact that Israel did not receive the promises because of her rebellion against God.
Hebrews 4:8 For if Jesus had given them rest, then would he not afterward have spoken of another day.
4:9 There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God.
4:10 For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his.
4:11 Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief.
Because of the peoples' refusal to trust and obey God, He withheld His blessings, ultimately separating Himself from them by casting them out of the land He had promised to their fathers; the patriarchs.
God punished Israel for her disobedience by withholding the fulfillment of His promises contained in the Covenant she had entered into with Him. This deferment did not make God unfaithful to His people because His promises to them were conditional based on their obedience to His terms and His commandments.
God was completely faithful to the children of Israel by doing to them exactly what He promised He would do if they persistently sinned against Him and forsook Him. He took their privilege of being a light to the people and to be an Ambassador for Him and His righteousness to the surrounding nations.
God will honor His unconditional promises to the patriarchs at a future time and for those who repent and turn to Him; but Israel's sad overall history is the consequence of the her faithlessness to honor the Covenant containing the conditional promises that they had made with their God who had become a Husband to them, not because of any faithlessness on God's part.
God did keep His unconditional promise to send the Messiah and now He is working with another Israel, the spiritual nation of God. He is calling a spiritual people to be His lights to the world and to go forth as ambassadors living in a hostile country (this present evil world which is not their own) to represent the coming Kingdom of which they have chosen to be citizens of.
The Other Israel ~ The Israel of God
Because the physical nation of Israel forsook God and refused to stay in Covenant with Him, God has put her off for now. He is now calling people to enter into a New Covenant and it is those whom He is working with at this time. As far as physical Israel, God is allowing her to continue to reap the consequences of living contrary to Him and His laws; she will be punished in the upcoming correction and then God will deal with her following His return to this earth to set up the Kingdom.
Who is the Israel that God is now working with and setting His name upon?
Galatians 3:6 Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.
3:7 Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham.
3:8 And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed.
3:9 So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham.
Galatians 6:16 And as many as walk according to this rule, peace be on them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of God.
In his epistle to the Galatians, the apostle Paul refers to the brethren, [those who are faithful to the New Covenant] as the seed [children] of Abraham and it is they who make up the Ekklesia and Paul calls them "the Israel of God".
Why does God use the name Israel in conjunction with the called out ones that make up the New Covenant? He could have just as well called them Jacob's children, or Issac's sons or by some other name. We know that the New Testament writers were inspired by God and this is the name Paul was inspired in Galatians 6 to use in reference to the Ekklesia; those who are called to be a part of Christ's Body; who are walking faithfully with Him; and who have the Holy Spirit.
The name "Israel" has a very special meaning. The Man (who was really Christ manifested in a man's form) who wrestled with Jacob when Jacob was returning to his own country purposely changed his name from Jacob to Israel.
It is very common for God to give names to people, places, or things that reflect certain attributes or have a symbolic meaning that reflects what they are. For instance, if we look at all the names of the prophets, every one of them reflects something significant about what God called them to do. Moses' name means "drawn out" and he was drawn out of the Nile by the daughter of Pharaoh; but also his name reflected that he was chosen to draw the children of Israel out of bondage to Egypt.
The name for the One that would become the Savior is "Jesus" or the the Hebrew word "Joshua" which means "Jehovah is salvation", hence the meaning of Jesus name means "savior". The meaning of His name is also clear from the purpose for which He came, to save mankind.
Matthew 1:21 And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.
So what can we learn about God's called out by studying the name that Paul called the Ekklesia in Galatians 6, "the Israel of God"?
In Genesis 32 is the account of the Man that Jacob wrestled with all night and when Jacob had prevailed with Him, the Man changed Jacob's name to Israel.
Genesis 32:24 And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day.
32:25 And when he [the preincarnate Christ, the God of the Old Testament] saw that he prevailed not against him, he touched the hollow of his thigh; and the hollow of Jacob's thigh was out of joint, as he wrestled with him.
32:26 And he said, Let me go, for the day breaketh. And he said, I will not let thee go, except thou bless me.
32:27 And he said unto him, What is thy name? And he said, Jacob.
32:28 And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed.
32:29 And Jacob asked him, and said, Tell me, I pray thee, thy name. And he said, Wherefore is it that thou dost ask after my name? And he blessed him there.
The man that wrestled with Jacob was Jesus Christ and they wrestled all night until finally Jesus touched the hollow of Jacob's thigh and put it out of joint. But Jacob continued to wrestle saying that he would not give up until Christ blessed him. Christ then told him that his name would no longer be Jacob (which means supplanter), but that he would be called by the name Israel, and Christ gave the meaning of his new name at the same time: "Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed".
This happened at Peniel [Penuel], and even the name of the place had significance for the name means "face of God" for Jacob had come fact to face with God, had seen him and even talked with Him.
Genesis 32:30 And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: for I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.
32:31 And as he passed over Penuel the sun rose upon him, and he halted upon his thigh.
Here is the translation for the name "Israel" from Strong's:
The Hebrew word for Israel is "Yisrael" (Strong's #3478) and means: "God strives," another name of Jacob and his descendants. From sarah and el; he will rule as God; Jisrael, a symbolical name of Jacob; also (typically) of his posterity: --Israel.
Sarah (Strong's #8280) means: to persist, exert oneself, persevere , have power as a prince, a primitive root; to prevail -- have power (as a prince). (Strong's Exhaustive Concordance).
And the Hebrew word for el (Strong's #410): God, goodly, great, idol, mighty one, power, strong (Strong's Exhaustive Concordance)
The Hebrew word for "prevail" is yakol (Strong's #3201) and means to be able, have power, endure, overcome, overpower, overpowered, succeed. - a primitive root; to be able, literally (can, could) or morally (may, might):--be able, any at all (ways), attain, can (away with, (-not)), could, endure, might, overcome, have power, prevail, still, suffer. (Strong's Exhaustive Concordance)
Why was Jacob's name changed to Israel? Jacob struggled his whole life, but because he persevered until he finally overcame, (prevailed) he received the blessing and will rule with Christ in God's Kingdom. Jacob, whose original name means "surpplanter" was exactly what his name meant when he started out. He was a very deceitful and cunning man who stole his brother's birthright and his blessing through his cunning. Jacob's actions early in his life brought bitter consequences; he therefore had to learn the hard way that being dishonest and deceitful does not pay off. Over the years, especially during his over two decades as a laborer for his uncle, Laban, Jacob was shown by being the recipient himself of deceitful actions that dishonesty does not bring lasting blessings. Jacob slowly matured over the years and overcame his weaknesses (just as we all have to) and he drew ever closer to God and began to walk with Him and God protected him. Then God reassured him of the promises that were his through the Covenant made with his fathers (Abraham and Isaac).
When Jacob came to Bethel, God again appeared to him and reiterated that his name would no longer be Jacob but that he shall be called Israel from then on. At this appearing God also confirmed the promises to him that had been given to his father Isaac and his grandfather Abraham.
Genesis 35:9 And God appeared unto Jacob again, when he came out of Padanaram, and blessed him.
35:10 And God said unto him, Thy name is Jacob: thy name shall not be called any more Jacob, but Israel shall be thy name: and he called his name Israel.
35:11 And God said unto him, I am God Almighty: be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall be of thee, and kings shall come out of thy loins;
35:12 And the land which I gave Abraham and Isaac, to thee I will give it, and to thy seed after thee will I give the land.
Jacob's new name is befitting for the nation of Israel would have a struggle throughout the time of her existence and even though she has failed time and time again from the time of the patriarchs, judges, kings and then in modern times, she is prophesied to finally gain the victory [prevail] through repentance and forgiveness and then she will have the opportunity to be the leading nation in God's Kingdom for she will be a shining example of God's grace that He will pour out on her when she repents and comes back to Him.
Ezekiel 36:24 For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land.
36:25 Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you.
36:26 A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.
36:27 And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.
36:28 And ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and ye shall be my people, and I will be your God.
36:29 I will also save you from all your uncleannesses: and I will call for the corn, and will increase it, and lay no famine upon you.
36:30 And I will multiply the fruit of the tree, and the increase of the field, that ye shall receive no more reproach of famine among the heathen.
36:31 Then shall ye remember your own evil ways, and your doings that were not good, and shall lothe yourselves in your own sight for your iniquities and for your abominations.
36:32 Not for your sakes do I this, saith the Lord God, be it known unto you: be ashamed and confounded for your own ways, O house of Israel.
36:33 Thus saith the Lord God; In the day that I shall have cleansed you from all your iniquities I will also cause you to dwell in the cities, and the wastes shall be builded.
36:34 And the desolate land shall be tilled, whereas it lay desolate in the sight of all that passed by.
36:35 And they shall say, This land that was desolate is become like the garden of Eden; and the waste and desolate and ruined cities are become fenced, and are inhabited.
36:36 Then the heathen that are left round about you shall know that I the Lord build the ruined places, and plant that that was desolate: I the Lord have spoken it, and I will do it.
God's Promise
In spite of all of their going astray and serving their own lusts and going after their idols, God is going to remember His Covenant to the nation of Israel (that would eventually encompass all men) just as He promised that He would so very long ago. God made certain promises to the patriarchs and He is going to REMEMBER them at the end of the age when He gathers all Israel to the Promised Land after they have been humbled and have allowed Him to wash away their filth of sin and wickedness. Here is His promise in Leviticus 26:
Leviticus 26:44 And yet for all that, when they be in the land of their enemies, I will not cast them away, neither will I abhor them, to destroy them utterly, and to break my covenant with them: for I am the Lord their God.
26:45 But I will for their sakes remember the covenant of their ancestors, whom I brought forth out of the land of Egypt in the sight of the heathen, that I might be their God: I am the Lord.
26:46 These are the statutes and judgments and laws, which the Lord made between him and the children of Israel in mount Sinai by the hand of Moses.
The Scriptures that pertain to Israel and to the Covenants help to give us deep insights of how all these events relate to each other and how these things relate to the very things we are going through now in our modern times. They also contain prophecies that pertain to what we are going to experience in the future prophetic events that are alluded to in these passages and how God keeps His promises. We are told that even though the physical nation of Israel has forsaken her God, which she has done throughout all history and throughout all generations, once she has been taken into captivity and has been corrected in the tribulation, God is going to REMEMBER His covenant and show His mercy when she repents.
It is at that time, God will bring her back into the land to be His people AGAIN; only now there will be no more Satan; Christ will be reigning as their King.
God is Going to Forgive His People and Heal Their Land
2nd Chronicles 7:12 And the Lord appeared to Solomon by night, and said unto him, I have heard thy prayer, and have chosen this place to myself for an house of sacrifice. 13 If I shut up heaven that there be no rain, or if I command the locusts to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among my people;
7:14 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.
7:15 Now mine eyes shall be open, and mine ears attent unto the prayer that is made in this place.
For those who overcome, return to God and then commit to the keeping of all of God's commandments, the Book of Revelation gives us God's promise of the right to the Tree of Life.
The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil represents deciding for oneself the right way to live and gives the false hope that one can still live forever (not die) yet do what one wants to do, namely living according to the "works of the flesh". On the other hand the Tree of Life represents the way of life that requires overcoming the works of the flesh and growing in all the things that God says is His standard of righteousness; keeping God's commandments and walking in the fruits of the Spirit.
The only persons who are allowed to partake of the Tree of Life are those who have changed their carnal natures through the power of God's Holy Spirit and who set it in their minds that they want to live in the same manner as God lives and to walk the way Jesus walked when He was living on earth in the flesh. They are the saints who have internalized the divine nature of God to replace their carnal human nature, who love God and want to be like Him in every way. These are the people who have rejected all of Satan's pernicious lies and they will be the only ones that will be able to enter God's Kingdom. Those who embrace any part of the lies and false traditions of this world will not be in God's Kingdom.
God Knows the Thoughts He Has For Israel
Israel has and is going to go through some really rough times; but after she has learned her lessons and when she turns back to God, He will forgive her and cover her sins with Christ's atoning blood and place her again in her own land, the land of Israel. But this time she will have the Covenant written within her heart and will walk according to all of God's commandments. She will then seek with all her heart to have the everlasting true blessing of God and finally it will come to her.
Jeremiah 29:10 For thus saith the Lord, That after seventy years be accomplished at Babylon I will visit you, and perform my good word toward you, in causing you to return to this place.
29:11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.
29:12 Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you.
29:13 And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.
29:14 And I will be found of you, saith the Lord: and I will turn away your captivity, and I will gather you from all the nations, and from all the places whither I have driven you, saith the Lord; and I will bring you again into the place whence I caused you to be carried away captive.
And in Isaiah God says that finally at that time that Israel will be a Light to the rest of the nations, be an example to them and serve to help them to attain eternal salvation as well. This is a prophecy that will happen in the future.
Isaiah 49:6 And he said, It is a light thing that thou shouldest be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel: I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth.
In that day Israel will fulfill what God had intended all along, that she would become a light to the Gentiles. Today it is the Spiritual Israel of God that is to be a Godly example of righteousness to all the surrounding unbelievers and then when Christ comes, the physical nation will have their turn, the ones that repent and commit to follow Christ forever. They, too, will become the Spiritual Israel of God.
As ambassadors for Christ, the Ekklesia is the nation that must exemplify the ways of God and it is to His disciples that Christ has mandated to go and preach the Gospel to all nations and to teach all the things that God has taught them.
1st Peter 2:9 But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light;
Philippians 2:15 That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world;
2:16 Holding forth the word of life; that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain, neither laboured in vain.
Matthew 5:13 Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.
5:14 Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.
5:15 Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.
5:16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.
5:17 Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.
5:18 For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.
5:19 Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
Christ promises that He will be with His disciples right up to the end of this age attesting that He will empower them to do as He has commanded.
Matthew 28:19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
19:20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.
Why the Called Out Are Called By The Name Israel
Genesis 32:28 And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed.
No man ever prevails OVER God; we prevail over evil with God's help.
As we saw earlier, the new name given to Jacob (Israel) means "as a prince you have persevered [and not given up]". Jacob was no quitter!
Jacob had struggled with his sinful nature and had grown and overcome his sinful nature as revealed in his treatment of his brother.
Jacob had worked for his uncle patiently enduring many things without quitting or giving up and he was transformed with God's help, from an arrogant selfish usurper and thief, into a humble godly man.
The Hebrew word for "prevail" is yakol (Strong's #3201) and means to be able, have power, endure, overcome, overpower, overpowered, succeed.
The name "Isreal" meaning: "He will rule as God" emphasizes the idea of rulership, as a prince ruling and prevailing over his adversaries because of persistent struggle. The meaning is: that by cleaving TO God and not letting go of God, he has prevailed; and has received a blessing. This being an allegory that we are to cleave to God and not let go of God; so that WITH God's help we can prevail like a true prince of God, against Satan and sin, and so receive God's blessing.
We know that the twelve tribes that came from Jacob's twelve sons comprise the "nation of Israel", but why would God's Ekklesia be called by the name Israel of God? Because by continually persevering in godliness, with God's help, they shall be transformed into the princes of God.
Many Scriptures attest to the fact that the saints must go through many trials and hardships, but if they endure to the end and when they have proven to be faithful; at the proper time they will receive the blessing of being resurrected and becoming a member of God's own family.
Acts 14:22 Confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.
John 15:20 Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also.
Matthew 11:12 And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.
Psalm 34:19 Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the Lord delivereth him out of them all.
Psalm 71:20 Thou, which hast shewed me great and sore troubles, shalt quicken me again, and shalt bring me up again from the depths of the earth.
From the meaning of the name Israel; does it not fit precisely what the Ekklesia is all about? Do the called out to the Father have to endure many trials and tribulations and even persecution and often times from the ones we love? Do we not prevail with men and struggles and are we not going to rule as princes (kings and priests) with Christ in His Kingdom? Is it not the overcomers and the ones who endure to the end that will attain to the resurrection to spirit and then become members of God's family, a nation of princes?
Revelation 21:24 And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it.
God stated very plainly why Jacob's name was to be changed to Israel. It was God Himself that had chosen the name "Israel" as the new name for Jacob it reflected that Jacob had struggled with God (clinging to and not ever letting go of God) and with men and had prevailed.
Again, the Hebrew word for "prevail" is yakol (Strong's #3201) and means to be able, have power, endure, overcome, overpower, overpowered, succeed.
The essence of the name of Israel is "to prevail" and God had come to see Jacob as a prevalent, he had persevered and had overcome a lot in his lifetime. Wrestling with and struggling with God all night long was indicative of Jacob's persistent nature; though he had weaknesses in his character he was persistent in overcoming them and he persevered in his life until he got the blessing from God.
And it is the same with the Ekklesia. It is not easy for the called out saints to live in this world that is very, very hostile to God and to the laws of God. We must persevere through many trials and tough it out with God's help to resist and overcome the evil that is in this world and also to resist our own canal nature which takes a lot of tenacity and persistence to be successful in overcoming all of these things. We too must be like Jacob and persevere until we overcome all things; never, never giving up until we reach the Promised Land. We can only do it with God's help and with the power that He gives through the gift of His Holy Spirit. If we endure to the end, we shall receive the blessing, the best blessing of all and that is that we shall see God, and will be with Him through all eternity; we will be His people and He will be our God; and even called His children.
And where Israel failed to live up to God's standard, the Israel of God has the divine help to succeed and to be the salt of the earth and the light set on the hill. It is now Spiritual Israel (the Israel of God) that is to be God's representatives here on earth and a light to others until He comes back to earth to set up the Kingdom.
We, who make up the Ekklesia, must have the overall worldview of what happened back in the Garden of Eden and why the world is the way it is and where we are at currently. When we know these things it helps to give us the proper perspective of where we have been and where we are headed and fills us with the hope of the fabulous future that is ahead once we overcome all things.
Proverbs 29:18 Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.
If we understand the total picture of what happened in the past and what God is doing and what He is going to bring to past, it will help us to persevere to the end, and when people ask us why God allows so much suffering in the world, we will have the answer. They may not believe what we have to say at this time, but at least if we know these things we will remain steadfast in our own minds knowing that God is fair, He is a loving God and that His great Plan of Salvation is being worked out and ultimately all who have ever lived will be blessed, for those who come to see these things and choose to repent and embrace what God has planned for them.
The members of the Ekklesia (the Spiritual Israel of God) role as ambassadors in the world is to be the pioneers; they are the scouts sent up ahead of the rest of humanity, not because they are better than anyone else, but because God wants trained workers, those who have prevailed in this life as prevalents [overcomers] to assist Him in His Plan.
Those called to be God's children are called to take a stand for God and His ways and are required to act as God's faithful ambassadors that will represent His characteristics and not the deceitfulness that Satan has infused into the hearts of mankind ever since the rebellion of Adam and Eve.
God works with a few (like the original twelve apostles) so that He can then send them out to teach the multitudes, somewhat like the older brothers and sisters in a family who are needed to help and assist the younger children that are younger, weaker, and still lacking in maturity.
I began this article by reviewing the story of of Adam and Eve and their sin as an introduction to help readers to get the proper WORLDVIEW about why the world is the way it is and why God called Israel to be a representative for Him and then later the Ekklesia; and how they were and are supposed to be lights to the rest of the world and to provide warning and teaching about God, preparing the way for His world (the Kingdom of God ) that will soon supplant the world as we know it today.
Last week we studied about what it is to be ambassadors, and this week in this article I wanted to stress that God began (way back in the Book of Genesis, the very day that Adam and Eve sinned) to show that He has a Wonderful Plan, a plan that included the coming of the Messiah that makes it possible to be forgiven of our sins and would lead us back to the Tree of Life. His plan included a nation; first the physical children of Israel, and then the spiritual called out which is called the Israel of God to act as His representatives; His ambassadors to help get the world ready for what is coming.
In Conclusion: After the Millennium in the final attempt of Satan to go against God and His saints; is when the Messiah finally and completely bruises the head of Satan and his works and his power over the nations are destroyed forevermore. (Revelation 20:8-10) The Day of Atonement in which the Azazel goat is released into the wilderness and destroyed so that he can never again come into the camp of the Lord's people, depicts what is going to happen to Satan when he is no longer useful to God. Satan, the old serpent, will finally be destroyed and the earth will never have to suffer his influence and oppression ever again. Christ is going to bruise his head once and for all. What began in Genesis will be completed in Revelation.
May we (the true Ekklesia) who have been called now to be ambassadors for Christ be about our Father's business of warning and witnessing and living righteously before our Great God.
Have a wonderful Sabbath everyone!
Constance
