John R Ecob DD
THE NATION of Israel began its long history in the land of Egypt where they were made slaves of Pharaoh. After 215 years in Egypt God sent Moses to deliver them and when Pharaoh refused to let them go God judged the land of Egypt. No other nation had seen such judgments devastate a nation as had happened to Egypt compelling them to let Israel go. When Israel finally left Egypt, the Red Sea parted to allow them to cross and Pharaoh with 600 of his chariots were drowned.
Israel commenced a long journey through the wilderness to the land of Canaan; a journey that took 40 years during which an entire generation of men over 20 years perish except for Joshua and Caleb. That journey involved many miracles such as no other nation has seen.
At the end of 40 years Moses addressed the nation just before they entered the promised land of Canaan and he reminded them of all the amazing things that they had witnessed; miracles that proved the power and love of Jehovah, the God of Israel. He said:
“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? 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? (Deut.4:7-8).
Moses challenged Israel to identify any other nation on the face of the earth from the beginning of time that could claim to have heard God speak
or who had been rescued from slavery as Israel was. No other nation could claim to have heard the voice of the Creator of the universe as Israel did when God came down on Mount Sinai and spoke the ten commandments out of the fire.
“Out of heaven he made thee to hear his voice, that he might instruct thee: and upon earth he shewed thee his great fire; and thou heardest his words out of the midst of the fire” (Deut.4:36).
All the nations had gods of wood and stone that could neither speak nor hear yet Israel’s God had spoken; the people had heard His voice and seen Mount Sinai on fire.
When they built the Tabernacle the pillar of cloud and fire rested on the Tabernacle to reassure them of the Divine presence and when they were to move camp the cloud went before them to show them where God would have them camp.
Daily God sent manna from heaven that could be cooked and eaten while vast flocks of quail were sent into the camp. Their clothes did not wear out in 40 years and when they needed water God made a stream of water to flow out of the rock. When many of the people were bitten by serpents a brazen serpent on a pole was erected and all who looked to it, lived.
The statutes given to Moses were beneficial to the nation. If the people kept the Divine statutes they were assured of good health and that none of the diseases of Egypt could touch them.
When Balak the king of Moab hired the false prophet, Balaam to curse Israel, God caused him to bless Israel!
When the Canaanites attacked Israel God gave Israel the victory and those Canaanites were destroyed at Hormah. The Amalekites attacked, and Joshua prevailed against them while Moses interceded.
Just before Israel entered the promised land two powerful kings of the Amorites, Og King of Bashan and Sihon King of Heshbon attacked but Israel was victorious and occupied their cities.
At Mount Sinai, Israel had made a golden calf and danced naked before it and 3,000 were slain. When the Moabites seduced Israel, Israel committed whoredom and 24,000 of Israel perished in the plague that God sent. When Nadab and Abihu challenged Moses’ leadership the earth opened up and swallowed them and their families.
No nation has ever witnessed the power of God as Israel has done and it is all proof that they are a special people among the nations.
Why is Israel Special to God?
“Not for thy righteousness, or for the uprightness of thine heart, dost thou go to possess their land: but for the wickedness of these nations the LORD thy God doth drive them out from before thee, and that he may perform the word which the LORD swear unto thy fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob” (Deut.9:5).
Two reasons are given for the special favour God has shown to the nation of Israel.
- They had not earned God’s favour by being a righteous nation. Favour was bestowed because of a covenant relationship God had with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and,
- God would judge the wicked nations that possessed the land of Canaan and Israel was God’s instrument of judgment. Four hundred years beforehand God told Abraham,
“thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not their’s, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years; And also that nation (Egypt), whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance. … But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full” (Gen.15:13-16).
When the Amorites had exhausted the longsuffering of God, Israel was used to judge them.
Israel has a covenant relationship with the Creator, a relationship that began when God called Abram to leave the idolatry in Ur of the Chaldees to go to a land that God would show him. Abram
“obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went” (Heb.11:8).
At that time God promised:
“I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: 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”
(Gen.12:2-3).
Abram was promised national blessings but a nation consists of individuals and each individual Jew had a personal responsibility to seek the Lord exactly as Abram had done. The temptation that each Jew faced was to think that because God had chosen Israel therefore they were superior to other nations. Jews could point to prophecies that stated they
“the LORD shall make thee the head, and not the tail; and thou shalt be above only, and thou shalt not be beneath” (Deut.28:13).
But for individual Jews to enjoy the favour of God required obedience to God’s law. When they turned away from serving the Lord severe chastisement followed. There was a clear distinction between national promises of blessing and an individuals salvation and the Palestinian covenant made that distinction abundantly clear.
While the children of Israel followed the Lord with all their heart they were promised that
“all people of the earth shall see that thou art called by the name of the LORD; and they shall be afraid of thee. And the LORD shall make thee plenteous in goods, in the fruit of thy body, and in the fruit of thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy ground, in the land which the LORD swear unto thy fathers to give thee” (Deut.28:10-11).
God does not have special favourites upon whom He bestows blessings. Nor does He arbitarily choose some in favour of others as the Calvinists teach. Abram was blessed because he believed God and obeyed God. First there must be FAITH and secondly there must be obedience to be blessed.
False religion reverses the order and teaches that we must obey God to be saved but scripture teaches that salvation is entirely by “grace… through faith, … not of works, lest any man should boast” (Eph.2:8-9).
Faith is NOT a work. Faith acknowledges that we cannot save ourselves and causes us to “flee for refuge” to Christ (Heb.6:18) who ALONE can save us.
Faith ALONE in Christ brings us into a family relationship with God and then as obedient children we enjoy the blessing of God. It is FAITH plus nothing that brings both Jew and Gentile into the family of God.
The Palestinian Covenant
The Abrahamic Covenant bestowed National blessings on Abraham’s seed but the Palestinian Covenant spelt out clearly the conditions under which those blessings could be enjoyed in the land by individual Jews. Not only so but it foretold the history of the nation and indicated that there would be two major captivities when Israel would be carried out of the land.
God would never fail to keep His promises to Abraham but He could only bless an obedient nation. Thus the Babylonian Captivity is clearly foretold when the nation had a king:
“The LORD shall bring thee, and thy king which thou shalt set over thee, unto a nation which neither thou nor thy fathers have known; and there shalt thou serve other gods, wood and stone. And thou shalt become an astonishment, a proverb, and a byword, among all nations whither the LORD shall lead thee” (Deut.28:36-37).
Zedekiah was blinded and taken to Babylon in chains. Then the Roman captivity was foretold:
“The LORD shall bring a nation against thee from far, from the end of the earth, as swift as the eagle flieth; a nation whose tongue thou shalt not understand; A nation of fierce countenance… And he shall besiege thee in all thy gates, until thy high and fenced walls come down, … thou shalt eat the fruit of thine own body, the flesh of thy sons and of thy daughters … the LORD shall bring thee into Egypt again with ships” (Deut.28:49-68).
Titus the Roman General sent Jewish captives to the Egyptian slave market in ships after Jerusalem was destroyed in AD70.
Moses prophesied Israel’s conversion in the last days Tribulation. He wrote:
“But if from thence thou shalt seek the LORD thy God, thou shalt find him, if thou seek him with all thy heart and with all thy soul. When thou art in tribulation, and all these things are come upon thee, even in the latter days, if thou turn to the LORD thy God, and shalt be obedient unto his voice” (Deut.4:29-30).
We wonder why Israel is the target of hatred and many Christians allow their sympathy for Israel to influence their views. Israel as a nation is chosen by God but individual Jews must seek the Lord to be blessed. A nation consists of individuals.
Jesus warned the Jews that the Romans would carry them away; that they would be scattered throughout the entire world and it happened (Luke 21:24).
We feel deeply for Israel when we think about the Holocaust but we forget that Jews are rejecting their King and Messiah. They are looking for Messiah now but as yet are blind to who Messiah is. God is bringing the hatred of the nations upon them to humble them for He has said:
“And I will bring you out from the people, and will gather you out of the countries wherein ye are scattered, with a mighty hand, and with a stretched out arm, and with fury poured out” (Ezek.20:34).
The Russian invasion when two thirds of Jews in the land perish (Zech.13:8-9), will finally bring the Jews to call upon the Lord Jesus Christ (Ezek.39:22). Joel described that day:
“Blow the trumpet in Zion … Let the priests, the ministers of the LORD, weep between the porch and the altar, and let them say, Spare thy people, O LORD” (Joel 2:15-17).
Our prayer for Israel should be that they will be humbled and call on the Lord. The amazing national blessings that Israel will experience in the Kingdom of Christ will never occur until the nation crowns Jesus
Christ as King on the throne of David and they “look upon Me (Christ) whom they have pierced and they shall mourn for him” (Zech.12:10).
Israel’s darkest hour is just ahead and Paul’s prayer that “they might be saved” (Rom.10:1) will be answered for after the fulness of the Gentiles comes in at the Rapture “ALL Israel shall be saved” (Rom.11:26).