Response to “Israel and the Church”

A Response to:

Israel and the Church: the Differences

(Zola Levitt Ministry)

Original (black and red print) by Thomas S. McCall, Th.D.;

Response (in blue type) by James Wilson

Dr. Thomas McCall, the Senior Theologian of our ministry, has written many articles for the Levitt Letter. He holds a Th.M. in Old Testament studies and a Th.D. in Semitic languages and Old Testament. He has served as Zola’s co-author, mentor, pastor, and friend for nearly 30 years.

Introduction

One of the great theological battlegrounds of orthodox Christianity throughout the centuries has been the nature and character of the Church, especially in relation to its biblical predecessor, Israel. The two major views are that:

1. The Church is a continuation of Israel

2. The Church is completely different from Israel

3. The Minority View, which I (James) hold, is that the Church’s core is and always was Israel.

First View: The Church is Israel

The predominant view has been that the Church is the “new” Israel, a continuation of the concept of Israel which began in the Old Testament. In this view, the Church is the refinement and higher development of the concept of Israel. All of the promises made to Israel in the Scriptures find their fulfillment in the Church. Thus, the prophecies relating to the blessing and restoration of Israel to the Promised Land are “spiritualized” into promises of blessing to the Church. The prophecies of condemnation and judgment, though, are retained literally by the Jewish nation of Israel.

This view is sometimes called Replacement Theology, because the Church is seen to replace Israel in God’s economy. One of the problems with the view, among others, is the continuing existence of the Jewish people, especially with regard to the revival of the new modern state of Israel. If Israel has been condemned to extinction, and there is no divinely ordained future for the Jewish nation, how does one account for the supernatural survival of the Jewish people since the establishment of the Church, for almost 2,000 years against all odds? Furthermore, how does one account for Israel’s resurgence among the family of nations as an independent nation, victorious in several wars and flourishing economically?

Second View: Israel and the Church are Different

The other view, we believe, is clearly taught in the New Testament, but it has been suppressed throughout most of Church history. This view is that the Church is completely different and distinct from Israel, and the two should not be confused. In fact, the (NT) Church is an entirely new creation that came into being on the Day of Pentecost after Christ’s resurrection from the dead, and will continue until it is taken to Heaven at the Rapture return of the Lord (Eph. 1:9-11). None of the curses or blessings pronounced upon Israel refer directly to the Church. The Church enters into the Abrahamic and New Covenants, for instance, only by divine application, not by original interpretation (Matt 26:28).

This view has several major errors. First, the Church can never be extracted from Israel; Acts points this out:

Acts 7:38 This is he who was in the church in the wilderness with the angel which spake to him in the mount Sinai, and with our fathers, who received the lively oracles to give unto us.

The very core of the Church is Israel; remove that core, and there is no Church.

The Church never came into being at Pentecost; nothing came into being at Pentecost. That event was an example of a future event: a minature of it, as the text itself explains with reference to the prophet Joel.

The Rapture isn’t of ‘the Church,’ and no text states that it is. The Rapture will take all Saints living at that time. The very core of the Church will continue.

No part of the Church enters into the Abrahamic and New Covenants by any divine application; that is spiritualization, and it is Replacement Theology. The Covenants are literal, and directed toward those as the Scriptures describe.

This leaves all the covenants, promises, and warnings to Israel intact. Israel, the natural Jewish nation, is still Israel. To be sure, Israel has been side-lined during these past 1,900 years of the Diaspora. The Church has taken center stage in the Lord’s affairs as the Gospel has spread throughout the world. Nevertheless, God has carefully preserved the Jewish people, even in unbelief, through every kind of distress and persecution. Some- times, the professing Church itself (I speak to our shame) has been a cause of these persecutions to the Jews.

Israel has never been side-lined. ‘The Church’ that has taken center stage has been nearly all made of unbelievers, and has no part in the permanent plan of God, while the Biblical Church, with Israel at its core, and all who truly are born of God are added to this group—not as a replacement for Israel, but as participants in the congregation (church) of Saints. Israel remains distinct, and must necessarily always remain distinct as the Covenant itself declares: Israel is an ‘Am Segulah,’ a segregated people. Even Daniel’s prophecy keeps Israel distinct:

Daniel 7:27 And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven shall be given to the people of the saints of the most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him.

There are three entities: the people, the saints, and the most High. The people speaks of Israel; the Saints refer to all Saints, and especially non-Jewish Saints in this text, and the most High’s identity is obvious.

The group that has taken center stage for the past 1900 years of the Diaspora is described in a parable of a grain of mustard seed that grows into a tree—a monstrosity in which the birds (demons) can make their nests in its branches. That tree will be demolished.

What has been spread throughout the world isn’t the Gospel—that is, isn’t the Biblical Gospel; it is American Pagan Christianity in which sin is acceptable and the mere acknowledgement of faith, or doing particular denominational actions, brings one into the supposed Body of Christ.

The ‘professing Church’ consists of non-Saints who think they are Saints.

Not only has God preserved the Jewish nation, but He has also kept His promise to save a remnant of Israel in every generation. The remnant of (true) Israel in this age are the Jewish believers in Christ who have joined the Gentile believers, and form the Church, the Body of Christ (Rom. 11:5). In this respect, then, a part of Israel (the believing remnant) intersects with the Church during the Church Age. But this does not make Israel the Church, or vice versa.

It is a thoroughly Replacement Theological concept to state that “The remnant of (true) Israel in this age are the Jewish believers in Christ who have joined the Gentile believers, and form the Church, the Body of Christ.” If the writer had known proper theology, he might have stated something more like this: “The remnant of (true) Israel in this age are the Jewish Believers in Messiah who have been permanently joined to all Believers by the New Birth, and are a permanent part of the Church, the Body of Christ, whose very center is Israel (including Israel not in faith).”

There is no such thing as ‘the Church Age.’ It is the Age of the Gentiles in which pagan Gentiles have predominance over Jerusalem; this contrasts to the Day of Yehovah when Yehovah will permanently take Jerusalem to Himself.

In the future, both God’s warnings and promises to Israel will come to pass. After the Lord is finished with the Church Age, and has taken the Church to Heaven in the Rapture (1 Thess. 4:16-18), God will restore Israel to center stage on the world’s divine theater. First comes the devastating “Time of Jacob’s Trouble” (Jer. 30:7) also known as the Great Tribulation. This is a dreadful period of seven years, which begins relatively lightly during the first half, but intensifies into full focus during the latter half. During this time the world is judged for rejecting Christ, but, more specifically, Israel is judged, purged and prepared through the fiery trials of the Great Tribulation for the Second Coming of the Messiah. This is the bad news.

God never takes the Church to Heaven in the Rapture. He takes the Saints. The Church still remains, since all the plans of God have everything to do with the Church (with Israel at its core).

The concept that the Tribulation “begins relatively lightly during the first half, but intensifies into full focus during the latter half” is based on a reading error. It begins terribly heavy on Israel, and then it gets even heavier on the races trying to destroy Israel and be rid of Yehovah and His Messiah. When Yehovah begins the Tribulation, He will terribly slaughter among the Israelis.

The world is never judged “for rejecting Christ.” The world is judged for its attempts against Israel, Yehovah and His Messiah. Some of the greatest heroes and heroines of that time won’t even know who Yehovah and His Messiah are.

The good news is that, when Christ does return to the earth at the end of the Tribulation, Israel will be ready, willing, and eager to receive Him, and proclaim, “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord” (Matt. 23:39). As the stumbling of Israel brought blessing to the world at Christ’s First Coming, the reception of Israel to Christ at His Second Advent will be like “life from the dead” (Rom. 11:15). The remnant of Israel which survives the Tribulation (some one-third of the Jewish people who enter the Tribulation), will be saved, and the Lord will establish His kingdom on the same earth and the same capital city, Jerusalem, that rejected Him centuries before. Israel will be the head of the nations, and no longer the tail, and all nations will send representatives to Jerusalem to honor and worship the King of Kings and Lord of Lords (Isa. 2:2-3; Micah 4:1). The Church will return with Christ, and will rule with Him for a thousand years (Rev. 20:1-5). He Himself told His disciples that they would rule over the 12 tribes of Israel in the restoration (Matt. 19:28). Thus, Israel has not been forgotten in God’s plan. While the Jewish nation still has a dark period facing it, there is a glorious finale to Israel’s long history.

The Professor McCall has events in the wrong order. He has Christ returning, and then Israel proclaiming, “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord” (Matt. 23:39). What will occur will be the opposite (as the text itself declares). Yeshua will not even be seen until the inhabitants of Jerusalem will say, “Blessed is He Who comes with the Name Yehovah!”

His proportions are also incorrect. Far fewer than 1/3 of Israel will survive the Tribulation.

The Church won’t return with Christ; Saints will come with Him, and the Church will continue on Earth. There is no concept of The Church off planet Earth. There never has been. There are members of the Church, but the Church itself is always a congregation on Earth.

He stated, “all nations will send representatives to Jerusalem to honor and worship the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.” He didn’t mention the Zechariah 14:16 text that describes this in detail, including their mandatory participation in Succot (‘Tabernacles,’ ‘Booths’).

The Saints (not the Church) will rule with Messiah for a thousand years.

How Did the Church Decide the Demise of Israel?

The New Testament Church was very much involved with the vicissitudes (changes) of Israel. Jesus is an Israeli, as were all the apostles, and the concerns of Israel, spiritually and politically, were very much a part of their lives. The greatest struggles the early Church had were over the relationship between Israel and the Church, law and grace, and the fellowship between Jewish and Gentile believers in Christ (Galatians). Many of the Jewish believers were not comfortable with the Gentile believers at first; and as time went on and Gentiles began to predominate numerically, the attitudes were reversed. Galatians shows how the Jewish party tried to impose the Mosaic Law on Gentile Christians, and Romans shows how the Gentile party began to “boast against the branches” (Rom. 11:18), resenting the place of Israel in history and theology.

Professor McCall stated, “The greatest struggles the early Church had were over the relationship between Israel and the Church, law and grace, and the fellowship between Jewish and Gentile believers in Christ (Galatians).” This is totally false. I will word it correctly: “The greatest struggles the early pagans who thought they were the true Church had were over the relationship between Israel and the Church, law and grace, and the fellowship between Jewish and Gentile believers in Christ (Galatians). Even Peter was confused on this point for a while, but was soon corrected.”

He continued, “Many of the Jewish believers were not comfortable with the Gentile believers at first.” This was due to their being unclean, and to their not submitting to becoming physically clean as if they were becoming part of the People of Israel. They knew very well that a person could be a non-Jewish Saint, but they didn’t know how to deal with these folks because of the current teachings on becoming unclean by contact with the races.

Professor McCall wrote, “As time went on and Gentiles began to predominate numerically, the attitudes were reversed.” He was right: as Gentiles (not Saints) began to predominate; they claimed faith, but were not in faith.

Professor McCall incorrectly used the phrase, “Gentile Christians.” There is no such thing in the Bible. Once a person who used to be a Gentile is born of God, that person is a son or daughter of Avraham by faith—not an Israeli, but a son or daughter of Avraham. Now, should the person also join to Israel, the person then becomes an Israeli, but that is totally not necessary for the person to become a son or daughter of Avraham.

That Gentile party of which the professor spoke who “began to ‘boast against the branches’ (Rom. 11:18), resenting the place of Israel in history and theology, never consisted of folks who were born of God.

It took some time, perhaps a couple of centuries, but eventually the vast Gentile majority in the Church began to view Israel as a vestigial organ that had outlived its usefulness. In fact, the predominant Christian view was that the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple by the Romans in 70 AD signaled the official and divinely-ordained end of the Jewish nation, never more to be re-instituted as a national entity. The fact that Jerusalem lay in ruins and the Jewish people were scattered over the world was seen as conclusive evidence that God was forever finished with national Israel. If there were any purpose for the existence of the Jewish people, it was to remind the world of the severe judgment of God upon a disobedient people.

The professor wrote of “the predominant Christian view” in this paragraph. Why didn’t he realize that this was the predominant anti-Semitic view of the uncircumcised?

If this harsh view of Israel were true, though, what of the promises of God to Israel in the Old Testament? For those who claimed to believe in the entire Bible as the Word of God, this was a great problem. How could a faithful God not keep His promises to His ancient people? To deal with this took extraordinary theological dexterity and alchemy. The theologians had to propose that Israel in the Scriptures did not really mean Israel, especially when it came to the promises of eternal blessing. Instead, Israel meant something else, something that came to be known in the New Testament as the Church. The Church became the new Israel, and through this remarkable transformation, wherever blessing is promised to Israel in the Old Testament, it was interpreted to mean the Church. This is Replacement Theology, in which the Church has become Israel.

The professor is right; only, he doesn’t know that he, himself, clings to Replacement Theology. This is a great problem at the present time. Many who have a real and determined interest in the Bible and in the God of the Bible, and who feel themselves thoroughly grounded in Truth and in Faith, having everlasting Salvation, hold to Replacement Theology, and therefore are in unbelief. The reason for this is because they fail to take the Scriptures literally, as does this professor. Not taking it literally is direct unbelief.

Replacement Theology was already around before the end of the First Century, but did not become the official position of professing Christian leadership until Augustine popularized the concept, primarily in THE CITY OF GOD, in the latter part of the Fourth Century. Augustine actually states that he was previously a Chiliast, meaning that he was a believer in the thousand-year reign of Christ on the earth after His return. This is the same as our current description of Premillennialism. However, he had come to the conclusion that this view was “carnal,” and had adopted the view that the reign of Christ would be something more “spiritual,” and would actually occur during the Church Age. Such a view necessitated the extinction of Israel, and the cancellation of all promises God made to the Jewish nation. These promises of blessing would now be fulfilled within the framework of the Church.

I agree with the professor in this paragraph; Augustine was a non-spiritual swine.

This view, which had been latent in Christendom, now flourished throughout the Byzantine world. From this point on, the theological legs were cut out from under Israel, and the predominant Christian theology was that there was no future for Israel. Replacement Theology has been the rule that has survived the Middle Ages, the Crusades and the Reformation in Church History. Only during the last Century or so has the Premillennial concept of the future of Israel come to the forefront in evangelical Christianity. Even so, it is a minority view.

The professor is incorrect in his assessment: “Only during the last Century or so has the Premillennial concept of the future of Israel come to the forefront in evangelical Christianity.” He is apparently unaware of groups, like the Puritans, who were confused about these things, but who didn’t dismiss the restoration of Israel and the reign of Messiah on Earth.

Does Israel’s Future Demean the Church’s Glory?

Some suggest that if Israel has not ceased to exist in its covenant relationship to God, and if Israel still has a future in the divine plan, this somehow diminishes the position of the Church. Is such a concern valid? It is almost as though the Church has been jealous of Israel, and afraid that if it recognized Israel’s future promises, it would somehow demean Christ and the Church. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Jealousy over Israel is the norm.

It is when the Church recognizes Israel that the true distinctiveness and glory of the Body of Christ becomes evident. This called-out body, composed of believing Jews and Gentiles during the Church Age, is the highest entity the Lord has created, superior to the universe, all the Angels, the nations, and Israel. Our Head, our Husband, our Friend is the Son of God Himself. We shall reign with Him when He rules the earth, and our 12 Founding Apostles will rule over the 12 tribes of Israel. The Angels themselves will study us forever as the greatest exhibit of God’s grace, and we will actually judge the Angels. This is our destiny, and this writer, for one, would not trade his position in the Body of Christ with any creature in the universe! Why, then, be disturbed over what God has promised the Jewish people? Why be jealous over the future destiny of Israel? How short sighted of us! Indeed, the Church’s finest and most distinctive hour will be when Israel is restored nationally and spiritually to the Lord at the Second Coming of Christ. We will return from Heaven with Him as His glorious Bride to rule Israel and the world. What more could we ask?

I thoroughly disagree with the statement, “This called-out body, composed of believing Jews and Gentiles during the Church Age, is the highest entity the Lord has created, superior to the universe, all the Angels, the nations, and Israel.” That is about as blatantly Replacement Theologically oriented a statement as one can make.

The professor then delves deeper into Replacement Theology: “Our Head, our Husband, our Friend is the Son of God Himself.” Jerusalem is the Bride and wife of the Lamb, as Revelation 21:9 and following show:

Revelation 21:9 And there came unto me one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues. And he talked with me, saying, “Come hither! I will shew thee the Bride, the Lamb’s wife!” 10 And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain! And he shewed me that great city: the holy Jerusalem, descending out of the heavens from God, 11 having the glory of God!

The professor then continues, “Indeed, the Church’s finest and most distinctive hour will be when Israel is restored nationally and spiritually to the Lord at the Second Coming of Christ.” Israel will be restored nationally and spiritually, and physically, before this Coming of Christ! That is a prerequisite to His coming!

Professor McCall then exclaims, “We will return from Heaven with Him as His glorious Bride to rule Israel and the world. What more could we ask?” I will tell you what more you could ask: You could ask this professor to believe the Bible, and not theological replacement. So, the Bride will rule Israel? Fat chance, unless Yehovah is a liar.

So, if we are not to suffer from spiritual myopia, we must recognize what the Lord is doing with Israel, not shrinking from it as though our own interests will be overshadowed. Rather, we rejoice in these developments, with full assurance that our own redemption draws ever closer.

February 27, 2010October 29, 2017

Israel, Gentiles, the Millennium

How Do Israel and the Gentiles fit into the Millennium, the New Earth and the New Heavens?

1. How do Israel and the Gentiles arrive into the Millennium?

There will be two ways to arrive into the Millennium. One is by faith, and the other is by works. The one that is by faith will always be accompanied by works that demonstrate that faith. The other that is by works will not be conjoined with faith at that time. The Jews can only arrive into the Millennium by faith and its accompanying works, whereas Gentiles can arrive by both means (one example being the Matthew 25:31 and following ‘Sheep/Goat’ judgment).

Continue reading “Israel, Gentiles, the Millennium”

February 27, 2009August 22, 2016

History and Destiny of the Jews

The History and Destiny of the Jews:
A Biblical View

By Ann Miller

Many have asked, “Where did the Jews come from?” and “Why should I care?” This information is vital for anyone desiring to understand all parts of the Bible.

The first part of this document will consider the first question: “Where did the Jews come from?”

Beginning with Noah

Genesis 9:18 And the sons of Noah, that went forth of the ark, were Shem, and Ham, and Japheth: and Ham is the father of Canaan. ¹⁹These are the three sons of Noah: and of them was the whole earth overspread.

Genesis 11:10 These are the generations of Shem. Shem was a hundred years old, and begat Arphaxad two years after the flood:¹¹ And Shem lived after he begat Arphaxad five hundred years, and begat sons and daughters.¹² And Arphaxad lived five and thirty years, and begat Salah:¹³ And Arphaxad lived after he begat Salah four hundred and three years, and begat sons and daughters.¹⁴ And Salah lived thirty years, and begat Eber:¹⁵ And Salah lived after he begat Eber four hundred and three years, and begat sons and daughters.¹⁶ And Eber lived four and thirty years, and begat Peleg:¹⁷ And Eber lived after he begat Peleg four hundred and thirty years, and begat sons and daughters.¹⁸ And Peleg lived thirty years, and begat Reu:¹⁹ And Peleg lived after he begat Reu two hundred and nine years, and begat sons and daughters.²⁰ And Reu lived two and thirty years, and begat Serug:²¹ And Reu lived after he begat Serug two hundred and seven years, and begat sons and daughters.²² And Serug lived thirty years, and begat Nahor:²³ And Serug lived after he begat Nahor two hundred years, and begat sons and daughters.²⁴ And Nahor lived nine and twenty years, and begat Terah:²⁵ And Nahor lived after he begat Terah an hundred and nineteen years, and begat sons and daughters.²⁶ And Terah lived seventy years, and begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran.²⁷ Now these are the generations of Terah: Terah begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran; and Haran begat Lot.

The above text gives a listing of the generations from Noah to Abram (Avram). Avram’s name was later changed to Avraham. Avraham’s son was Isaac, and Isaac’s son was Jacob whose name was later changed to Israel.

The Importance of Eber

The Name Eber is where Hebrew derives. The verb behind it means to cross over. The Jews/Israelis are called Eevreem in Israel from the Hebrew word Ever (‘Ever’ being the way ‘Eber’ is pronounced in the Hebrew language). Thus, all of Eber’s offspring were later called Hebrews. References in the Bible are only considering the offspring of Jacob, however, when they use the term Hebrew.

The Israelis crossed over the Red Sea, and are identified with various crossings in the Bible. A not-so-subtle theme in the Bible is crossing over. Anyone who uses a concordance to see how often some form of the verb or noun cross is used will be quite surprised. This theme is no different between the testaments.

Eber is the great, great, great, great grandfather of Avram.

Yehovah Chose Avram to be the Patriarch of the Israelis

Genesis 12:1 And Yehovah 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 show thee.² And I will make a great nation of thee. And I will bless thee. And I will make thy name great. And thou shalt be a blessing. ³And I will bless them that bless thee. And curse him that lightly esteems thee. And shall all families of the earth be blessed in thee.” ⁴So Abram departed as Yehovah had spoken unto him. And Lot went with him. And Abram is seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran. ⁵And Abram took Sarai his wife and Lot his brother’s son and all their substance that they had gathered, and the souls that they had gotten in Haran. And they went forth to go into the land of Canaan. And they came into the land of Canaan. ⁶And Abram passed through the land unto the place of Sichem unto the plain of Moreh. And the Canaanite is then in the land. ⁷And Yehovah appeared unto Abram. And He said, “I will give this land unto thy seed.” And he built an altar there unto Yehovah Who appeared unto him.

A casual reader will miss what is being communicated by this text. When Yehovah spoke of Avram’s seed, He wasn’t referring to all Avram’s progeny, but instead to one person: Messiah.

Galatians 3:16 Now, the promises were made to Abraham and his seed. He doesn’t say, “and to seeds” as of many, but “and to thy seed” as of one, Who is Messiah.

All Israelis who live during the Millennium will have that land, but it is only promised for ownership to certain individuals (listed below).

Amos 3:7 Surely the Lord Yehovah will do nothing, but He reveals His secret unto His servants the prophets.

Avraham is a prophet:

Genesis 20:7 “Now therefore restore the man his wife; for he is a prophet.”

Yehovah told Avraham what he was going to do:

Genesis 15:13 And he said to Abram, “Know assuredly that thy seed will be a sojourner in a land that is not theirs. And they shall serve them. And they shall afflict them four hundred years. ¹⁴And also that race which they shall serve I will judge. And afterwards they shall come out with great property. ¹⁵ And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace. Thou shalt be buried in a good old age. ¹⁶ And in the fourth generation they shall return here”.

Careful readers will see Yehovah’s plans in detail in the Bible if they take texts literally. (They will see a mirror of their own opinions if they spiritualize texts.)

Everlasting Covenant with Avraham

Genesis 17:7 “And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant to be a God unto thee and to thy seed after thee.”

The word translated everlasting has a different meaning that indicates duration (and other things). This earth is not everlasting in the true sense, and the covenant is only valid while this earth lasts. This covenant will last as long as the earth exists. Once the Millennium (thousand-year reign of Messiah) has ended and all non-Saints have been judged, this planet will be annihilated with fire and the New Earth will be the new location of the Saints and the angels that did not rebel.

Jacob to Israel

Genesis 32:28 And he said, Thy name shall not henceforth be called Jacob, but Israel; for thou hast wrestled with God, and with men, and hast prevailed.

Yehovah changed Jacob’s name to Israel. It is important for readers to understand that when talking about the race Jacob, the Bible refers to Jacob’s son, his grandsons, his great grandsons and all those in his blood line. When it refers to Israel it includes all those in Jacob’s blood line and those who have joined themselves to Israel. Rahab and Ruth are examples.

Israel Goes to Egypt

Genesis 46:1 And Israel took his journey with all that he had, and came to Beersheba, and offered sacrifices unto the God of his father Isaac. ²And God spake unto Israel in the visions of the night. And He said, “Jacob! Jacob!” And he said, Here am I. ³And He said, I am God, the God of thy father. Fear not to go down into Egypt, for I will make of thee a great nation there. ⁴I will go down with thee into Egypt. And I will also surely bring thee up. And Joseph shall put his hand upon thine eyes.” ⁵And Jacob rose up from Beersheba. And the sons of Israel carried Jacob their father and their little ones and their wives in the wagons that Pharaoh had sent to carry him. ⁶And they took their cattle and their goods that they had gotten in the land of Canaan. And they came into Egypt—Jacob and all his seed with him. ⁷And he brought all his seed with him into Egypt: his sons and his sons’ sons with him, his daughters and his sons’ daughters…

Yehovah told Jacob that He will make him a great nation. The Land of Egypt became the perfect environment for the rapid and large propagation of the Israelis. Their rate of increase would have been much smaller had they stayed in the relatively dry and dangerous region of Israel. Yehovah used the Egyptians and their society to increase the Israelis. This is one reason why Yehovah commanded the Israelis to view the Egyptians in a good light, and not as enemies. Joseph’s enslavement seems to be the beginning of Yehovah’s plan to temporarily move Israel to Egypt. The race commenced in Egypt (much to the distress of Egyptian leadership!).

From a Family to a Race

Exodus 1:5 And all the souls that came out of the loins of Jacob were seventy souls, for Joseph was in Egypt. ⁶And Joseph died, and all his brethren, and all that generation. ⁷And the children of Israel were fruitful. And they increased abundantly and multiplied and waxed exceeding mighty. And the land was filled with them. ⁸Now there arose up a new king over Egypt who knew not Joseph. ⁹And he said unto his people, “Behold, the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we! ¹⁰Come on! We shall deal wisely with them lest they multiply, and it come to pass that they join also unto our enemies when there falleth out any war, and they fight against us and get them up out of the land!” ¹¹Therefore they did set taskmasters over them to afflict them with their burdens. And they built treasure cities for Pharaoh: Pithom and Raamses. ¹²But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew. And they were grieved because of the children of Israel. ¹³And the Egyptians made the children of Israel to serve with rigour. ¹⁴And they made their lives bitter with hard bondage in mortar and in brick and in all manner of service in the field. All their service wherein they made them serve is with rigour.

They multiplied from seventy to a large number. Even most of the seventy were not from Jacob! There were 600,000 men that left Egypt not counting the women and children.

Exodus 12:37And the children of Israel journeyed from Rameses to Succoth, about six hundred thousand on foot that were men, besides children.

An entire people (though small) were integrated into the family of Jacob through violence done by two sons of Jacob.

From a Race to a Kingdom of Priests

When he brought them out of Egypt in a great and mighty way, Yehovah told them that they will be a kingdom of priests.

Exodus 19:3 And Moses went up unto God. And Yehovah called unto him out of the mountain, saying, “Thou shalt say thus to the house of Jacob. And thou shalt tell the children of Israel, ⁴ ‘Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians. And I bare you on eagles’ wings and brought you unto myself. ⁵Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed and keep my covenant, then ye shall be my own possession out of all the people of all the earth. For all the earth is mine. ⁶And ye shall be a kingdom of priests unto me and a holy nation.’ These are the words that thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel.”

The Israelis have not yet become a kingdom of priest, since they have not decided which gods they will follow. This text will be fulfilled toward the end of the Tribulation (a seven-year period during which Yehovah shows His wrath to Israel first, after which Israel turns, and then to the rest of the races). When they are a kingdom of priests, all males, females and children will be in the position of being priests for non-Jewish folks who desire to understand and communicate with Yehovah. (They can communicate directly, but some folks will desire a priest: a person who is an intermediary between a god—in this case, Yehovah, and man.)

Thus, a person who desires to understand Yehovah/Yeshua will go to any Jewish person, adults or children, to ask questions. Even a Jewish child will give infallibly correct answers, and will pray on behalf of the person if the person desires that. Adults and children will have Yehovah’s wisdom because the Torah will be written on the hearts of all Israelis.

This text states “I bare you on eagles wings”, this did not occur during the exodus from Egypt with Moses. This indicates there will be a future time when Israelis are in Egypt and will literally be brought out on wings of eagles.

Why Yehovah Used a Strong Arm to Remove Israelis from Egypt

Deuteronomy 4:34 Or hath God assayed to go take Him a nation from the midst of a nation by temptations, by signs and by wonders, and by war and by a mighty hand, and by a stretched out arm and by great terrors according to all that Yehovah your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes? ³⁵It was showed unto thee that thou mightest know that Yehovah he is God; none else is beside Him. ³⁶He made thee to hear his voice out of the heavens so that He might instruct thee. And he showed thee his great fire upon earth. And thou heard His words out of the midst of the fire. ³⁷And because he loved thy fathers, he therefore chose their seed after them. And He brought thee out in His sight with His mighty power out of Egypt ³⁸to drive out greater and mightier nations than thou from before thee, to bring thee in, to give thee their land an inheritance, as this day. ³⁹Know therefore this day and consider in thine heart that Yehovah—He is God in the heavens above and upon the earth beneath! None else is!

Do not miss that Yehovah chose Israel because of his love for the fathers, Avraham, Issac and Jacob.

Yehovah did these mighty works to show Israel and the surrounding races that He is God. His works terrified the races in Canaan and the surrounding races. Notice how Rahab described this terror.

Joshua 2:9 and Rahab said to the men, I know that Jehovah has given you the land, and that the dread of you has fallen on us, and that all the inhabitants of the land faint because of you.¹⁰For we have heard that Yehovah dried up the waters of the Red sea before you when ye came out of Egypt; and what ye did to the two kings of the Amorites that were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon and to Og, whom ye utterly destroyed. ¹¹We heard of it, and our heart melted, and there remained no more spirit in any man because of you; for Yehovah your God, he is God in the heavens above and on the earth beneath.

One race even feigned a lengthy trip to the Israelis to deceive them into forming a covenant so that they would not be exterminated. This deceit worked! (Yehovah was not pleased, but Israel had to honour that covenant made with that Canaanite race.)

In the book of Joshua we see Yehovah giving the land to the Israelis and the tribal allotments. Judges reports the decline of Israel and the cycle of the Israelis going after false gods, which leads to their enemies being victorious over them, and their crying out to Yehovah and his rescues, only to repeat the cycle. Much more information could be included in this paper. However this paper would become to large, unread and not beneficial.

Ten Tribes are Given to Jeroboam

1 Kings 11:31 And he said to Jeroboam, “Take thee ten pieces. For thus saith Yehovah the God of Israel, ‘Behold, I will rend the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon and will give ten tribes to thee. ³²But he shall have one tribe for my servant David’s sake and for Jerusalem’s sake, the city that I chose out of all the tribes of Israel. ³³For they have forsaken me and have worshipped Ashtoreth the goddess of the Zidonians, Chemosh the god of the Moabites, and Milcom the god of the children of Ammon, and have not walked in my ways to do right in mine eyes, and my statutes and my judgments, as David his father. ³⁴And I will not take the whole kingdom out of his hand, but I will make him prince all the days of his life for David my servant’s sake whom I chose. For he kept my commandments and my statutes. ³⁵And I will take the kingdom out of his son’s hand and will give it unto thee: ten tribes. ³⁶And I will give one tribe unto his son so that David my servant will always have a light before me in Jerusalem, the city that I have chosen me to put my name there. ³⁷And I will take thee. And thou shalt reign according to all that thy soul desires. And thou shalt be king over Israel.’”

1 Kings 15:30 …because of the sins of Jeroboam that he sinned and that he made Israel sin by his provocation wherewith he provoked Yehovah God of Israel to anger…

The Israelis still didn’t believe the warnings and the events of Yehovah’s hand. Yehovah therefore took the next step:

2 Kings 23:27 And Yehovah said, “I will remove Judah also out of my sight as I have removed Israel, and will cast off this city Jerusalem that I have chosen and the House of which I said, ‘My name shall be there’!”

This will occur a number of times in the future for the same reasons! We have been able to enjoy Israel being a state in our lifetimes, but that will not continue. The Israelis will alternately be in the land and thrust out of the land until the return of Messiah.

Captivity: Ten Tribes

2 Kings 15:29 In the days of Pekah king of Israel, Tiglath-Pileser king of Assyria came and took Ijon and Abel-Beth-Maachah and Janoah and Kedesh and Hazor and Gilead and Galilee, all the land of Naphtali. And he carried them captive to Assyria.

The following text explains how Shalmaneser dealt with the king of the Israeli ten tribes.

2 Kings 17:1 In the twelfth year of Ahaz king of Judah, Hoshea the son of Elah began to reign in Samaria over Israel for nine years. ²And he did evil in the sight of Yehovah, but not as the kings of Israel that had been before him. ³ Shalmaneser king of Assyria came up against him. And Hoshea became his servant, and tendered him presents. ⁴But the king of Assyria found conspiracy in Hoshea, for he had sent messengers to So king of Egypt. And he sent up no present to the king of Assyria as he had done from year to year. And the king of Assyria shut him up and bound him in prison. ⁵And the king of Assyria overran the whole land. And he went up against Samaria and besieged it three years. ⁶In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria took Samaria. And he carried Israel away into Assyria and placed them in Halah and by the Habor, the river of Gozan and in the cities of the Medes.

Yehovah became furious with Israel because they served other gods. The Israelis became no different than the people they were commanded to annihilate. Yehovah will not allow this to continue on his land for very long.

⁷And so it was, because the children of Israel had sinned against Yehovah their God Who had brought them up out of the land of Egypt from under the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and had feared other gods. ⁸And they walked in the statutes of the nations that Yehovah had dispossessed from before the children of Israel and of the kings of Israel that they had made. ⁹And the children of Israel secretly did things that were not right against Yehovah their God. And they built them high places in all their cities from the watchmen’s tower to the fortified city. ¹⁰And they set them up columns and Asherahs on every high hill and under every green tree. ¹¹And there they burned incense on all the high places as the nations did that Yehovah had carried away from before them. And they wrought wicked things to provoke Yehovah to anger. ¹²And they served idols, as to which Yehovah had said to them, “Ye shall not do this thing.”

Yehovah will not allow the Israelis to live on the land of Israel while serving other gods. He sent prophets to warn them.

¹³And Yehovah testified against Israel and against Judah by all the prophets, all the seers, saying, “Turn from your evil ways, and keep my commandments, my statutes, according to all the law that I commanded your fathers and that I sent to you through my servants the prophets. ¹⁴But they would not hear. And they hardened their necks like to the neck of their fathers who did not believe in Yehovah their God.

The Israelis did not hearken to the prophets, they chose to continue with their perversions, discarding the Torah, therefore Yehovah threw removed them from the land.

¹⁵And they rejected his statutes, and his covenant that he had made with their fathers, and his testimonies that he had testified unto them. And they followed vanity and became vain, and went after the nations that were round about them concerning whom Yehovah had charged them that they should not do like them. ¹⁶And they forsook all the commandments of Yehovah their God. And they made them molten images: two calves, and made an Asherah, and worshipped all the host of the heavens, and served Baal. ¹⁷And they caused their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire. And they used divination and enchantments. And they sold themselves to do evil in the sight of Yehovah, to provoke him to anger. ¹⁸Therefore Yehovah was very angry with Israel. And He removed them out of his sight. There remained but the tribe of Judah only.

When the ten Northern tribes were dispersed, two tribes and parts of the other tribes remained. The main tribes were Judah and Levi. Folks who remained part of this group were called Judeans (later shortened to Jew). Thus, the term Jew was given to those Israelis who remained in that part of Israel.

From Where Did the Name Jew Come?

Jew comes from the Hebrew Yehudah meaning He confessed Yah (an abbreviation of He confessed Yehovah).

The name Jew was initially seen in the book of Esther, but the people had existed for centuries. Any large group will be identified by its principle component. Europeans historically called citizens of the United States Yankees.

Folks will refer to large groups by the name given to one principle group out of that large group. We speak of the Russians without distinctions that the Russians themselves make among themselves. The use of Jew fits this pattern.

Judah’s Captivity

Judah did evil causing them also to be removed from the land of Israel and carried into captivity in Babylon.

2 Kings 24:10 At that time the servants of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up against Jerusalem, and the city was besieged. ¹¹And Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came against the city. And his servants besieged it. ¹²And Jehoiachin the king of Judah went out to the king of Babylon—he and his mother and his servants and his princes and his officers. And the king of Babylon took him in the eighth year of his reign. ¹³And he carried out thence all the treasures of the house of Yehovah and the treasures of the king’s house. And he cut all the vessels of gold that Solomon king of Israel had made in the temple of Yehovah in pieces, as Yehovah had said. ¹⁴And he carried away all Jerusalem and all the princes and all the mighty men of valour, ten thousand captives, and all the craftsmen and smiths. None remained save the poorest sort of the people of the land. ¹⁵And he carried away Jehoiachin to Babylon, and the king’s mother and the king’s wives and his officers and the mighty of the land—he carried into captivity from Jerusalem to Babylon.

The two sections of Judah and Israel both did wrong, but the ‘Israel’ section was far more ‘liberal’ in evildoing. Thus, Yehovah took that section first. When Judah became as evil, Yehovah made sure they also went into captivity. Thus, both groups ended up in the same place at the same time: unified in captivity!

Daniel 1:1 In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came unto Jerusalem and besieged it. ²And the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, and a part of the vessels of the House of God. And he carried them into the land of Shinar to the house of his god. And he brought the vessels into the treasure-house of his god.

Israel’s Return to Jerusalem

Ezra 1:1 And in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, Yehovah stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia that the word of Yehovah by the mouth of Jeremiah might be accomplished. And he made a proclamation throughout his kingdom, and also in writing, saying, ² “Thus says Cyrus king of Persia: Yehovah the God of the heavens has given to me all the kingdoms of the earth. And He has charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem that is in Judah. ³Who in you are from all His people? His God shall be with him! And he shall go up to Jerusalem that is in Judah and build the House of Yehovah the God of Israel. He is God Who is at Jerusalem!”

Cyrus (his name being Coresh in Hebrew) was very unusual among leaders. He knew that Yehovah is God, and he knew that Yehovah had assigned him to send the Israelis to Jerusalem to build a House for Him!

Ezra 2:1 And these are the children of the province that went up out of the captivity of those who had been carried away, whom Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had carried away to Babylon, and who came again to Jerusalem and to Judah, every one to his city…

Some believe that the Jews/Israelis lost their identity in the Babylonian captivity. The above text indicates that they went everyone to his city. If they lost their identity in 70 years, how would they know to which city to return? Jews don’t forget anything in seventy years!

Ezra 2:64 The whole congregation together was forty-two thousand three hundred and sixty ⁶⁵besides their servants and their maids of whom there were seven thousand three hundred and thirty-seven; and they had two hundred singing men and singing women.

This text gives the number of returners. The fraction of all Israel is quite small. The number continued to increase up to Messiah’s time. These Israelis were the first to return to Israel to prepare for the times of Messiah when Israel would be quite thickly populated. Tribal identities continued. Even Paul knew of which tribe he was.

Exactly How Much Land is in Israel?

Numbers 34:1 And Yehovah spake unto Moses, saying, ² “Command the children of Israel. And say unto them, ‘When ye come into the land of Canaan—this is the land that shall fall unto you for an inheritance—the land of Canaan with the coasts thereof, ³then your south quarter shall be from the wilderness of Zin along by the coast of Edom, and your south border shall be the outmost coast of the salt sea eastward. ⁴And your border shall turn from the south to the ascent of Akrabbim, and pass on to Zin. And the going forth thereof shall be from the south to Kadeshbarnea, and shall go on to Hazaraddar, and pass on to Azmon. ⁵And the border shall fetch a compass from Azmon unto the river of Egypt. And the goings out of it shall be at the sea. ⁶And the western border: ye shall even have the great sea for a border. This shall be your west border. ⁷And this shall be your north border: ye shall point out for you mount Hor from the great sea. ⁸Ye shall point out from mount Hor unto the entrance of Hamath. And the goings forth of the border shall be to Zedad. ⁹And the border shall go on to Ziphron. And the goings out of it shall be at Hazarenan. This shall be your north border. ¹⁰And ye shall point out your east border from Hazarenan to Shepham. ¹¹And the coast shall go down from Shepham to Riblah on the east side of Ain. And the border shall descend and shall reach unto the side of the sea of Chinnereth eastward. ¹²And the border shall go down to Jordan. And the goings out of it shall be at the salt sea. This shall be your land with the coasts thereof round about.’”

If you take the time to map this using a good set of maps, you will see exactly what the borders will be. Keep in mind that the Bible describes land area changes during the Tribulation so that the Land of Israel will be larger, but with the very same borders.

Separating the People of Israel from the Land of Israel is not reasonable, though Yehovah will throw the Israelis off that land a number of times before they permanently possess it. Some have attempted to set up alternate ‘promised lands’ for Israel. These always fail.

Who Owns the Land?

Yehovah promised the land described above to Avraham. He later confirmed it to Isaac and then to Jacob.

Genesis 15:18 Yehovah made a covenant with Abram in the same day, saying, “I have given this land unto thy seed from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates—¹⁹The Kenites and the Kenizzites and the Kadmonites ²⁰and the Hittites and the Perizzites and the Rephaims ²¹and the Amorites and the Canaanites and the Girgashites and the Jebusites.”

Avraham only had claim to the cave of Machpelah and its field during his lifetime, a small portion he bought from the sons of Heth to bury his wife.

The promise of his owning the entire land has not yet been fulfilled; therefore it is a future event.

Isaiah 14:1 For Yehovah will have mercy on Jacob and will yet choose Israel. And He will set them in their own land. And the strangers shall be joined with them.

The land is

Avraham’s land

Isaac’s land

Jacob’s land (the same as Israel’s land)

Messiah’s land

Yehovah’s land

The Israelis will be the permanent occupants of the land once they have become entirely and permanently righteous as the following text declares. Yehovah will gather them from all the countries and bring them to Israel.

Jeremiah 23:3 And I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all countries whither I have driven them, and will bring them again to their folds; and they shall be fruitful and increase. ⁴And I will set up shepherds over them which shall feed them: and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall they be lacking, saith Yehovah. ⁵Behold, the days come, saith Yehovah, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch. And a king shall reign and prosper, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. ⁶Judah shall be saved in his days, and Israel shall dwell safely. And this is his name whereby he shall be called, YEHOVAH OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS. ⁷Therefore, behold, the days come, saith Yehovah, that they shall no more say, “Yehovah lives Who brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt,” ⁸but “Yehovah lives Who brought up and Who led the seed of the house of Israel out of the north country and from all countries” whither I had driven them. And they shall dwell in their own land.

Israel Permanently Gets the Land

Jeremiah 7:1 The word that came to Jeremiah from Yehovah, saying, ² “Stand in the gate of Yehovah’s House and proclaim this word there. And say, ‘Hear the word of Yehovah, all Judah that enter in at these gates to worship Yehovah! ³Thus saith Yehovah of hosts the God of Israel, “Amend your ways and your doings, and I will cause you to dwell in this place. ⁴Trust ye not in lying words, saying, ‘The temple of Yehovah! The temple of Yehovah! The temple of Yehovah are these!’ ⁵For if ye thoroughly amend your ways and your doings, if ye thoroughly execute judgment between a man and his neighbour, ⁶oppress not the stranger, the fatherless and the widow, and shed not innocent blood in this place, and don’t walk after other gods to your hurt, ⁷then I will cause you to dwell in this place in the land that I gave to your fathers forever and ever.”’”

The conditions for permanently dwelling in the land should be obvious. If the Israelis are sinning while on the Land of Israel, they can only look forward to being evicted by violence.

Isaiah 60:18 (literally rendered) “Violence will not be further heard in thy land, devastation and breaking in thy borders. And thou shalt call Salvation [fem.] thy walls and thy gates, Psalm.¹⁹The sun will not further be to thee for a daily light. And the moon will not lighten to thee for her shining. And Yehovah will be to thee for light of Hider, and thy Gods for thy brightness. ²⁰Thy sun shall not further come [go down], and thy moon will not be gathered! For Yehovah will be for the light of Hider to thee, and the days of thy mourning shall be avenged [from peace]! ²¹And thy people—all of them are righteous to Hider! They shall inherit Land forever! His planting is the doing of my hands to-brighten-Self! ²²The little-[one] will be to a thousand. And the young-[one] to a powerful race. I, Yehovah, I will rush her in her time!”

Israelis will have far more benefits than being free from eviction! Yehovah will be the very light of that place. This text is describing the Millennium, though it may seem to be describing the New Earth. A reader could tell this because of verse 20 in which avenging is being described, and the word okug, olam being used that signifies Hider, a timing that does not go beyond this planet, and a potential description of Yehovah who Hides at the present time, but won’t hide on the New Earth. No avenging will be possible on the New Earth since all are Saints.

Israel Must be Righteous

Ezekiel 37:21 And say unto them, “Thus saith the Lord Yehovah, ‘Behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the races whither they are gone. And I will gather them on every side. And I will bring them into their own land. ²²And I will make them one nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel. And one king shall be king to them all. And they shall no more be two nations, neither shall they any more at all be divided into two kingdoms. ²³And they shall not any more defile themselves with their idols nor with their detestable things nor with any of their transgressions. And I will save them out of all their dwelling places in which they have sinned. And I will cleanse them. So shall they be my people, and I will be their God. ²⁴And David my servant is king over them! And they all shall have one shepherd. And they shall walk in my judgments and observe my statutes, and do them. ²⁵And they shall dwell in the land that I have given unto Jacob my servant, in which your fathers dwelt. And they shall dwell therein—they and their children and their children’s children forever. And my servant David is their prince forever. ²⁶And I will make a covenant of peace with them. It shall be an everlasting covenant with them. And I will place them and multiply them. And I will set my sanctuary in the midst of them forevermore. ²⁷And my Tabernacle shall be with them. Indeed I will be their God and they shall be my people. ²⁸And the races shall know that I Yehovah do sanctify Israel when my sanctuary shall be in the midst of them forevermore.”

Yehovah will raise King David from the dead and place him as King over Israel even while Messiah is King of all Kings of the earth. Israel will be righteous. The consequences of being unrighteous with a totally righteous King who is also God would be deadly.

Did the Law Save the Israelis?

ONE_AIM_LAW.html

The above link is currently to a document that discusses the Torah (Teaching) and its goals. The Law (better rendered Teaching) cannot save anyone, and it did not save the Israelis. If anything could have saved the Israelis, Messiah’s sacrifice would have been in vain, a waste of innocent blood.

Was the Law Done Away With at the Cross?

Law_Done_Away.html

The above link discusses this question in detail. If the Law consists of at least the first five books of the Bible (five books of Moses) and if it has been abolished, the Bible has been also abolished since the rest of the Bible depends on the continuance of the Truth of the first five books.

You say, “All this is well and good, but what does it have to do with me?”

While many preach that the kingdom is at hand today, they overlook or ignore many texts that give information about events that must take place before Messiah will set up his kingdom on earth.

That is not to say the rapture of Saints can not take place at any time. I see no text that must be fulfilled before this can take place. However texts give us information about many events that will take place before Messiah’s kingdom is on earth. These events will take many centuries. Israel and the Jews are always the central focus of these events.

Matthew 23:37 “Jerusalem! Jerusalem that kills the prophets and stones them who are sent unto thee! How often would I have gathered thy children together even as a hen gathereth her chickens under wings, and ye would not! ³⁸Behold, your house is left unto you desolate. For I say unto you, ye shall not see me henceforth till ye shall say, ‘Blessed is He Who comes with the name Yehovah!’”

The Israelis who inhabit Jerusalem are the only ones who can call for Messiah’s return: “ye shall not see me henceforth till ye shall say, ‘Blessed is He Who comes with the name Yehovah!’” This must take place in its time. Many texts would be skipped, and thus violated if this were it to take place before its time. Yehovah has given us the information about these events in the Bible in order for us to know what will happen. By reading the text careful the timing of these events can be seen. No event described in the Bible will be skipped.

Luke 13:34 “Jerusalem! Jerusalem that kills the prophets and stones them who are sent unto thee! How often would I have gathered thy children together as a hen her brood under wings, and ye would not! ³⁵Behold, your house is left unto you desolate. And verily I say unto you, Ye shall not see me until the time come when ye shall say, ‘Blessed is He Who comes with the name Yehovah!’”

There will be no second coming of Messiah until the Jews in Jerusalem call Him. There can be no resurrection, no setting up the kingdom and no Emmanuel on earth until the Jews of Jerusalem call Him back declaring Him to be the one with the Name Yehovah!

What does this have to do with you?

If you or anyone has a legitimate claim of faith in the Bible and its God and Messiah, you will recognize that the plan of God is anchored concretely in the Jews. Messiah setting up his kingdom, is contingent upon the Jews and only in the Jews of Jerusalem being born of God and recognizing that Messiah has the Name Yehovah.

Doing away with the Jews does away with the Hope, the resurrection, the return of Messiah and everlasting life on the New Earth.

Revelation 20:5 But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. ⁶Blessed and holy is he who hath part in the first resurrection. The second death hath no power on such, but they shall be priests of God and of Messiah, and shall reign with Him a thousand years.

There can be no first resurrection of Saints (apart from Messiah’s resurrection) without Messiah’s return. Messiah’s return is hinged on the Jerusalem Jews calling Him as quoted above. The above text indicates that the resurrection of the dead Saints (first resurrection) occurs prior to the thousand-year reign of Messiah (the Millennium). Many are confused on this point and all other points of timing because they are sloppy readers of the Bible, or worse, because they desire to replace the Jews as central to the plan of the Biblical God.

Great and Terrible Day of Yehovah

Yehovah will set the Tribulation upon the Israelis because of Israel’s refusal to hearken to the Torah. That is how important the Torah will continue to be to the end of this planet. A theology that does away with the Torah does away with the plan of God, and therefore does away with Yehovah.

1 Peter 4:17 For the time is that judgment must begin at the House of God. And if first at us, what is the end of them who don’t obey the gospel of God? ¹⁸And if the righteous scarcely are saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?

The Tribulation will then be placed upon the whole planet. All the races will see and experience that Tribulation of Yehovah because they will set themselves against Israel because of the Tribulation!

They will think that being rid of Yehovah and His followers is the only way to unify man and have peace on earth. Some from the races will be exceptions and will be or become friends of the Jews.

The following text demonstrates how the Tribulation will lead the nations of the world to one particular slaughter. The first part describes changes in the sun and moon:

Joel 2:31 The sun shall be changed to darkness and the moon to blood before the great and terrible day of Yehovah comes.

This next part describes that Salvation and deliverance will still be open and possible:

³²And it shall be that whosoever shall call upon the name of Yehovah shall be saved, for deliverance shall be in mount Zion and in Jerusalem as Yehovah hath said, and for the residue whom Yehovah shall call.

Next comes the gathering of all nations for judgment, and why:

^3:1For behold, in those days and in that time when I shall turn again the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem, ²I will also gather all the nations. And I will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat. And I will enter into judgment with them there on account of my people and mine inheritance Israel whom they have scattered among the nations. And they have parted my land! ³And they have cast lots for my people! And they have given a boy for a harlot and sold a girl for wine, and have drunk it.

Yehovah then focuses on Tyre, Zidon and Phillistia (referring to the Palestinian territories) two cities of Lebanon and one in the area of Israel:

⁴Yea also, what have ye to do with me, Tyre and Zidon and all the districts of Philistia? Will ye render me a recompense? But if ye recompense me, I will swiftly and speedily bring your recompense upon your own head ⁵because ye have taken my silver and my gold, and have carried into your temples my beautiful pleasant things, ⁶and ye have sold the children of Judah and the children of Jerusalem unto the children of the Greeks that ye might remove them far from their border. ⁷Behold, I will raise them up out of the place whither ye have sold them, and will bring your recompense upon your own head! ⁸And I will sell your sons and your daughters into the hand of the children of Judah. And they shall sell them to the Sabeans, to a nation far off. For Yehovah hath spoken.

Yehovah prods the races (nations) to come to war against Him (so that He can slaughter them):

⁹Proclaim this among the nations! Prepare war! Arouse the mighty men! All the men of war shall draw near! They shall come up! ¹⁰Beat your ploughshares into swords, and your pruning-knives into spears! The weak shall say, ‘I am strong!’ ¹¹Haste ye and come, all ye nations round about, and gather yourselves together! Cause thy mighty ones to come down there, Yehovah! ¹²The nations shall rouse themselves and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat! For there will I sit to judge all the nations round about!

Yehovah then converses with an unnamed entity to ‘harvest’ (slaughter) these arrogant folks who came against Yehovah in His land:

¹³Put in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe! Come! Get you down, for the press is full, the vats overflow! For their wickedness is great. ¹⁴Multitudes! Multitudes are in the valley of decision! For the day of Yehovah is at hand in the valley of decision.

He again speaks of the changes in the sun and moon, and now the stars. The removal of light from the stars will give astrologers a bad day.

¹⁵The sun and the moon shall be darkened, and the stars shall withdraw their shining.

The next part explains the location from which Yehovah will speak, and what will result:

¹⁶And Yehovah will roar from Zion and utter his voice from Jerusalem! And the heavens and the earth shall shake!

Yet Yehovah will be a shelter and refuge for a particular group:

And Yehovah will be a shelter for his people and the refuge of the children of Israel! ¹⁷And ye shall know that I, Yehovah, am your God dwelling in Zion, my holy mountain!

The next text explains the radical change in Jerusalem’s ownership:

And Jerusalem shall be holy!

Never again will foreigners with war intentions come through Jerusalem:

And no strangers shall pass through her any more.

These events will bring a change in crop productivity:

¹⁸And in that day it shall come to pass that the mountains shall drop down new wine, and the hills shall flow with milk, and all the water-courses of Judah shall flow with waters. And a fountain shall come forth from the house of Yehovah, and shall water the valley of Shittim.

Egypt, on the other hand, will be a mess, and Edom will be empty:

¹⁹Egypt shall be a desolation. And Edom shall be a desolate wilderness for the violence against the children of Judah in that they have shed innocent blood in their land.

Judah and Jerusalem will last:

²⁰But Judah shall abide forever, and Jerusalem from generation to generation.

Yehovah will prepare the Israelis so that He can dwell among them in Zion without harm to them.

²¹And I will purge them from the blood from which I had not purged them! For Yehovah dwells in Zion!

When will All Israel be Righteous

This text shows that Israel will recognize Who Messiah is at one point during the tribulation.

Zechariah 12: 9 And it shall come to pass in that day, I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.¹⁰And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.

All Israelis will become righteous at some point between the midpoint of the Tribulation and its end. All Israel will turn in faith to Messiah, and no Israeli will sin from that point to the end of the world.

Romans 11:26 And so all Israel shall be saved as it is written, “There shall come the Deliverer out of Zion. And He shall turn ungodliness away from Jacob.”

Since the teachings of Yehovah will be written in their minds, all Israelis will refuse to sin from that point onward. The tribulation will continue until the seven years are complete. After the Israelis recognize Messiah and turn to him they will be tested. At this time in the tribulation, Yehovah will turn his wrath toward the nations.

Isaiah 45:17 And Israel shall be saved in Yehovah with an everlasting salvation. Ye shall not be ashamed nor confounded world without end (literally, unto hiders of onward)!

Yehovah has promised a new Covenant with the House of Israel and the House of Judah (both being mentioned because of the split in Israel that openly occurred after King Solomon’s reign).

Jeremiah 31:31 “Behold, the days come,” saith Yehovah, and I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah—³²not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, which my covenant they broke although I was an husband unto them,” saith Yehovah. ³³ “But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days,” saith Yehovah. “I will put my law in their inward parts and write it in their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. ³⁴And they shall no more teach every man his neighbour and every man his brother, saying, ‘Know Yehovah!’ For they shall all know me from the least of them unto the greatest of them,” saith Yehovah. “For I will forgive their iniquity. And I will no more remember their sin.”³⁵Thus saith Yehovah Who gives the sun for a light by day, the statutes of the moon and of the stars for a light by night, Who divides the sea when the waves thereof roar—Yehovah of hosts is His Name—³⁶ “If those statutes depart from before me,” saith Yehovah, “the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before me forever!” ³⁷Thus saith Yehovah, “If heaven above can be measured and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, I will also cast off all the seed of Israel for all that they have done!” saith Yehovah.

Yehovah guarantees that all Israel will be righteous by writing His Teachings on their heart (mind). This writing will occur during the last part of the Tribulation. It will be permanent, and will also occur on every Jewish baby born during the Millennium. No Israeli will have to learn the Torah (Teaching of Yehovah) since it will be ‘built in’ from birth from that time!

Isaiah 60:21 “Thy people also shall all be righteous! They, the branch of my planting, the work of my hands, shall inherit the land forever that I may be glorified!”

An entirely righteous people will be a very good thing! Since this is spoken of the people of Israel, non-Jews who are part of this people are fully included. (Some churches of today call Jews to join their congregations. How arrogant! Members of those churches should join themselves to the God of Israel! But that would ruin things…)

Millennial Reign of Messiah in Jerusalem

Messiah will return to Jerusalem with the saints to rule over all the earth. Those who were born of God who have died will return with Messiah in their immortal bodies. Those who survive the Tribulation will remain in their mortal bodies on earth during the thousand year reign. They include both Israelis and those who helped the Israelis during the Tribulation. All others will be killed at the end of the Tribulation before the kingdom is restored to Israel. (I have seen no text that speaks of non-Jewish Saints who have nothing to do with Israel during the Tribulation.) Saints in mortal bodies will receive their immortal bodies after the Millennium, before they are transferred to the new earth, (unless they are murdered during the Millennium, in which case their murderer will be terribly disappointed when they immediately obtain an immortal body.

The following text briefly describes Messiah’s takeover of the planet. He will intentionally make it a very bloody takeover:

Revelation 19:11 And I saw heaven opened. And behold a white horse. And he that sat upon him is called Faithful and True. And he doth judge and make war in righteousness. ¹²His eyes as a flame of fire. And many crowns are on his head. And he had a name written that no man knew but he himself. ¹³And he is clothed with a vesture dipped in blood. And his name is called The Word of God. ¹⁴And the armies in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in white and clean fine linen. ¹⁵And a sharp sword goes out of his mouth so that he should smite the nations with it. And he shall rule them with a rod of iron. And he treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God! ¹⁶And he hath on the vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.

Work During Millennial Reign

During the millennial reign of Messiah, King David will rule Jerusalem, and Messiah will rule the whole earth as King of Kings. Avraham will then own the land of Israel.

As they were called to be, the Israelis will at this time be a kingdom of priests. They will “go into all the world and preach the gospel” at that time, fulfilling their calling.

Mark 16:15 And he said unto them, “Go ye into all the world! And preach the gospel to every creature.”

Romans 11:29 For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance.

Satan is Arrested

Satan will be bound during the millennial reign. He will be loosed at the end of the 1000-year reign for a time.

Revelation 20:2 And he laid hold on the dragon—that old serpent who is the Devil and Satan. And He bound him a thousand years ³and cast him into the bottomless pit and shut him up and set a seal upon him so that he won’t deceive the nations any more until the thousand years shall be fulfilled. And he must be loosed a little season after that.

His arrest will prove that humans don’t need demons to sin. No one can say the devil made me do it. The Millennium will be a time of complete peace, but not a time of complete joy for sinners. They will have to ‘tow the line’ because any sin they commit will immediately be brought to light; they will immediately face that sin’s consequence. Thus, the large population of the planet, years into the Millennium will consist of avid feigners who can feign righteousness and joy while despising Messiah and His terrible totalitarian rule of righteousness!

Psalms 18:44 As soon as they hear of me, they shall obey me. The strangers shall submit (literally, feign) themselves unto me.

Psalms 66:3 Say unto God, “How terrible art thou in thy works! Thine enemies shall submit (literally, feign) themselves unto thee through the greatness of thy power!”

Not one of those fakers will be Jewish.

The First and Second Resurrections

Revelation 20:4 And I saw thrones. And they sat upon them. And judgment was given unto them and the souls of them who were beheaded for the witness of Jesus and for the word of God, and who had not worshipped the beast or his image, nor had they received the mark upon their foreheads or in their hands. And they lived and reigned with Messiah a thousand years.

The folks above obviously suffered during the Tribulation.

All the dead non-saints from the time of Adam to the end of the Millennium will participate in the following resurrection. (The first resurrection is of Saints; it is first in type, not in numerical order. The second resurrection is to everlasting damnation.)

⁵But the rest of the dead didn’t live again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. ⁶Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection! The second death hath no power on such. And they shall be priests of God and of Messiah, and shall reign with him a thousand years.

Satan’s Last Stand

Revelation 20:7 And Satan shall be loosed out of his prison when the thousand years are expired. ⁸And he shall go out to deceive the nations that are in the four quarters of the earth—Gog and Magog to gather them together to battle, the number of whom is as the sand of the sea.

Obviously, a number of folks born during this thousand year period will not like Messiah’s reign.

⁹And they went up on the breadth of the earth. And they compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city. And fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them.

Obviously, Yehovah didn’t appreciate a number of folks. There is no final battle between Yehovah and Satan, only the final effort by Satan.

His efforts will not stand a chance against Yehovah. Yehovah will take swift action against him and any followers.

¹⁰And the devil who 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 forever and ever.

Though the Lake of Fire and Sulfur was made for the Devil and his angels, some humans managed to get in before them!

Some religious groups deny an everlasting and burning Lake of Fire and Sulfur. Either they can’t read, they don’t read, or they just don’t believe what they read.

They will believe it means what is says when they feel the heat of their everlasting damnation.

Satan’s Final Abode

Satan, the archenemy of the Jews, will be loosed for a short time at the end of the Millennial reign. He will be thrown alive into the lake of fire that Yehovah prepared for the devil and his angels after losing one more attempt (shown in the text above). Those not born of God will accompany him into that Lake of Fire (shown below).

The Antichrist who is depicted by one of the two beasts of Revelation and the False Prophet depicted by the other beast will be first into the Lake of Fire and Sulfur. Their attempts to annihilate the Jews and the God of the Jews will bring this ‘reward’.

Revelation 19:20 And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them who worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.

Two fallen angels, Death and Sheol/Hades will also be cast into that damnation. Israel and all Saints will see death swallowed up in victory.

Revelation 20:14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. ¹⁵And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.

New Heavens and New Earth

Revelation 21:1 And I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away. And there was no more sea. ²And I John saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

See the role that Jerusalem continues to play even after this planet is annihilated!

³And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, “Behold, the Tabernacle of God is with men! And He will dwell with them! And they shall be His people! And God himself shall be with them, their God!

Yehovah has always determined to dwell with humans.

⁴ “And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes. And there shall be no more death or sorrow or crying. Nor shall there be any more pain. For the former things are passed away.” ⁵And he Who sat upon the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new!” And He said unto me, “Write! For these words are true and faithful.”

John the writer is Jewish. He was given an advanced tour of the Tribulation, and his tour guide is a Jewish prophet. (See if you can detect how we discovered this using the text in Revelation.)

John’s reaction to the Tribulation is not like Daniel’s reaction, and for good reason. Daniel was sickened at the violence and bloodshed that Israel would sustain. The vengeance of Yehovah against Israel’s enemies that John saw made him glad. The Book of Revelation describes that vengeance.

⁶And he said unto me, “It is done! I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end!

(I suspect that He spoke Hebrew, and said, “I am Alef and Tof, the beginning and the end!”)

I will freely give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the waters of life. ⁷He who overcomes shall inherit all things. And I will be his God, and he shall be my son.

That water is literal and wet. Folks will freely drink the water.

Holy Jerusalem

The following text describes the future Jerusalem in some detail. It is unlike anything that has been on this planet.

Revelation 21:10 And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain. And he showed me that great city—the holy Jerusalem descending out of heaven from God ¹¹having the glory of God. And her light is like unto a most precious stone—even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal. ¹²And she had a great and high wall. She had twelve gates and twelve angels at the gates. And names written thereon are of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel. ¹³On the east are three gates, on the north three gates, on the south three gates and on the west three gates.

Yehovah will not permit a diminishing of the centrality of His People Israel from His plan and construction even on the New Earth.

¹⁴And the wall of the city had twelve foundations. And the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb are in them.

Which twelve?

¹⁵And he who talked with me had a golden reed to measure the city and her gates and her wall. ¹⁶And the city lies foursquare. And the length is as large as the breadth. And he measured the city with the reed: twelve thousand furlongs. The length and the breadth and the height of it are equal.

A furlong is 1/8 of a mile. 12,000 furlongs is 1500 miles. This city is a cube with 1500-mile sides.

¹⁷And he measured her wall, a hundred forty-four cubits, the measure of a man—that is, of the angel. ¹⁸And the building of the wall of it was jasper. And the city is pure gold like unto clear glass.

This text indicates that truly pure gold is clear like crystal.

¹⁹And the foundations of the wall of the city are garnished with all manner of precious stones. The first foundation is jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, a chalcedony; the fourth, an emerald; ²⁰the fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolite; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, a topaz; the tenth, a chrysoprasus; the eleventh, a jacinth; the twelfth, an amethyst.

You will have difficulty if you attempt to positively identify the precious stones above. They seem to elude definite identification at this time. (Future discoveries may clarify this.)

²¹And the twelve gates are twelve pearls. Every several gate was of one pearl.

Those are twelve big pearls.

And the street of the city is pure gold as it were transparent glass. ²²And I saw no temple therein, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are her Temple. ²³And the city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God did lighten it.

Do not assume the lack of a sun and moon. The text only stated that there was no need because of the light from the glory of God in Jerusalem.

And the Lamb is her light. ²⁴And the nations of them who are saved shall walk in the light of it.

Those who think there will be no races haven’t believed this text. A nation is a race in the Bible.

And the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it.

Kings besides Messiah will reign on the New earth and will live in their own lands outside of Jerusalem.

²⁵And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day, for there shall be no night there.

Jerusalem will be a 24-hour lively city.

²⁶And they shall bring the glory and honour of the nations into it. ²⁷And there shall in no wise enter into it anything that defiles or works abomination or is a lie, but they who are written in the Lamb’s book of life. ^22:1And he showed me a pure river of waters of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. ²In the midst of the street of it and on either side of the river is the tree of life that bare twelve fruits, yielded her fruit every month.

That is one big tree! It’s trunk straddles the river! It has twelve different kinds of fruit and it bears that fruit year round. Even the leaves will be beneficial and will be used.

One can find a description that sounds very similar to this in Ezekiel 47:12:

Ezekiel 47:12 And by the river upon the bank thereof, on this side and on that side, shall grow all trees for meat, whose leaf shall not fade, neither shall the fruit thereof be consumed: it shall bring forth new fruit according to his months, because their waters they issued out of the sanctuary: and the fruit thereof shall be for meat, and the leaf thereof for medicine.

This describes various fruit trees, however, and not the Tree of the Lives.

And the leaves of the tree are for the servicing of the nations. ³And there shall be no more curse. But the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it. And his servants shall serve him.

The New Earth will be a place to work. Yehovah designed humans and all His creation to work. (That does not eliminate rest.)

⁴And they shall see his face. And his name is in their foreheads. ⁵And there shall be no night there. And they need no candle, neither light of the sun. For the Lord God gives them light.

This ‘light’ issue is very important, shown by the amount of mention it receives.

And they shall reign forever and ever.

Eating of the Tree of Life

Revelation 22:10 And he saith unto me, “Seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this book. For the time is at hand. ¹¹He who is unjust, he shall be unjust still. And he who is filthy, he shall be filthy still. And he who is righteous, he shall be righteous still. And he who is holy, he shall be holy still.

Just before Messiah returns, each person will remain in his or her own immorality or righteousness. Turning at the very last moment will not occur.

¹²And behold, I come quickly!

Messiah’s return to the Jews in Jerusalem on Mount Zion and to all Saints who will be gathered there will be at a very rapid speed.

And my reward is with me to give every man according as his work shall be.

Rewards will be in the form of work assignments! That is confirmed in at least one of the parables.

¹³I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last. ¹⁴Blessed are they who do His commandments so that they may have right to the tree of life and may enter in through the gates into the city.

Those who do His commandments (even if they didn’t know Him) will have the right to the tree of life and will enter into that New Jerusalem. The ‘Sheep-Goat Judgment’ articulates this.

Conclusion

While many know something about the Jews—usually how they messed up, not many know that Messiah will again offer the kingdom to the Israelis foreknowing that they will accept it and will be fully prepared for it. They will fulfill all that Yehovah called them to be: a righteous, holy nation, a royal priesthood. They will be Yehovah’s obedient people forever.

Exodus 19:6 And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. These are the words that thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel.

Isaiah 61:9 And their seed shall be known among the nations, and their offspring among the peoples: all that see them shall acknowledge them, that they are a seed that Jehovah hath blessed.

There will be no doubt by anyone that Yehovah has blessed the Jews. When they fulfill their calling they will do great works and will amaze everyone with their knowledge and skills.

1 Peter 2:4 …to whom coming, a living stone disallowed indeed of men but chosen of God, precious. ⁵Ye also, as living stones, are built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. ⁶Wherefore also it is contained in the Scripture, “Behold, I lay a chief, elect, precious corner stone in Zion. And he who believes on Him shall not be confounded”—⁷precious unto you who believe, therefore, but unto them who are disobedient: the stone that the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner ⁸and a stone of stumbling and a rock of offence who stumble at the word, being disobedient (whereunto also they were appointed). ⁹But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a segregated people so that ye shall show forth the praises of Him Who hath called you out of darkness into His marvellous light ¹⁰who are not a people in past times, but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.

February 20, 2009August 22, 2016

Why Yehovah Chose Israel

Edited by S. Spencer

Why did Yehovah choose the race of the Israelis, especially considering that other saints came before them? What is the need to have a group to give the picture when there were already individuals who gave the picture?

1. Principalities and Authorities

Ephesians 3:8 This grace was given to me, the less than the least of all the saints, to announce the beneficial proclamation among the races—the unsearchable riches of the Messiah—⁹and to enlighten all what the fellowship of the mystery is that has been hidden from the ages—in God Who created all things by Messiah Yeshua ¹⁰that the multifarious wisdom of God will be now known to the principalities and the authorities in the heavenlies through the assembly ¹¹according to purpose of the ages that He did in Messiah Yeshua our Lord.

Yehovah determined to demonstrate his “multifarious wisdom” to the angels (principalities and authorities in the heavenlies). He determined to use the assembly (the church, the Body of Messiah), purposing this throughout the ages.

A significant portion of the angels rebelled, having a view that Yehovah did not use wisdom in His plan. All angels (including demons) have a purpose given in the following text:

Hebrews 1:13 But to which of the angels said he at any time, “Sit on my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool”? ¹⁴Are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?

Job himself had the head demon as a guardian angel:

Job 2:3 And Yehovah said unto Satan, “Hast thou considered my servant Job—that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one who fears God, and eschews evil? And he still holds fast his perfection although thou move me against him to destroy him without cause!” ⁴And Satan answered Yehovah and said, “Skin for skin! Indeed, all that a man hath he will give for his life. ⁵But put forth thine hand now and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse thee to thy face!” ⁶And Yehovah said unto Satan, “Behold, he is in thine hand. But save his life!”

Satan had to guard this man even while he painfully and severely pushed him to deny Yehovah (Job never did).

Job is a prophet. How can one know this? Consider Yehovah’s words:

Job 42:7 And it was, that after Yehovah had spoken these words unto Job, Yehovah said to Eliphaz the Temanite, “My wrath is kindled against thee and against thy two friends because ye have not spoken of me right as my servant Job. ⁸Therefore take unto you now seven bullocks and seven rams. And go to my servant Job. And offer up for yourselves a burnt offering. And my servant Job shall pray for you—for I will accept him—lest I deal with you after your folly in that ye have not spoken of me right like my servant Job.

How could he have spoken right throughout all these chapters, since he covered many topics? He spoke things about Yehovah he could have not known. For example,

Job 19:6 Know now that God hath overthrown me, and hath compassed me with his net.

How could Job have known this without prophesying? Job also stated,

Job 19:22 Why do ye persecute me as God, and are not satisfied with my flesh?

Consider both texts. Are they true in Job’s case? If Job is prophesying, however, he is speaking absolute Truth for another. Psalms written by David, for example, do not speak of David’s experiences, but do show the voice of others (of Israel in the Tribulation, for example). Job did the same thing.

His prophecies regarding Israel are vital to a full understanding of Israel’s future. Israel will experience what he experienced.

Satan learned that Job’s faithfulness to Yehovah was not because he was ‘paid’, since Satan removed all that he had (except for his wife, and she was necessary to keep him alive), and Job remained faithful. Satan and all the angels will learn the same thing about all the Saints, and about the Assembly, the Church.

I already noted the following Hebrews text:

Since all angels are ministering spirits sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of Salvation, and since Israel’s assignment has always been to be ministering beings sent forth to minister to the world about the Salvation of Yehovah, it is only appropriate that the entire group of messengers (the Israelis) be used to prove a point to the angels by perfectly demonstrating that ministry for a thousand years! That will show the manifold Wisdom of God!

2. The Church

The Church consists of all Saints added to Israel (the core of the Church). How can one know this? A major clue is found in the following text:

Acts 7:37 This is that Moses who said unto the children of Israel, “Yehovah your God shall raise up unto you a prophet of your brethren like unto me. Ye shall hear Him.” ³⁸This is He Who was in the Church in the wilderness with the angel who spoke to Him in Mount Sinai, and with our fathers who received the lively oracles to give unto us.

Church is Congregation.

Exodus 16:1 And they took their journey from Elim, and all the Congregation of the children of Israel came unto the wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after their departing out of the land of Egypt.

Thus, a Biblical reader must think of Israel when considering the Church, just like one must think of Israel when considering the olive tree in Romans 11. And just like the Romans 11 olive tree, when anyone comes to faith, Jewish or non-Jewish, that person is grafted into that Tree, and is made part of that Church.

Where can one find that the Church doesn’t exist without Israel? The Ephesians 5:25 text below will demonstrate that Messiah died for the Church. He loved her. He didn’t die for a congregation that had not yet existed, but for one that already existed, for Messiah stipulated,

Matthew 15:24 “I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”

Thus, the Church was already established. Another text also expresses that the Church was already established:

Matthew 18:15 Moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone. If he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother. ¹⁶But if he will not hear, take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established. ¹⁷And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell unto the church. But if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as a gentile man and a publican.

This text assumes that a gentile and a publican are not considered in this group called the church, but are instead outside.

Saints (Jewish and non-Jewish) are added to the church:

Acts 2:47 And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved. Future paragraphs will explain how the Church can consist of Israel not in faith, yet have Jewish and non-Jewish Saints both added to that Church.

Israel is in unbelief at the present time (that status not being altered by the few individual Israelis who believe), and thus the core of the Church is in unbelief:

Ephesians 5:25 Husbands, love your own wives even as also the Messiah loved the Assembly and gave-up Himself for her ²⁶so that He will sanctify, having cleansed by the washing of water in the Word, ²⁷so that He will present her to Himself the glorious Assembly, not having spot or wrinkle or any of such things, but rather that she will be holy and blameless.

She is presently unsanctified and unclean, anything but blameless, but she won’t be in the future. She is in this condition since just after her beginnings (after the time of Jacob). All Saints have been added to her as part of her as described in Romans 11:

Romans 11:16 For if the firstfruit is holy, the lump is also holy. And if the root is holy, so are the branches. ¹⁷And if some of the branches are broken off, and thou being a wild olive were grafted in among them and partake of the root and fatness of the olive tree with them, ¹⁸boast not against the branches. But if thou boast, thou bearest not the root, but the root thee! ¹⁹Thou wilt say then, “The branches were broken off so that I will be grafted in!” ²⁰Fine! They were broken off because of unbelief, and thou standest by faith. Be not highminded, but fear! ²¹For if God spared not the natural branches—lest he also not spare thee! ²²Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God—severity on them who fell, but goodness toward thee if thou continue in His goodness. Otherwise, thou also shalt be cut off! ²³And they also shall be grafted in if they abide not still in unbelief, for God is able to graft them in again. ²⁴For if thou were cut out of the olive that is wild by nature, and were grafted contrary to nature into a good olive tree, how much more shall these be grafted into their own olive tree who are the natural branches?

Israel is the core of the Church regardless of Israel’s coming late into the Biblical scene. The same is true of Messiah’s being the Salvation of the world. His coming and sacrifice long after the world was created does not diminish its effectiveness toward those who lived and died in faith before that coming and sacrifice.

The Church, then, has been assigned the position of showing the Wisdom of God to angels.

3. The Church as a Group Versus the Individual Saint

If individual Saints demonstrated their characters from the beginning, why did Yehovah also have to have a group give a picture?

I will not claim to give Yehovah’s mind and His many reasons for doing what He did; I can propose a few reasons.

A group of angels rebelled. A group of angels did not see Yehovah’s multifaceted wisdom. Angels are not tempted in the same ways man may be tempted; man can be tempted in far more ways. If a group of humans with far more possibilities for temptations and reasons to compromise (under great duress) can stand firm with the Truth and righteousness, the excuses the rebellious angels might supply will be futile. If this group additionally stands firm not seeing Yehovah (as the angels see Him), but having to live by faith, they will remove even more challenges to Yehovah’s wisdom. Then again, if this group may be freely tempted by angels who desire its fall (as a group and as individuals) and this group stands firm, the wisdom of Yehovah will be even more apparent.

4. Why Yehovah Chose Israel

Deuteronomy 7:6 For thou art an holy people unto Yehovah thy God. Yehovah thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto Himself above all people that are upon the face of the earth. ⁷Yehovah did not set his love upon you or choose you because ye were more in number than any people, for ye were the fewest of all peoples. ⁸But Yehovah hath brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you out of the house of slaves—from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt because Yehovah loved you and because He would keep the oath that He had sworn unto your fathers.

Deuteronomy 10:12 And now, Israel, what doth Yehovah thy God require of thee but to fear Yehovah thy God, to walk in all His ways and to love Him, and to serve Yehovah thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul, ¹³to keep the commandments of Yehovah and His statutes that I command thee this day for thy good! ¹⁴Behold, the heaven and the heaven of heavens is to Yehovah thy God—the earth also with all that is in her. ¹⁵Only Yehovah had a delight in thy fathers to love them, and he chose their seed after them—you above all people, as it is this day!

Yehovah chose Israel because of his oath to and delight in the fathers (Avraham, Isaac and Jacob). In order to ‘unchoose’ Israel, He would have to change His mind about the fathers. Once He chose their seed, that choice was fixed by the faithfulness of Yehovah.

5. All Israel Will Be Saved

The entire group of Israelis will be saved with a permanent Salvation:

Romans 11:26 And so shall all Israel be saved as it is written, There shall come out of Zion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob. ²⁷For this is my covenant unto them when I shall take away their sins.

Isaiah 45:17 Israel shall be saved in Yehovah with an everlasting salvation. Ye shall not be ashamed nor confounded world without end.

Jeremiah 31:31 “Behold, the days come,” saith Yehovah, “that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah—³²not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, which my covenant they broke although I was a husband unto them,” saith Yehovah. ³³ “But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days,” saith Yehovah: “I will put my law in their inward parts and write it in their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. ³⁴And they shall no more teach every man his neighbour and every man his brother saying, ‘Know Yehovah!’ For they shall all know me from the least of them unto the greatest of them!” saith Yehovah. “For I will forgive their iniquity! And I will remember their sin no more!”

Jeremiah 32:37 Behold, I will gather them out of all countries whither I have driven them in mine anger and in my fury and in great wrath. And I will bring them again unto this place. And I will cause them to dwell safely. ³⁸And they shall be my people, and I will be their God. ³⁹And I will give them one heart and one way that they may fear me forever for the good of them and of their children after them. ⁴⁰And I will make an everlasting covenant with them that I will not turn away from them to do them good. And I will give my fear in their hearts so that they shall not depart from me. ⁴¹Yea, I will rejoice over them to do them good! And I will plant them in this land assuredly with my whole heart and with my whole soul.

Ezekiel 37:24 And David my servant shall be king over them. And they all shall have one shepherd. They shall also walk in my judgments and observe my statutes, and do them. ²⁵And they shall dwell in the land that I have given unto Jacob my servant, wherein your fathers have dwelt. And they shall dwell in her—even they and their children and their children’s children forever. And my servant David shall be their prince forever. ²⁶And I will make a covenant of peace with them. It shall be an everlasting covenant with them. And I will place them and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in the midst of them for evermore. ²⁷My tabernacle shall also be with them. I will indeed be their God, and they shall be my people. ²⁸And the races shall know that I Yehovah do sanctify Israel when my sanctuary shall be in the midst of them for evermore.

Ezekiel 39:25 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Now will I bring again the captivity of Jacob, and have mercy upon the whole house of Israel, and will be jealous for my holy name;

Ezekiel 39:26 (Literally) “…and they shall carry their calamity and all their trespass that they trespassed via me in their dwelling securely upon their soil, and there is no fear-causer, ²⁷in my returning them again from the peoples. And I will gather them from their enemies’ lands. And I will be sanctified via them to the eyes of many races. ²⁸And they shall know that I am Yehovah their Gods via my exiling them unto the races. And I will collect them upon their soil. And I have left none from them any more there. ²⁹And I will not hide my faces again from them, that I poured out my spirit upon the house of Israel,” saith my Lords Yehovah.”

Zephaniah 3:13 The remnant of Israel—they shall not do evil and they shall not speak lies. And a tongue of deceit shall not be found in their mouth. For they shall feed and lie down, and none shall make them afraid.

Titus 2:14 Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.

I propose that these texts demonstrate both the range of the Salvation (all Israel) and the endurance of the Salvation (that is, every Israeli will be born of God from that time to the end of the planet’s existence). This especially makes sense since a number of these texts deal with the Israelis as a group, not only as individuals. (Literal renderings of these texts demonstrate this even stronger.)

No such possibility exists for the angels that rebelled. The following text that only pertains to humans nevertheless explains this justice:

Hebrews 6:4 For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and were made partakers of the Holy Spirit ⁵and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the world to come, ⁶if they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance, seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh and put Him to an open shame.

Jude 1:6 And he hath reserved the angels that kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day.

The angels that rebelled knew exactly what they were doing and what the consequences would be. Yehovah made no redemption/salvation for them; they are creatures of sight, not of faith. Yet, Yehovah determined that all His creatures would know His wisdom and justice in their judgments and/or rewards. The angels who rebelled cannot clearly see His justice until they see a group that turns to do righteousness by faith (and not by sight), turning from sin, and continually walking righteously before Yehovah in spite of the worst conditions all creatures have ever seen. Once Yehovah has demonstrated this point, all rebellious angels will be locked up for 1,000 years:

Revelation 20:7 And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison. ⁸And he shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle, the number of whom is as the sand of the sea.

Isaiah 5:14 Therefore, Sheol widened her being and opened her mouth without statute! And her majesty descended, and her crowd and her noise and her triumph into her!

Yet, Yehovah’s plan is not finished. He will release these angels for one more opportunity to gather as many human rebels as possible in their attempt to overthrow Messiah at the end of the Millennium. He will thus use these demons to show who is and who isn’t an enemy of Messiah. This is the last service these demons will do (as far as I know). Israel (the group and the individuals) will be the center of the action also at this point.

Is there a time after the millennium when some Jews will again sin? No. Will the rebellious ones be unbelieving ones of other races? Yes. Once the Israelis have the Torah written on their heart, they will do what is right, just as the children born to them will do right. Those children will be born in sin, but will refuse to sin.

6. Frequent Attempts to Annihilate the Jews

How strange it seems that the Jews (as individuals and as a group) are repeatedly targeted for annihilation throughout history. One of the first attempts was when a particular Egyptian Pharaoh commanded the Jewish midwives to drown all Jewish males just after they were born, a command the midwives refused to obey:

Exodus 1:15 And the king of Egypt spoke to the Hebrew midwives of which the name of the one was Shiphrah and the name of the other Puah. ¹⁶And he said, “When ye do the office of a midwife to the Hebrew women and see them upon the stools, if it be a son, then ye shall kill him. But if it be a daughter, then she shall live.” ¹⁷And the midwives feared God and did not as the king of Egypt commanded them, but saved the men children alive.

Jewish tradition holds that Laban was the first one to attempt annihilation of the Jews (a tradition to which I also ascribe, because it has some merit). Try finding a reason for the many attempts (including Hitler’s ‘Final Solution’); it defies reason. If one includes the demons and their desire to remain free, and to never be placed into the Lake of Fire and Sulfur, the reason is apparent. The ‘hope’ of the unsaved world is in Israel’s destruction, since Messiah cannot return if Israel is destroyed:

Matthew 23:37 “Jerusalem! Jerusalem—thou that kills the prophets and stones them who are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together even as a hen gathereth her chickens under wings, and ye would not! ³⁸Behold, your house is left unto you desolate! ³⁹For I say unto you, ye shall not see me henceforth till ye shall say, ‘Blessed is He Who comes with the Name Yehovah!’”

If Jerusalem’s citizens do not make this declaration, Messiah cannot come. If the Jews are annihilated, Jerusalem’s citizens will be gone. Yehovah’s plans are not ‘thwartable’, however. He has invested His entire plan (including the resurrection of the dead) in the existence and Salvation of the Jews! (Read on if you want to see what I’m talking about. I know that this contrasts to modern Christianity’s views. I am not going to leave folks of a race other than Israel, who hold the faith of the God of the Bible, hanging without support.)

John 4:22 “Ye worship ye know not what! we know what we worship. For Salvation is of the Jews.”

Though Yeshua was speaking to a Samaritan woman about the Samaritans, He could have been speaking to the vast majority of members of ‘Christianity’ today and throughout the centuries. Most claiming Christianity have no investment in the continuance (let alone Salvation) of the Jews, and thus have no investment in the Biblically described and defined resurrection of the dead. Every attempt against Jews/Israelis is an attempt against Yehovah and His Messiah.

A reader might point out that the Jews are not innocent, and that the majority of Jews are in unbelief. Paul knew this, and his ministry was always for the benefit of the Jews no matter where he went or to whom he wrote. Of course they are not innocent, and they have been diligent workers against their own Salvation! But Yehovah’s plans are still invested in them and will always be until His plans are fulfilled. Anyone who has the Biblical Hope will also have an investment in the aid and Salvation of the Jews (both as individuals and as a group), for their very resurrection will depend on the Salvation of the Jews! Messiah Yeshua will not return until all Israel has been saved, and no resurrection of the dead will occur until Yeshua returns! Anyone truly born of God will intuitively realize his connection to the Jews in many ways, and will have the strongest investment in the Salvation of the Jews. Those who neglect and/or reject the Jews as central to the Biblical theme neglect/reject their own Salvation! If faith comes by hearing/hearkening, and hearing/hearkening comes by the Word of God, anyone claiming faith who has not hearkened to the Word of God (whether through ignorance or neglect) is a liar. The Bible explains this relationship to Israel from its beginning, and it never swerves from this thrust. Only a damned fool (meant in the most literal sense, not as an insult) will claim Salvation and will ignore or stand against the Jews.

7. So, Why did Yehovah Choose the Jews?

He chose the Jews because of Wisdom, because of His oath to the fathers and because of His love for the fathers.

What is your stand regarding the Jews? Will you be as the ‘righteous’ in (Matthew 25:31 and following) who are willing to risk everything (including the lives of their own families) to help Yeshua’s brethren (the Jews) during the Tribulation, or will you be as the other group (the folks in the ‘goat’ group) who do not, and who are summarily damned in spite of their claims of faith?

December 22, 2008August 22, 2016

Who Owns the Land of Israel?

WHO OWNS THE LAND OF ISRAEL?

THE BIBLICAL PERSPECTIVE

The area known as the Middle East occupies a considerable portion of the news. The State of Israel is about ¼ the size of Arkansas, and most of the Middle East news is centered on Israel. This small piece of land is very important.

Many religious groups are represented in Israel, but three predominate: Jewish, Islamic and Christian. Jewish religious groups include Orthodox, Conservative, Reform, Reconstructionist, and whatever is left that is not considered Christian or Islamic. Likewise, groups categorized as Islamic are either truly Islamic or are part of a faith related to Islam. Anyone who is not Jewish or Islamic is called Christian. This holds regardless of what a person actually believes regarding the Bible, Jesus, Mohammed, or Rabbi Akiva; the person will be religiously placed into one of three categories.

Socially, a person is either Jewish, Arabic, Christian, a foreigner, or a mixture. Few in the Middle East acknowledge the existence of a Jewish Christian or a Christian Jew.

Since this small area known as Israel is between the three continents of Europe, Asia, and Africa, there is good reason why a power would desire to have and to hold this land. During the times of open borders and trading, there is no other spot on the planet that is a better business location! The very term Mediterranean means middle of the world! Israel is located at the best trade route of the Mediterranean.

Thus, the question comes up: who truly has the right to this Land between the continents? The Palestinians claim to have the first rights to the land, since it was their land long before Israel came. When Israel was still in Egypt, the Palestinians, known in the Jewish Scriptures as the Philistines, were living among other races collectively called Canaanites in the Jewish Scriptures. The word canaan means merchant, and these races were dealers in merchandise of all sorts.

Later, when Israel, consisting of the descendants of Jacob (whose name was later changed to Israel) came out of Egypt, Israel came as a warring people with orders from Yehovah to annihilate the Canaanites: men, women, children, babies and farm animals. Yehovah commanded them to move into the homes of the Canaanites as they annihilated them little by little. They were to show no mercy, and they were not to marry among the Canaanites. Israel came, but the Israelis did not do a thorough job. Many Canaanites survived. While the Palestinians were not part of the groups the Israelis were commanded to annihilate, they were very troublesome to the Israelis. Yehovah recognized the lands of the Palestinians, and viewed them as distinct from the Land of Israel. He spoke of a time coming, however, when Israel would also have the lands of the Palestinians.

Much later in Israel’s history, Israel was taken captive. The northern section of Israel was taken over by the Assyrians who intermarried with them. Their children were known as the Samaritans, since northern Israel had its capital in Samaria. This was a way to keep the Israelis from rebelling against the Assyrians. Then southern Israel was overtaken by Babylon, which also took over the Assyrian empire, bringing the twelve tribes of Israel back together again. The Israelis were entirely removed off the Land and transferred to Babylon. Others moved into the void. After a length of time, a few Israelis came back and built up the area. Israel always remained under some other power, however. After the Roman Empire came into being, the Maccabees invited Rome to make Israel part of its domain. The Israelis later tried to get rid of the foreign powers (because Rome became so decadent), and Rome finally became tired of the whole thing the insurrections. Once again, the Jews were forced to leave the area. Laws were enacted to keep them from settling in this territory.

Meanwhile, the various races of the Middle East, like the Ishmaelites who come from Abraham’s other son, the Moabites and the Ammonites who come from Abraham’s nephew, Lot, the Egyptians, the Syrians, the Turks, and many others including the Palestinians settled at various times in the increasingly unproductive land known today as Israel. The populations of these various groups in this land were not large; it was not the best place to live. It still was a very good place to conduct business!

Throughout the history of Europe and the Middle East, attempts were made to obtain this territory, and attempts were made to do something with this strange People, the Jews. In Europe, ‘Christians’ could not hold some professions (like money-lending), since the Catholic Church did not allow them, so the Jews filled in the gaps. The profession of banking was one of these, since one had to lend with usury—what we call interest—to do banking. This was considered immoral by the Church since the Bible prohibited the Jews to lend to a poor brother charging an interest charge. (Catholic leaders believed that they replaced Israel.) The command also said that the Jews had to lend to a poor brother without interest if the brother had a true need, and if the other could lend. Since Jews were not part of the Catholic Church, they could lend money with interest. Thus, the Jewish People did this service of money-lending. They also found that kings soon owed them considerable sums! Some kings formed a plan for debt cancellation: kill the Jews! This is basically the history of Europe. The Jews were an outcast People with few times of peace. The Crusades included the mass murdering of Jews by the European ‘Christians.’ The most recent Crusade was led by Hitler in Germany The call to purify the Aryan race came forth with the statement on the belts of SS men, “God is with us!” The Jews were again the targets.

A movement to set up a homeland in Israel finally had a strong thrust behind it. Groups of Jewish settlers began moving into the Land in question, purchasing at first, then later taking over territory when forced to fight to survive while occupying the territory.

If the whole story were that written above, one could quite easily come to the conclusion that the Jews, though mistreated, were also conquerors, mistreating the residents of the Land (especially the Palestinians), who were driven out or fled when the Jews came into the Land. This tends to be the majority view of what took place! Who truly owns the Land?

In any case under consideration, where one party feels that it has been deprived of rights, there must be a standard upon which to base the case. The idea of right and wrong always assumes that there is a right side and a wrong side to an issue, even though there may be a some right in the wrong side, and some wrong in the right side of many issues. That is what makes justice tough. All questions pertaining to ownership of that land boil down to one: “Which God is the right God?” All Law assumes an absolute. If two people agree on any issue, then one appears to violate that agreement, either a war between the two will decide, or there will be some appeal by both to a higher authority. That authority will be viewed as absolute to the two parties if they agree to follow the decision of that authority. If one of the two parties refuses to accept the ruling after the authority rules in the case, however, what is the next step? That party might then choose to follow what it sees as a higher absolute authority, and there would probably be a war. What is the highest absolute authority? The word absolute indicates highest. This necessarily introduces the issue of a god! There is no appeal higher than a god.

The issue of the ownership of the Middle East is the issue of absolute authority. The Moslems claim that God (Allah) is God, and his attributes are revealed by the Koran. They also claim that Jehovah is Allah. Followers of Orthodox Judaism claim that Adonai is God, and that his attributes are revealed in the Tenach (the Jewish Scriptures) and in the Oral traditions passed down from Moses’ time. Fundamentalist Christians claim that Jesus is God and that Jehovah is God, and that Jesus and Jehovah are one God, and his attributes are revealed in the Jewish Scriptures and the New Testament. What authority, then, will be used to decide land wars? If all three believed in the same god and the same holy book, there would be little problem; the issue could be decided by carefully considering and following the teachings of that god. All three groups claim a different set of standards for deciding such issues, however. Thus, what actually is being decided in the Middle East is, “Whose god is the stronger?”

If the issue could be settled on the basis of which holy book is the oldest one, the Chinese claim to have a holy book that greatly predates Jewish Scriptures. The Jewish Scriptures predate the Jewish writings of the New Testament. New Testament writings greatly predate the Koran. The antiquity of texts has never solved such a problem. The followers of Islam claim that the Taura, the Torah (the first 5 books of the Bible) was originally right, but the Jews rewrote it so that it now favours the Jews. There are many who claim to be Christians who feel that the ‘Old Testament’ was originally the right way, but Jesus came to bring in a new and a better way, thus effectively undermining the ‘Old Testament’ and its usefulness. Upon which ‘absolute’ can one decide?

Only several things can be true:

1. All three could be wrong. The Jewish Scriptures could be false, the Koran could be false, and the New Testament could be false—either in part or in whole. In this case, justice in this situation would lie either in some other religion or in no religion. It cannot lie in these three religions at the same time, or in two of these three religions at the same time, because the rulings are directly opposite at times! Unless the gods of several of these religions are both true gods, and are at war, the only other possibility would be that the one god has a problem making up his mind. If all three religions are wrong, all this fighting will just go on and on until either the real god steps in, or until one side completely wins by the destruction of the other.

2. One of the three descriptions of god is right. If this is the case, each description of god eliminates the other two, taken in the most orthodox sense. Each description of god also eliminates all the other gods in the world since all three, the Moslem, the Christian, and the Orthodox Jewish faiths state that there is only one god!

3. If only one of the three descriptions is right, this god must be the true God, and the other gods must be false and invented. If a god is false, any ‘absolute justice’ based upon this god is not absolute, but is invented by the god’s makers. Justice becomes a matter of opinion!

So, who owns the land? Whichever god is the True and Living God solely can determine this matter!

The Koran does not give events in the life of the patriarchs from beginning to end, but rather gives pieces of the events with some editorials. In other words, the Koran assumes the Jewish Scriptures! The Koran in effect declares that the Jewish Scriptures are true, though modern Moslems claim that changes have been made (without proof). Only the Jewish Scriptures give the events of the patriarchs from beginning to end, explaining how things came about in their lives and in their relationships. The Koran is more of an editorial than an account. Thus, the Koran is dependant on the Jewish Scriptures.

The ‘New Testament,’ like the ‘Old Testament,’ was penned by Jews. The ‘New Testament’ always assumes that the ‘Old Testament’ (which it simply calls the Scriptures or the Word of God) is absolutely true, and is truth. Thus, the ‘New Testament’ also depends on the ‘Old Testament.’

The difference is that the Koran describes the role of the Jewish People in a very different manner from the ‘Old Testament,’ whereas the ‘New Testament’ sees the role of the Jewish People as completely unchanged. (There are interpreters who like to think that the ‘New Testament’ casts the Jews out and replaces them with the ‘Church.’ They do not read the ‘New Testament’ literally, choosing to vary their interpretations according to their views). The ‘New Testament’ completely agrees with the ‘Old Testament.’ The Koran takes a view similar to the ‘Jehovah’s Witnesses’—that Jesus is not God, but is a prophet of God. He is therefore akin to Mohammed who the Koran states is a prophet, but lower than Mohammed.

Many Jewish individuals see no agreement between the ‘New Testament’ and the ‘Old Testament;’ they believe that the ‘New Testament’ makes a human a god. However, the ‘Old Testament’ portrays Yehovah as appearing as a man, eating, wrestling, discussing, writing, and doing a number of other things that a man might do. There is nothing in the ‘Old Testament’ that eliminates the idea of the Eternal God taking an aspect of Himself, making this aspect into a mortal human person, and doing what Yeshua did while retaining the status of being an Eternal, Immortal God. This is outside of what Allah would ever do according to the Koran. Thus it is impossible for Allah. If a god would never do something, that makes it morally impossible for that god to do it. While the Jewish sages might say that it is morally impossible for Jehovah to do what Yeshua did, the ‘Old Testament’ Scriptures do not portray this as being the case.

All three faiths rely upon the ‘Old Testament’ Scriptures (Jewish Scriptures) to a large degree. What does that prove? If the Jewish Scriptures are wrong, all three faiths fall! The Koran falls, because there is no other record of the fractional events mentioned in the Koran, so the Koran becomes a piece-meal volume of editorials regarding events that might be fictional! The ‘New Testament’ would fall, because it assumes the absolute authority of the ‘Old Testament.’ Either the Jewish Scriptures are true, or all three religions have no basis! This does not make any or all true. The fight in the Middle East, however, is a fight within the confines of these three faiths!

Well, with this large introduction completed, what do the Jewish Scriptures say about the issue?

1. Sending Israel From Egypt to the Land of the Canaanites

Exodus 3:1 Now Moses kept the flock of Jethro his father in law, the priest of Midian: and he led the flock to the backside of the desert, and came to the mountain of God, to Horeb. ²And the angel of Yehovah appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush is not consumed. ³And Moses said, I will now turn aside, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt. ⁴And when Yehovah saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here am I. ⁵And he said, Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground. ⁶Moreover he said, I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face; for he was afraid to look upon God. ⁷And Yehovah said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows; ⁸And I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey; unto the place of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites.

Yehovah chose to set Israel where the Canaanites were located from the start, completely uprooting the Canaanites. This was intentional, and would later be accompanied by intentional genocide. Though Yehovah spoke of the land as the land of “the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites,” He intended it to become the Land of Israel! (Justice must always be from the standpoint of God, who alone is absolute. So if Yehovah is God, He had and has the right to do this! If He is not God, then of course this was a murderous plot trumped up by the leadership of Israel.)

2. A Slow Driving Out of the Canaanites in order to Keep the Land from Becoming Desolate

Exodus 23:19 The first of the firstfruits of thy land thou shalt bring into the house of Yehovah thy God. Thou shalt not seethe a kid in his mother’s milk. ²⁰Behold, I send an Angel before thee, to keep thee in the way, and to bring thee into the place which I have prepared. ²¹Beware of him, and obey his voice, provoke him not; for he will not pardon your transgressions: for my name is in him. ²²But if thou shalt indeed obey his voice, and do all that I speak; then I will be an enemy unto thine enemies, and an adversary unto thine adversaries. ²³For mine Angel shall go before thee, and bring thee in unto the Amorites, and the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Canaanites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites: and I will cut them off. ²⁴Thou shalt not bow down to their gods, nor serve them, nor do after their works: but thou shalt utterly overthrow them, and quite break down their images. ²⁵And ye shall serve Yehovah your God, and he shall bless thy bread, and thy water; and I will take sickness away from the midst of thee. ²⁶There shall nothing cast their young, nor be barren, in thy land: the number of thy days I will fulfil. ²⁷I will send my fear before thee, and will destroy all the people to whom thou shalt come, and I will make all thine enemies turn their backs unto thee. ²⁸And I will send hornets before thee, which shall drive out the Hivite, the Canaanite, and the Hittite, from before thee. ²⁹I will not drive them out from before thee in one year; lest the land become desolate, and the beast of the field multiply against thee. ³⁰By little and little I will drive them out from before thee, until thou be increased, and inherit the land. ³¹And I will set thy bounds from the Red sea even unto the sea of the Philistines, and from the desert unto the river: for I will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand; and thou shalt drive them out before thee. ³²Thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor with their gods. ³³They shall not dwell in thy land, lest they make thee sin against me: for if thou serve their gods, it will surely be a snare unto thee.

The use Yehovah has for the Canaanites is to keep the land from wild beasts and desolation until the Israelis can annihilate them and take over the territory. The inhabitants have a deadly disease: they are sexually perverted idolaters. This disease will spread to the Israelis unless the Israelis kill them and destroy their gods. This commanded annihilation is only true of the inhabitants of the Land in question. There is no such command for the races outside of the land. (One group among the Canaanites, knowing these orders, feigned to be foreign travelers having come from a great distance. They managed to cut a covenant with Israel. Yehovah held Israel to keep that covenant, and Israel was never allowed to destroy them.) Yehovah loves Israel and has utter hatred and contempt for the Canaanite races. This hatred of the God of Israel for those who sacrifice their children by burning them alive, who love idolatry and violence, and who practice sexual perversions of all types is a continuous theme throughout the Jewish Scriptures, Old and New Testaments. These races were hooked on these types of performances.

3. Yehovah Approves of the Slaughter of the Canaanites and Their Cities by Answered Prayer

Numbers 21:1 And [when] king Arad the Canaanite, which dwelt in the south, heard tell that Israel came by the way of the spies; then he fought against Israel, and took [some] of them prisoners. ²And Israel vowed a vow unto Yehovah, and said, If thou wilt indeed deliver this people into my hand, then I will utterly destroy their cities. ³And Yehovah hearkened to the voice of Israel, and delivered up the Canaanites; and they utterly destroyed them and their cities: and he called the name of the place Hormah.

A heart-felt prayer is made to Yehovah, the God of Israel. He graciously answers that prayer. The text implies that Yehovah is fully resolved to destroy and slaughter the cities and their occupants. This theme also carries into the New Testament; there is no change between the Old and the New Testaments.

4. Yehovah Segregates Israel from All Other Races to be His Own Property, and Takes Vengeance.

Deuteronomy 7:1 When Yehovah thy God shall bring thee into the land whither thou goest to possess it, and hath cast out many nations before thee, the Hittites, and the Girgashites, and the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and mightier than thou; ²And when Yehovah thy God shall deliver them before thee; thou shalt smite them, utterly destroy them; thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor show mercy unto them: ³Neither shalt thou make marriages with them; thy daughter thou shalt not give unto his son, nor his daughter shalt thou take unto thy son. ⁴For they will turn away thy son from following me, that they may serve other gods: so will the anger of Yehovah be kindled against you, and destroy thee suddenly. ⁵But thus shall ye deal with them; ye shall destroy their altars, and break down their images, and cut down their groves, and burn their graven images with fire. ⁶For thou art an holy people unto Yehovah thy God: Yehovah thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all peoples that are upon the face of the earth. ⁷Yehovah did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people; for ye are the fewest of all people: ⁸But because Yehovah loved you, and because he would keep the oath which he had sworn unto your fathers, hath Yehovah brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you out of the house of bondmen, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. ⁹Know therefore that Yehovah 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; ¹⁰And repayeth them that hate him to their face, to destroy them: he will not be slack to him that hateth him, he will repay him to his face. ¹¹Thou shalt therefore keep the commandments, and the statutes, and the judgments, which I command thee this day, to do them. ¹²Wherefore it shall come to pass, if ye hearken to these judgments, and keep, and do them, that Yehovah thy God shall keep unto thee the covenant and the mercy which he sware unto thy fathers: ¹³And he will love thee, and bless thee, and multiply thee: he will also bless the fruit of thy womb, and the fruit of thy land, thy corn, and thy wine, and thine oil, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep, in the land which he sware unto thy fathers to give thee. ¹⁴Thou shalt be blessed above all people: there shall not be male or female barren among you, or among your cattle.

Yehovah segregated Israel from the other races to set His love on Israel, and to choose Israel. The Scriptures emphatically declare that this status is still the present status of this often-hated race. Many are constantly jealous of Israel’s position in the Scriptures. They feel that if Israel were annihilated, they could take Israel’s place!

The Palestinians speak of a homeland in the present location of the State of Israel. There is not enough room in this small land for the Palestinians and for the Israelis. One objective of a number of Middle Eastern groups is to push Israel into the sea, thus solving the problem of the Middle East. Israel’s population is far fewer than Israel’s neighbours, and enjoys far less support from other races and countries throughout the world. Yet, it has managed to defy all odds and has put terror in the hearts of its neighbours. The Jewish Scriptures guaranteed Israel’s survival. They have also guaranteed the annihilation of several other races. The Palestinian race will not be annihilated, But will become a slave of Israel.

Yehovah takes vengeance on His enemies, especially on those who hate Him! Anyone who hates Israel hates Israel’s God since the God of Israel guarantees the continuance and the later success of Israel over Israel’s enemies!

5. Yehovah Differentiates between the Races Outside of the Land and Those Inside Determined for Annihilation. He Protects the Trees.

Deuteronomy 20:10 When thou comest nigh unto a city to fight against it, then proclaim peace unto it. ¹¹And it shall be, if it make thee answer of peace, and open unto thee, then it shall be, all the people [that is] found therein shall be tributaries unto thee, and they shall serve thee. ¹²And if it will make no peace with thee, but will make war against thee, then thou shalt besiege it: ¹³And when Yehovah thy God hath delivered it into thine hands, thou shalt smite every male thereof with the edge of the sword: ¹⁴But the women, and the little ones, and the cattle, and all that is in the city, all the spoil thereof, shalt thou take unto thyself; and thou shalt eat the spoil of thine enemies, which Yehovah thy God hath given thee. ¹⁵Thus shalt thou do unto all the cities [which are] very far off from thee, which are not of the cities of these nations. ¹⁶But of the cities of these people, which Yehovah thy God doth give thee [for] an inheritance, thou shalt save alive nothing that breatheth: ¹⁷But thou shalt utterly destroy them; [namely], the Hittites, and the Amorites, the Canaanites, and the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites; as Yehovah thy God hath commanded thee: ¹⁸That they teach you not to do after all their abominations, which they have done unto their gods; so should ye sin against Yehovah your God. ¹⁹When thou shalt besiege a city a long time, in making war against it to take it, thou shalt not destroy the trees thereof by forcing an ax against them: for thou mayest eat of them, and thou shalt not cut them down (for the tree of the field is man’s [life]) to employ [them] in the siege: ²⁰Only the trees which thou knowest that they [be] not trees for meat, thou shalt destroy and cut them down; and thou shalt build bulwarks against the city that maketh war with thee, until it be subdued.

Israel was not commanded to annihilate just any group that might prove to be enemies. If Israel would go to war with a race outside of the Land in question, if the race would absolutely surrender, it would become Israel’s slave. And if the race fights, only all the males need to annihilated, and the women and the little ones left would become the property of Israel. Israel was commanded to treat them differently from the races in the Land in question. Israel must not harm the trees in the Land. Yehovah saw the fruit trees as being far more valuable and useful than the vile human inhabitants. The trees of the field are a man’s [life]! These races would (and did) teach Israel to do after all their abominations that they did unto their gods! Yehovah is a jealous God, but Israel didn’t listen.

6. The Beginnings of the Trouble Between the Hebrews and the Palestinians

Genesis 26:12 Then Isaac sowed in that land, and received in the same year an hundredfold: and Yehovah blessed him. ¹³And the man waxed great, and went forward, and grew until he became very great: ¹⁴For he had possession of flocks, and possession of herds, and great store of servants: and the Philistines envied him. ¹⁵For all the wells which his father’s servants had digged in the days of Abraham his father, the Philistines had stopped them, and filled them with earth.

A reader might wonder when all the trouble began. Even before Israel was born, Israel’s father Isaac was being envied by the Palestinians, and the Palestinians filled in all the wells that Abraham his father had dug. This bad relationship has continued to the present day.

7. Some Episodes with the Palestinians

Judges 10:6 And the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of Yehovah, and served Baalim, and Ashtaroth, and the gods of Syria, and the gods of Zidon, and the gods of Moab, and the gods of the children of Ammon, and the gods of the Philistines, and forsook Yehovah, and served not him.

This episode shows how the Israelis were greatly attracted to the gods of the Palestinians. The entire book of Judges seems to be a description of the wars and the love-affairs of the Israelis with Palestinians! Samson married a Palestinian girl, and later when the trouble broke out, the Palestinians burned her and her father alive. King David later slew an overgrown Palestinian named Goliath.

8. Yehovah Gave the Land to the Seed of Abraham!

Genesis 15:18 In the same day Yehovah made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates: ¹⁹The Kenites, and the Kenizzites, and the Kadmonites, ²⁰And the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Rephaims, ²¹And the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Girgashites, and the Jebusites.

Abraham didn’t own the Land in question. The only parcel of territory he obtained was the cave and plot of Machpelah where his wife was buried. He bought this plot from the inhabitants (which Israel later would be commanded to annihilate).

The passage indicates that Yehovah has the absolute rights over the Land. If He is the creator of the earth and all living things in the earth, He has the right to say who will live and who will die. Even if men disagree with Him, counting Him unjust and unfair and hating Him and His ways, if He is the Creator and is all-powerful, what can anyone do against Him? Thus, many have tried to get at Him by getting at His Chosen Race, the race of Israel. So far, no group has succeeded. But attempts continue!

9. The Actual Border Ordered by Yehovah

Numbers 34:1 And Yehovah spake unto Moses, saying, ²Command the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye come into the land of Canaan; (this is the land that shall fall unto you for an inheritance, the land of Canaan with the coasts thereof: ³Then your south quarter shall be from the wilderness of Zin along by the coast of Edom, and your south border shall be the outmost coast of the salt sea eastward: ⁴And your border shall turn from the south to the ascent of Akrabbim, and pass on to Zin: and the going forth thereof shall be from the south to Kadeshbarnea, and shall go on to Hazaraddar, and pass on to Azmon: ⁵And the border shall fetch a compass from Azmon unto the river of Egypt, and the goings out of it shall be at the sea. ⁶And [as for] the western border, ye shall even have the great sea for a border: this shall be your west border. ⁷And this shall be your north border: from the great sea ye shall point out for you mount Hor: ⁸From mount Hor ye shall point out [your border] unto the entrance of Hamath; and the goings forth of the border shall be to Zedad: ⁹And the border shall go on to Ziphron, and the goings out of it shall be at Hazarenan: this shall be your north border. ¹⁰And ye shall point out your east border from Hazarenan to Shepham: ¹¹And the coast shall go down from Shepham to Riblah, on the east side of Ain; and the border shall descend, and shall reach unto the side of the sea of Chinnereth eastward: ¹²And the border shall go down to Jordan, and the goings out of it shall be at the salt sea: this shall be your land with the coasts thereof round about.

If one were to take a map of Israel and identify all the places mentioned above that can be identified, there is no place in the Land in question for Palestine. Jewish Scriptures teach that the Israelis will occupy all the Land.

According to the Scriptures, Yehovah threw the Israelis into captivity when Israel as a unit went into sin, adopting the gods of its neighbours and committing all sorts of sin. The Israelis were forced off the Land and were taken to Babylon (in modern Iraq). Seventy years after Southern Israel was taken to Babylon, a few returned. There were settlements in this Land during the time of the Roman Empire. Not long after this, the Jews were again forced off the Land. Others took their place, and history is filled with events around this piece of territory, mostly bloody and violent.

The question is not “Did the Jews have the right to the Land?” but rather, do they now or in the future? Who owns the Land?

The actual Landlord over this Land is Yehovah. No one has any right to the Land. Some are given the privilege of temporarily living on the Land, or else it would be left empty.

10. The Land of Israel is Exactly That; And It is the Land of Yehovah

Isaiah 14:1 For Yehovah will have mercy on Jacob, and will yet choose Israel, and set them in their own land: and the strangers shall be joined with them, and they shall cleave to the house of Jacob. ²And the people shall take them, and bring them to their place: and the house of Israel shall possess them in the land of Yehovah for servants and handmaids: and they shall take them captives, whose captives they were; and they shall rule over their oppressors.

The Land is considered Jacob’s land, Israel’s land. Yet, it is called the land of Yehovah. This text is for the future, not for the past. It has never happened. If the Scriptures are true, the Israelis will be the occupants of the land.

Jeremiah 23:3 And I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all countries whither I have driven them, and will bring them again to their folds; and they shall be fruitful and increase. ⁴And I will set up shepherds over them which shall feed them: and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall they be lacking, saith Yehovah. ⁵Behold, the days come, saith Yehovah, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth. ⁶In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is his name whereby he shall be called, Yehovah OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS. ⁷Therefore, behold, the days come, saith Yehovah, that they shall no more say, Yehovah liveth, which brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt; ⁸But, Yehovah liveth, which brought up and which led the seed of the house of Israel out of the north country, and from all countries whither I had driven them; and they shall dwell in their own land.

11. Israel Gets the Land Forever!

Jeremiah 7:1 The word that came to Jeremiah from Yehovah, saying, ²Stand in the gate of the Lord’s house, and proclaim there this word, and say, Hear the word of Yehovah, all [ye of] Judah, that enter in at these gates to worship Yehovah. ³Thus saith Yehovah of hosts, the God of Israel, Amend your ways and your doings, and I will cause you to dwell in this place. ⁴Trust ye not in lying words, saying, The temple of Yehovah, The temple of Yehovah, The temple of Yehovah, are these. ⁵For if ye thoroughly amend your ways and your doings; if ye thoroughly execute judgment between a man and his neighbour; ⁶[If] ye oppress not the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, and shed not innocent blood in this place, neither walk after other gods to your hurt: ⁷Then will I cause you to dwell in this place, in the land that I gave to your fathers, for ever and ever.

Isaiah 60:18 Violence shall no more be heard in thy land, wasting nor destruction within thy borders; but thou shalt call thy walls Salvation, and thy gates Praise. ¹⁹The sun shall be no more thy light by day; neither for brightness shall the moon give light unto thee: but Yehovah shall be unto thee an everlasting light, and thy God thy glory. ²⁰Thy sun shall no more go down; neither shall thy moon withdraw itself: for Yehovah shall be thine everlasting light, and the days of thy mourning shall be ended. ²¹Thy people also [shall be] all righteous: they shall inherit the land for ever, the branch of my planting, the work of my hands, that I may be glorified. ²²A little one shall become a thousand, and a small one a strong nation: I Yehovah will hasten it in his time.

One consolation for those who are against Israel having the Land is that Israelis must all be righteous in order for this to finally occur! If Yehovah can keep His promise of giving Israel the Land, He can also keep His promise to cause all Israel to be righteous forever, all at the same time!

12. A Perfect Way to Annihilate Israel, Get Them Off the Land Forever, and Disperse Them As a Race Forever

Jeremiah 31:31 Behold, the days come, saith Yehovah, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: ³²Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith Yehovah: ³³But this [shall be] the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith Yehovah, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people. ³⁴And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know Yehovah: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith Yehovah: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more. ³⁵Thus saith Yehovah, which giveth the sun for a light by day, the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night, which divideth the sea when the waves thereof roar; Yehovah of hosts is his name: ³⁶If those ordinances depart from before me, saith Yehovah, [then] the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before me for ever. ³⁷Thus saith Yehovah; If heaven above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, I will also cast off all the seed of Israel for all that they have one, saith Yehovah.

The final solution is clear! Simply stop the ordinances of the sun, moon, stars, and the division of the seas, and Israel will cease from being a nation forever! To get Yehovah to cast off Israel forever, simply measure the heavens and search out the foundations of the earth! Otherwise, Yehovah guarantees that all Israel will know Him and will have His Teaching in their hearts. This means that they will all be righteous!

13. Real Trouble for the Palestinians!

Ezekiel 37:21 And say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the heathen, whither they be gone, and will gather them on every side, and bring them into their own land: ²²And I will make them one nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king to them all: and they shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all: ²³Neither shall they defile themselves any more with their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions: but I will save them out of all their dwellingplaces, wherein they have sinned, and will cleanse them: so shall they be my people, and I will be their God. ²⁴And David my servant [shall be] king over them; and they all shall have one shepherd: they shall also walk in my judgments, and observe my statutes, and do them. ²⁵And they shall dwell in the land that I have given unto Jacob my servant, wherein your fathers have dwelt; and they shall dwell therein, they, and their children, and their children’s children for ever: and my servant David [shall be] their prince for ever. ²⁶Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them: and I will place them, and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in the midst of them for evermore. ²⁷My tabernacle also shall be with them: yea, I will be their God, and they shall be my people. ²⁸And the races shall know that I Yehovah do sanctify Israel, when my sanctuary shall be in the midst of them for evermore.

This passage spells real trouble for the Palestinians (and all the other groups that desire to oust the Israelis)! But then, they truly need not fear. For, this text states that David, as in the ancient King David, will be Israel’s prince and king forever at the time that the Israelis, their children, and their children’s children will dwell in the Land forever! So, as long as King David stays dead, the Palestinians and any other group may lay claim to the Land of Israel, in part or in whole! If King David comes back, however, if he is resurrected from the dead to reign, the Palestinians are in BIG trouble! King David already took care of their biggest child, Goliath! He will not tolerate any Palestinian enemy living on Israeli territory!

14. Conclusion

Who owns the Land of Israel? Well, to whom was it promised? Who has the right Scriptures?

Malachi 3:6 For I am Yehovah, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.

It is on the basis that He never changes that the sons of Jacob are not consumed! So, if (as some say) “Jesus came to do away with the old law,” this would change the commands of Yehovah, and would be a change in Yehovah. Since the Torah is forever (literally, LeOlam, to Hider, to the end of the Planet), and if ‘Jesus’ came to bring in a new law that is not given in the old, He came to do away with the old God Yehovah, too! This would abolish the Old Testament, and would effectively destroy the New Testament since the New Testament’s validity is grounded in the Old Testament! That solves the problem of the Middle East. Whichever god/God is the strongest will hold title to the Land. The fighting will go on and on among the peoples until one god/God wins and the others are destroyed! If Yeshua will come again to His People Israel to save them from their enemies and to rid the Land of Israel of any occupying power, if Yeshua will place Israel there as the only People to hold the land, Yehovah of Hosts who is Messiah Yeshua and the God of Israel owns the Land. The Palestinians won’t. Period.

October 11, 2006July 5, 2017

All Israel Shall Be Saved

Is there a second chance for those who have died?

Are we saying or implying that all Israel from the beginning of Israel’s existence to the end of the earth will be saved?

Continue reading “All Israel Shall Be Saved”

A Response to:

How Do Israel and the Gentiles fit into the Millennium, the New Earth and the New Heavens?

1. How do Israel and the Gentiles arrive into the Millennium?

The History and Destiny of the Jews:A Biblical View

Beginning with Noah

The Importance of Eber

Yehovah Chose Avram to be the Patriarch of the Israelis

Everlasting Covenant with Avraham

Jacob to Israel

Israel Goes to Egypt

From a Family to a Race

From a Race to a Kingdom of Priests

Why Yehovah Used a Strong Arm to Remove Israelis from Egypt

Ten Tribes are Given to Jeroboam

Captivity: Ten Tribes

From Where Did the Name Jew Come?

Judah’s Captivity

Israel’s Return to Jerusalem

Exactly How Much Land is in Israel?

Who Owns the Land?

Israel Permanently Gets the Land

Israel Must be Righteous

Did the Law Save the Israelis?

Was the Law Done Away With at the Cross?

You say, “All this is well and good, but what does it have to do with me?”

Great and Terrible Day of Yehovah

When will All Israel be Righteous

Millennial Reign of Messiah in Jerusalem

Work During Millennial Reign

Satan is Arrested

The First and Second Resurrections

Satan’s Last Stand

Satan’s Final Abode

New Heavens and New Earth

Holy Jerusalem

Eating of the Tree of Life

Conclusion