Monday, March 19, 2018

IV. The Church and Biblical Zionism



Zechariah
Chapter Seven
IV. The Church and Biblical Zionism
         
There is much talk about grace these days.  Unfortunately, most of it distorts what the Bible teaches.  Grace is God’s undeserved supernatural enabling to the faithful, yielded believer to live the Christ-life.  Therefore, with that supernatural enabling comes accountability and culpability for its use – “stewards of the manifold grace of God” (I Peter 4:10).  Faithful stewardship of grace results in Kingdom rewards.

“17 Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. 18 For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. 19 Whosoever therefore {application} shall break {luo loo'-o; literally loosen; the idea is to teach a more relaxed, broader, more liberal interpretation} one of these least {in size or importance; i.e.; seemingly insignificant} commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20 For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees {Jesus is referring to the imparted righteous in the indwelling Spirit, or salvation by grace, and the practical righteousness produced through the infilling of the Spirit, or sanctification by grace}, ye shall in no case {double negative in Greek text; not at all or not by any means} enter into the kingdom of heaven {this is not referring to the final eternal state of existence, but is referring to the Kingdom Age because God-kind righteousness is required; i.e., justification ‘by grace through faith’}” (Matthew 5:17-20).

What decisions do we need to make and keep regarding Jesus’ statements about rewards? 

1. Salvation is a gift, but rewards are earned for faithful service in the “work of the ministry.
2. God has not lowered or lessened His standard of righteousness.  In fact, He has redefined His expectations to living His communicable attributes.
3. We have already been given everything we need to live the Christ-life in the Person of the indwelling Holy Spirit of God.
4. The believer will ONLY be rewarded for the “fruit” produced through the supernatural enabling of the Holy Spirit (Grace).
5. We are individual stewards of this supernatural enabling of the Holy Spirit (Grace); meaning we will be held accountable for how we use it and for the “fruit” God desires to produce through our lives.
6. Our positions in the Kingdom Age will be determined by the degree of our faithfulness to the stewardship of Grace.  This is what the parable of the “talents” details in Matthew 25:14-30.  Some will live in glorified bodies throughout the Kingdom Age but live in disgrace and shame because they were irresponsible “stewards of grace.”
7. The believer must decide each day, and each moment of each day, to allow Christ to live through us; completely and totally yielded to doing God’s will in every moment of life to win souls and make disciples to the glory of God.

          Paul’s next reference to an Old Testament prophecy in his statement in Romans 9:27-28 is Isaiah 10:20-23; “27 Esaias also crieth concerning Israel, Though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, a remnant shall be saved: 28 For he will finish the work, and cut it short in righteousness: because a short work will the Lord make upon the earth” (Romans 9:27-28). 


          Genuine repentance is the necessary precedent to all true and genuine revival.  Repentance is a change of mind, attitude, and heart about two things:

1. What constitutes sin in the eyes of God?
2. What constitutes holiness in the eyes of God?

          Repentance is the desire to abandon all that constitutes sin in the eyes of God and pursue all that constitutes holiness in the eyes of God.  The degree to which a person has repented is measured by the passion a person has and the effort he exerts to abandon all that constitutes sin in the eyes of God and pursue all that constitutes holiness in the eyes of God.  The person with this passion to abandon all that constitutes sin in the eyes of God and pursue all that constitutes holiness in the eyes of God diligently and passionately searches the Scriptures to know the will of God in the matters of sin and holiness. 

     David speaks of God’s common intimate omniscient knowledge of every aspect of a person’s life in Psalm 139.  He concludes the Psalm by expressing his will to God for the greatest level of intimacy possible; “23 Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: 24 And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.”  These words reflect the character of a genuinely repentant heart because the words reflect a genuine desire for change.  The repentant heart is the heart of the genuinely spiritually revived person. 

          Again, a Complimentary Hermeneutic must be applied in understanding Isaiah 10:20-23 and Romans 9:27-28.  Paul is providing new revelation in Romans 9:27-28 regarding the interpretation of Isaiah 10:20-23.  Isaiah 10:21 and 22 says, “the remnant shall return” and “a remnant of them shall return.”  In Romans 9:27 Paul says, “a remnant shall be saved” and applies this to saved Jews and Gentiles of the Church Age. 

     Although there was a great harvest of Jews in the early years of Christianity after the Day of Pentecost recorded in Acts chapter two, there will be another great harvest of Jews during the seven-year Tribulation.  The saved Jews that survive the Tribulation will enter the Kingdom Age in physical bodies to marry and produce children.  The saved Jews that are martyred from the Tribulation will be resurrected and glorified at the second coming of Jesus (Revelation 20:4-6).  These glorified resurrected martyrs will reign with Christ and the church age believers throughout the Kingdom Age as priests of God (Revelation 20:6).

“4 And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. 5 But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is {completes} the first resurrection. 6 Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years” (Revelation 20:4-6).

On the Day of Pentecost, a new host of Messengers of Grace were saved, baptized with the Holy Spirit into the “body of Christ,” indwelled by the Holy Spirit, and sent into all the world to preach the wonderful Gospel of Jesus Christ.  This was the formation of a new Priesthood of all believers, “born again” of the Spirit of God, and sent forth as Ambassadors of Jesus Christ, as Ministers of Reconciliation, and given the “words of reconciliation.”

“17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature {Gal. 6:15}: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become {perfect tense} new. 18 And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us {Church Age believers} to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us {Church Age believers} the ministry of reconciliation; 19 To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us {Church Age believers} the word of reconciliation. 20 Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: {the following words define the Ambassadorship of all believers “in Christ” and their appeal to salvation “by grace through faith” to the lost of the whole world, not just the Jews} we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God {the Ambassadorship extends beyond helping people understand the Gospel and respond in faith to teaching them to ‘observe’ the teachings of Jesus}. 21 For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him {progressive transfiguration to Christlikeness; Romans 12:1-2}” (II Corinthians 5:17-21).

          Because so many professing Christians misunderstand the Biblical continuity within the Abrahamic Covenant, they lack the understanding of the overwhelming nature of the beginning of the transition within the Abrahamic Covenant in the setting aside of the Mosaic Covenant and the beginning of the unfolding (already, not yet) of the New Covenant “in Christ.”  Because many professing Christians do not understand this transition, they do not understand their stewardship within the Age of Grace and exactly for what God will hold Church Age believers accountable. 

          Prior to the Day of Pentecost, the physical descendants of Abraham were God’s chosen people through which the Seed (Messiah; i.e. JEHOVAH incarnate) would be born into humanity (the “last Adam” and the “Firstborn” of the New Genesis). 


          Paul tells us in Galatians 3:16 that the “seed” of Genesis 22:18 does not refer to the many physical descendants of Abraham, but to One Individual; the Christ of God that we know as Jesus.  When we read the Messianic Psalm 72, we should understand that every Jew should have known that the Messiah was the Seed to which God refers in the Abrahamic Covenant.  Paul tells us in very specific words in Galatians 3:16 that this is God’s intent.

“His name shall endure for ever: his name shall be continued as long as the sun: and men shall be blessed in him: all nations shall call him blessed” (Psalm 72:17).

“11 But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith. 12 And the law is not of faith: but, The man that doeth them shall live in them. 13 Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree: 14 That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. 15 Brethren, I speak after the manner of men; Though it be but a man’s covenant, yet if it be confirmed, no man disannulleth, or addeth thereto. 16 Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made {plural; refers to the Palestinian and Davidic Covenants as part of the Abrahamic Covenant}. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ. 17 And this I say, that the covenant, that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law, which was four hundred and thirty years after {the Abrahamic Covenant}, cannot disannul, that it should make the promise {the Abrahamic Covenant of salvation gifted by grace through faith} of none effect. 18 For if the inheritance {Kingdom Age promises to national Israel} be of the law, it is no more of promise {gifted by grace through faith}: but God gave it to Abraham by promise {by grace through faith}” (Galatians 3:11-18).

          Essential to our understanding of Romans 11:11-32 is to exactly understand what Romans 11:11 says, “I say then, Have they {national Israel} stumbled that they should fall? God forbid: but rather through their fall salvation is come unto the Gentiles, for to provoke them to jealousy.”  The problem in most English translations lies in the use of the same word “fall” to translate two different Greek words.  The first word translated “fall in the opening question is from the Greek word pipto (pip'-to).  The second word translated “fall” is from the Greek word paraptoma (par-ap'-to-mah).  These two Greek words are not referring to the same thing.  That is why the translation as we read it does not make much sense. 

In the question, “Have they stumbled that they should fall,” the answer is emphatic in the negative; “God forbid.”  It corresponds with the opening question and answer in Romans 11:1, “Hath God cast away his people? God forbid.”  The opening question of Romans 11:11 consents to Israel’s stumble.  The question is, did Israel fall completely and for good[1].  The “God forbid” is Paul’s inspired response to such a foolish notion.  The facts of the existence of both the Palestinian Covenant and the Davidic Covenant would emphatically refute the very idea of such a question. 

The second use of the word “fall” translated from paraptoma (par-ap'-to-mah) could be translated side-slip referring to a lapse or deviation[2] from the right pathway.  A more common term for this would be backsliding.  The text is not referring to the salvation of individuals or even the backsliding of individual Jews.  The text is referring to corporate Israel, or the nation of Israel collectively and primarily as represented in the priesthood of Israel.  The fact that the spiritual condition of the Levitical Priesthood of Israel was thee representation, not merely a representation, of the spiritual condition of the nation of Israel is critical to our understanding of what Paul is saying in Romans chapter eleven. 

“1 Hear the word of the LORD, ye children of Israel: for the LORD hath a controversy with the inhabitants of the land, because there is no truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land. 2 By swearing, and lying, and killing, and stealing, and committing adultery, they break out, and blood toucheth blood. 3 Therefore shall the land mourn, and every one that dwelleth therein shall languish, with the beasts of the field, and with the fowls of heaven; yea, the fishes of the sea also shall be taken away. 4 Yet let no man strive, nor reprove another: for thy people are as they that strive with the priest. 5 Therefore shalt thou fall in the day, and the prophet also shall fall with thee in the night, and I will destroy thy mother. 6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children. 7 As they were increased, so they sinned against me: therefore will I change their glory into shame. 8 They eat up the sin of my people, and they set their heart on their iniquity. 9 And there shall be, like people, like priest: and I will punish them for their ways, and reward them their doings” (Hosea 4:1-9).

“13 Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men: 14 Therefore, behold, I will proceed to do a marvellous work among this people, even a marvellous work and a wonder: for the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid. 15 Woe unto them that seek deep to hide their counsel from the LORD, and their works are in the dark, and they say, Who seeth us? and who knoweth us? 16 Surely your turning of things upside down shall be esteemed as the potter’s clay: for shall the work say of him that made it, He made me not? or shall the thing framed say of him that framed it, He had no understanding (Isaiah 29:13-16)?

          The priesthood of Israel’s side-step, referred to by the second use of the word “fall” in Romans 11:11, was the priesthood leading the nation of Israel away from salvation “by grace through faith” to salvation by “works”; i.e., Moralism and Ritualism.  Because of this side-step of the priesthood of Israel, God would call a new priesthood of all believers during the Church Age and test that new priesthood throughout everyone’s lifetime.  God would prove that new priesthood by individual faithfulness to discipleship and the Great Commission with the intent that those proven faithful will be installed (consecrated) over national Israel at the beginning of the Kingdom Age as the new Melchisedecan Priesthood, then ruling with Christ in glorified bodies. 

The criteria for testing and proving of this new Priesthood of all believers are found in two phrases in the Scriptures:  saved “by grace through faith” and “the just {those saved} shall live by faith” (Romans 1:17; Galatians 3:11; Hebrews 10:38).  Many get saved “by grace through faith,” but few of those that get saved “live by faith” (the grace-life).  The grace-life is the Christ-life that becomes available to every believer in the indwelling of the believer and is manifested through the filling of the Spirit. 


          It is to this outcome that the phrase “but rather through their {national Israel’s} fall {side-slip} salvation is come unto the Gentiles {ethnos; foreigners to national Israel and by implication all heathen ethnicities}, for to provoke them to jealousy” refers in Romans 11:11.  Therefore, God has two purposes in this:

1. That this new Priesthood of evangelists could lead both Jews and all other (“whosoever” of Romans 10:13) ethnicities to salvation “by grace through faith” in the “finished” work of redemption in the death, burial, and resurrection/glorification of Jesus Christ.
2. So that the nation of Israel would be provoked to “jealousy” and repent, turning to faith in Jesus as the Christ themselves one day.  This will happen during the last half of the Tribulation through the miraculous witnessing of the two witnesses and the 144,000 sealed Jews who all will preach Jesus as the Messiah and redemption “by grace through faith” in Him. 

          This is all important in the sense that, during the Church Age, national Israel is set aside and exists in the very place to which they have slipped.  Although still God’s chosen people, they presently are viewed by God as common sinners like everyone else in the world and need to get saved the same way any Gentile needs to be saved. 


“19 Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. 20 Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin. 21 But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; 22 Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference: 23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; 24 Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: 25 Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; 26 To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus. 27 Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works? Nay: but by the law of faith. 28 Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law. 29 Is he the God of the Jews only? is he not also of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also: 30 Seeing it is one God, which shall justify the circumcision by faith, and uncircumcision through faith. 31 Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law” (Romans 3:19-31).


          From this contextual continuity, we can transition into the statement of Romans 11:12, “Now if the fall {paraptoma; same as the second use of “fall” in verse 11} of them {national Israel} be the riches of the world, and the diminishing of them {national Israel} the riches of the Gentiles; how much more their {national Israel’s} fullness {referring to the restoration and salvation of national Israel during the Tribulation time}?” 

When the priesthood of national Israel side-slipped away from the pathway, or the faith-way, of salvation and the blessings God’s, the riches of God’s grace were extended into every ethnicity in the world through the preaching of the Gospel of Jesus Christ by those sent into the world through the Great Commission. 

The “riches of the Gentiles” does not refer to material wealth or material blessings.  The phrase refers to the “riches of grace” in the new Priesthood of all believers of the Church Age.  This corporate election is the substance of the epistle to the Ephesians. 

Zionism means Jesus will physically rule over a literal worldwide Israeli Empire from Jerusalem during the Kingdom Age.  Jesus will share His rule with faithful believers from throughout the Church Age.  Church Age believers will constitute a new Melchizedecan priesthood under their Great High Priest Jesus. 

The metaphor of Jesus as the Bridegroom and the “church of the firstborn” as His Bride is integral to our understanding of the Kingdom relationship of Christ to His Church.  The espoused Bride becomes the wife of the Bridegroom when the Bridegroom brings the Bride home to His Kingdom.  The “marriage supper of the Lamb” takes place in Heaven during the seven years of Tribulation on Earth.  Obviously, if the “marriage supper of the Lamb” takes place in Heaven before the Bridegroom brings His Bride to His Kingdom to reign with Him, the Bride must be in Heaven for the “marriage supper of the Lamb.”

[1] A.T. Robertson’s Word Pictures, Romans 11:1, SwordSearcher Software 4.8
[2] Strong’s Greek Dictionary, SwordSearcher software 4.8

Anonymous comments will not be allowed. 
Numerous studies and series are available free of charge for local churches at: http://www.disciplemakerministries.org/ 
Dr. Lance Ketchum serves the Lord as a Church Planter, Evangelist/Revivalist. 
He has served the Lord for over 40 years.
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Monday, March 12, 2018

III. The Church and Biblical Zionism



Zechariah
Chapter Seven
III. The Church and Biblical Zionism

The understanding of prophecy is often like putting together a jigsaw puzzle.  When each connecting piece is put in the right place, we are progressively enabled to see the whole picture. 

In Zechariah 2:11, God says, “And many nations shall be joined to the LORD in that day {at the beginning of the Kingdom Age and the second coming of Jesus}, and shall be my people.”  God said in Hosea 1:10, “it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people, there it shall be said unto them, Ye are the sons of the living God.”  Galatians 3:6-29 is the definitive text explaining God’s prophetic statement in Hosea 1:10, which we know from Romans 9:26 includes Church Age Gentiles saved through faith in Jesus Christ.

“6 Even as {in the same way} Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness. 7 Know ye therefore that they which are of faith {trust in Christ and are “born again”}, the same are the children of Abraham. 8 And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify {save} the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham {Gen. 12:3}, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed. 9 So then they which be of faith {“born again” believers from all nations} are blessed with faithful Abraham. 10 For as many as are of the works of the law {The Mosaic Covenant was a suzerain-vassal agreement, meaning it was a bilateral and conditional covenant between God and Israel and, therefore, was a covenant of “works,” unlike the Abrahamic Covenant, which was an unconditional covenant promised “by grace” and received “through faith.”} are under the curse {of the Mosaic Covenant, the ‘curse’ meaning the opposite of God’s conditional blessing; this is not referring to the curse of Hell.}: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them {the Mosaic Covenant was a “blessing and a curse” covenant; Deut. 11:26-32 compared with Deut. 29:1 through 30:20}. 11 But that no man is justified {saved} by {keeping} the law in the sight of God, it is evident {keeping the conditions of the Mosaic Covenant could not save anyone; this Covenant was not about salvation even though Apostate Israel had made it to be}: for, The just shall live by faith. 12 And the law {the Mosaic Covenant} is not of faith: but, The man that doeth them shall live in them. 13 Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree: 14 That the {unconditional} blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit {being “born again” or regenerated} through faith. 15 Brethren, I speak after the manner of men; Though it be but a man’s covenant, yet if it be confirmed, no man disannulleth, or addeth thereto. 16 Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ {the promises of the Abrahamic Covenant were actually made to Christ and all those expressing faith in the Promised One; i.e., Christ}” (Galatians 3:6-16).

The Judaizers were Jews who had professed Christ to be their Messiah and Saviour but were corrupting local churches by corrupting what was required to be saved.  They believed that faith in Christ was necessary, but also believed it was necessary to keep the moral commandments, observe the Holy Days of the Law, continue under the Levitical priesthood and the sacrifices of the Mosaic covenant, and to be circumcised.  All these things are summed up by the Apostle Paul with the words “works of the Law.” 

In Galatians 2:16, Paul emphatically states, “Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith {‘finished’ vicarious work of redemption} of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith {‘finished’ vicarious work of redemption} of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.”  The “works of the law” were sanctificational in their scope.  They were never intended to be salvational.  The “works of the law” were intended for people already “born again” by having entered the Abrahamic Covenant offered “by grace” and received “through faith” (Ephesians 2:8-9).

“17 And this I say, that the covenant, that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law {Mosaic Covenant}, which was four hundred and thirty years after {the Abrahamic Covenant}, cannot disannul {the Abrahamic Covenant}, that it should make the promise of {the Abrahamic Covenant} none effect. 18 For if the inheritance be of the law {Mosaic Covenant}, it is no more of promise {the Abrahamic Covenant}: but God gave it to Abraham by promise {the Abrahamic Covenant}. 19 Wherefore then serveth the law {Mosaic Covenant}? It was added because of transgressions, till the seed {Messiah} should come to whom the promise {the Abrahamic Covenant} was made; and it was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator. 20 Now a mediator is not a mediator of one, but God is one. 21 Is the law then against the promises of God? God forbid: for if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law. 22 But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise {the Abrahamic Covenant} by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe. 23 But before faith came, we were kept {preserved} under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed. 24 Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster {guardian or child-leader} to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. 25 But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster {guardian or child-leader}. 26 For ye are all {Jew and Gentile believers} the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. 27 For as many of you as have been {Holy Spirit} baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise” (Galatians 3:17-29).

          As said, within the above text of Galatians 3:10, the Mosaic Covenant was a suzerain-vassal agreement, meaning it was a bilateral and conditional covenant between God and the nation of Israel (not individuals). Therefore, the Mosaic Covenant was a covenant of “works,” unlike the Abrahamic Covenant, which was an unconditional covenant given “by grace” and received “through faith.”  The Abrahamic Covenant too was a dualistic covenant with both national and spiritual Israel.  To be part of national Israel, one needed to be born a descendant of Abraham.  To be part of spiritual Israel, one needed to be a “born again” descendant of Christ.  The Abrahamic Covenant was typically made with Abraham, but actually made with Christ (see Galatians 3:19, 26, and 29).

          The Mosaic Covenant was a “blessing and a curse” covenant (see Deuteronomy 11:26-32 compared with Deuteronomy 29:1 through 30:20).  The significance of these facts regarding our understanding of Romans chapter nine is that the clear majority of national Israel had been misled by the priesthood of Israel to believe that the “blessing and a curse” covenant was conditions for individual salvation.  In other words, the clear majority of national Israel had been misled into placing their faith in their keeping the conditions of the Mosaic Covenant to be saved, which to them came to mean being part of the Kingdom on earth promises of God. 

          This was a complete misunderstanding of the “blessing and a curse” of the Mosaic Covenant (Galatians 3:19).  Paul introduced the fact that Gentiles were part of the Abrahamic Covenant as early as Romans 3:19-31 correcting the false doctrine that justification came through the “blessing and a curse” Mosaic Covenant. 

“19 Now we know that what things soever the law {Mosaic Covenant} saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. 20 Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin. 21 But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; 22 Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference: 23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; 24 Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: 25 Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; 26 To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus. 27 Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works? Nay: but by the law of faith. 28 Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law. 29 Is he the God of the Jews only? is he not also of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also: 30 Seeing it is one God, which shall justify the circumcision by faith, and uncircumcision through faith. 31 Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law” (Romans 3:19-31).

The idea of the two phrases “by” and “through” in Romans 3:30 are best understood by the fact that by the covenant promise of God to Abraham, Jews were brought into a relationship with God as a nation although they may not have been saved individually (Romans 9:6-7).  Each individual Jew still needed to be saved “by” the door of personal faith in the promised “seed” typified in Isaac; that “seed” was Christ (Galatians 3:16).  On the other hand, the Gentiles stood completely outside of this covenant relationship of God with the nation of Israel.  Therefore, the Gentiles needed to enter a relationship “through” the door of personal faith in Christ.  There really is no significant difference in the meaning of the two phrases.  Everyone, Jew or Gentile, can only be saved “by grace” and “through faith” (Ephesians 2:8). 

“12 For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. 13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord {Jehovah; having rested is the vicarious propitiation of God in the crucifixion of Christ Jesus and he gift of God-kind righteous offered in the indwelling Spirit} shall be saved” (Romans 10:12-13).

Anonymous comments will not be allowed. 
Numerous studies and series are available free of charge for local churches at: http://www.disciplemakerministries.org/ 
Dr. Lance Ketchum serves the Lord as a Church Planter, Evangelist/Revivalist. 
He has served the Lord for over 40 years.
Posted by at 4:51 AM 0 comments

Monday, March 5, 2018

II. The Church and Biblical Zionism



Zechariah
Chapter Seven
II. The Church and Biblical Zionism

The context of God’s mercy in Romans chapter nine is determined by the context of God’s mercy in Hosea 2:23. God’s mercy refers to God’s special grace in extending mercy to national Israel in her restoration at the second coming of Christ.  Therefore, contextually, this special grace is to national Israel according to God’s determinant will.  This special grace does not refer to the salvation of individuals.  The point is that national Israel did not deserve to be restored. 

“6 Not as though the word of God hath taken none effect. For they are not all {spiritual} Israel, which are of {national} Israel: 7 Neither, because they are the {physical} seed of Abraham, are they all children: but, In Isaac shall thy {spiritual} seed be called. 8 That is, They which are the children of the flesh {physical seed}, these are not the children {spiritual seed} of God: but the children of the promise {faith} are counted for the {spiritual} seed” (Romans 9:6-8).

“14 What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid. 15 For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. 16 So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy. 17 For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might shew my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth. 18 Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth” (Romans 9:14-18).

          Therefore, what Paul is telling us in Romans chapter nine is that we have two elect Israel’s.  Election is conditional (CHART) in both two elect groups. 

1. We have elect national Israel with earthly and temporal promises conditioned upon being a physical (genetic) descendant of Abraham.  Only Jews can be part of this elect group.
2. We have spiritual elect Israel with heavenly and eternal promises conditioned upon being “born again” through faith in the Promised Seed (Christ).  “Whosoever {of any individual from any nation or ethnic group} shall call upon the Name of the Lord shall be saved” (Romans 10:13).



          In Romans 9:25, Paul quotes from Hosea.  “Osee” in our KJV is Hosea.  God told Hosea to take a whore for his wife.  Hosea obeys and marries a whore named “Gomer the daughter of Diblaim” (Hosea 1:3).  God uses Gomer to typify national Israel since most Jews were involved with the licentious, pornographic, sexual cultus of Baalism.  It is clear in the prophecy from Hosea 2:1-23 that God is NOT casting national Israel away.  It is clear from the prophecy from Hosea 2:1-23 that God is withdrawing His blessings from national Israel and that, if national Israel did not repent, God would bring about a diaspora; scattering or dispersal of the Jews into the nations of the world.  Although this diaspora was partially fulfilled in the Assyrian conquests, the complete fulfillment did not happen until 70 A.D. when Rome destroyed the Temple in Jerusalem as was prophesized by Christ (Matthew 24:1-2).  This scattering extended beyond national Israel into the faithful remnant of spiritual Israel and also into the Church (Luke 1:5-55, Acts 8:1-4; 11:19, James 1:1 and I Peter 1:1).  This is the contextual substance of Hosea 2:1-23.

“1 Say ye unto your brethren, Ammi; and to your sisters, Ruhamah. 2 Plead with your mother, plead: for she is not my wife, neither am I her husband: let her therefore put away her whoredoms out of her sight, and her adulteries from between her breasts; 3 Lest I strip her naked, and set her as in the day that she was born, and make her as a wilderness, and set her like a dry land, and slay her with thirst. 4 And I will not have mercy upon her children; for they be the children of whoredoms. 5 For their mother hath played the harlot: she that conceived them hath done shamefully: for she said, I will go after my lovers, that give me my bread and my water, my wool and my flax, mine oil and my drink. 6 Therefore, behold, I will hedge up thy way with thorns, and make a wall, that she shall not find her paths. 7 And she shall follow after her lovers, but she shall not overtake them; and she shall seek them, but shall not find them: then shall she say, I will go and return to my first husband; for then was it better with me than now. 8 For she did not know that I gave her corn, and wine, and oil, and multiplied her silver and gold, which they prepared for Baal. 9 Therefore will I return, and take away my corn in the time thereof, and my wine in the season thereof, and will recover my wool and my flax given to cover her nakedness. 10 And now will I discover her lewdness in the sight of her lovers, and none shall deliver her out of mine hand. 11 I will also cause all her mirth to cease, her feast days, her new moons, and her sabbaths, and all her solemn feasts. 12 And I will destroy her vines and her fig trees, whereof she hath said, These are my rewards that my lovers have given me: and I will make them a forest, and the beasts of the field shall eat them. 13 And I will visit upon her the days of Baalim, wherein she burned incense to them, and she decked herself with her earrings and her jewels, and she went after her lovers, and forgat me, saith the LORD. 14 {beginning during the Tribulation, God will begin to draw Jews to Him with special and miraculous means} Therefore, behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak comfortably unto her. 15 And I will give her her vineyards from thence, and the valley of Achor for a door of hope: and she shall sing there, as in the days of her youth, and as in the day when she came up out of the land of Egypt. 16 And it shall be at that day, saith the LORD, that thou shalt call me Ishi; and shalt call me no more Baali. 17 For I will take away the names of Baalim out of her mouth, and they shall no more be remembered by their name. 18 And in that day will I make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field, and with the fowls of heaven, and with the creeping things of the ground: and I will break the bow and the sword and the battle out of the earth, and will make them to lie down safely. 19 And I will betroth thee unto me for ever; yea, I will betroth thee unto me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in lovingkindness, and in mercies. 20 I will even betroth thee unto me in faithfulness: and thou shalt know the LORD. 21 And it shall come to pass in that day, I will hear, saith the LORD, I will hear the heavens, and they shall hear the earth; 22 And the earth shall hear the corn, and the wine, and the oil; and they shall hear Jezreel. 23 And I will sow her unto me in the earth; and I will have mercy upon her that had not obtained mercy; and I will say to them which were not my people, Thou art my people; and they shall say, Thou art my God” (Hosea 2:1-23).

          All that God said He would do in Hosea 2:9-13 has already been fulfilled.  Because Israel credited the Baals (“Baalim”) with their material blessings, God was going to “take away” or take back what He had given them (vs. 9).  God would do this at the very time when Israel expected their harvests to come in.  Although there was a partial fulfillment of this at the time of Hosea as God caused the crops to fail and brought the Assyrians upon them, ultimately and chronologically, this prophecy was fulfilled at the first advent of Messiah.  Israel was expecting deliverance into the Kingdom.  Instead, they were dispersed into the nations of the world.  Therefore, this refers to “the times of the Gentiles.”
      
There are two main New Testament texts connecting the Church Age with “the times of the Gentiles” that are prophesied in Hosea 2:11-13.  These two texts are Luke 21:20-24 and Romans chapter eleven.  We will not take the time to deal extensively with these two texts here because we will deal with them when we look at Romans chapter eleven. 

However, there are certain truths from Hosea 2:11-13 that show us when this prophecy was fulfilled.  “11 I will also cause all her mirth to cease, her feast days, her new moons, and her sabbaths, and all her solemn feasts. 12 And I will destroy her vines and her fig trees, whereof she hath said, These are my rewards that my lovers have given me: and I will make them a forest, and the beasts of the field shall eat them. 13 And I will visit upon her the days of Baalim, wherein she burned incense to them, and she decked herself with her earrings and her jewels, and she went after her lovers, and forgat me, saith the LORD.” 

Four judgments are described as part of the times of the Gentiles and the Church Age. 

1. “Mirth to cease;” through the institution of the New Covenant, God caused National Israel to be dispersed in all the nations of the world, where since the beginning of the Church Age they have been under the chastisement of God. 
2. “Her feast days, her new moons, and her sabbaths, and all her solemn feasts” would cease;” none of these aspects of the Mosaic Covenant are carried into the New Covenant (Gal. 4:10, Col. 2:16-17).  These days have ceased.  The word “cease” in Hosea 2:11 is actually the Hebrew word shabath (shaw-bath'), the same word translated Sabbath in the Old Testament books.  In other words, these Mosaic times, seasons, and Sabbath days would be put on hold or to rest throughout the Church Age until the beginning of the Kingdom Age.  This is a critical truth for the various types of Sabbatarians of modern day Christianity (Seventh Day Adventists, Seventh Day Baptist, and Covenant Theologians with their Sunday Sabbath replacement). 
3. “And I will destroy her vines and her fig trees;” God would make Israel a wasteland (Jer. 2:15; 4:17; Ezek. 12:20) as opposed to it having been “a land flowing with milk and honey” (Exodus 3:8 & 17).
4. “And I will visit upon her the days of Baalim;” this refers to the paganism of the Gentiles in “the times of the Gentiles.”  The “times of the Gentiles began with the capture of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar in 606 B.C.  Jehoiakim reigned in Jerusalem as a puppet of Nebuchadnezzar until 598 B.C. when Nebuchadnezzar marched an army to Jerusalem and Jehoiakim immediately surrendered.  The “times of the Gentiles” will continue until the second coming of Messiah (Rev. 19:11-21).

          This leads us to the next text in Hosea 1:9-10 that Paul references in Romans 9:26.  “And it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people; there shall they be called the children of the living God.”


          This next point is critical - Israel would be set aside (not cast away) for the duration of the Church Age.  The fact that this setting aside of Israel would take place over three generations is manifested by the three successive children of “Gomer the daughter of Diblaim” (Hosea 1:3; because Diblaim was a whore, we cannot assume these children were the children of Hosea).  As the Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown Commentary says, the names of each of these children show the progression of God’s chastisement on national Israel. 

“Lo-Ammi--once ‘My people,’ but henceforth not so (Eze 16:8).  The intervals between the marriage and the successive births of the three children, imply that three successive generations are intended.  Jezreel, the first child, represents the dynasty of Jeroboam I and his successors, ending with Jehu’s shedding the blood of Jeroboam’s line in Jezreel; it was there that Jezebel was slain, in vengeance for Naboth’s blood shed in the same Jezreel (1Ki 16:1; 2Ki 9:21,30).  The scenes of Jezreel were to be enacted over again on Jehu’s degenerate race.  At Jezreel Assyria routed Israel [JEROME].  The child’s name associates past sins, intermediate punishments, and final overthrow.  Lo-ruhamah (‘not pitied’), the second child, is a daughter, representing the effeminate period which followed the overthrow of the first dynasty, when Israel was at once abject and impious.  Lo-Ammi (‘not my people’), the third child, a son, represents the vigorous dynasty (2Ki 14:25) of Jeroboam II; but, as prosperity did not bring with it revived piety, they were still not God’s people.”[1]

          God’s chastisement of Israel would come in three stages or phases revealed by the names of the three children of Gomer.

1. Jezreel (yiz-reh-ale'); meaning God will sow.  “In that day” (Hosea 1:5) refers to the God’s breaking up the house of Israel (the ten Northern tribes), which followed shortly after the “overthrow of the house of Jehu[2].”
2. Lo-ruhamah (lo roo-khaw-maw'); meaning not pitied.  The Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown Commentary translates this name, “not an object of mercy or gracious favor.”  “MAURER translates according to the primary meaning, ‘No more will I have mercy on the house of Israel, so as to pardon them’[3].”  Once the Assyrians took the Northern Kingdom (the ten northern tribes), Israel was never again restored.  Judah (and Jerusalem) was captured by Babylon and restored after seventy years of captivity[4].
3. Lo-Ammi (lo am-mee'); meaning not my people.  Because God’s chastisement did not bring the repentance and the revival as intended, God would set aside Israel until a future day of restoration (see Hosea 2:10-11 below). 

“10 Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured nor numbered; and it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people, there it shall be said unto them, Ye are the sons of the living God. 11 Then shall the children of Judah and the children of Israel be gathered together, and appoint themselves one head, and they shall come up out of the land: for great shall be the day of Jezreel” (Hosea 1:10-11).

          Clearly the text of Hosea 1:10-11 is referring to the nation of Israel (the ten Northern tribes).  However, in Romans 9:26, Paul by the inspiration of the Spirit of God is including Gentiles saved during the Church Age in with restored national Israel (Romans 9:30; this is what is commonly referred to as a Complimentary Hermeneutic; in other words, new and added revelation by the inspiration of the New Covenant Scriptures completes or clarifies what has been said previously in the Old Testament Scriptures).  Of course, these saved Gentiles will be grafted into the new nation of Israel (primarily the 144,000 sealed Jews from Revelation 7:4-9 along with all other Jews entering the Kingdom Age who will also become saved Jews during the seven-year Tribulation; Romans 11:26-32) as they become part of spiritual Israel, which is the Faith Seed of Abraham.  Church Age believers, including saved Gentiles and saved Jews from the Church Age, will become the new Melchisedecan priesthood (“sons of Zadok,” Ezekiel 40:46, 44:15, 48:11 – to be dealt with extensively later) of Israel during the Kingdom Age.  This fact is primary in the purpose of Romans chapters nine, ten, and eleven. 

[1] Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown Commentary, Sword Searcher Software, 4.8
[2] Keil and Delitzsch Old Testament Commentary, SwordSearcher Software, 4.8
[3] Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown Commentary, SwordSearcher Software, 4.8
[4] Ibid

Anonymous comments will not be allowed. 
Numerous studies and series are available free of charge for local churches at: http://www.disciplemakerministries.org/ 
Dr. Lance Ketchum serves the Lord as a Church Planter, Evangelist/Revivalist. 
He has served the Lord for over 40 years.
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Monday, February 26, 2018

I. The Church and Biblical Zionism



Zechariah
Chapter Seven
I. The Church and Biblical Zionism

What is God’s purpose in giving us prophetic utterances about the future?  God’s purpose in giving prophetic utterances about the future is to inform faithful believers and encourage them by reminding them He is going to do what He says He will do.  Secondly, God’s purpose in giving prophetic utterances about the future is to warn the unfaithful believers and call them to repentance.  If knowing prophetic truth does not get you serious about what is coming, and if it does not change the way you live because of that knowledge, you are merely seeing prophecy as fiction or fantasy.  The Bible word for living unchanged in the light of God’s revealed knowledge about the future is simply – UNBELIEF!

Zechariah 2:8 says, “for he that toucheth you {the nation of Israel} toucheth the apple of his {God’s} eye.”  The intent here seems to mean that any person that sets out to injure or harm the nation of Israel must see himself as trying to harm God Himself.  A person succeeding in touching Israel to harm her will ultimate be held accountable by God Himself in that such ill determinations are viewed by God as attempting to thwart God’s plans for Israel. 

Some commentaries say that the pronoun “his” in the phrase “toucheth the apple of his eye” is referring to someone that touches Israel to harm her is actually harming himself.  However, the phrase must be understood from the context of a previous statement from Deuteronomy 32:9-10 where the pronoun is clearly God.  Scripture interprets Scripture!

“9 For the LORD’S portion is his people; Jacob is the lot of his inheritance. 10 He {God} found him {Jacob or Israel} in a desert land, and in the waste howling wilderness; he {God} led him {Jacob or Israel} about, he {God} instructed him {Jacob or Israel}, he {God} kept him {Jacob or Israel} as the apple of his {God’s} eye” (Deuteronomy 32:9-10).

Zechariah chapter two is encouraging words to a disparaged and captive people.  The last four verses of Zechariah chapter two confirm that encouragement of the faithful is God’s intent.  In the last four verses of Zechariah chapter two, we see the promise of people of “many nations” “joined to the LORD” in the Kingdom Age.  These are saved Gentiles from many ethnicities and nations of the world.

The “times of the Gentiles began in B.C. 606 with Nebuchadnezzar’s capture of the city of Jerusalem.  Throughout the “times of the Gentiles,” Jerusalem “shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled” (Luke 21:24).  The words “trodden down” literally means under foot.  The intent is that they will not regain their sovereignty as a nation completely independent of Gentile authority/occupation until the second coming of Jesus.  Thousands of years have passed since the beginning of the “times of the Gentiles,” but God tells the faithful, believing remnant of Jews that He “will dwell in the midst of thee” (Zechariah 2:10). 

Biblical Zionism in modern theological terminology is most often just known as Millennialism.  Although Biblical Zionism is predominantly Jewish in nature, it does involve the Church at the second coming of the Lord Jesus.  Although the Church is never national Israel, the Church will be grafted into national Israel as a new Melchisedecan Priesthood and the “bride of Christ” under her High Priest Christ Jesus at the beginning of the Kingdom Age. 

The Church Age accounts for most of the time of the gap between the sixty-ninth and seventieth weeks of Daniel 9:24. These “seventy weeks” are the “times of the Gentiles” and God’s judgment on the nation of Israel for their breach of their promise to keep the Mosaic Covenant. 

Zechariah 2:10-13 is the consummate statement regarding the one-thousand-year reign of Jesus Christ and Biblical Zionism.  Zechariah 2:10-13 also confirms God’s promise to Abraham; “17 And the LORD said, Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do; 18 Seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation {Israel}, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him (because through Abraham’s  generations, ‘thy Seed, which is Christ’ will come; Gal. 3:16}” (Genesis 18:17-18)?  It is through faith in the promised Seed that “all the nations of the earth shall be blessed.”  Zechariah 2:10-13 also confirms a literal Hermeneutic as the only acceptable interpretation, thereby excluding all other theories regarding the Millennial Kingdom on Earth. 

“10 Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion: for, lo, I come, and I will dwell in the midst of thee, saith the LORD. 11 And many nations shall be joined to the LORD in that day, and shall be my people: and I will dwell in the midst of thee, and thou shalt know that the LORD of hosts hath sent me unto thee. 12 And the LORD shall inherit Judah his portion in the holy land, and shall choose Jerusalem again. 13 Be silent, O all flesh, before the LORD: for he is raised up out of his holy habitation” (Zechariah 2:10-13).

          Since God has said this same thing in so many other portions of Scripture, why does He feel the need to say it again to the faithful remnant of Israel?  God repeats these promises to reaffirm them and reassure the faithful.  These things can be said a thousand times to the unbelieving and they will mean nothing.  However, the believers are encouraged to continue in their faithfulness.  Through the repetition of God’s promises, believers are confirmed in their resolve to persevere to the end.  The “lo, I come” statement of the preincarnate LORD in Zechariah 2:10 is the same confirmation given by Peter to Church Age believers in II Peter 3:10.  It is also clear from II Peter 3:9 that Christ’s delay in His second coming is due to His passion for lost souls to come to repentance and faith. 

“9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. 10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. 11 Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, 12 Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat? 13 Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness. 14 Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless” (II Peter 3:9-14).

          In 2016, Israel and the United States accounted for 83% of the Jewish population of the world.  The total number of Jews in the world in 2016 was 14.4 million.  About 1.5 million of those Jews profess to be Christians of some sort or another.  Only a small percentage of the Jews professing Christianity would be truly “born again” Christians.  Yet, by the end of the Tribulation, God will have a nation of saved Jews that will trust in Jesus and confess Him as LORD.  Only saved Jews and saved people from Gentile nations, surviving the Tribulation judgments and the persecutions of Antichristism, will enter the Kingdom Age in physical bodies.  All other occupants of the Kingdom Age at its beginning will be in glorified bodies.  These glorified believers will return to Earth with Jesus at the battle of Armageddon. 

“25 As he saith also in Osee, I will call them my people, which were not my people; and her beloved, which was not beloved. 26 And it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people; there shall they be called the children of the living God. 27 Esaias also crieth concerning Israel {Isaiah 10:22}, Though the number of the children of Israel {all Jews from all times} be as the sand of the sea, a remnant {very few; faithful believers} shall be saved: 28 For he will finish the work, and cut it short in righteousness: because a short work will the Lord make upon the earth {the seven-year Tribulation}. 29 And as Esaias said before {Isaiah 1:9}, Except the Lord of Sabaoth {a Hebrew military term for the hosts of war; armies; Zechariah 2:8} had left us a seed {believing remnant}, we had been as Sodoma, and been made like unto Gomorrha. 30 What shall we say then? That the Gentiles, which followed not after righteousness, have attained to righteousness, even the righteousness which is of faith. 31 But Israel, which followed after the law of righteousness, hath not attained to the law of righteousness. 32 Wherefore? Because they sought it not by faith, but as it were by the works of the law. For they stumbled at that stumblingstone; 33 As it is written, Behold, I lay in Sion a stumblingstone and rock of offence: and whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed” (Romans 9:25-33).

Romans chapters nine, ten, and eleven critically explain what Zechariah chapter two means regarding Zionism.  When it comes to understanding the future of Israel and the role that the Church will have in Zionism, our understanding would be greatly hindered without the explanations of these three chapters of Scripture.  It would be irresponsible to look at the future of Israel without carefully evaluating what God says to Christian Jews and all Gentile believers in these three chapters of Scripture.  Romans chapter nine explains God’s election/choosing of the nation of Israel through which Messiah would be born.  Chapter nine also explains which Jews part of true Israel are.  Chapter ten explains to Jews how to become part of true Israel. 

“6 Not as though the word of God hath taken none effect. For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel: 7 Neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children: but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called. 8 That is, They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God: but the children of the promise {faith in the Promised Propitiator of the Abrahamic Covenant} are counted for the seed” (Romans 9:6-8).

Five categories of people that will inhabit the earth during the Millennial Kingdom

1. The Bride of Christ, His Church, who will return with Jesus in their glorified state at His second advent to rule with Him on the earth for one thousand years.  These people will occupy the Kingdom in glorified bodies and rule with Christ.  
2. All the saved of all Ages resurrected from the dead and given glorified bodies (most likely resurrected at the time of the Church Age saints). 
3. All those who were martyred for Christ during the Tribulation time (Revelation 2:26-27 and 20:4-6). These people will occupy the Kingdom in glorified bodies.  
4. All those who have put their faith in Christ for salvation from all the nations of the world during the Tribulation and who have not been killed by Antichrist, or who have not died during the Tribulation (Revelation 7:9-17).  These people will occupy the Kingdom in physical bodies.
5. The 144,000 Jews, 12,000 from each tribe, sealed in heaven in their foreheads with the Name of God, will constitute the protected remnant of Israel; and all the people who will be won to Christ by the two witnesses and this remnant (Revelation 7:2-8, compare Revelation 9:4).  The first group of 144,000 sealed Jews will occupy the Kingdom in glorified bodies, while those Jews won to faith in Christ by them and survive the Tribulation will enter the Kingdom in physical bodies. 

          Romans chapter eleven tells us God will graft a wild branch (Gentile believers of the Church Age) into the Root of the Olive Tree Israel.  The Root of course is Jesus Christ, the Rod out of the stem of Jesse.  This is the Abrahamic Covenant.  Most professing Christians do not possess even the most basic understanding of the connection between the Abrahamic Covenant and the Mosaic Covenant. 

The Abrahamic Covenant is PRIMARY.  The Mosaic Covenant is secondary.  The Abrahamic Covenant defines salvation by grace through faith.  The Mosaic Covenant defines sanctification for a redeemed nation by God’s enabling grace through works. 

Romans 9:25-33 must be the most ignored verses of Scripture in the Word of God.  Why do I say that?  I say that because these verses seem to be ignored by Covenant Theologians, Reformed Theologians, and even some Dispensational Theologians.  These verses correct the false notions of a Universal Church Theonomically replacing the nation of Israel.  These verses correct the false notion that all national Israel is lost and cast away to reprobation by God.  These verses correct the false notion that Church Age believers are not a partial fulfillment of the New Covenant within the Abrahamic Covenant.  Paul quotes from seven Old Testament texts to show that Church Age saints, made up of “born again” Jews and Gentiles, partially fulfill the prophecy of seven texts and that this new elect group (chronologically) joins with the Faith Seed of Abraham (“born again” believers within national Israel; i.e., the genetic Seed of Abraham) promised within the Abrahamic Covenant.  These seven texts are:

1. Hosea 2:1-23 (Romans 9:25)
2. Hosea 1:9-10 (Romans 9:26)
3. Isaiah 10:20-23 (Romans 9:27-28)
4. Isaiah 1:2-9 (Romans 9:29)
5. Psalm 118:19-29 (Romans 9:33)
6. Isaiah 8:9-15 (Romans 9:33)
7. Isaiah 28:14-22 (Romans 9:33)

Hosea 2:1-23 gives us an expanded context of Paul’s previous statement in Romans 9:14-15 regarding what God said to Moses at Mt. Sinai; “14 What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid. 15 For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.”  We must bring the context of the prophecy of Hosea chapter two, from which Paul quotes, into the context of what Paul is saying in Romans chapter nine regarding national Israel (the natural or genetic seed of Abraham) and spiritual Israel (the Faith Seed of Abraham, which is the remnant Seed of Israel). 

(Continued next Week)

Anonymous comments will not be allowed. 
Numerous studies and series are available free of charge for local churches at: http://www.disciplemakerministries.org/ 
Dr. Lance Ketchum serves the Lord as a Church Planter, Evangelist/Revivalist. 
He has served the Lord for over 40 years.
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