Tag Archives: Israel

Israel’s Rejection

Posted on by under Bible, Christian, Excellence, LifeGiving, Righteousness, School Of The Spirit, Training

There is much written and said about natural Israel’s rejection of God, but very little is written or said about God’s rejection of natural Israel. If natural Israel is the apple of God’s eye then through their repeated provocations have continuously poked the God of Israel in the eye!

To understand Paul’s statements in Romans chapters 9 – 11 one must understand the core texts have to do with the salvation experience that only comes through a personal faith in Christ Jesus, and its corresponding faithfulness to God the Father. That truth is woven all the way through the Scripture from Genesis to Revelation!

Paul, in Romans 10 reveals how to be saved. “8 But what does it say? ‘The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart’ — that is, the word of faith which we are preaching, 9 that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; 10 for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. 11 For the Scripture says, ‘Whoever believes in Him will not be disappointed.’ 12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call on Him; 13 for ‘Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.'”

Paul begins in verse 8 referencing Deuteronomy 30:14. “Doing the word” in Deuteronomy is believing and confessing the word [Jesus] in Romans.

Deuteronomy is the chapter where God lays two choices before the children of Israel. Those choices are: life and death, and blessing and curses. In that chapter God also states their rebellion will result in their removal off of the land of promise. Refusal to repent of the rebellion against God disqualifies them from living in the land of promise.

Paul ends in verse 13 quoting Joel 2:32 – “And it will come about that whoever calls on the name of the LORD will be delivered; For on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be those who escape, as the LORD has said, even among the survivors whom the LORD calls.”

Those who call on the Lord for salvation are those who respond to the Lord’s call to receive salvation, period! Those who responded in the first century escaped the hell that the Roman legions rained down on Judah and Jerusalem between 67-70 AD! No Christians lost their lives because they obeyed Jesus and fled to safety. While over 1,000,000 Jews lost their lives and nearly 250,000 more went into slavery.

Jesus said in the Olivet Discourse that the great tribulation would never be matched again! And that includes the holocaust during WWII!

In chapter 9 of Romans Paul cleans up the confusion when he says, “6 But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For they are not all Israel who are descended from Israel; 7 nor are they all children because they are Abraham’s descendants, but: ‘through Isaac your descendants will be named.’ 8 That is, it is not the children of the flesh who are children of God, but the children of the promise are regarded as descendants. 9 For this is the word of promise: ‘At this time I will come, and Sarah shall have a son.’ 10 And not only this, but there was Rebekah also, when she had conceived twins by one man, our father Isaac; 11 for though the twins were not yet born and had not done anything good or bad, so that God’s purpose according to His choice would stand, not because of works but because of Him who calls, 12 it was said to her, ‘The older will serve the younger.’ 13 Just as it is written, ‘Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.'”

There is a lot to unpack in those 8 verses out of Romans 9! I will not take the time to give the full history lesson due to time and space. Suffice it to say Paul was reaching into the rich history of God’s dealings with humanity going back into Genesis before there was an Israel, and ending with the quote out of Malachi that refers to the Genesis account he is referencing. God’s word has not failed nor will it ever fail! To qualify for the title of Israel obedience to the will of God is the requirement!

“Jacob I loved [preferred], but Esau I hated [did not prefer]” refers to a prophetic strategy that speaks of the coming Savior, who as humanity’s older brother would serve in such a way that promotes His younger siblings to a place of honor above Him. Jesus would die to give us the privilege of the Life He possesses, and the Life He had and has with His Father. That my friends is a serious upgrade!

God’s initial rejection began in the womb of Rebecca as two boys, representing two distinct people groups, and two very distinct destinies were contending for the blessing of God which included the name of Israel! Esau would despise it and Jacob would stoop low and deceive to receive it. Even in his deception Jacob proved how hungry he was to receive it! It took a returning [repentance] to receive it. It was at the place of emptying [Jabbok] that Jacob would find a crossing and meet the Man who would later be called the only Mediator between God and man, the Man Christ Jesus. That Man is the Mediator of a better covenant with better promises!

Two huge keys in Paul’s revelation to the Romans are: 1] “They are not all Israel who are descended [naturally] from Israel [Jacob, the man with a destiny but who lives in deception],” and 2] “Nor are they all children [of God] because they are Abraham’s [natural] descendants.” Those keys are summed up in this: “It is not the children of the flesh [natural descent] who are children of God, but the children of the promise [faith who] are regarded as descendants.”

If you miss that message you miss the mandate of the Messiah! And you will misunderstand and mistreat everything else Paul says in the Romans 9 – 11 context. “All Israel will be saved” is not saying every Jewish person will be saved. It is saying all who are Israel will be saved!

John the apostle makes this truth transparently clear when he writes in chapter 1 of his Gospel – “11 He came to His own [Jewish people], and those who were His own did not receive Him. 12 But as many [Jewish and non-Jewish] as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, 13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.”

There is a birth that is a special spiritual birth that God Father, who is Spirit, has willed! That is the ONLY birth that counts when the rolls are called “up yonder!” That birth is the new birth! The right, honor, privilege and responsibility of being a child of God are reserved for those who respond to the will of God. Jesus would later state exactly what  God’s will involved. “For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life” [John 6:40]. Seeing Him as He is and for who He is is a prerequisite for believing Him, and in Him.

Now to God’s rejection of Israel!

1 Samuel 15:26-28

The second rejection!

“26 But Samuel said to Saul, ‘I will not return with you; for you have rejected the word of the Lord, and the Lord has rejected you from being king over Israel.’ 27 As Samuel turned to go, Saul seized the edge of his robe, and it tore. 28 So Samuel said to him, ‘The Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today and has given it to your neighbor, who is better than you.'”

This rejection of Israel’s king [Saul] was in response to Saul’s rejection of God’s authority to rule Israel through him. Israel wanted a human king to be like the rest of the world, and in wanting a king they rejected heaven’s King who is the Lord Jesus Christ.

Being like the world will disqualify you from being like God! For, “You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God” [James 4:4].

Isn’t it interesting how James inserts adultery into the relationship between God and man? Natural Israel has always been an adulteress when it comes to her relationship to God!

God rejected Israel’s king and turned to the forerunner of heaven’s king, David, who was “better than Saul.” David was not better because he was flawless and faultless. David was better because he was a man after God’s heart, in spite of the issues in his heart that were not Godly. If Israel was going to have a human king it would be someone from the tribe of Judah. So God set out to set His man on the throne of Israel. David would undergo ungodly testings and even have to settle for the lowly leadership position of king of Judah before he ascended to the prize position in the Palace.

1 Kings 11:31-37

The third rejection!

“31 He said to Jeroboam, ‘Take for yourself ten pieces; for thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘Behold, I will tear the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon and give you ten tribes 32 (but he will have one tribe, for the sake of My servant David and for the sake of Jerusalem, the city which I have chosen from all the tribes of Israel), 33 because they have forsaken Me, and have worshiped Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, Chemosh the god of Moab, and Milcom the god of the sons of Ammon; and they have not walked in My ways, doing what is right in My sight and observing My statutes and My ordinances, as his father David did. 34 Nevertheless I will not take the whole kingdom out of his hand, but I will make him ruler all the days of his life, for the sake of My servant David whom I chose, who observed My commandments and My statutes; 35 but I will take the kingdom from his son’s hand and give it to you, even ten tribes. 36 But to his son I will give one tribe, that My servant David may have a lamp always before Me in Jerusalem, the city where I have chosen for Myself to put My name’.'”

God tore 10 of the 12 tribes of Israel away from Solomon and gave them to Jeroboam leaving only 1 tribe to pass on to David’s descendants. That tribe was Judah! Remember, the tribe of Levi belonged to God as His priests until Jesus would come and fulfill all the Law of Moses and the Prophets. That fulfillment changed everything as God would no longer deal with man according to the Law of sin and death, but according to the law of liberty that is in Christ Jesus. This was done so that David’s descendant Jesus would be able to sit on David’s throne and rule from heaven as the Lion of the tribe of Judah, and function under the priesthood ministry of Melchizedek at the same time!

Jesus is unable to serve on earth as a priest because He is not from the tribe of Levi! Jesus is not able to serve as King on earth in an earthly temple either.

Matthew 21:33-45

The final rejection, phase 1!

“33 Listen to another parable. ‘There was a landowner who planted a vineyard and put a wall around it and dug a wine press in it, and built a tower, and rented it out to vine -growers and went on a journey. 34 When the harvest time approached, he sent his slaves to the vine-growers to receive his produce. 35 The vine-growers took his slaves and beat one, and killed another, and stoned a third. 36 Again he sent another group of slaves larger than the first; and they did the same thing to them. 37 But afterward he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ 38 But when the vine-growers saw the son, they said among themselves, ‘This is the heir; come, let us kill him and seize his inheritance.’ 39 They took him, and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. 40 Therefore when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those vine-growers?’ 41 They said to Him, ‘He will bring those wretches to a wretched end, and will rent out the vineyard to other vine-growers who will pay him the proceeds at the proper seasons.’ 42 Jesus said to them, ‘Did you never read in the Scriptures, ‘The stone which the builders rejected, This became the chief corner stone; This came about from the Lord, And it is marvelous in our eyes‘?” 43 Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people, producing the fruit of it. 44 And he who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; but on whomever it falls, it will scatter him like dust.” 45 When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard His parables, they understood that He was speaking about them.” By speaking “about them” He was speaking about the whole house of Israel they were the leaders of.

Matthew 23:37-39

The final rejection, final phase!

“37 Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling. 38 Behold, your house is being left to you desolate! 39 For I say to you, from now on you will not see Me until you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!'”

The final rejection resulted in desolation!

That desolation would happen 40 years later with the total destruction of Jerusalem, Judaism, the religious system, culture and its hallowed physical temple in 70 AD. And it was all because they were “unwilling.” In other words, they would not bring their will under the will of God.

“Your house is being left to you desolate!”

“Your house” is a complete repudiation that their physical temple was God’s house!

“Is being left” is a complete abandonment of them by God!

“To you” is a complete handover for all the responsibility for the desolation!

“Desolate” is the completed divorce proceedings and punitive damages that followed!

From heaven’s perspective there is no more life in a natural Israel or a natural Jerusalem!

Jesus made clear that Jerusalem was not the place for the worship of God. In fact, Jesus removed any and all geographical associations with the worship of the Father.

John 4:21-24

“21 Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, believe Me, an hour is coming when neither in this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. 22 You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. 24 But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers. 24 God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.'”

There is more to come that cannot be fit in a blog or really a series of blogs, even though I have blogged many times on this subject.

I am currently writing two Books that will deal with both the Israel and the Jerusalem issues! They are: WHO IS THE ISRAEL OF GOD, And What Does That Have To Do With Me; and Jesus and Jerusalem.

If you don’t want to receive God’s rejection don’t reject God’s salvation through His Son, who is the Savior of all mankind, especially those who believe!

Dr. Kevin M. Drury, DMin

A Hisstorymaker

Moses’ Veil & Blindness

Posted on by under Bible, Christian, Excellence, LifeGiving, Righteousness, School Of The Spirit, Training

There is renewed interest in the State of Israel again now that Barack Obama “stabbed them in the back” at the United Nations several weeks ago by not vetoing a resolution against their West Bank developments.

Of course in some Christian circles there is a constant interest in “Israel” and the unsaved, natural Jewish people that really does not carry the weight of heaven as it pertains to their present day predicament – being without God and hope in this world.

There is the constant admonishing to “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem” because of the promise, “May they prosper who love you.” [Psalm 122:6]

This verse is used to mislead the immature masses into thinking that if they don’t pray the proper prayer then not only will God not prosper them He might just pound them into either submission or oblivion.

My main issue with the constant droning of those desperate to prosper because of their prayer for Israel’s peace is they totally forget “Israel” forsook and eventually murdered the Prince of Peace Jehovah sent to save them. They seem to also conveniently forget Jesus spoke Ichabod over Jerusalem by stating, “Behold, your house is being left to you desolate [abandoned, divorced].” [Matthew 23:38]

He continued His rebuke by telling “Jerusalem”, “From now on you will not see Me again until you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.'” [verse 39]

Jesus was not inferring a future revealing He was declaring they would not see Him UNTIL they confessed His being there then was in the “name of the Lord.” For the Jews of our day, just like the Jews of Jesus’ day, must confess He came 2000 years ago in the name of the Lord. This means repenting for rejecting Him and receiving Him and His work on the Cross that paid for their salvation.

Praying for peace now looks like praying for them to genuinely repent for their sin of slaying the Savior of the world, and prosperity becomes promoting proper relationship protocols!

The Jewish prophet Isaiah said this, “But he [Messiah] was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.” [53:5 KJV]

There can be no peace with God without agreeing with and surrendering to the God who presented His terms for peace.

Also, there is another verse that is so badly misrepresented that it is becoming laughable to those liberated in the Kingdom lifestyle Jesus inaugurated when He emerged out of His water and Spirit baptism at the Jordan River.

That verse is found in Genesis 12, and so many leaders and scriptural “authorities” completely misuse it and its context.

“I will bless those who bless you and I will curse those who curse you.” What is left out is this portion of this verse, “And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.” [verse 3]

This verse has nothing to do with the State of Israel, or unsaved Jewish people. Israel is not mentioned in the verse or its context. Abram was the recipient of the promises God proclaimed and Paul would write in Galatians 3 that the gospel was preached to Abram in the last line of that verse. [verse 8]

The context of Genesis 12 is salvation through the gospel message that would bring God’s blessings upon the entire planet through all the people on the planet who received and accepted the gospel. That is why Paul said in Galatians only those in Christ are of Abraham’s Seed and heirs to [all] the promises God made to Abraham.

I have an 11 part teaching series that can be found on YouTube called Who Is The Israel Of God, And What Does That Have To Do With Me. I also have a 14 part teaching series on YouTube called Jesus and Jerusalem. I hope both these series’ become Books because there is so much misinformation that leads to the misdiagnosing and eventual mistreatment of these very important subjects.

I am continually in prayer for revelation as to the “Why” question I have concerning why the unsaved Jewish people and “saved” Christians cannot see the obvious truth about Jerusalem and the Jewish people.

I feel God just dropped a nugget into my noggin [head] as I watered the plants this morning at Bethel Church in beautiful Brunswick and the glorious Golden Isles of Georgia.

This is what I believe I heard Him say to me: “The blindness from Moses’ veil keeps people from seeing the obvious.”

I was immediately reminded of this text Paul wrote to the believers in Corinth.

“12 Therefore having such a hope, we use great boldness in our speech, 13 and are not like Moses, who used to put a veil over his face so that the sons of Israel would not look intently at the end of what was fading away. 14 But their minds were hardened; for until this very day at the reading of the old covenant the same veil remains unlifted, because it is removed in Christ. 15 But to this day whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their heart; 16 but whenever a person turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.” [2 Corinthians 3]

Here are some things of importance that stand out to me in this text.

  • Verse 12 – Paul and his team were bold in declaring the truth of God’s new day/new thing He had announced to the Jewish people in the Old Covenant and that day was upon them all
    • The boldness Paul refers to is traced back to verse 4, “Such confidence we have through Christ toward God.” Their boldness is directly tied to the hope they possessed
  • Verse 13 – Paul and his team were not going to live in the limitations of what God had done that was temporary
  • Verse 13 – Moses realized in the days of his glorious encounters the glory of his day [experience] was temporary
  • Verse 14 – The sons of Israel’s hearts hardened against God and His glory
  • Verse 14 – Paul and his team knew that hardening remained in their present day
  • Verse 14 – The Old Testament was the source of that hardening and the persistence of the veil that veiled the minds of those who depended on Moses for their revelation
  • Verse 14 – Paul and his team revealed that only in Christ would the veil be lifted for those who are in Christ and who do not rely on Moses for their revelation of what God was doing in their day
  • Verse 15 – Paul and His team reiterated that every time Moses was read the hearts of the hearers are covered with a veil that hides the new day/new thing God is doing. This hinders them from coming to the knowledge of the present tense reality that removed the problem
  • Verse 16 – Paul and his team reiterate the present tense truth that only turning to the Lord [Jesus] is the veil, cover, hindrance removed from the head and heart of the hearers

~~~ My conclusion is simply this ~~~

There are so many well meaning Christians who are blinded by the blindness from the veil Moses used to cover his decline. The result is they cannot see the truth of God’s new day/new thing that began with Jesus.

Concurrently, because of their unhealthy soul ties to old information and revelation and the possessor, protector and propagator of the old thing [Moses] they still live within a reality that is no longer real.

If you are presently tied to what faded away I whole heartedly encourage you to jettison the veil and proceed to the Person who now fully represents the present tense reality of heaven’s influence in the earth!

Keep HIS Faith! Keep HIS Passion! Keep HIS Purpose!

Dr. Kevin M. Drury, DMin

HIS Hisstorymaker

God Has Only One Holy Nation!

Posted on by under Bible, Christian, Excellence, LifeGiving, Righteousness, School Of The Spirit, Training

Who is the holy nation that is God’s very own possession?

This blog follows Foolish Preachers Versus The Foolishness Of Preaching where I wrote in more detail on the importance of the message of the cross of Christ being protected from being made of no effect.

This issue is one of the many where the cross of Christ is reduced to no effect, especially among those who hold to a “special favored status” theology for natural Israel. What I mean by that is the notion that “all of Israel will be saved” when they see Jesus coming in the clouds instead of having to come to the cross for their deliverance from sin.

As I stated in Foolish Preachers Versus The Foolishness Of Preaching blog I addressed this and so much more in two teaching series’ – WHO IS THE ISRAEL OF GOD, And What Does That Have To With Me; and JESUS AND JERUSALEM.

Well meaning and [I will be kind] most probably mistaken Christians promote that the natural State of Israel, and unsaved Jewish people, are God’s possession and holy nation.

You see them write or say things like:

  • God will bless those who bless [natural] Israel [the unsaved Jews] and God will curse those who curse [natural] Israel [unsaved Jews].
    • There is not one verse of Scripture in the Old or New Testaments that say this. In fact, the very opposite is said in the Scripture.

Or they say or write,

  • The day America turns its back on [the State of] Israel [unsaved Jews], is the day God turns His back on America.
    • This irresponsible statement is based on the previous statement and has zero basis in Scripture.

What does the Scripture say? The Scripture must be our only guide to understanding this very important truth that is clearly laid out for the intellectually honest to see.

By the way, God turned His back on natural Israel and spoke Ichabod [the glory has departed] over it 2000 years ago. God has not stopped loving them. He loves everyone where they are but that never means He loves where they are.

By the way, they became enemies of the cross when they rejected God, and His plan of salvation for the whole world – by the cross of Christ Jesus, His only begotten Son. They remain enemies of the cross to this day!

Matthew 23:37,38 NKJV

“37 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing! 38 See! Your house is left to you desolate.”

Listen to the impact of His words – “See! YOUR HOUSE IS LEFT TO YOU.”

First He said “Your house”. This is a clear revelation that it was not His house. Jesus was also making the point that “their house” was of their own making. God’s house is now the individual and corporate body of Christ that is made up of everyone who has been born again and surrendered to the Lordship of Jesus Christ.

Next He said, “Is left”. Jesus made a present tense [2000 years ago] declaration that God was abandoning them, right then. And by the way, God has never moved back in to that “house”.

Then He said, “To you”. Can it get any scarier than this. “YOU ARE ON YOUR OWN.” Another way to see this portion of His denunciation is to realize that He was very serious about their isolation and the removal of His protection. By the way, He is not protecting them even to this day contrary to the popular theological arguments to the contrary.

They have been on their own for 2000 years! Please do not say God brought them back to their land. God has not brought them back. For God to be responsible for their return He would have had to violate His own word stating that for Him to restore them to the land they would have to repent for violating their relationship to Him.

I cannot recall where they have repented for murdering the Son of God!

“Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.” [Acts 2:36]

“Desolate” literally means, abandoned, divorced, uninhabited, deprived of the aid and protection of others, especially of friends, acquaintances, kindred, a flock deserted by their shepherd, a waste [place].

Jesus said, “See! I HAVE LEFT you all alone, and you will remain on your own unless, and until you repent.

Verse 39 says, “For I say to you, you shall see Me no more till you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!” When Jesus says, “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord” He was speaking of His current and contemporary coming at the time He was speaking, 2000 years ago.

Jesus was not talking about some time in the distant future from when He was speaking. He was speaking to His generation which was the terminal generation – for within 40 years the end came for them.

“Assuredly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation.”[Matthew 23:36 NAS] It takes a lot of manipulating the text to stretch “this generation” 2000 years into the future.

Why this extreme rejection of this historic people who had been chosen by God out of all of the nations on the planet thousands of years before? The answer is found in verse 38, “BUT YOU WERE UNWILLING.”

Friends, it is NEVER a good plan to be unwilling to do God’s will. It is never a good idea to continuously reject the overtures of a loving God who continuously does everything He can to reach you.

“How often I wanted to gather you together under My wings.” Jesus was expressing His exasperation at the lengths the natural Jewish people had gone to reject His every overture to love and protect them. He was also stating the many times He wooed them, called them, corrected them, communicated to them to come to Him – in the Old Testament!

We must understand that until Jesus died on the cross and was resurrected everything in the Gospels was Old Testament. The New Testament was being revealed [it was being unveiled, uncovered] through the life and ministry of Jesus but it was not inaugurated until the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus.

They left God no choice but to move on from them to a people who would value Him and His love for them.

Matthew 21:43

“Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you [natural Israel] and given to a people [born again saints], producing the fruit of it.”

This is the punch line [pun intended] that followed a scathing parable illustrating how natural Israel had been unfaithful to God, to the point of killing His Son, and He had had enough.

So, who is the only true nation that belongs to God.

Psalm 33:12 NASB

“Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, the people whom He has chosen for His own inheritance.”

There is ONLY one nation on this earth who can claim this verse as their own. That nation is the nation whose God is the Lord Jesus Christ!

1 Peter 2:9, 10 NASB

“9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; 10 for you once were not a people, but now you are the people OF GOD; you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.”

God has NO other nation and He has no other people that are His possession [inheritance] and to proclaim otherwise is not Scriptural and very unwise.

If you hold to the belief that there is some other nation, an unholy nation, that God calls His own possession then you are diluting the effectiveness and affect of the cross of Jesus Christ.

I have written blogs and taught extensively on this deceptive doctrine that carried out to the extent of its illogical logic reduces the sons and daughters of God [the Church and the Bride of Christ – God’s holy nation] as second class citizens and hostages of a God who according to those who hold to this doctrine punishes people who reject the false notion they perpetrate on an uninformed people.

Should we love and bless the unsaved Jewish people and the State of Israel?

Absolutely!

But not under the threat of a curse from God coming to ruin our lives.

We are supposed to bless those who curse us according to Jesus in Luke 6:28. We are to love our enemies according to Jesus in Matthew 5:44. But never is a curse from God associated with not doing these things. We are told that doing these things make us like our Father.

What God do they serve? I believe they serve a god they have created in their own minds. Minds which are not renewed in the New Testament revelation Jesus and the original apostles and other writers of the New Testament preached.

We will see in the following Scriptures the reason we [the holy nation of God as the people of God] are to love and bless all the nations of people of the earth, not just the Jewish State [nation, people].

How are we to love them? By telling them the truth about their need for repentance and God’s forgiveness.

In fact, John the apostle writes this in his gospel that Jesus, the Son of God and Man said.

John 3:16,17 NASB

“16 For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.”

  • To me these two verses clearly state God’s heart is the world, not just the Jewish world. God sent Jesus into the world to save the world. The unfortunate truth is that many in the world, both the Jewish and non-Jewish world, refuse to believe God by receiving Jesus as God’s only hope and Savior of the world.

John 3:18 NASB

“”He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.’”

  • Jesus makes it abundantly clear that those who do not believe in Him are ALREADY judged by God, and those who do believe God does not judge. So, quit with all the God is going to curse you if you do not bless natural [the State of] Israel and the natural Jew.

John 3:36 NASB

“He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.”

  • Those who believe in God’s Son, Jesus, HAVE eternal life and those who do not believe not only will NOT SEE life, but they are presently abiding in the wrath of God. God’s wrath is upon those who reject Jesus, not on those who do not bless those who have rejected Jesus.

Do I have to go on? No, but I will!

John 8:31,32 NASB

“31 So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, ‘If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; 32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.’”

  • To those Jewish people who “believed” in Him he said, “You MUST continue in my word to qualify as My true disciples.”
    • Thus, those Jewish “believers” who ceased believing in the continuing revelation of the cross and all of the benefits revealed and released through it ceased being His disciples – PERIOD!
    • We need to understand that even demons believe in Jesus but that does mean they are in a right relationship with God [James 2:19]
    • We also need to understand Jesus made all of these statements prior to dying on the cross and that every one of His original  disciples were Jewish, believed on Him, but had to come to the cross in order to be saved.
    • So, if there is some other way for the Jewish people to be saved, like seeing Jesus in the clouds, then God will have to apologize to all of the Jewish converts in the first century and beyond who  were persecuted and killed for their faith in the cross of Christ.

We have already heard from Peter in the text from 1 Peter above where he very succinctly reveals who the real people of God are post cross of Christ.

Now let’s take a quick look at what Paul the apostle had to say concerning our subject.

Paul

Galatians 3:6-9 NASB

“6 Even so Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness. 7 Therefore, be sure that it is those who are of faith who are sons of Abraham. 8 The Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, ‘All the nations will be blessed in you.’ 9 So then those who are of faith are blessed with Abraham, the believer.”

  • Abraham, according to Paul, was an Old Testament believer in the New Testament Gospel. Abraham’s faith was in the message that God was going to bless the entire world, not just the Jewish world, through their faith in the message of the Messiah, which is salvation from sin and the punishment of sin by the life, death, burial, resurrection, ascension and Holy Spirit baptism to all who would believe in Jesus Christ of Nazareth as their personal Savior and the Lord of their life.

Now, as to the assertion that God will bless those who bless natural and unsaved Israel and curse those who curse them, let us take a look at what God actually said and to whom He said it.

Moses

Genesis 12:1-3 NASB

“1 Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go forth from your country, and from your relatives and from your father’s house, to the land which I will show you; 2 And I will make you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great; And so you shall be a blessing; 3 And I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.”

  • Ah! The promise of blessings and curses was given to Abram who became Abraham. This is the same Abraham who Paul said the gospel was preached to and who believed the gospel.
  • So based on the text where the misguided and mistreatment of what God actually said, a curse is reserved for those who do not bless the Abraham who believed God through the receiving of the gospel of Jesus Christ, as well as all those who like Abraham, have believed the gospel of Jesus Christ.
    • Folks, this is not complicated. God said what He meant and He means what He says. “And in you [Abraham the believer] all the families of the earth will be blessed [by believing God just as Abraham did].”

So, to accurately divide and rightly handle the word of truth [God], we must admit that this promise was not made to a natural people but a born again person who had believed God’s gospel that through him ALL the nations [people] of the earth would be blessed by believing the gospel as he did.

Therefore, this promise cannot and does not pertain to the natural and unsaved [unbelieving] Jewish people called the State of Israel, for they are not inheritors of the promises of Abraham – Period!

So, why do people still follow this misguided teaching? Because they, just like those in the first century that were misguided “believers”, want to keep the flesh in the forefront of their theology, to their demise. These folks are persecutors of the cross of Christ. They are deluded and they distort and dilute the power of the message of the cross of Jesus Christ.

Paul

Galatians 6:12-16 NASB

“12 Those who desire to make a good showing in the flesh try to compel you to be circumcised, simply so that they will not be persecuted for the cross of Christ. 13 For those who are circumcised do not even keep the Law themselves, but they desire to have you circumcised so that they may boast in your flesh. 14 But may it never be that I would boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. 15 For neither is circumcision anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation. 16 And those who will walk by this rule, peace and mercy be upon them, and upon the Israel of God.”

  • I wrote about verses 12-14 in my previous blog so I will not comment here.
  • Paul in verse 15 makes it very clear that there is no advantage nor disadvantage in being Jewish or not being Jewish. The point of this text is “a new creation” which we know to be those “in Christ.”
  • There are those who try to parse the last verse where it says, “peace be upon them [the new creation – the believers in Christ Jesus], and upon the Israel of God”, as meaning there are two separate and distinct groups of people Paul is talking about.
    • One is the new creation meaning those who are in Christ Jesus, and
    • The other is the Israel of God meaning the natural and unsaved Jewish people

Let’s look at another text and see if this way of interpreting the Scripture holds up.

Mark

Mark 16:7 NASB

“But go, tell His disciples and Peter, `He is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see Him, just as He told you.’”

  • Is the angel of the Lord saying that Peter is not one of the disciples by there being an ‘and’ between the word ‘disciples’ and ‘Peter’? Could it be that because of Peter’s denial of Jesus three times that he forfeited his place among the twelve? Or is the angel simply specifying that Peter needs special attention as a disciple and one of the future pillars of the Church because of his poor choice?

I want to tell you that Peter never was removed from his place in the special group of the apostle’s of the Lamb. And in the same way the use of the word ‘and’ in Paul’s text in Galatians 6 does not communicate a separation into two distinct groups. It simply communicates the special designation of the Israel of God – those who are part of God’s new creation, those who are in Christ Jesus.

Lastly, do not believe the “believers” who want to take you back into a natural reality and diminish or destroy your faith in and faithfulness to the revelation of the Cross of Jesus Christ. Believe it or not we still are dealing with Judaizers who cannot or will not let go of the notion that God’s blessings are tied up in natural and still unbelieving Jewish people.

They will accuse you of spiritualizing the text. I know because I get accused of that often. I also get accused of twisting the Scripture to fit “my theology.”

There is a principle in interpreting Scripture. It is simply take literal what is literal and not to take literally what is not literal.

Paul said this, “However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural; then the spiritual.” [1 Corinthians 15:46]

This is another principle that must be understood to understand the Bible. The Old Testament, among other things, was about a natural people [Israel] seeking spiritual encounters with God. The New Testament, especially starting in the Book of Acts, is about a spiritual people living in a natural world.

First [OT] the natural. Then [NT] the spiritual. Jesus illustrated this in John 3 in His conversation with Nicodemus. He gave him natural examples of spiritual truths but Nicodemus could not understand those spiritual truths because the natural mind cannot receive anything from the Spirit of God [1 Corinthians 2:14].

These naturally minded people are either unaware of, or do not care to admit, that all of the promises of God are yes and amen in Christ Jesus, and no one and no where else.

“For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us [saints].” [2 Corinthians 1:20]

Stay close to the cross of Christ and the Christ of the cross, for in Him you live, and move, and have all of your being.

For more information on this subject please watch my series on Youtube/Bethel Church Brunswick, GA or download it from iTunes on WHO IS THE ISRAEL OF GOD, And What Does That Have To Do With Me, and my series called JESUS AND JERUSALEM.

Keep HIS Faith! Keep HIS Passion! Keep HIS Truth!

Dr. Kevin M. Drury
One of His Hisstorymakers