My dear readers,

God Loved Israel

Romans 9:6-13: “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 are counted for the seed. 9 For this is the word of promise, At this time will I come, and Sara shall have a son. 10 And not only this; but when Rebecca also had conceived by one, even by our father Isaac; 11 (For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth;) 12 It was said unto her, The elder shall serve the younger. 13 As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated.”

Israel will always be a spiritually unique nation in the eyes of God for He created her. Israel may be the people of God, but “they are not all Israel, which are of Israel.” This phrase means that not everyone in Israel was born again in Christ. Israel was a nation made up of believers and unbelievers throughout the ages since the days of Moses and Joshua. Just because Israel rejected Jesus of Nazareth as the Christ does not mean that the Word of God and all that the LORD did for Israel from the time of her existence had been in vain. Throughout the ages, many in Israel and outside of Israel like King Nebuchadnezzar, Ruth and Rahab believed in Christ through the witness of Israel. Even during one of the darkest moments of Israel’s history, when King Ahab and his idolatrous and domineering wife Jezebel ruled Israel, there were seven thousand who did not bow their knees to Baal. The effect and impact of the Word of God in saving souls within Israel had always been the blessing Israel received from the LORD. However, there was never a time in Israel’s history as a nation where every Israelite was born again in Christ.

Is it not true that not all the seed of Abraham was called the people of God based upon verse 8? Abraham had other children but not all were called the children of God in Holy Scripture; only the children of Isaac were. God promised Abraham that he would have a son to bless the world (a reference to Jesus Christ) and inherit the Land of Canaan as the Land of Promise! God kept this promise to Abraham in Isaac only. God excluded the other children of Abraham from this promise of the messianic lineage, but it does not mean that they were condemned and could not be saved in Christ. They were blessed and in the best position to believe, for they had Abraham and Sarah as their witnesses of faith in Christ. All who come into contact with believers in Christ are blessed with an opportunity of salvation by God’s grace.

God regarded the other children of Abraham as children of the flesh, which means they were not chosen to be part of the messianic lineage. It does not mean that they could not be saved in Christ, just like all Gentile believers, which we are. God loved them like He loved the world. John 3:16: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” But they were not the ones God chose for Jesus Christ to have His humanity and nationality; Israel was.

God made Israel different from the very beginning. Every aspect of Israel’s existence points sinners to Christ. These included the land they lived in where the Tabernacle and later the Temple were located, the civil and dietary laws that regulated their lives unto holiness, their religious holy days and most importantly, their manner of worship to restore a right relationship with God in Christ. Israel can be holy as God is holy! Israel was a fulfilment of God’s prophecies. For example, the Land of Promise must be devoid of idolatry and idolaters, thus the command to utterly destroy everything idolatrous and every idolater in the days of Moses and Joshua. Deuteronomy 12:1-3: “These are the statutes and judgments, which ye shall observe to do in the land, which the LORD God of thy fathers giveth thee to possess it, all the days that ye live upon the earth. 2 Ye shall utterly destroy all the places, wherein the nations which ye shall possess served their gods, upon the high mountains, and upon the hills, and under every green tree: 3 And ye shall overthrow their altars, and break their pillars, and burn their groves with fire; and ye shall hew down the graven images of their gods, and destroy the names of them out of that place.” This was God's way of ensuring that Israel began her witness as a nation in holiness to point sinners to Christ. Furthermore, God said that when the sins of the Canaanites were full, His judgment as the Creator would fall upon them (cf. Gen 15:12-21). God relates to us in terms of eternity. If man dies in sin, he will be cast into hell. But if he believes in Christ, who died in his place for his sin and rose from the dead for his justification, he is forgiven of all his sins, and God will welcome him into heaven.

If one idol or idolater remained in the Promised Land, it would inevitably corrupt Israel. When Israel was corrupted, her holy witness would be compromised. We witness Israel’s sad fall into corruption in the Book of Judges. The world would plunge into spiritual darkness without a light. As long as Israel did not deny the Messiah even when she rejected the message of the prophets, Israel would remain a light (albeit a small and dim light) to a world in sin. But when she rejected Jesus of Nazareth who came through the virgin birth, God replaced her with the church witness in Acts 2.

God loved Israel and will always love Israel. This love for Israel is based upon God’s sovereign choice and not because of any good in Jacob (i.e. Israel). When twins Esau and Jacob were still in mother Rebekah’s womb, the LORD said that the elder shall serve the younger. Both babies, like all of us, did nothing to deserve God's love. God’s love is unconditional and sacrificial. God made this clear to Israel to ensure that Israel did not fill herself with pride and arrogance as if she was better than the rest of the world. Israelite babies were not less depraved or sinful than Gentile babies. The difference was that the babies could be raised in a godly environment and believe in Christ since every aspect of Israel's culture and laws point them to Christ. Deuteronomy 7:7-10: “The LORD did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people; for ye were the fewest of all people: 8 But because the LORD loved you, and because he would keep the oath which he had sworn unto your fathers, hath the LORD brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you out of the house of bondmen, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. 9 Know therefore that the LORD thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations; 10 And repayeth them that hate him to their face, to destroy them: he will not be slack to him that hateth him, he will repay him to his face.”

In case some might think that being chosen as God’s people on earth is only blessing without adversities, Israel will always be the target of the old serpent of Genesis 3 as God prophesied in Genesis 3:15. Israel is the thorn in the serpent’s side. His many devious and diabolical attempts are recorded in Israel’s biblical history from the days of the Exodus to the book of Malachi. When the church inherited the privilege of being God’s witness on earth for Christ, the target shifted to the church and every believer. The attack is spiritual. The goal is the souls of men, women and children. The old serpent constantly blinds the minds of those who reject the gospel. He wants as many sinners to join him in the Lake of Fire as possible. 2 Corinthians 4:1-4: “Therefore seeing we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we faint not; 2 But have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully; but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God. 3 But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: 4 In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.”

The old serpent has attacked Israel, God’s people, since her birth in Exodus both from within and without. The Old Testament testifies this truth clearly. God, as Israel’s “Father” will always love and protect Israel like all fathers.