Friday, July 19, 2013
“Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth” (Psalm 46:10 KJV).
Israel must stand still and do nothing in order to see her God work mightily on her behalf!
God’s nation in the earth, Israel, was ruined. For over 15 centuries, she repeatedly broke His covenant with her by ignoring His laws, especially by worshipping pagan idols (Judges 2:10-20; 1 Kings 11:1-43; 2 Chronicles 36:14-21; Nehemiah 9:6-38; Isaiah 40:18-20; Jeremiah 44:1-30; Ezekiel 5:5-17; Daniel 9:3-19; Hosea 2:2-9; Malachi 2:1-17; et al.). Legally, she could not be God’s people, for she was now under Satan’s control.
And so, God’s plan, devised in eternity past, was implemented. The Scriptures unfolded that plan over a period of centuries. The seed of the woman promised in Genesis 3:15, man’s Redeemer, became the seed of Abraham, the seed of Isaac, the seed of Jacob, and the seed of David. That seed is Jesus Christ (Galatians 3:16), God manifest in human flesh (John 1:1,14), the fulfiller of the Abrahamic Covenant, and the means whereby salvation would flow through Israel to the Gentiles.
That Messiah-Redeemer Jesus would save Israel from her sins first (Matthew 1:21). Then, and only then, those redeemed Jews would bring salvation to the Gentiles (Exodus 19:3-6; Isaiah 61:6; Zechariah 8:20-23; et cetera). When Jesus Christ offered Himself to Israel as their King, they demanded His crucifixion: “We have no king but Caesar” (John 19:14,15; Acts 3:13). (Without Israel’s cooperation, how would salvation go to the Gentiles now? God’s solution to that dilemma was to raise up Saul of Tarsus and make him Paul the Apostle sent to us Gentiles without Israel [Romans 11:11-13]).
JEHOVAH God the Son let them nail Him to that awful cross of Calvary, and His blood poured out. Without that shed blood of Jesus Christ, Israel (and actually, all people) would be hopelessly lost forever. Little did Israel know, that by killing their Messiah, He could then save them with that shed blood—that was God’s wise plan all along! Israel could now be saved by that marvelous work He did for them (and us) at Calvary….
333 Words of Grace 