Showing posts with label Abrahamic Covenant. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Abrahamic Covenant. Show all posts

Monday, June 22, 2015

Will American Christians Ultimately Stand By Israel?

Will American Christians Ultimately Stand By Israel?


Israel and American flags
Will American Christians ultimately stand by Israel or shun it? (iStock photo )
Standing With Israel
Support for Israel and the Jewish people is wavering among many Christians today.This is too bad, because for the first time in recent history, Jewish attitudes towards Christians and the gospel are changing—for the better!
Many Jewish people, including some of my own not-yet-believing family members, now understand that true Christians are the best friends of the Jewish people. One of my family members told me the other day that he was surprised to find out how many Christians support Israel, hate Anti-semitism and love the Jewish people.
This is really good news for Jewish evangelism as my people are beginning to have a more positive view of Jesus and His followers. So, it is critical that we encourage believers in Jesus to stand with Israel—for the right reasons.
For many years, there was strong support for the Jewish people, especially in light of the Holocaust and all the excitement surrounding the formation of the modern state of Israel. But, our younger generation did not live through these events. This is why we need to understand what the Bible has to say about God's plan and purposes for the Jewish people and the nation of Israel.
So, take a moment with me now to examine the role of the Jewish people in the plan of God and especially how the Jewish people will play a critical role in the return of Christ and establishment of the Kingdom. For if the Jewish people do not play a role in God's plan, then why would Jewish evangelism be important? After all, there are only 15 million Jewish people in the world.
However, if God's mighty hand still rests upon the Jewish people, then reaching Israel for the Messiah Jesus takes on a new and strategic spiritual importance.
The Apostle Paul understood the ongoing role of Israel in God's plan of redemption when he penned these words, "For if their rejection is the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead?" (Rom. 11:15).
The future of Israel and the Jewish people is bright, but we must understand the very foundation of God's promises to understand why this is true.
The Promise
Let's begin by looking at the key biblical promise which outlines God's plan for the Jewish people found in  Genesis 12:1-3, often called the Abrahamic Covenant, as we can only begin to understand God's plan and purposes for the Jewish people by understanding the nature of this covenant.
I divide the passage into two parts:
"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; 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; 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" (Gen. 12:1-3).
God makes a total of eight promises to Abram. In verses 1-2, God told Abram he would be given a land, become a great nation, that he would be personally blessed and his name made great and finally that he would be a blessing to others.
In verse 3 there are three additional promises to the Gentiles. First of all, those who are not physical descendants of Abram will experience God's blessing—for blessing Abram and his children.
Secondly, those who curse the descendants of Abram would themselves be cursed. It is important to note that the Hebrew word used for curse in the first instance literally means, "to make light." The second word, translated curse refers to the usual term for judgment often used in both Deuteronomy 28 and Leviticus 26. The play on words should not be missed. Those who devalue or make light of Israel's role in the plan of God or somehow demean the role of the Jewish people will then actually experience the very same curse God promised to the Jewish people that they would receive for disobedience to the Torah.
Thirdly, God would use the Jewish people to bring blessings to the world.
This elevates the importance of properly understanding what it means for the Jewish people to be chosen by God for His purposes. It is a serious issue for Jewish people who are themselves chosen, but also important for non-Jews as this passage describes the ongoing benefits and repercussions from the way in which Gentiles treat the Jewish people.
An Unconditional Covenant
The covenant is unconditional as there are no time limits or conditions tagged to the promise. It would be easiest within our space constraints to focus on two of the promises:
1. The first promise: A people. God miraculously created a people from the aged loins of Abraham and Sarah. If Israel is anything at its core, it is a people, or community, bound by ethnicity and covenantal purpose.
Fundamentally, to be Jewish is to be part of a people that God created for His holy purposes. We are a community— created by God for Him and for one another. God has promised He would preserve His people until those purposes were fulfilled. The Bible makes it clear the Jewish people have not been destroyed because God will not be diverted from fulfilling His plan for the chosen people and for the world.
2. The second promise: The land. Clearly, the Jewish people are not the only group of people that has been dispersed from its national boundaries, but the Jewish people may be the only people created as a nation prior to receiving their national boundaries. It is important to understand that God chose Israel before they emerged on the international scene as a nation. In fact, Israel had no prior existence before the Abrahamic Covenant and would have had no existence outside of the direct intervention of the One who created the heavens and the earth, determined the boundaries of nations and holds the hearts of the kings of nations in His powerful hand.
We should not think it odd at all that in the midst of creating the Jewish people as a nation, and all of the unique and special revelation this included, that God would also literally determine the specific boundaries of Israel's national existence in Genesis 15:17-21, and these boundaries have yet to be fulfilled!
And it came to pass, when the sun went down and it was dark, that behold, there appeared a smoking oven and a burning torch that passed between those pieces. On the same day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying: "To your descendants 
I have given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the River Euphrates—the Kenites and the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites and the Jebusites."
It is also important to remember this land deed passes from Abraham to his son and grandson, Isaac and Jacob, as noted in many passages, but Genesis 35:9-12 is a good summary of God's unfolding plan and promises to the descendants of Abraham.
Then God appeared to Jacob again ,when he came from Paddan Aram, and blessed him. And God said to him,"Your name is Jacob; your name shall not be called Jacob anymore, but Israel shall be your name." So He called his name Israel. Also God said to him: "I am God Almighty. Be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall proceed from you, and kings shall come from your body. The land which I gave to Abraham and Isaac I give to you; and to your descendants after you I will give this land."
The Fulfillment of the Abrahamic Covenant
Yet, these promises of nationhood and of a land created for that nation only become spiritually meaningful in light of God's promise to bless, use and enter into a relationship with the people He created through Abraham and Sarah.
The promised spiritual restoration of the Jewish people is the key that unlocks the fulfillment of God's promises.
It is God Himself who will one day take responsibility for spiritually re-engaging His wayward chosen people. This was promised even before the Jewish people entered the Promised Land for the very first time.
"And there you will serve gods, the work of men's hands, wood and stone, which neither see nor hear nor eat nor smell. But from there you will seek the Lord your God, and you will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart and all your soul. When you are in distress, and all these things come upon you in the latter days, when you turn to the Lord your God and obey His voice (for the Lord your God is a merciful God), He will not forsake you nor destroy you, nor forget the covenant of your fathers which He swore to them (Deut. 4:28-31).
In 1983, Ronald Reagan said this of Israel: "Since the foundation of the State of Israel, the United States has stood by her and helped her to pursue security, peace, and economic growth.  Our friendship is based on historic moral and strategic ties, as well as our shared dedication to democracy" (Remarks at White House meeting with Jewish leaders).
 This end-time repentance and turning of the Jewish people to the Messiah is fundamental to their once again being blessed by God and being used by Him to fulfill the purposes for which Israel was created and chosen.
This end-time turning of the Jewish remnant to Yeshua (Jesus) is further described by the prophet in Zechariah 12:10.
"And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn."
At that time, the Jewish people will become the Israel God always intended and receive the fullness of covenantal blessings promised to our forefather Abraham. The Jewish people will then be characterized by shalom as they will have peace as a people: peace in the land of promise, peace with the God who made the promises and peace among the nations to whom they were called to shine the light of God's presence and commands.
President Harry Truman said this of Israel: "I had faith in Israel before it was established, I have faith in it now. I believe it has a glorious future before it—not just another sovereign nation, but as an embodiment of the great ideals of our civilization." (As quoted by the Jewish Virtual Library)
 The Apostle Paul confirms that the Abrahamic Covenant will be fulfilled one day—future to our present day in fact! He writes, "Now if their fall is riches for the world, and their failure riches for the Gentiles, how much more their fullness" (Rom. 11:12).
Conclusion
The church in general, and especially Gentile believers, should understand the significant role non-Jews have in God's plan as founded on the Abrahamic promises. Gentiles are participants in the Abrahamic Covenant in that they are spiritual descendants of Abraham (Gal. 3:6-9). This does not mean that Gentiles become Jews upon receiving Yeshua as this is passed through physical lineage beginning with the patriarchs. However, Gentiles do become the spiritual sons and daughters of Abraham by faith as God's blessings have come to "those far off" (Eph. 2:11-13) through the mediation of the Jewish Messiah.
The Abrahamic Covenant implies at least two major responsibilities non-Jewish believers in Jesus have towards the Messianic Jewish community and to the Jewish people in general.
First of all, the Church, knowing God's covenantal faithfulness, must support the Jewish people and pray for the Jewish people.
Secondly, the Church must accept the mandate found in Romans 1:16 and 11:11 and bring the Gospel to the Jew first by making the Jewish people jealous. We cannot allow Jewish evangelism to become the great omission of the Great Commission.
Together then, Messianic Jews and Gentile followers of Yeshua, bound together through the Messiah and the Abrahamic Covenant, must work together as partners with God in progressing towards this great day of covenantal fulfillment.
I pray that we may all recognize the role God has given to the Jewish people today!
Mitch Glaser is the president of Chosen People Ministries. For the original article, visit chosenpeople.com.
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Friday, October 18, 2013

Ultimate Curse for US? - Joel Rosenberg

Joel C. Rosenberg Reveals 

Ultimate Curse for US

Joel C. Rosenberg
Joel C. Rosenberg
Last Friday, I had the honor of addressing the Values Voter Summit in the nation’s capital. To watch the video of the speech—which runs about 22 minutes—please click here.
In my remarks, I noted that Americans increasingly fear for the future of our country. Today, nearly 8 in 10 Americans believe the country is on the “wrong track,” and they’re right. Families are imploding from adultery and divorce. We have chronically high unemployment, sluggish economic growth and skyrocketing national debt. We are facing high rates of crime and drug and alcohol abuse and tragically high suicide rates among our young people and armed forces.
And then there is the most haunting number—55 million babies who have been aborted since 1973. Soon, if this is not changed, we will reach 60 million babies murdered.
For these and many other reasons, America is in grave danger. Unless we repent and plead with the Lord Jesus Christ to forgive us—and give us a Third Great Awakening—we face not only the possibility of the Lord removing His hand of grace and favor on us, but also His bringing judgment to us.
But I noted that we face another dangerous moment as well. What if, on top of all of our other national sins, America turns against Israel and the Jewish people?
The Lord God Almighty said clearly in the Abrahamic covenant (Gen. 12:1-3), “I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse.” At this critical moment in American history, do we want God’s blessing, or will we invite His curse?
Unfortunately, U.S.-Israel ties have been more strained in recent years than at any other time since 1948. A large and growing number of Israelis feel like they are increasingly alone in the world and that their longtime faithful ally, the United States, might not be there for them when the next big crisis hits.
  • new poll published by the Jerusalem Post, for example, notes that “two-thirds of Jewish Israelis believe U.S. President Barack Obama will fail to keep his promise to prevent Iran’s development of nuclear weapons.”
  • While the vast majority of the speakers at the Values Voter Summit are staunchly pro-Israel, one speaker—Sen. Rand Paul—has called for eliminating all U.S. military aid to Israel.
  • The situation has gotten so serious that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu felt compelled during his recent U.N. speech to say, “Israel will not allow Iran to get nuclear weapons. If Israel is forced to stand alone, Israel will stand alone.”
How serious is the possibility that America will eventually turn against Israel? What should Christians do?
I hope you will take some time to watch the address, share it with others and then comment on our“Epicenter Team” page on Facebook and/or send me a note on Twitter at @JoelCRosenberg.
Joel C. Rosenberg is the author of numerous New York Times best-selling novels and nonfiction books, with nearly 3 million copies sold. He is also the founder of the Joshua Fund(www.joshuafund.net). His books include The Last Jihad (2002), The Last Days (2003), The Ezekiel Option (2005) and The Copper Scroll(2006).
For the original article, visit joelrosenberg.com.
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Monday, August 19, 2013

Resume of Jesus Christ

The Resume of Jesus Christ


Address: Ephesians 1:20

Phone: Romans 10:13

Website: The Bible. Keywords: Christ, Lord,
Savior and Jesus

____________________________________________

Objective

My name is Jesus -The Christ. Many call me Lord!
I've sent you my resume because I'm seeking 
the top management position in your heart. Please
consider my accomplishments as set forth in my resume.

_____________________________________________
Qualifications

I founded the earth and established the heavens.
(See Proverbs 3:19)


I formed man from the dust of the ground.
(See Genesis 2:7)


I breathed into man the breath of life.
(See Genesis 2:7)


I redeemed man from the curse of the law.
(See Galatians 3:13)


The blessings of the Abrahamic Covenant comes
upon your life through me. (See Galatians 3:14)

______________________________________________

Occupational Background

I've only had one employer. (See Luke 2:49 )


I've never been tardy, absent, disobedient,
slothful or disrespectful.


My employer has nothing but rave reviews for me.
(See Matthew 3:15 -17)

_______________________________________________

Skills Work Experiences

Some of my skills and work experiences include:
empowering the poor to be poor no more, healing
the brokenhearted, setting the captives free, healing
the sick, restoring sight to the blind and setting at
liberty them that are bruised. (See Luke 4:18)


I am a Wonderful Counselor. (See Isaiah 9:6) 

People who listen to me shall dwell safely and shall
not fear evil. (See Proverbs 1:33 )


Most importantly, I have the authority, ability and
power to cleanse you of your sins. (See I John 1:7-9)

_____________________________

Educational Background

I encompass the entire breadth and length of knowledge, wisdom and understanding. (See Proverbs 2:6)


In me are hid all of the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
(See Colossians 2:3)


My Word is so powerful; it has been described as being a lamp unto your feet and a light unto your path.
(See Psalms 119:105)


I can even tell you all of the secrets of your heart.
(See Psalms 44:21)

_____________________________________________
 
Major Accomplishments

I was an active participant in the greatest Summit Meeting of all times. (See Genesis 1:26 )


I laid down my life so that you may live.
(See II Corinthians 5:15 )


I defeated the arch enemy of God and mankind and made a show of them openly. (See Colossians 2:15 )


I've miraculously fed the poor, healed the sick and raised the dead!


There are many more major accomplishments, too many
to mention here. You can read them on my website, which is located at: www dot - the BIBLE. 

You don't need an Internet connection or computer to access my website.

____________________________________________
References

Believers and followers worldwide will testify to my divine healing, salvation, deliverance, miracles, restoration and supernatural guidance.

____________________________________________

In Summation

Now that you've read my resume, I'm confident that I'm the only candidate uniquely qualified to fill this vital position in your heart. In summation, I will properly direct your paths, (See Proverbs 3:5-6), and lead you into everlasting life. (See John 6:47 ) 

When can I start? Time is of the essence.
(See Hebrews3:15 )


Send this resume to everyone you know. You never know who may have an opening! 
 
Thanks for your help.