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How Will God Carry Out His Plan For Israel?
This session will be a survey of the the prophetic writings from the Torah and the Prophets about the end of the age, and view the major eschatological themes in the NT with this proper OT context.
Download “How Will God Carry Out His Plan for Israel?” Notes.
How Will God Carry Out His Plan For Israel?
A. In this session we want to talk about exactly how God has said that He will bring this whole story of Israel and her wayward history to a dramatic close. Paul noted that Israel’s acceptance of the Gospel of a crucified Messiah would mean ‘life from the dead’ for the world.
B. God has bound the destiny of the world to Jewish repentance, and the promise of the resurrection and the restoration of all things hinges upon the elder brother’s acknowledgment of their depravity and need for the Messiah’s atonement.
C. The end of the time of Israel’s discipline is synonymous with the time of the earth’s restoration from the curse upon the ground.
D. The softening of their hearts to the Gospel is the primary indicator of the 2nd coming of the Messiah. (cf. Matt. 23:39) It is very encouraging to hear stories of the small remnant of Jews who are coming to faith in the Messiah, however this falls vastly short of the Biblical vision presented by the prophets. The coming national repentance has only been prophesied in context to an ultimate stripping of strength.
E. The Lord will wait until their strength is gone because only this context will they actually come to faith. Faith in God to mend our condition demands the acknowledgment of depravity and guilt. This is evident in the Levitical system as well as throughout the NT. Those who boast in themselves are excluded from the Kingdom of God and the resurrection.
F. Israel’s national refusal to acknowledge their depravity has lead to a total refusal to acknowledge the Lord’s hand in their discipline and exile. The Lord has determined that through the utter stripping of their strength they would acknowledge their depravity, their need for the great atonement, and then be delivered from His wrath.
A. The eschatological stripping of their strength will happen in context to a Gentile siege of Jerusalem. This will be the climax of a time referred to as ‘the times of the Gentiles’.
B. The ‘times of the Gentiles’ began in 586 BC with the destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonian Empire. The significance of this time cannot be understood apart from God’s covenant to David in which He promised that David would have an heir on his throne in Jerusalem forever.
C. This destruction of Jerusalem by the armies of Nebuchadnezzar in 586 BC was the beginning of the time of exile for the Jewish people. This has lasted until now. The exile is not conditional ONLY upon them living in the land – since they have lived in the land several times since that time – but upon the Davidic monarchy being restored.
D. It doesn’t matter if the United Nations has decided to acknowledge Israel as a nation or not, the Jewish people are in exile until the Son of David sits on his throne again. Since this is the end of the exile – and thus to the curse upon the earth – the disciples asked Jesus just before His ascension if He was about to end the time of exile by restoring the Kingdom to Israel. i.e. the Davidic monarchy.
E. This season of exile and Gentile wrath will climax at the end of the age. God will gather all the nations against the city of Jerusalem, and will allow them to prosper in every evil intent in their heart for 3.5 years.
[1] Louw, J. P., & Nida, E. A. (1996). Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament: based on semantic domains. New York: United Bible Societies.
A. One central theme regarding the Messianic mission at the 2nd coming will be leading the Jews who were just captive back to Zion after the crushing of their adversaries. This final Aliyah will be marked by everlasting joy.
B. This obviously assumes that between now and the coming of Jesus there will be one final exile. Amos, referring to this final chastisement, wrote that they would be sifted through all nations.
C. This final exile will cause such an upheaval amongst the nations that it will constitute the hour of testing upon the whole earth. The faith of all of the nations will be either authenticated as real, or exposed as false during this time.
D. The times of testing upon the earth always yield evidence of the authenticity and genuiness of faith. This is why the testing of your faith might result in praise, honor, and glory at the coming of Jesus.
F. In the same way there will be a day when God’s exile of the Jewish people will be used to weigh the faith of every Gentile on the earth – thus counting them inside the covenant by faith, or excluded from the covenant due to faithlessness.
Bill is husband to Charis, and father to their 6 children. He is a Bible teacher, elder, and missions trainer.
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