· A few centuries after the Flood God chose Abraham and promised to develop his descendants into a group of influential nations chosen for the purpose of teaching and illustrating His values and way of life to the rest of the world (Gen. 12:1-3, Gen. 17:5-6).
· Israel was the name that God gave to Abraham's grandson, Jacob, which means “Overcomer with God” (Gen. 32:28). Jacob had 12 sons and from those sons descended the 12 tribes of Israel. Only one of those 12 tribes are the Jewish people or the Jews as they are called.
2] Why Did God Choose Israel?
God chose Israel for three important reasons -:
1] To be a model nation that would encourage other nations to want to come under God's rule (Exod. 19:3-8, Deut. 4:6-8).
2] To prove that even with the knowledge of God's laws and every other advantage that man still needs the Holy Spirit to live by God's way of life. God knew they would break their covenant with Him ahead of time (Deut. 31:20-21).
3] To write through the painful lessons of experience that only living God's way leads to happiness and breaking God's laws only brings misery (1 Cor. 10:1-11).
3] What do you mean by the Old Covenant and the New Covenant?
· When God gave them the Ten Commandments at Mt Sinai after He brought them out of Egypt He offered to be their God and bless them physically (Lev. 26:1-13, Deut. 28:1-14) if they would obey Him. This proposal by God which was accepted by the nation of Israel (Exod. 19:8) became known as the Old Covenant.· Israel was the name that God gave to Abraham's grandson, Jacob, which means “Overcomer with God” (Gen. 32:28). Jacob had 12 sons and from those sons descended the 12 tribes of Israel. Only one of those 12 tribes are the Jewish people or the Jews as they are called.
2] Why Did God Choose Israel?
God chose Israel for three important reasons -:
1] To be a model nation that would encourage other nations to want to come under God's rule (Exod. 19:3-8, Deut. 4:6-8).
2] To prove that even with the knowledge of God's laws and every other advantage that man still needs the Holy Spirit to live by God's way of life. God knew they would break their covenant with Him ahead of time (Deut. 31:20-21).
3] To write through the painful lessons of experience that only living God's way leads to happiness and breaking God's laws only brings misery (1 Cor. 10:1-11).
3] What do you mean by the Old Covenant and the New Covenant?
· Symbolically, the relationship between God and Israel was like a marriage (Jer. 31:32). Israel broke their covenant with God when they went into idolatry and turned away from His laws. Spiritually they were committing adultery with other gods and refused to repent. As a result, God symbolically divorced ancient Israel (Jer. 3:7-8).
· The member of the God family who personally dealt with ancient Israel was Jesus Christ (1 Cor. 10:4). He was the one who was symbolically married to ancient Israel.
· When Jesus Christ returns He will make a new covenant with the nation of Israel (Jer. 31:31-34) and give them His Holy Spirit which will give them the ability to keep that covenant and never break it again.
· All who are baptized and partake of the Passover have made a covenant with God to come under God's rule and live by God's way of life (Luke 22:20). The New Covenant is based on better promises (Heb. 8:6) including the giving of the Holy Spirit to help us live by the spirit of the law and offering us eternal life in the very family of God!
· With the Old Covenant Jesus Christ was married to physical Israel. With the New Covenant He will not marry physical Israel but He will marry the church – spiritual Israel (2 Cor. 11:2, Eph. 5:25-32, Rev. 19:7-9). When physical Israel repents at Christ's return they will be baptized into the church and become a part of spiritual Israel.
4] What were the birthright blessings that God promised to Abraham?
· There are two aspects to the blessings which have become known as the birthright blessing or blessings of Abraham. There are the national physical blessings of great prosperity (Gen. 12:1-3) and then there is the great spiritual blessing that God promised to him - the promise that Jesus Christ would be born from His descendants and that His death would make it possible to save mankind from the penalty of their sins (Gal. 3:16).
· The birthright tribes of Manasseh and Ephraim became the great nation of America and the company of nations known as the British Commonwealth, just as God had promised to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob thousands of years earlier (Gen. 35:11, 48:19, 49:1, 22-26). The sons of Joseph led the world into an era of unprecedented knowledge, prosperity and technological advancement.
5] Will Israel ever become God's model nation?
· The biblically based values on which the founding fathers built the United States of America and which the British Empire was built upon have given way to a denial of God and the same kind of self-serving materialistic attitude that led to the collapse of the ancient kingdoms of Israel and Judah.
· As Moses delivered the ancient Israelites from Egyptian slavery, Jesus Christ is coming to deliver modern Britain and America and the other Israelite-descended nations from an end-of-the-age captivity (Jer. 30:1-7) by a modern religious and political system called 'Babylon the great' (Rev. 17), centered in Europe. They will be humbled after their awful slavery and turn to God at that time (Deut. 4:25-31, Ezek. 20:43, 36:27-28).
· When Christ returns He will bring the remaining Israelites of all the tribes back to the land of Palestine in an exodus that will be even bigger than that of Moses' day (Jer. 16:14-15).
· The nation of Israel divided into two kingdoms in the days of Solomon's son, Rehoboam. Ezekiel prophesied that at Christ's return the two kingdoms will be re-united as one nation – the Jews and the other tribes led by Joseph (America and Britain) will be one united nation (Ezek. 37:15-23).
· They will be prepared in the wilderness and be offered the new covenant before they enter the Holy Land (Ezek. 20:34-36). After Christ returns God will first work with physical Israel and offer them His Holy Spirit and they will then be converted (Ezek. 36:27-28). Then, through their example when they do repent, God will open up salvation to the Gentile nations. Israel will become God's model nation and all nations will be blessed because of their example (Isa. 27:6, 54:3, 61:9, 62:2).
6] What do you mean by a Spiritual Jew or a Spiritual Israelite?
· The Jewish people are only one of the twelve tribes of Israel and they descend from Jacob's son, Judah. The name “Judah” means “Praised of God”. Spiritual Jews are those who have received God's spirit and who's life is worthy of God's praise (Rom. 2:28-29).
· Israel's (Jacob's) name means “Overcomer with God” (Gen. 32:28). One can be a physical Israelite having descended from Israel (Jacob) but to be a true spiritual Israelite one needs to be a part of God's church and be “an overcomer with God” (Gal. 6:16, Rom. 9:3-8).
· God's punishment will come first on Israel and then on the Gentiles (Isa. 10:5-12). After Christ returns God will first work with physical Israel and offer them the chance to be spiritual Israelites and then, through their example when they do repent, God will open up salvation to the Gentile nations (Isa. 2:3, Zech. 8:22-23). Israel will become God's model nation and all nations will be blessed because of their example.
· After Israel fulfils its destiny as God's model nation in the World Tomorrow all nations will become God's chosen people (Isa. 19:24-25)
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