Is God Finished With Israel? - Part 10

Liz Iello: Stay with us as Dr. Gary Hedrick discusses the question, Is God finished with Israel? Today right here on Messianic Perspectives. Shalom and welcome to Messianic Perspectives, a daily program where we look into the scriptures from a distinctive first century Jewish point of view. This is Liz Iello. On today's edition of Messianic Perspectives, Dr. Gary Hedrick is discussing the question, Is God finished with Israel? I'll be back a little later with information about a special offer, so have your pencil and paper ready. Now with today's study, here is Dr. Gary Hedrick.
Dr. Gary Hedrick: Thank you and welcome listening friend to another edition of the program. It's good to have you with us today as we conclude this series of studies on the question, Is God finished with Israel? And we've been talking about certain biblical distinctions that must be made if we're going to rightly divide the word of truth. When we finished up last time for example, we were talking about the distinction between God's plan for Israel and God's plan for the church or the ecclesia. And we had come to Romans 11:26 where Paul says that all Israel shall be saved. We were talking about that Greek verb which is the future tense, passive voice, indicative mood of the verb which means to save. You say, Gary, that's Greek to me. Well, let me tell you what that means. First of all, the Greek future tense describes something that has not yet happened. If Paul had been describing something that was continually happening even at the time he was writing these words, he would have used a present tense or possibly a perfect or imperfect tense in the Greek. In other words, what Paul was talking about in Romans 11:26 when he said all Israel shall be saved could not have been anything that was happening at the time he wrote those words. So he wasn't talking about Jewish believers being added to the church like some people say. Then secondly, the passive voice shows that the subject is the recipient of the action. That is the Messiah is the one who does the saving and it's Israel who is saved. Thirdly, the indicative mood expresses a simple statement of fact. So it's not all Israel might be saved or they could be saved if they met certain conditions, but it's all Israel shall be saved. A statement not of possibility or even probability, but a simple statement of fact. All right, now let's go on to Romans 11:27. Here's what he says. For this is my covenant to them when I shall take away their sins. That's the new covenant. Jeremiah 31:34 says, I will forgive their iniquity and I will remember their sin no more. So that sets the time frame for the fulfillment of this prophecy. All Israel will be saved at the same time that new covenant is fulfilled. And notice under the new covenant, how are sins taken away? The Lord says, I shall take away their sins. In other words, forgiveness of sins is his work, not ours. That's a principle that applies not only to Israel in the future, but to us right now. There's nothing we can do to earn forgiveness, nothing we can do to deserve it. It's something God does for us. And in fact, that's exactly what he did on the cross. He made forgiveness possible through the sacrifice of his son. So he's the one who did it. And then we simply believe it and receive it as a free gift. And by the way listening friend, if you've never received God's free gift of salvation, did you know you can do that right now in your car, in your truck, at home, at your office, wherever you are. You may be out jogging listening to me on a Walkman. You can receive God's gift of salvation simply by believing the gospel with your heart and by confessing it with your mouth. Romans 10:9 and 10 says that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth to righteousness and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. You see, that's the gospel, the death, burial, and resurrection of our blessed Messiah. And when you believe that gospel my friend in your heart and you confess it verbally with your mouth, then you are saved. Just talk to the Lord right now, right there where you are and say something like this. Lord, I'm confessing your son Jesus Christ as my savior and Messiah. I realize that I'm a sinner. I believe he died on the cross for me and that he was buried and that he rose again on the third day. I believe he's alive right now at the right hand of the Father and that someday he's coming back to this earth in power and glory. I believe that Lord and I'm receiving Jesus Christ your son as my Lord and savior and Messiah right now. You say, do I have to say those exact words? Not at all. There's no magic formula for salvation where you have to say certain words. In fact, the words mean nothing if there's not a heart behind those words. John Bunyan said in prayer, it is better to have a heart without words than to have words without a heart. So under the new covenant, the Lord says, I will forgive their iniquity and I will remember their sin no more. Now let's move on through Romans chapter 11. Here he says in verse 28, as concerning the gospel, they are enemies. That is Israel are enemies for your sakes. But as concerning the election, they are beloved for the Father's sakes. Now what did he just say? From the standpoint of the gospel, the Jewish people are enemies, he says. They are at enmity with God just like you were at enmity with God before you came to faith in Christ. And just like I was at enmity with God before I came to faith in Christ. Romans 5:10 says, for if when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his son, how much more having been reconciled shall we be saved by his life? You see, we were enemies too, weren't we? So he says, they are enemies for what? For your sakes. Did you get that my Gentile Christian friend? Israel has been set at enmity with God. That is Israel's fellowship with God has been broken because of her rejection of God's son. But he says it has happened for what? For our sakes. In other words, God allowed his own chosen people to be blinded to the gospel so that that gospel could be offered to the Gentiles, to all the nations of the world. Isn't that what God told Abraham in the very beginning that through him all the families of the earth would be blessed? But Paul says as concerning the election, Israel is beloved for the Father's sakes. In other words, she may be an enemy from the standpoint of the gospel, but don't you ever forget that from the standpoint of election and God's sovereign purpose from before the foundation of the world, Israel is beloved for the Father's sakes. Who are the fathers? The patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, those men to whom God promised the blessings. Then look what he says in verse 29. For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance. In other words, the gifts and calling of God are irrevocable. That means God's call on the Jewish nation is irrevocable. It can never be taken back in spite of her unbelief, in spite of her rejection of the Messiah, in spite of her hardheartedness, in spite of all that she has done. Israel is just as called today as she was 4,000 years ago when God spoke to Abraham. That's what the New Testament teaches. Look at verse 30. For as ye in times past have not believed God, yet have now obtained mercy through Israel's unbelief. Then he says in verse 31, even so have these also now not believed that through your mercy they also may obtain mercy. So it's like a cycle involving Israel and the Gentiles or the church. First it was Israel who were the believers and the Gentiles were God's enemies. Now it's Israel who are not believers and it's because God has shown mercy on the Gentiles that they will now obtain mercy. And they will at the end of this age when the Bible says all Israel shall be saved. Verse 32. For God hath concluded them all in unbelief that he might have mercy upon all. In other words, both Jews and Gentiles are unbelievers by nature and we all need God's salvation and God wants to show his mercy to all of us. You see, those are the two tracks of prophecy. One has to do with God's plan for Israel and the other has to do with God plan for the church. And those two tracks of prophecy are not contradictory, but complementary. It's like a cycle. First it's believing Israel with the Gentiles as the unbelievers. Then it 's the believing church with Israel as the unbelievers. And finally at the end we have the fullness of Israel when all Israel comes to faith in the Messiah and the fullness of the Gentiles as both of us enter into that wonderful glorious Messianic age. So those are just four of the important distinctions that we need to understand in order to rightly divide God's word. And as we come to the close of this series of studies, what is the answer to our question? Is God finished with Israel? No, he is not, not by a long shot. If we had time we could talk about the prophecy of Ezekiel 37, the valley of the dry bones where the prophet Ezekiel outlines the stages of Israel's restoration in the end times. And the first stage in Ezekiel 37:7 is what? The rattling of the bones. Ezekiel says the bones are the whole house of Israel and that at the end of this age God is going to raise them up from the dead. That's what Paul said in Romans 11:15 when he talked about, For if the casting away of Israel be the reconciling of the world, what shall the receiving of Israel be? But what? Life from the dead. Listen, if this one verse was all we had to prove that God is not finished with Israel, this would be enough. For if the casting away of Israel be the reconciling of the world, listen, what shall the receiving of Israel be but life from the dead? The same Israel that was cast away to wander in exile, that same Israel will one day be received once again and raised from the dead. And what we've been seeing in Israel for the past 150 years or so when Jewish people started making aliyah, coming back to Israel, what we've been seeing is the rattling of the bones. They're not alive yet. The spirit of life has not been breathed into them yet and they don't know the Messiah yet, but those bones are rattling. It's happening. Isn't it exciting my friend? Well, that's all of our time. I hope you've ordered the book because there's a lot more detail in there than we could ever go into here on the air. Until next time, this is Gary Hedrick saying, God bless you. Take care. Bye-bye.
Liz Iello: Thank you Gary and thank you listening friends for joining us today. It's always good to have you with us here on Messianic Perspectives. If you'd like your own copy of Gary's series or would like a copy for a friend, you'll be glad to know that it's available on CD for the suggested gift of just $6. Just ask for the series entitled, Is God finished with Israel? By Gary Hedrick. If you'd like the companion booklet also entitled, Is God finished with Israel? That booklet can be yours simply by enclosing an additional $7. This booklet is especially helpful because it includes a word for word transcript of an internet debate between Gary Hedrick and an amillenialist. This is someone who very definitely believes that God is finished with Israel. And of course, Gary very definitely believes that he is not, so it made for quite a lively discussion. It's all here in the booklet, Is God finished with Israel? Just visit our secure online store at messianicspecialties.com to place your order. If you would prefer to order by mail, just address your request to Messianic Perspectives, PO Box 345, San Antonio, Texas 78292. To order by phone, use our toll free order line. The number is 1-800-926-5397. And as always, when you're in touch with us, please mention the call letters of this station. If you're listening to our webcast or podcast, we need to know that too. I'm Liz Iello. Join us next time, won't you for another edition of Messianic Perspectives. Messianic Perspectives is sponsored by CJF Ministries of San Antonio, Texas and is made possible on this station by the free will contributions of our listeners in this area.