Episode 25: Not all Israel is Israel

Welcome back to the What's the Breakdown Podcast. Join us for today's episode. Not all Israel is Israel. Hey guys, welcome back to the podcast. It's being, and this is episode 25. I want to read you a quote from Genesis 12, verses two and three. Read you some scripture here, and then we'll dive into this. God says, "I'll make you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you, I will curse, and all the families, and in you, all the families of the earth will be blessed." You know, we're at a time right now, guys, where there's a lot of stuff going on in the Middle East, and a lot of stuff going on in the state of Israel, the modern day state of Israel, with homos attack them and just some atrocities and people suffering and dying on both sides, and it's just really ugly. But it did make me want to discuss this for a minute today, because there's a lot of misconceptions and misunderstandings within the church in regards to what is modern day Israel. I see things all the time online that we need to stand with Israel, and pray for Israel, and Israel is the apple of God's eye, according, I believe, Zechariah there. But I think this is something that's been a misconception, largely important the last 200 years, and I just want to discuss this for just a minute today. That quote that I just read that you hear a lot of times, is that if we bless Israel, then we'll be blessed, if we curse Israel, we'll be cursed. Well, that promise was not made to Israel first. It was specifically made to Abraham. God makes this promise to Abraham in chapter 12 of the Genesis, when he tells him that he is going to be a great nation, and he'll bless him, and he goes on to telling that through his seed, all nations of the world we blessed. And it's important that we recognize that this is to Abraham, and specifically through the promises, as the promises get reiterated, through the generations to Isaac and to Jacob, and so on, that these promises are reiterations of the promise made to Abraham. So we have to go back there to understand what these promises really mean. And so I want to point some things out today that may, may bother you at first. They may seem contrary to what you've been taught growing up. They may seem contrary to what you believe. You may immediately want to buck back against them, but I ask you to listen to the scriptures and go read the scriptures, and see what they say, and then deal with that. Deal with that. Okay. And the thesis is simply this. We are going to elaborate on what Paul says in Romans chapter 9, that not all Israel is Israel. So let's just read that passage, and then we'll go from there. So in Romans chapter 9, Paul says this, this is a start with verse one, he says, "I'm speaking the truth in Christ. I'm not lying. My conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit, that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart, for I could wish that I, myself, were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh." They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises. To them belong the patriarchs, and from their race according to the flesh is the Christ, who is God overall blessed forever, amen. But it's not as though the Word of God has failed, for not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel, and not all are children of Abraham, because they are his offspring, but, quote, "through Isaac shall your offspring be named." This means that it is not the children of the flesh, who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as offspring. And so this passage right here in the book of Romans is part and parcel with Paul's explanation throughout his letters of who Abraham's descendants actually are. The promise that was given to Abraham was to Abraham and to his seed, and then to the descendants of that seed. And so the descendants in line of that seed. But Paul tells us in Galatians specifically that the seed referenced in that promise to Abraham is Christ. So the promise that those who bless you, all bless, those who curse you, all curse is made to Abraham and then specifically to Jesus. And here's why I say that. In the book of Matthew, if you go to Matthew and look, it says the story of Jesus' birth, and they're about to flee out of Egypt, and they're warned in this vision and are in this dream. And it quotes out of Egypt as the prophecies fulfilled, or as the prophets have said, out of Egypt, I've called my son. Okay, speaking of Jesus. So here's God saying out of Egypt, I've called my son. Well, the only prophecy that that can fulfill or fit scripturally is in Hosea chapter 11, where it says, let's see, I'm going to read it to you. I don't want to just quote it off top of my head so that you can hear this. And see, it was Hosea. All right, chapter 11, verse 1. And listen to what it says here. It says, "When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt, I called my son." So that's the prophecy that's being fulfilled in Jesus, with this Mary Joseph fleeing from Egypt, or fleeing to Egypt, I guess, to avoid herod. And so this prophecy says, "When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt, I called my son." So it's important for us to recognize, guys, that Israel, the actual Israel is Jesus. He is the true Jew. He's the only one who's ever kept all the law, who's done all the things God has asked. He is Israel. And those who believe are part of him. And if you're like, what are you talking about? And I just hang with me for a second, okay? Because remember, Jesus tells us very specifically, He says, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. No one." Right? He says, "No one comes to the Father except through him." And this is important. And if you're like, "Oh, well, that's just New Testament. That's when Jesus came." No, it's important that the Jews who believe, the Israelites who believed God in the Old Testament, they believed about this seed that was coming, this seed of Abraham, this promise given to Abraham, they believed God. They believed in the coming Messiah. They put their faith in what they couldn't see. And then, when Thomas touches Jesus after his resurrection, because he didn't believe it was Jesus, and he touches him and Jesus says, "You believe because you see." But blessed are those who believe and have not seen. There are so many people in the Old Testament, all the way up until Jesus' death, Abraham, and resurrection, who had not seen Jesus, but believed God's promise about this coming seed and about this Messiah, and they believed God. Right? So they had put all their faith and trust in Jesus. So it's always been about Jesus. As no one comes to the Father except through Him, except through Himself, he is telling us that he is the way to God. So nobody can get to God separate from Christ, whether it be Old Testament or New Testament, because Jesus even tells the Pharisees, the teacher's law, who are looking into the scriptures and scriptures, meaning Old Testament, they're looking into the Old Testament, and Jesus says, "You're looking in these scriptures looking for eternal life, but these scriptures testify about me." Jesus is telling them that the Old Testament scriptures are telling them about Him. As a matter of fact, Paul uses the Old Testament and the scriptures and the prophets in order to prove to the Jewish community that Jesus was the very Messiah they were hoping for and waiting for. Right? It's always been about Jesus. So think about this. Jesus says, "He is the way that truth in the life, and no one comes to the Father about through Him." John 15, "Jesus says, 'I am the vine. You are the branches.' He says, 'Apart from me, you can do nothing.' And if we look at His wording here, when He tells us what happens to us if we are separated from Him, He says, 'If anyone does not abide in me, He is thrown away like a branch and withers, and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned.' So if you don't abide in the vine, you will be destroyed. You will be cut off and destroyed. And then that reflects, I'm thought a lot at you. See, you just need to follow with me here. So Jesus, 'I am the vine. Apart from me, you can do nothing, but if you don't abide in me, if you don't stay with me, you'll be cut off and thrown away and burned.' Right? Well, that's a direct correspondence to Paul's teaching in Romans chapter 11 about this natural olive tree. So it says, 'All believing Jews.' All believing, well, I guess, I can't really say Israelites, but it specifically says Jews, the circumcised. All those who circumcised and believed were part of this natural tree. They were God's people, right? They were chosen by God. They were adopted first, Paul said. They were given the covenants and the patriarchs and all these things. If they believed God, and ultimately in Christ, they stayed in this natural tree. But he goes on to say that the Jews who don't believe, the circumcised who don't believe God are cut off from the tree. Their branches are cut off. And since they were cut off, it made room that the Gentiles, who were part of a wild olive tree, it says that they were grafted in, contrary to nature, when they believed God. believe by faith. And so here we have Jesus saying in John 15 that he is the vine and that apart from him we can do nothing that if we don't abide in him, we'll be cut off and burned. And then Paul saying that there is a natural tree in which believing Jews remain, unbelieving Jews are cut off and believing Gentiles are grafted in. Well, then Paul tells the Gentiles not to become arrogant because if God can cut off the natural Jews who don't believe, then if Gentiles either lose their faith or choose not to believe that God can cut them off as well. So interestingly enough, in that passage in Romans 11, it says that the believing Jews who are in this natural olive tree and the believing Gentiles who are grafted in, it says they all participate or take part or are nourished from the same root. The root of the tree, the first fruits, it says offered as holy, therefore the whole tree is holy. Jesus is the first fruits. That's what God offered up as the first fruits of the resurrection and so that we many more would come. So Jesus is the first fruits. He is the root and we see this in the Old Testament when Jesus is called the root of Jesse. Jesus is the root by which we all live and have life. That's why he says on the vine, you can do nothing apart from me. That's why it tells us that the believing Jews and Gentiles are being nourished by the same root. And so that's why Jesus says that there's no one that can come to the Father except through me. This is also why they possible John. And first John tells us that if you deny that Jesus is the Christ, you're an anti-Christ, but then he falls it up by saying, if you do not have the Son, you do not have the Father. So in order to be right with God, you must believe God specifically about his promise, specifically now about Jesus. So we have to put our faith and trust in him. And if you're asking me, why am I talking about this today? Here's the gist of it is that there are so many people out there who believe that that land over in the Middle East that is now called modern day Israel that that land is God's land. And that that's his people's land. And that the people who reside there who call themselves Jewish, who practice Judaism, a, well, a, a, whatever they call the Judaism, who practice that the belief is that they are God's people. And I'm here to tell you that scripturally that is incorrect. God's people are Abraham's descendants, specifically those who believed the promise. And here's what, here's what the Bible says about that. Okay. So if Paul and chapter nine of Romans that we read earlier, he breaks it down for the people like this that it's not the natural birth that produces Abraham's descendants. It's the, the, but those of the promise. And here's what he means. Because Abraham had two two sons right off the bat, right? He had Ishmael with Hegar, the servant. And then he had Isaac with Sarah, right? So Ishmael was his descendant. It was actually his first born who should have got his birthright. But yet Ishmael did not receive the promise that he was that was given to Abraham. It was Isaac because God promised that he would do it through Sarah in a way that Abraham couldn't help in a way that Sarah couldn't help because she was bearing there both old. There's no way that they could have had a child between them. And yet God says, that's how I'm going to do it so that you have to trust me for it and not in yourselves. And so here we have Isaac. Okay. Is the one is the one child who gets the promise and it begins to go through his line. Well, then Isaac has two kids. He has Esau and Jacob. Esau was the oldest son. He should have received the promise and the inheritance and the blessing. And yet God chose to give that blessing to Jacob. And then Jacob eventually is renamed Israel from which we get our tribes of Israel. And so it's vital that we see this physical genealogy, this natural genealogy pointing us to the spiritual reality that Abraham's descendants are those who are born of the promise. And in the book of John, chapter one specifically, the Apostle John kind of tells us this that we are children of God, not because we choose to be, right? But he says this. Let me find it. All right. He says, but to all who did receive him, who all believed in his name, him being Jesus, okay? To all who did receive Jesus, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. And see, Jesus even reiterates this in his own ministry when he's talking to these Jewish men and women, specifically men, I assume in the context, but he's talking to these Jewish people and they say, we're Abraham's descendants. We don't know what it's like to be enslaved. We don't, we've always been free. We are Abraham's descendants. And Jesus tells them, listen, if you were Abraham's children, if he was your father, then you would accept me. You would hear me. You would listen to me because I'm from God. But Abraham is not your father. You are not his descendants. Your father is the devil. So here he's talking to people who are ethnically Jewish. And yet he says, you are not God's children. All right. So this, this really should, should bother you. If you are someone who believes that the people in, in modern day Israel are God's people, then how do you define who God's people actually are? If Jesus says that there are ethnic Israelites, ethnic Jews who are not God's people, rather they're Satan's people, then how do we define what it means to be God's people? Because they're physical descendants of Abraham. But yet here Jesus says, you're not mine. You're not of God. You don't have the father. Why? Because they don't believe in the sun. And so I want to point out a couple things today in regards to this that you need to understand when it comes to the modern day state of Israel and who they are and who they're not. Because guys, God's people are those who put their faith in trust in Christ, those who believe God, those are who His people are. And in regards to modern day Israel, we do need to pray for them. We need to pray for them that they that they give their lives to Lord. We need to pray for their salvation that they would become right with God because they are not at peace with God. They're at war with God. They have rejected their own Messiah. They're not following the faith of their forefathers because don't you think about this? They say that their forefathers are Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, that these are their patriarchs. And yet they don't even follow the law that their forefathers had to follow once Moses came about because they don't offer sacrifices for sin because there is no temple. So they can't even do the very thing that was supposed to give them was supposed to reconcile them to God for at least a year because there is no more temple. The reason there's no more temple is because Jesus Christ was already a sacrifice one time for all and sat down to right hand the Father. That's why there is no more temple. That's why we are now being built into the temple because all of that stuff was a copy of the real thing to come. So today, who are the Jews that are in Israel? Who are those people? The Jews that are in Israel today are the branches that have been cut off because of unbelief as we were as we talked about in Romans 11. They refused to believe in the Messiah. They refused. They rejected Jesus, killed Jesus, the Jews from back then. They rejected him and killed him. And now they're still looking for another Messiah. They have not they're not lukewarm about Jesus. They're not indifferent about Jesus. They hate Jesus. They rejected and still reject their own Messiah and are looking for another one. They are the branches that have been cut off. But here's the good news. Paul says that if those branches have been cut off from unbelief, that if they were to believe and put their faith in Christ and repent, God would graft them back in that there is still hope for those who call themselves Jews. But it's not found in Judaism. It's not found in the religion they're practicing. It's only found in Christ because God's the old covenant is obsolete. He verse chapter 8 tells us the law or trying to follow the law for righteousness, the offering of sacrifices, the Levitical priest said all that stuff is obsolete and passing away because there's a new covenant now. And it's a better covenant the Bible says and this covenant is for the house of Judah and for the house of Israel. And we also are in this covenant because of Jesus. Right? Because in Ephesians, it tells us that we who were foreigners, you know, that we were without hope and without God in the world that we had that we were excluded from citizenship from in it with Israel. But it says now with Christ that we are now co-citizens with God's people and members of God's household that we are being joined together into one man. Right? And we need to understand that that there is no separation between believing Jews and believing Gentiles. There is neither Jew nor Greek in Christ. We are one body the Bible says. And so and this is not replacement theology. I'm not replacing Israel. I'm saying rather that we are grafted into that tree that they are already in. We are now co-citizens with Israel. We are the people of God collectively. You know? So some things to think about in regards to modern day Israel. Okay? Jerusalem. Jerusalem is no longer the city where God's people reside, nor is it the location of the temple. It's now new Jerusalem. This is the scriptures are infatic about this. You know, in Galatians chapter four, it tells us that old Jerusalem represents Heygar represents Sinai. It represents the law and slavery. It says that the Jerusalem of today represents slavery. In Revelation chapter 11 verse eight, Jerusalem is called symbolically Sodom and Egypt. That is not a holy place Sodom because of the sin and wickedness that's there and Egypt because of the slavery that is brought about by trying to follow the law for righteousness. The law just shows us our sin and need for a savior. So if Jerusalem of today is recognized as being a place of slavery and is symbolically called Sodom and Egypt, we need to recognize that Galatians 426 Hebrews 11 16 and chapter 12 verse 22 Hebrews all tell us that God's people are part of new Jerusalem, the holy city of God, new Jerusalem. We are being built into that city. God is building us into this place. Okay. And so if the Jerusalem of today is a place of slavery and not where the people of God reside, we need to pray that they find freedom and that they find peace in Christ. And that peace, like I said, is only found in Jesus. It said that he came and preached peace to those who were near. That's the Jews and peace to those who are far away. That's the Gentiles. But here's the bottom line, both Jew and Gentile need peace with God and it's only found in Christ. But Jews today, they reject Christ. And therefore that passage we read at the very beginning, when God says to Abraham those who curse you, I will curse those who bless you, I will bless. Okay. When Jews reject Jesus, when they reject the seed that was the direct recipient of the promise to Abraham, they are cursing Abraham. First John 2, 21 through 23 tells us that anyone who rejects that Jesus is the Christ, that Jesus is the Messiah. If you reject that he's the Messiah, you are an anti-Christ. And if you don't have the son, you do not have the Father. That is every single Jew today that rejects Jesus Christ as their Messiah. And then Galatians chapter 3, verses 15 through 16, I want to read this to you. I know I'm doing a lot of scripture today, guys, but this is something you need to see that the scriptures aren't fatic about. This is not some sideline issue or some, you know, verse taken out of context. This is the truth of scripture. Chapter 3 verses 15 and 16, it says this, "To give a human example, brothers, even with a man made covenant, no one unknowles it or adds to it once has been ratified. Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring, it does not say into offspring," referring to many, but referring to one, and to your offspring, who is Christ? Jesus Christ is the offspring of Abraham and the recipient of the promise and it's his descendants, those who are in him who are going to be receiving the blessings and the promises of Abraham. And so if you bless the church, then you bless Abraham, you bless Christ. If you curse the church, you curse his body, you curse Abraham, you will be cursed by God. And this is exactly what we're seeing within the Jewish culture today. Even in regards to the conflict that's going on, even Muslims believe that Jesus was a prophet, but they reject that he's God's son. And they reject that he died and rose again, which are fundamental truths to the deity and and salvation plan of Jesus. And we know that there will always be animosity between the descendants of Ishmael and the descendants of Isaac. The Bible tells us that, right? The descendants of Ishmael's where Muhammad came from and the descendants of Isaac is where Jesus came from. There will always be animosity between those two people groups, right? But here's the reality. Jews don't love Jesus either. Muslims think higher of Jesus than Jews do, right? It's because modern day Jews are not part of Israel, the true Israel of God, the true people of God. The Bible tells us in Romans, chapter 2, and I need you to hear this because this is really, really important because Paul drives this point home. Remember Paul is a Jew of Jews. That's what he says. He was a Benjamin night. He was a Hebrew of Hebrews. He circumsized on the eighth day. He did all the things, right? Which trained under Gamelielle. Like he knew what he was talking about. But listen to what he says in Romans, chapter 2, about what it means to be a Jew, right? This is Romans, chapter 2, verses 26 through 29. He says this. So if a man who is uncircumcised, meaning a Gentile, keeps the precepts of the law, will not his uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision? Then he who is physically uncircumcised, but keeps the law will condemn you who have the written code and circumcision, but break the law. Okay? This is super important because he's saying that if somebody is an uncircumcised, if they're a Gentile, and they do what the law says, they do what God tells them to do, then it says though they were circumcised. This is though they were Jewish. And if someone is Jewish and has been circumcised, but they don't do what the law says, it becomes as though they were not circumcised. In other words, they were a Gentile. He goes on to say this, for no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly nor is circumcision outward and physical, but a Jew is one inwardly. And circumcision is a matter of the heart by the spirit, not by the letter. His praise is not from man, but from God. So circumcision is done by the spirit, not by human hands. It's done of the heart, not of the flesh. And this is reiterated by Paul in Galatians chapter 6. When he's in verse, I want to say 15, but I want to check and make sure. In Galatians chapter 6 he says, verse 15, he says, for neither circumcision counts for anything nor uncircumcision, but a new creation, a new creation. In 2 Corinthians 5, 17, it says, whoever is in Christ is a new creation. The old has gone the new has come. And these are just echoes of Jesus' words to Nicodemus in John chapter 3 when he says that in order to see the kingdom of God, to enter into the kingdom of God, you must be born again, born of water and of the spirit, because the spirit is who does the circumcision. The spirit is the one who makes us right with God. You have to have the spirit and the spirit is found through belief and faith in Jesus Christ. That's the river of living water, the fountain of living water that he talks about during his ministry. He was talking about the Holy Spirit who would come after he ascended to the Father. So a true Jew is someone not who just does the law, but a true Jew is someone who's been circumcised in their heart by the spirit. Because guys listen, true Jews, true Jews follow Jesus. Why? Because he's their Messiah. Jesus is their Messiah, so they would follow Jesus. But the Jews back then and the Jews today rebel against God. They rebel against Jesus. They murder Jesus. First, that's the language too. He reiterates that they murder Jesus. It's chapter 2 verses 14 and 15. Paul doesn't hold back and he does his Peter in regards to what the Jewish people did at the time. He says this in chapter 2 verse 14 and 15 says, "For you brothers became imitators of the Church of God and Christ Jesus that are in Judea. For you suffered the same things from your own countrymen as they did from the Jews who killed both the Lord Jesus and the prophets and drove us out and displeased God and opposed all mankind." Paul has some harsh words for the Jewish people. These Jews worshiped other gods in Acts chapter 7 when Stephen the Deacon is about to be stone to death. He charges them with worshipping other gods. Listen to what he says because this is really troubling. This is really troubling and this should make you turn your head a little bit and think in Acts chapter 7 verses 42 and 43. He says this. So he's about to get stone to death, but he's preaching to these people and he says this. But God turned away. He's talking about back in when they're in Egypt and with Moses. He says, "But God turned away and gave them over to worship the host of heaven as it's written in the book of prophets of the prophets. Did you bring to me slain beasts and sacrifices during the 40 years in the wilderness, O house of Israel? You took up the tent of Mo'lok and the star of your God, Arraifan, the images that you made to worship and I will send you into exile beyond Babylon." So he's reminding these Jews of the day how they used to worship the star of Rimphan and Mo'lok. Mo'leg. They would offer their children up to Mo'leg for sacrifice as the star of Rimphan is known as the star of Jupiter. I believe Jupiter, Saturn. I can't remember. But I think it might be Saturn. So they're worshipping these little G gods. But if you look it up, the star of Rimphan is a six-sided star. That should ring some bells in your mind that these people back then, back in Moses's day, were rejecting God and following or worshiping a six-sided star, thinking it was connected to some other little G-God. What is the star of David? The symbol of the logo, if you will, of the Jewish faith that they put on everything. It's on their flag. It's a six-sided star. Just something to think about there, okay? Now, all this being said, here's what I wanna get at. I know this has been a little bit long today, but let me just finish with this. When we talk about Israel, if you believe that Israel is something different than the church, when you say we need to stand with Israel, we need to pray for Israel, and you identify a group of people as being special to God, separated for God, and that being something different than the church, I want you to think about this, okay? That's called, that's, that's falls in line with this belief called Zionism, where everything is pro-Israel, this people of God, quote unquote, that are in this area in the Middle East, that they need to be protected and, and helped and aided and prayed for because God has special plans for them, all right? If you believe that Israel is different than the church, and you don't believe that the church is all believing Jews and all believing Gentiles together, if you believe that Israel is different than the church, and here's what you have to believe scripturally, you have to believe that God has two distinct peoples because exodus six seven, Ezekiel 3628, tells us that Israel, that God says, I will be your God and you will be my people to the tribes of Israel in the Old Testament, that you will, I will be your God and you will be my people. So there'll be one people group, but the church, listen to these, and I'm not gonna read all these, but I'll just tell you what they are. Romans 9, 22 through 26, Hebrews 18, first Peter 2, 10, second Corinthians 6, 16, all say that the believers, Jew and Gentile like that God says, I will be your God and you will be my people. So you would have to believe that there is a group with Israelites that are separate from the church, and both of these groups are two distinct people of God, not all one people. You believe that God has two separate peoples that He loves. Even though Jesus says, I came for the law sheep of Israel, and they know my voice and they hear my voice, but there's also another flock from another sheep from another flock and I will bring them in also and they will become one flock and they will have one shepherd. But that being said, in order to believe that Israel and the church are something different, you have to believe that there are still two flocks and there will be two flocks, okay? Here's the second problem. If you believe that Israel and the church are something different that there are two separate entities, you have to believe that God has two brides, okay? And this is really problematic because those who hold to some sort of dispensational theology that believe that the church is going to be raptured out before the tribulation and the marriage supper of the Lamb is going to take place in heaven while the tribulation is going on. And then God's going to cut Jesus going to come back with his bride to set up his kingdom for a thousand years so that Israel can receive their promise. Here's what you have to believe. Because in Hosea chapter two and Isaiah chapter 54, God tells Israel that they are his bride and he is their husband, okay? Tells that the nation, the tribes of Israel that they are his bride and he is their husband. But then the church in Revelation 19 and Ephesians chapter five verses 22 through 32 says specifically that the church is the bride of Christ. And so you would have to believe that there is a bride named Israel and there's a bride named the church and that you would have to believe if these are two separate things that Jesus would be coming back with one bride so that he can set up a kingdom for a second bride. That doesn't work. God's not polygamous, okay? He God is faithful, he has one bride. You also have to believe if Israel and the church are two separate things that God has two separate nations, okay? Meaning that he would have to have two separate kingdoms as well. Because in Genesis chapter 12 verse two that we read at the beginning, he tells Abraham, I will make you into a great nation. And then Exodus chapter 19 verses five through six it reiterates that they will be a nation, a great nation. So Israel has to be this nation. But then the church in the New Testament first Peter chapter two verse nine says that you are a holy nation, okay? Talking to believers, Jew and Gentile like you are a holy nation. And in Ephesians chapter two verses 19 through 22, listen to what it says here. Ephesians chapter two verses 19 through 22. It says this. So the New are no longer strangers than aliens, but you're fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets. Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone in whom the whole structure being joined together grows into a holy temple in the Lord in him. You also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the spirit. We have been brought into the citizenship with the saints, which makes us part of a kingdom or a nation. That's what citizenship denotes and that we are part of the household of God. So you would have to believe if Israel and the church are two separate things that Israel is a nation of God and that the church is a separate nation of God. And on top of all of this, you would have to believe, if Israel and the church were something different or two different things, that God has two covenants simultaneously going on between Israel and the church. You'd have to believe that the covenant that Moses brought in in Exodus 24 or that God brought to Moses in Exodus 24, that it is still in effect. And you'd have to believe that the covenant, the new covenant brought in to, it's started, prophesied in Jeremiah 33, but brought in with Jesus, when he says, this is the new covenant, my blood, we read this in Luke 22, we read about in Hebrews eight and Hebrews 10, second Corinthians three, Romans chapter seven, this new covenant has to be going on simultaneously. But here's the problem. The new covenant is in Jesus' blood, sacrificed once for all, no more sacrifice for sin is required because he is the sacrifice, while simultaneously believing that there is an old covenant promise going on where they need to continually sacrifice animals for their sin, meaning that Jesus' blood was not enough for the very people he was supposed to be the Messiah for. Do you see the absurdity in that? If you hold that Israel, this nation that's going on right now, and the church are two separate things, then you must believe that God has two people, two brides, two separate nations and two kingdoms, and two separate covenants going on right now. It's not correct, guys, because it's always been about Abraham's descendants, and the Bible is very clear that Abraham is the Father of us all, because Abraham believed God before he was circumcised, and it was credited to him as righteousness. And then he got circumcised as a seal of the covenant. That's why Abraham, the Bible says, is the Father of the uncircumcised and the circumcised for all who believe. That's why it says he is the Father of us all. You know the old song from when you were a kid, Father Abraham had many sons, and many sons had Father Abraham, and I am one of them, and so are you. So let's just praise our Lord. You would have to believe that there are Israelites who are descendants of Abraham, and that there are Christians who are descendants of Abraham, and yet they're not the same family. Guys, I'm sorry, but that's just wrong. We are all descendants of Abraham who believe, and it says that we are co-airs, to the promise. Like we are all one body in Christ, and Galatians specifically says, actually if you are in Christ Jesus, then you are Abraham's descendants. You are his children and co-airs to the promise. Okay, guys, the Israel of today, the Jews of today have rejected Jesus. They are anti-Christ according to the Bible's own words. They are children of Satan, according to Jesus' own words. And in Revelation chapter two, verse nine, and chapter three, verse nine, Jesus talks about a group of people who call themselves Jews, but are not that they are actually a synagogue of Satan. That lines up with his teaching in the beginning when he talked about those Jews who were not Abraham's children, but rather they were Satan's children. And so ask yourself today, What does it mean to be part of Israel. What does it mean when I say we need to stay in with Israel because if it's not about their ethnicity, which the Bible is clear about that? Now they were chosen, they were adopted, and then as they were born, they had the opportunity first and foremost to put their faith and trust in God. That's what Rome was once sixteen says. I'm not ashamed of the gospel because it's the power of salvation for all who believe first for the Jew and then for the Gentile. They have the opportunity first. That's why they're the natural olive tree that they have the first shot at believing on the God who promised them to work through them. That's why Rome was fifteen tells us that Jesus became a servant to the Jews on behalf of the patriarchs and the promises of God so that the Gentiles may too glorify in God because that's the mystery, guys. The mystery throughout scripture and the New Testament that's mentioned by Paul, that mystery is not that Gentiles could be saved. That mystery was that they would become one body, that they would become one thing, one new man out of the two. That was the purpose of Christ. Ephesians chapter two tells us that the purpose of Jesus, which create one new man out of the two, out of Jew and Gentile, that they become one man. And so if you believe today that Israel is something different than the church, then what you're doing is that you are saying that what Jesus actually came to accomplish didn't happen. You're saying that he didn't make one new man out of the two. You're saying that there is a second man that will stay that way until the end. Guys, that's heresy. If you believe that Israel is something separate than the church, that the Israel of God is something separate than the church, that is incorrect biblically. It does not hold up. It simply does not hold up. As a matter of fact, if you were to go back to the Old Testament, guys, Israel split into two groups, the northern kingdom and the southern kingdom. The southern kingdom was made of two tribes, Judah and Benjamin. Guess what city was in that tribe or in that kingdom? Jerusalem. The top 10 of the 10 tribes that went north became what is known as Israel. And so Israel is where you get Samaria, the Samaritans. They stepped their own temple, worship God their own way. And that's why they were, were, were that why Jews didn't like them is because they were half pre-Jews who had left the ways that got it established in Judea, in Judah. And they, they did not get along. And I want you to think about this just for a minute. Because when Jesus sends out his disciples on their missionary journey, before he ascends to the Father and he tells them to wait for the Holy Spirit to follow them, I want you to think about what he tells them to do. Notice what he doesn't say in this. He tells them that you will wait for this power on high and then you will go and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and all the ends of the earth. Why didn't he say you will be my witnesses in Israel? Because what was known as Israel at that time had become Samaritans. They become Samaria. And so Judah and Benjamin were the tribe that God did not divorce. But the Bible tells us that God did divorce Israel and Jeremiah three and that he would take them back and be a husband to them again if they came back. And that's why in the new covenant because Judah wasn't good, but they got it in the worser. Okay. Judah was sinful too, but Judah came back even though you had some Jews who killed Jesus. But based on what we read earlier, they wouldn't be true Jews. They'd be ethnic Jews, but not spiritual Jews. But that's what the new covenant was for. The new covenant that was going to be made once the Jewish people came back from Babylon, once Judah, that's the southern kingdom. Once they came back from Babylon, God says, "I'm going to make a new covenant with you." This is in Jeremiah, that I'll make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. So you'll make a covenant with both of them, right? And that covenant was found in Christ. And so if either of those houses don't put their faith in trust in Christ, they are not God's people because God specifically says in that covenant that I will be your God and you will be my people. So in order for God to be our God and for us to be his people, we have to be in that covenant. And that covenant is through one person alone, Jesus Christ. So here's what you can take away from this today, guys. There is one Israel of God. It has nothing to do with ethnicity. It has everything to do with faith. Israel of God is the natural olive tree, all believing Jews, all believing Israelites who put their faith in God and followed Him, those who didn't see the coming Messiah, those who believed from far off who never got to see that they come, they're in that tree because of belief. But all those who reject the Messiah, all those who reject God who turn away from God like they did in the wilderness with Israelites, all those who turn away from God are cut off from the tree. And because they rejected Him, all Gentiles, that's you and me, many of us who are listening to this today, we have been given the opportunity through Jesus Christ to be grafted in to this tree. Well guys, this tree is Israel because its root is the true, one true Israel, Jesus Christ, we are His body, He is the vine, He is the root, He is the one through whom we receive our nourishment and our life. The church is Israel. The Bible is emphatic about it, Paul is clear about it, Peter is clear about it. And Jesus backs it up throughout all of his ministry and in the book of Revelation. Guys, I hope this has been a challenge to you. I hope this has been an opening for you. When we talk about Israel, we need to make sure we know who we're talking about. We don't stand with the anti-Christ. As Christians, we don't stand alongside those who reject Jesus. That's not what we do. We don't stand with those who reject Christ and then say their God's people. When the Bible says if they do not have the Son, they do not have the Father. If you have questions, guys, I encourage you to shoot them my way. I know this was long today, but it's a lot and it's something that we really need to understand. So how do we conclude today? Let's pray for Israel. Let's pray for the nation's state of Israel that was established in 1948. That's the place that was attacked this last couple weeks. That's the place where the war is going on. That's the place where people are suffering dying. We need to pray for the people there that are lost, both Muslim and Jewish, that they come to know Jesus Christ and receive salvation. We need to pray for the church, the actual church who's over there, serving and helping and trying to protect people and minister to people and witness to people. We need to pray for their boldness and their safety that God would use them in a mighty way because at the end of the day, guys, when Jesus comes back, it's it. There is no, there's no getting out of a seven year tribulation or anything like that. When Jesus comes back, it's game over and we will either be for him or against him. Let's make sure that if people are going to go to hell like Charles Spurgeon said, if people are going to go to hell, that they have to drag us kicking, screaming, pleading for them to come to Jesus. Let's do that right now before we close today. God, I just want to come to you right now on behalf of all these things that are going on the Middle East. I just asked that your hand would be in the situation, God, that you would use those who know you as Lord and know your son as Savior God, that you would empower them, use them in a mighty way to share your gospel and God and to love people and just to be an instrument of you and ambassador for you in this place that people would smell the aroma of life coming from them and that they would ask and want to know more and that they would receive saving faith and that they would receive salvation through faith in your son Jesus. God, I pray for the loss that are there that you would prepare good soil in their hearts and their minds to receive the gospel. God, I pray for protection for those, especially for the children and those who are having an endure such terrible things, God, we pray that you would just watch over them. But God, in all these things, may you be glorified. May your church stand tall. May your truth, may your truth just ring out from the rooftops. God, we pray that you help us as the church in the Western world know what to do. Give us eyes to see, Lord, help us to stand with what's true. Help us us stand with what's right. Help us to do what you would have us to do. Give us your wisdom. May we not just seek to be right, God, but seek to help people be right with you. May we preach the peace that you've offered us. May we extend that peace to others so they can know it too. God, forgive us for our sins. We ask that you would just be in that situation and be glorified. All these things we ask in your name. Amen. Guys, I pray this was a blessing to you tonight. I look forward to hearing from you and I'll see you next time on What's the Breakdown. Thanks for joining us on this week's episode of What's the Breakdown. See you next time.