Coffee House Chapel #5

July 30

Romans 11:26-27, “And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob: For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins.”

Today we shall look at two more O.T. prophecies that become clearer in their understanding, because of Paul’s promise that “all Israel shall (future) be saved.”

Hosea 1:10 and 2:21-23, “Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured nor numbered; and it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people, there it shall be said unto them, Ye are the sons of the living God.” “And it shall come to pass in that day, I will hear, saith the Lord, I will hear the heavens, and they shall hear the earth; And the earth shall hear the corn, and the wine, and the oil; and they shall hear Jezreel. And I will sow her unto me in the earth; and I will have mercy upon her that had not obtained mercy; and I will say to them which were not my people, Thou art my people; and they shall say, Thou art my God.”

Hosea was a living object lesson to Israel. God told him to marry a woman who was a harlot. The children that were born were named Jezreel (scattered), Loruhamah (not-loved), and Loammi (not-my-people). The names of the children prophesied to Israel what was to happen to them because of their sin. God changed the names of the children to Planted, Loved, and My People. Note verse 23 in the NIV, “I will plant her for myself in the land; I will show my love to the one I called `Not my loved one. ' I will say to those called `Not my people, ' `You are my people'; and they will say, `You are my God.'”

Zechariah 12-14 are an oracle about the final days. One phrase that is used repeatedly by the prophet (16 times) is “on that day.” This phrase “customarily refer to God’s final wrapping-up of history, including the last judgment.” (Boice)

Dr. Boice gives us the following outline of Zech. 12-14:

1. God will deliver Jerusalem from the nations of the earth which are attacking her (12:1-9).
2. The people will “look on ... the one they have pierced” and “mourn for him” (1:10-13).
3. A “fountain” will be opened to the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem “to cleanse them from sin and impurity” (13:1-3).
4. The people will call on God, causing Him to say, as in Hosea 2:23, “They are my people,” and the people to say, “The Lord is our God” (13:9).
5. The Lord will descend on the Mount of Olives to save the people in a time of great trouble, deliver Jerusalem, and bring prosperity to the land (14:1-15).
6. Gentiles will go to Jerusalem to worship God (14:16-19).
7. The people will become holy in all they are and do (14:20-21).

My friends, have you ever seen anything like Zechariah described. No one has, thus the things Zechariah wrote of must still be future. This text was written after the return from exile in Ezra and Nehemiah’s day - so the prophecy does not refer to that time period in Israel. The Apostle Paul wrote, “And so all Israel shall be saved!” “Shall” was future when Paul wrote it. The things prophesied by Jeremiah, Hosea, and Zechariah have never been literally fulfilled as of yet, so they too must be speaking of some future event. That event is when Jesus returns to this earth and sets up His kingdom, when He reigns literally from David’s throne in the city of Jerusalem for one thousand years. Even so come Lord Jesus!

Adapted from “Romans” by Boice.

In Christ,
Dan Todd

 

Interesting way of looking at love -- opps I mean Love!

 

August 2

Romans 11:26-27, “And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob: For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins.”

How many Jews do you personally know that are born-again Christians? I suspect that many of cannot think of a single one. I remember my dad saying that when a Jew comes to Jesus Christ, that they (generally) become one of the most a vibrant witnesses for the Lord that you might ever see. (I think my dad may have personally known one Christ Jew.) As I think back upon the Jews I have known, one comes to mind that was a believer. I met him in Bible College. My church helps support a missionary couple whose primary ministry is to Jewish people. Several years ago I asked him how many Jews had come to Christ through his ministry - the answer - “none.” Yet this brother and his wife do not seem to be discouraged. They carry on Bible studies with Jews on a consistent basis. I tell you all this - to say - that the promise of our text, “And so all Israel shall be saved” seems highly unlikely, based upon my experience, and I would dare say, based upon the experience of most of us. Perhaps a testimony or two would encourage us - at least to pray for Jews and those in Jewish missions.

Sholem Asch, a Polish Jew said in an interview published in January 1944, “Since I first met him [Jesus], He has held my mind and heart .... I was seeking that something for which so many of us search – that surety, that faith, that spiritual content in my living which would bring me peace and through which I might bring some peace to others. I found it in the Nazarene .....

“Jesus Christ, to me, is the outstanding personality of all time, of all history, both as Son of God and as Son of Man .... No other religious leader ... has ever become so personal a part of people as the Nazarene. When you understand Jesus, you understand that He came to save you, to come into your personality. It isn’t just a case of a misty, uncertain relationship between a worshiper and an unseen God; that is abstract; Jesus is personal.”

Constantine Brunner, the German Jewish philosopher, wrote in 1918, “Is it only the Jew who is incapable of seeing and hearing all that others see and hear? Are the Jews stricken with blindness and deafness as regards Messiah Jesus, so that to them alone He has nothing to say? .... Understand, then, what we shall do: We shall bring Him back to us. Messiah Jesus is not dead for us – for us He has not yet lived: and He will not slay us, He will make us alive again. His profound and holy words, and all that is true and heart-appealing in the New Testament, must from now on be heard in our synagogues and taught to our children, in order that the wrong we had committed may be made good, the curse turned into a blessing, and that He at last may find us who has always been seeking after us.”

Ferdynand Zweig said in 1969, “The Jewish religion seems to be at present to the large mass of Israeli Jews uninspiring and uninspired. Could it be that Jesus could give it a new lease of life.”

Hans Joachim Schoeps wrote, “The Messianism of Israel aims at that which is to come, the eschatology of the Gentile church at the return of Him who has come. Both elective covenants confront the ebb and flow of the finite world in the shared expectation that the decisive event is still to come – the goal of the ways of God that He travels with mankind in Israel and in the Church. The church of Jesus Christ has preserved no portrait of its Lord and Savior. If Jesus were to come again tomorrow, no Christians would know His face. But it might well be that He who is coming at the end of days, He who is awaited by the synagogue as by the church, is one, with one and the same face.”

Boice writes, “None of these authors has accepted Jesus as his personal Savior from sin, and no one would say on the basis of the quotations that the Jews as a whole are ready to accept Jesus of Nazareth as their Messiah. But they do indicate what even many Jews are calling a new openness to Jesus and suggest, to Christians at least, that the time of future national conversion that Paul writes of in Romans, may not be far distant.”

Adapted from “Romans” by Boice.

In Christ,
Dan Todd

 

I'm glad Jesus is always there with me - even in the "Fourth Watch!"

Thank you Blackbird!

 

August 4

Romans 11:26-27, “And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob: For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins.”

What can we learn from our look at the Jews and the Gentile Church? Are there lessons that the largely Gentile church of today can learn from God’s historical dealings with the Jewish people?

1. A study of Jewish history from Abraham until today demonstrates the biblical principle of where there is obedience there will be blessing, and where there is disobedience there will be judgment. As I think upon the time of the Judges, I wonder why Israel didn’t see the cyclical pattern of blessing, followed by disobedience (idolatry), followed by foreign oppression, followed by a cry for mercy to God, followed by a Judge whom God uses to free His people, followed by this vicious cycle time and time again. But then I realize that I am often guilty of the same type of cyclical patterns in my life, and the church as a whole is also guilty of the same.
Israel has suffered much for her disobedience. She rejected God’s law, but her greatest sin was to reject God’s Messiah. Paul wisely wrote, “ Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap” (Galatians 6:7). God will not be mocked. If we persist in disobedience, God will discipline us, perhaps gently at first, but when we do not heed that gentle persuading, God can and often does bring out His “big stick,” and the “big stick” hurts. Israel was unable to fight God successfully - we - the Gentile Church cannot fight God successfully!

2. God is faithful to His covenant. The next verse in our devotionals will be Romans 11:27, “For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins.” “Them” refers back to verse 26 and “Israel.” How should God’s future faithfulness to Israel encourage us? “It tells us that God will not give up on those whom He has chosen, even if our sins cause Him to turn away His face for a time.” (Boice)

3. Grace! “God’s relationship to Israel is a tremendous illustration of His grace. Chosen, yet frightfully disobedient, even to the point of rejecting and actually killing the very Son of God sent to them, Israel nevertheless has been loved by God, continues to be loved by Him, and will one day be brought back to God – because God is gracious.” (Boice) We serve the same God that Israel of old served. He was gracious then - He continues to be gracious to us. Today is the day of God’s grace.

But this day of grace will not last forever. Israel has started to return to her ancient homeland. The sound of the trumpet of God can not be to far away. Where do you stand in your relationship to God’s Son? The Son who died upon the cross to pay for your sin. Jesus is coming again, will you be ready for Him when He comes?

Hebrews 2:1-3a, “Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip. For if the word spoken by angels was stedfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompence of reward; How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation?”

Adapted from “Romans” by Boice.

In Christ,
Dan Todd

 

"Come!" What a powerful sentence - when spoken by the Right Person!

Thank you Blackbird!

 

August 6

Romans 11:27, “For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins.”

We are about to look at a Covenant, more specifically, God’s irrevocable covenant with Israel. What is a covenant? It “is a solemn promise, usually ratified in some formal way.” (Boice) Are covenants important to our understanding of biblical theology? I believe that answer is yes! Interestingly enough, Romans, the most important Book of the Bible, theologically, says very little about covenants, in fact the word is used just two times. The first use was Romans 9:4 where Paul states that the covenant was one of the advantages of Judaism, “Who are Israelites; to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises.” The second mention is our text. The first mention is made with no elaboration. The second is a quote from Isaiah 27:9. “By this therefore shall the iniquity of Jacob be purged; and this is all the fruit to take away his sin; when he maketh all the stones of the altar as chalkstones that are beaten in sunder, the groves and images shall not stand up.”

How important are covenants? Remember that our Bible is divided into two testaments (or covenants), the Old Covenant and the New Covenant! In addition to that, each time we observe communion (The Lord’s Supper), we are reminded of Jesus’ words in Luke 22:20, “Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new testament (covenant) in my blood, which is shed for you.”

The Hebrew word for covenant is b’rith. It occurs more than 300 times in the O.T. The Greek word is diatheke, and it occurs 36 times in the N.T., with over half of those mentions in the Book of Hebrews. I’ve looked for a good definition of “Covenant Theology.” I’ve discovered that generally those who call themselves Covenant theologians have a big problem with “Dispensationalism” (the inverse also appears to be true). I found the following in Doug Beaumont’s website under the heading “Implications of Covenant Theology.” It comes closer to a definition than anything else I’ve found. “In their attempt to unify God’s dealings with mankind, Covenant theologians make the people of God into one group. They argue that Israel was the people of God, that the Church is now the people of God, therefore Israel is (or, more properly, became) the Church. Because the Church has taken Israel’s place, the blessings promised to Israel become the Church’s. The Church receives these blessings through Christ who is the fulfillment of Israel’s blessings.” To finish the definition I quote part of Mr. Beaumont’s conclusion, “The central issue that I see here is whether or not the Church has replaced Israel. To this I answer with an emphatic ‘No’ It is simply too clear from Paul’s writings that the two remain separate, distinct entities after the Church began.”

I am a dispensationalist, because I believe that God deals with each age (dispensation) based on His revealed word to that age. I do not believe in multiple ways of salvation. Salvation has always been by grace through faith, ultimately based on Christ’s atoning death, burial, and resurrection. God simply has asked mankind to believe what He has revealed to him. Adam was saved because he believed what God had revealed to him. Noah had more revelation than did Adam, but yet Noah believed God (he was saved because he believed what God had revealed to him.). Abraham believed God, Moses believed God, David believed God, and Paul believed God. Each had more revelation that did the previous person mentioned. But each were saved by grace through faith, believing what God had revealed to them.

I also place a great importance in the covenants found in the Bible. As you may have surmised from my past devotionals, I do not believe that the Church has replaced Israel. The church is the church, and God has made specific promises to her. Israel is Israel, and God has also made specific promises to Israel. Both the church and Israel, has been - in the case of the church, or will be - in the case of Israel, be saved by grace through faith, believing what God has revealed to them, because there is only one salvation.

We will discuss this subject more in upcoming devotionals.

Adapted from “Romans” by Boice.

In Christ,
Dan Todd