The Election of Israel in view of the four unconditional covenants, Part 2Title: The Election of Israel in view of the four unconditional covenants, Part 2
The third covenant is:
/The Davidic Covenant: the house of David will never lack one with the right to rule from his throne.\
Divine discipline may cause the throne itself to be unoccupied; but there shall never lack one whose right it is to sit on that throne.
/ The Davidic Covenant: the house of David will never lack one with the right to rule from his throne.\
This covenant has more impact on the Church than does the Palestinian since that covenant is earthly and national to Israel.
Never once did this covenant impose even the slightest obligation upon David. If it did it would have been broken long, long ago.
/There is a difference in the covenants for Israel between the national promises and the individual promises. The national promises stand for the Jewish positive believer, negative believer, and unbeliever. \
The Jewish unbeliever often enjoyed blessing by his birthright. If you were born a Levite in the age of Israel you had the right of priesthood whether you had faith or not. The prosperity of the nation of Israel through Abraham’s seed extended to all in the nation and certainly there were many unbelievers.
In the Millennium we are told that many of the progeny of those who enter it will reject Christ, but because of the perfect environment, the King seated on David’s throne, and all the nations forced to bow down to Israel, they will enjoy certain blessings.
These are the national promises to Abraham.
Each of the last three covenants are expansions on the Abrahamic Covenant and as such when God said, “I will make you a great nation,” that was not only a blessing for believing Abraham and any believing Jew, but also a source of blessing for the non-believing Jew.
However, blessing does not equal eternal life. Many Jews in every dispensation are blessed by association with Abraham.
/The Davidic Covenant is the covenant of the royal line through David. It is through David that royalty would be preserved. David was a believer, and despite his many shortcomings, he was a man after God’s own heart. \
/1 Sam 13:14 But now your [Saul] kingdom shall not endure. The Lord has sought out for Himself a man after His own heart, and the Lord has appointed him as ruler over His people, because you have not kept what the Lord commanded you." \
/Acts 13:22 "And after He had removed him, He raised up David to be their king, concerning whom He also testified and said, 'I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after My heart, who will do all My will.' \
David had a lot of mess ups, but there were many things that this man did for God that were not even asked of him.
Much of what we look at in this study is going to help us apply what we see in the rest of the Gospel of John.
/The positive believer will stumble in many ways, but he will also be self motivated to glorify the Lord in many ways. \
This is one of the greatest ways that David did such a thing:
1 Chron 17:1 And it came about, when David dwelt in his house, that David said to Nathan the prophet, "Behold, I am dwelling in a house of cedar, but the ark of the covenant of the Lord is under curtains."
1 Chron 17:11 And it shall come about when your days are fulfilled that you must go to be with your fathers, that I will set up one of your descendants after you, who shall be of your sons; and I will establish his kingdom.
1 Chron 17:12He shall build for Me a house, and I will establish his throne forever.
Here we must note the path of David’s progeny to see how God can bless a nation without blessing the individual, although only believers are involved.
David would not build the temple, but his son Solomon would.
/Solomon was blessed as a king but would not hold the lineage of the Messiah. His brother Nathan would. The kingship went through Solomon, but the Messiahship went through another. \
This proves the point that there is a national progression of Israel, but not an individual one. The path of blessing comes through Christ and His word and every one in the promises of Abraham may receive national blessings, but that does not necessarily guarantee individual blessings through faith in Christ and His word.
This is why God would staunchly affirm His fidelity and the perpetuity of the covenant to David in spite of the succeeding rascals who would appear in His lineage.
Ps 89:3 "I have made a covenant with My chosen; I have sworn to David My servant,
Ps 89:4I will establish your seed forever, And build up your throne to all generations. "
/The covenants are like warmth from the Sun. They are prosperity. All of them are the work of God who is the Prosperer and they are for Israel yet future. God gives the sun to believer and unbeliever.\
What happened in the rejection of Israel is that Church got a sneak preview, but not just any sneak preview.
The Church was given the prosperity of the covenants in total, but without a perfect environment or the presence of the resurrected Christ.
You find yourself in the most unique of circumstances in all of God’s program.
It can only become most clear in the last covenant, which is the most valued and sought for in all of Israel.
And that is: /The New Covenant: Expounding on the Abrahamic Covenant the nation of Israel is given a new heart, the forgiveness of sin, and the filling of the Holy Spirit in a thousand year Millennial Reign of Christ. \
Some believe that there are two New Covenants. That the Israel has one and so does the church. This is an incorrect view.
For the Church to have a new covenant that is the same as Israel would not make us special at all, and we are. The CA is completely unique in blessing and privileges.
Jer 31:31 "Behold, days are coming," declares the Lord, "when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah,
Jer 31:32not like the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, although I was a husband to them, "declares the Lord.
Jer 31:33"But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days," declares the Lord, "I will put My law within them, and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.
Jer 31:34"And they shall not teach again, each man his neighbor and each man his brother, saying, 'Know the Lord,' for they shall all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them," declares the Lord, "for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more."
Jer 32:35 "And they built the high places of Baal that are in the valley of Ben-hinnom to cause their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire to Molech, which I had not commanded them nor had it entered My mind that they should do this abomination, to cause Judah to sin.
Jer 32:36"Now therefore thus says the Lord God of Israel concerning this city of which you say, 'It is given into the hand of the king of Babylon by sword, by famine, and by pestilence.'
Jer 32:37"Behold, I will gather them out of all the lands to which I have driven them in My anger, in My wrath, and in great indignation; and I will bring them back to this place and make them dwell in safety.
Jer 32:38"And they shall be My people, and I will be their God;
Jer 32:39and I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear Me always, for their own good, and for the good of their children after them.
Ezek 11:18 "When they come there, they will remove all its detestable things and all its abominations from it.
Ezek 11:19"And I shall give them one heart, and shall put a new spirit within them. And I shall take the heart of stone out of their flesh and give them a heart of flesh,
Ezek 11:20 that they may walk in My statutes and keep My ordinances, and do them. Then they will be My people, and I shall be their God.
Ezek 16:60 "Nevertheless, I will remember My covenant with you in the days of your youth, and I will establish an everlasting covenant with you.
Ezek 16:61"Then you will remember your ways and be ashamed when you receive your sisters, both your older and your younger; and I will give them to you as daughters, but not because of your covenant.
Ezek 16:62"Thus I will establish My covenant with you, and you shall know that I am the Lord,
Ezek 16:63in order that you may remember and be ashamed, and never open your mouth anymore because of your humiliation, when I have forgiven you for all that you have done, "the Lord God declares.
Ezek 37:26 "And I will make a covenant of peace with them; it will be an everlasting covenant with them. And I will place them and multiply them, and will set My sanctuary in their midst forever.
Ezek 37:27"My dwelling place also will be with them; and I will be their God, and they will be My people.
Ezek 37:28"And the nations will know that I am the Lord who sanctifies Israel, when My sanctuary is in their midst forever."'"
Rom 11:26 and thus all Israel will be saved; just as it is written, "The Deliverer will come from Zion, He will remove ungodliness from Jacob."
Rom 11:27"And this is My covenant with them, When I take away their sins."
Rom 11:28From the standpoint of the gospel they are enemies for your sake, but from the standpoint of God's choice they are beloved for the sake of the fathers;
Rom 11:29for the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.
/Covenant theology teaches that the church is fulfilling this covenant. This is false. Some good dispensationalists teach that the Church has its own New Covenant. This is false.\
Heb 8:8 For finding fault with them, He says, "Behold, days are coming, says the Lord, When I will effect a new covenant With the house of Israel and with the house of Judah;
Heb 8:9Not like the covenant which I made with their fathers On the day when I took them by the hand To lead them out of the land of Egypt; For they did not continue in My covenant, And I did not care for them, says the Lord.
Heb 8:10"For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel After those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws into their minds, And I will write them upon their hearts. And I will be their God, And they shall be My people.
Heb 8:11"And they shall not teach everyone his fellow citizen, And everyone his brother, saying, 'Know the Lord,' For all shall know Me, From the least to the greatest of them.
Heb 8:12"For I will be merciful to their iniquities, And I will remember their sins no more."
/It is clear that Christ must die spiritually for the Covenants to be fulfilled, so the benefits to the Church through Christ naturally follow, but that does not mean that the Church fulfills the Covenants.\
/1 Cor 11:25 In the same way He took the cup also, after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me." \
It is true that the blood of Christ is needed to fulfill the New Covenant as well as the others. But the age of Israel has been interrupted by the Church.
/The Church is the beneficiary of blessing. Some of the blessings of the New Covenant have been given to the Church in order to make Israel jealous.\
Rom 11:11 I say then, they did not stumble so as to fall, did they? May it never be! But by their transgression salvation has come to the Gentiles, to make them jealous.
Rom 11:12Now if their transgression be riches for the world and their failure be riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their fulfillment be!
Rom 11:13But I am speaking to you who are Gentiles. Inasmuch then as I am an apostle of Gentiles, I magnify my ministry,
Rom 11:14if somehow I might move to jealousy my fellow countrymen and save some of them.
Rom 11:15For if their rejection be the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead?
Rom 11:16And if the first piece of dough be holy, the lump is also; and if the root be holy, the branches are too.
/The olive tree is the source of blessing. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are the roots through whom all blessing to the world has come.\
The olive tree was prized for its fruit and oil. It was a symbol of prosperity.
/Client nation Israel, including unbelievers who were blessed by association, was a branch attached to the olive tree until she rejected Christ, then she was broken off.\
Rom 11:17But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a wild olive, were grafted in among them and became partaker with them of the rich root of the olive tree,
Rom 11:18do not be arrogant toward the branches; but if you are arrogant, remember that it is not you who supports the root, but the root supports you.
Rom 11:19You will say then, "Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in."
Rom 11:20Quite right, they were broken off for their unbelief, but you stand by your faith. Do not be conceited, but fear;
Rom 11:21for if God did not spare the natural branches, neither will He spare you.
/divine discipline = removal from the source of blessing, but not loss of salvation. \
/John 15:6 "If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch, and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned. \
Rom 11:22Behold then the kindness and severity of God; to those who fell, severity, but to you, God's kindness, if you continue in His kindness; otherwise you also will be cut off.
Rom 11:23And they also, if they do not continue in their unbelief, will be grafted in; for God is able to graft them in again.
Rom 11:24For if you were cut off from what is by nature a wild olive tree, and were grafted contrary to nature into a cultivated olive tree, how much more shall these who are the natural branches be grafted into their own olive tree?
Rom 11:25For I do not want you, brethren, to be uninformed of this mystery, lest you be wise in your own estimation, that a partial hardening has happened to Israel until the fulness of the Gentiles has come in;
Rom 11:26and thus all Israel will be saved; just as it is written, "The Deliverer will come from Zion, He will remove ungodliness from Jacob."
Rom 11:27"And this is My covenant with them, When I take away their sins."
/Not all Israel is true Israel; Rom 9:6-7.\
Rom 9:6 But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For they are not all Israel who are descended from Israel;
Rom 9:7 neither are they all children because they are Abraham's descendants, but: "through Isaac [not ishmael] your descendants will be named."
Rom 11:28From the standpoint of the gospel they are enemies for your sake, but from the standpoint of God's choice they are beloved for the sake of the fathers;
Rom 11:29for the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.
Rom 11:30For just as you once were disobedient to God, but now have been shown mercy because of their disobedience,
Rom 11:31so these also now have been disobedient, in order that because of the mercy shown to you they also may now be shown mercy.
Rom 11:32For God has shut up all in disobedience that He might show mercy to all.
Rom 11:33Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways!
Rom 11:34For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who became His counselor?
Rom 11:35Or who has first given to Him that it might be paid back to him again?
Rom 11:36For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen. |