Looking Back to Israel One of the great blessings of Scripture is the fact that God has designed it in such a fashion that His spiritual children can come to terms with New
Testament concepts by studying the various types of the Old Testament, especially as they relate to ancient Israel. As you well know, the nation of Israel is a type of the Church of God.
Stephen, in his magnificent apology before the Sanhedrin, said as much, calling the old Kingdom "The Church in the wilderness" (Acts 7:38). It is therefore incumbent upon us all to
become serious students of Old Testament Israel, because its history, replete as it is with all sorts of trials, sins, punishments and other unique events, stands as a type, a pattern and a
lesson for the Church today. Indeed, it is often the case that when God speaks of Israel in the Old Testament, He is really intending to convey a veiled message either to or about the New
Testament Church. That is why those who reject or de-emphasize the Old Testament are completely missing out on one of the most dynamic and important dimensions of God's Word. Don't forget
that the same God inspired both great sections of the Bible; and remember Paul's advice to Timothy:
"The Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise unto SALVATION ...are profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction
in righteousness" (II Tim. 3:15-16). Paul, as you know, was obviously not referring here to New Testament Scripture. Those books were even then in the process of either being written
and/or canonized. There was no official New Testament a this early date. Paul was clearly talking to Timothy about the Old Testament, the Holy Scriptures that he had known and studied as a
boy. Paul always held them in the highest regard, even stating that they alone were able to make us wise unto spiritual salvation. It is also remarkable how Paul, with such relative ease, weaves the spiritual lessons of the Old Testament into his own creative letters. He, in
fact, told the Corinthians that the events of ancient Israel s history should serve as EXAMPLES or PATTERNS for the Church, and especially the end-time Church - those upon
whom the ends of the world are come" (I Cor. 10:11). With this principle in mind, let s look into what the Old Testament reveals concerning the very special loving relationship God, the YAHWEH of that
day, had with the physical nation of Israel. Beginning with the account of Deuteronomy 32, we start to see a marvelous description of the closeness and the uniqueness of that relationship -
and it truly has profound spiritual implications for us today:
"Remember the days of old, consider the years of many generations: ask your father and he will show you: your elders and they will tell you. When
the Most High divided to the nations their inheritance ...He set the bounds of the people according to the number of the children of Israel. For the Lord s portion is His people; Jacob is
the lot of His inheritance. He found him in a desert land...He led him about, He instructed him, He kept him as THE APPLE OF HIS EYE. As an eagle stirs up her nest, flutters over her
young, spreads abroad her wings, takes them, bears them on her wings, so the Lord alone did lead him...Rejoice, O you nations...For he will avenge the blood of His servants, and will render
vengeance to His adversaries, and He will be merciful unto His land, and to His peoples" (Deut. 32:7-14, 43). What a beautiful portion of Scripture! It so aptly reflects the very special quality of God's love and concern and the relationship He desired with
the nation of Israel. Notice once again how intimate He was with the people as we read in Ezekiel 16 the following passage:
"And as for your nativity, in the day you were born your navel was not cut, neither were you washed in water to supple you; you were not salted at
all, nor swaddled at all. No eye pitied you, to do any of these things unto you, to have compassion upon you; but you were cast out in the open field to the loathing of your person, in the
day that you were born. And when I passed by and saw you polluted in your own blood, I said unto you...Live. I have cause you to multiply as the bud of the field, and you have increased and
waxen great, and you are come to excellent ornaments; your breasts are fashioned, and your hair is grown, whereas you were naked and bare. Now when I passed by you and looked upon you,
behold, your time was the time of love; and I spread my skirt over you and covered your nakedness; yea, I swore unto you, and entered into a covenant with you, says the Lord God, and you
became mine. Then I washed you with water, yea, I thoroughly washed away your blood from you, and I anointed you with oil. I clothed you also with broidered work, and shod you with badgers
skins, and I girded you about with fine linen, and I covered you with silk. I decked you also with ornaments, and I put bracelets upon your hands, and a chain on your neck. And I put a
jewel on your forehead, and earrings in your ears, and a beautiful crown upon your head. Thus were you decked with gold and silver; and your raiment was of fine linen and silk...you did eat
of fine flour, and honey and oil; and you were exceedingly beautiful and you did prosper Into a kingdom. And your renown went forth among the heathen for your beauty; for it was perfect
through My comeliness, which I had put upon you, says the Lord" (Ezek. 16:4-14). Now God did more, much more in fact, than just give Israel physical blessings. He entertained such deep feelings for His people and was moved and
touched by their suffering, their trials, their pain - so much so that in Isaiah 63, the prophet was inspired to say:
"I will mention the loving kindness of the Lord and the praises of the Lord, according to all the Lord (Yahweh) has bestowed upon us, and the great
goodness toward the house of Israel, which He has bestowed upon them according to His mercies, and according to the multitude of His loving kindnesses. For He said, Surely they are My
people, children that will not lie; so He was their Savior. In all their affliction, HE WAS AFFLICTED and the angel of His presence saved them; in His love and in His pity He redeemed them;
and He bare them and carried them all the days of old" (Isa. 63:7-9). Yes, it is a fact that the great God of the Old Testament, whom many have thought was a harsh, brusque, unfair Judge, Jury and Executioner, actually
loved the Israelites so much that He hurt when they hurt and suffered Himself when they were in trouble! Like the precious Savior of later years, He was "touched with the feelings of
their infirmities" (Heb. 4:15). Ancient Israel occupied such an uncommon position and enjoyed such a distinctive personal bond with the Creator. God specifically selected these
people. He got involved with them. They became His children. They belonged to Him and Him alone! He was jealous over them. Naturally this close association with God conferred upon them a
status utterly unique among all the nations of the earth. They had a special calling. They had a special relationship. They had a special place in God's own heart. In the beginning, when He was leading them out of Egypt to Mt. Sinai, where He would appear to them and indeed marry them, He told the people
precisely where they stood with Him, provided that they continued in all the laws and ways He had commanded them. Just before Moses ascended the Mount, God said:
"You have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles' wings, and brought you unto Myself. Now, therefore, if you will obey
My voice indeed, and keep My covenant, then you shall be a PECULIAR TREASURE unto Me above all people; for all the earth is Mine; and you shall be unto me a KINGDOM OF PRIESTS and an HOLY
NATION" (Ex. 19:4-6). Pay close attention to God's choice of words in the preceding passage. He calls Israel a peculiar treasure, a kingdom of priests and a holy
nation. These phrases clearly indicate not only the close connection the nation had with Yahweh, but also these very terms are later used in the New Testament in relationship to the
Church. Before we look into that association, notice what David once said about Israel's special affiliation with God:
"Praise the Lord, for the Lord is good; Sing Praises unto His name ...for the Lord has chosen Jacob unto Himself, and Israel for His PECULIAR
TREASURE" (Psa. 135:4). Imagine, if you can, what it would be like to be the treasured personal possession of the God of heaven and earth - not just loved by Him, that is
simply too general a concept, but His pride and joy, His prized object of desire, His priceless treasure! That was the kind of special status enjoyed by ancient Israel. References to it are
found in several choice passages. Notice the following:
"For you are an holy people unto the Lord your God...God has chosen you to a SPECIAL PEOPLE UNTO HIMSELF, above all the people that are
upon the face of the earth. The Lord did not set His love upon you, nor choose you because you were more in number than any people; for you were the fewest of all people: but because the
Lord loved you and by the oath which He had sworn unto your fathers, has the Lord brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you out of the house of bondmen, from the hand of Pharaoh
of Egypt" (Dent. 7:6-8). A few chapters later in this same book, God revealed unto Moses more concerning Israel s special relationship with Him by saying:
"For you are a holy people unto the Lord your God, and the Lord has chosen you to be a peculiar people unto Himself, above all the nations upon
the earth" (Dent. 14:2). And finally in Deuteronomy 26, we read yet another beautiful passage describing once again the unique standing of ancient Israel with the God of the
Old Testament:
"You have avouched the Lord this day to be your God, and to walk in His ways, and to keep His statutes and His commandments and His judgments, and
to hearken unto His voice: and the Lord has avouch you this day to be His PECULIAR PEOPLE, as He has promised you, and that you should keep His commandments; and to make you high
above all nations which He has made, in praise and in name and in honor; and that may be an holy people unto the Lord your God, as He has spoken" (Deut. 26:17-19). It is so evident how much God loved the people of Israel. We can see clearly through the special relationship that existed between the nation and
their Creator, a type and pattern of the even more special and distinctive love and concern He has for His spiritual people. Speaking of both physical Israel and the spiritual Church, God
declares:
"Deliver yourself, O Zion (type of the Church), that dwell with the daughter of Babylon. For thus says the Lord of hosts: After the glory has He
sent me unto the nations which spoiled you: for he that touches you touches the APPLE OF HIS EYE...Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion (end-time Church); for lo, I come and I will
dwell in the midst of you, says the Lord. And many nations shall be joined to the Lord in that day, and shall be My people: and I will dwell in the midst of you, and you shall know that the
Lord of hosts has sent me unto you" (Zech. 2:7-11). The APPLE OF GOD'S EYE - What a statement!! What a distinction! Both ancient Israel and the true New Testament Church of God are considered in
this same light, this same unique status. Do you really believe that you personally are the apple of God s eye? Be honest with yourself. Beyond that, do you actually FEEL it?
Do you enjoy that very special feeling of being loved, of being close to and highly prized by God Himself. Do you truly feel like family - not through your local church, but connected
directly to the Father Himself? Or is the love of God more of a theory, a concept, an abstract notion to you? David went beyond mere intellectual belief or acceptance. He lived in the aura of God's love. He bathed himself in it. It covered him and altered his
perceptions, his outlook, his attitude. He reveled in it, or, if you will pardon the expression, he WALLOWED in it - so real, so close, so tangible was that love to him! He, in fact,
used the very same phrase to describe Himself that God had used to designate Israel:
"Keep me," he prayed, "as the APPLE OF THE EYE, hide me under the shadow of your wings" (Psa. 17:8). God's Spiritual Treasure Let's face the facts. Ancient Israel knew the truth of God. They had the knowledge. They had seen with their own eyes the miracles. Why Moses and the
elders had actually seen Yahweh Himself! But the Israelites were never truly able to comprehend the love of God and could never really see the special and peculiar treasure they actually
were to God. As a result, they went into spiritual and eventually national decline. "Where there is no vision," the Proverbs state, "the people perish" (Prov. 29:18). Israel
is the prime example of this basic truth. We Christians, on the other hand, must not fail in this matter as did they. We must first genuinely grasp the depth and profound reality of God's
love for us, and come to see the rare uniqueness of ourselves in God's sight. But we must do something else as well - something that for many of us may perhaps be the most difficult thing
of all. We absolutely must come to ALLOW ourselves to fully ACCEPT God's love for us. We must be willing to receive it. We must permit ourselves to become a part of it.
We must become lost in it - we must bask in it - we must revel in it! It is only when we can truly accept God's love for us, accept the fact that you and I, as individuals, are so very
precious, so very meaningful, so very special, so very desired by God, that we can ever really have the deep PEACE AND JOY of the Spirit, for this is the source of it all! Perhaps the first and most significant aspect of God's love is best expressed by the apostle Paul in his magnificent letter to the Romans. Beginning
in chapter 5:1, we read:
"Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ by whom also we have access by faith into this grace
wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God ...Because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit which is given unto us. For when we were yet without
strength, in due time, Christ died for the ungodly...God commends His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by His
blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. For it when we were enemies, we reconciled to God by the death of His Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by His life"
(Rom. 5:1-10). What is this passage really saying to you and me? Is it not that Almighty God and His Son, Jesus Christ, the great Yahshua ha Meshiach, loved the
likes of us so much that they were willing to give up everything, put it all on the line, take the unthinkable, ultimate risk - for us - and do it while we were yet dirty, rotten SINNERS - even outright ENEMIES of the truth!! Again, Paul says:
"For this reason I kneel before the Father from whom His whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of His glorious
riches He may strengthen you with power through His Holy Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ ma dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established
in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how WIDE AND LONG AND HIGH AND DEEP IS THE LOVE OF CHRIST, and to know this love that SURPASSES KNOWLEDGE, that
you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God" (Eph. 3:14-19). I think that it is most interesting and instructive that Paul saw fit in this passage to contrast love with knowledge. Paul saw something that so
many people just simply cannot seem to fathom. He said the love of God surpasses knowledge. In I Corinthians 8:1, he put it a little differently by saying: "Knowledge PUFFS UP, but love
BUILDS Us." It is so unfortunate that to the natural human mind, knowledge almost always takes a higher seat than love. People want knowledge. Knowledge is power. It unlocks doors. It
strokes the ego and brings recognition. But love, true Godly love, often takes a back seat. It is unpretentious and doesn't usually attract much attention. It is many times done in secret.
It is always giving, serving, working, sharing, helping, encouraging. God places special emphasis on love above knowledge, even knowledge of the Scriptures. Paul wrote in I Corinthians 13 that unless the gifts of the
Spirit, including the power to perform miracles, the ability to prophesy, the faith to move mountains, the zeal of a fanatic, the understanding of all mysteries, even ALL
KNOWLEDGE - exist and operate in the medium of Godly love, then they are ABSOLUTELY NOTHING!! God's love is not some ethereal concept, some theoretical notion,
something that just sounds religious, a mere platitude, something to which we only pay lip service. Remember that Godly love has a height, a depth, a breadth. In other words, it has
profound dimensions that we all need to grasp, to understand and fully appreciate, to believe in and accept, to have our very being in!! Referring back to the book of Romans once again, we read Paul s marvelous description of the love that God has for we little human beings, we who
have been called according to His divine purposes. This particular passage is surely one of the most lofty, inspired, sublime pieces of Scripture in all the Bible. As you read it, feel the
weight of it by putting yourself directly in the middle of what Paul is saying:
"Because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you
received the Spirit of sonship. And by Him we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself testifies with our spirit that we are the children of God. Now if we are children, then we are heirs -
heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, If indeed we share in His sufferings in order that we may also share in His glory. I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with
the glory that will be revealed in us. The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed...What then shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be
against us? He who DID NOT SPARE HIS OWN SON, but gave Him up for us all - how will He not also, along with Him, graciously give us ALL THINGS? Who will bring any charge
against those whom God has chosen?...Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?...NO, in all these
things we are MORE THAN CONQUERORS through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any
powers, neither height nor depth nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus (Yahshua) our Lord" (Rom. 8). Where, I ask you, would you go to find a more inspiring, more moving, more encouraging passage of Scripture? Paul makes here one of the most potent
points in all the Bible when he states that because God has already given up His only Son, we can rest assured that He will therefore hold nothing else back from us, but will give us all
things! In other words, since God the Father has already, in His matchless love, given up the very best He ever had, then it is an absolute, a certainty, a given, it only follows, that He
will withhold nothing from us. When God made that momentous decision to relinquish His only Son, from that point on it became inevitable, unequivocal, beyond the shadow of any possible
doubt, that all that was left in the vastness of the universe, all creation whether in Heaven or on earth, would indeed become the inheritance of the saints. When one pays the highest
possible price for an object of desire, then it only stands to reason that he will lavish everything he has on that object. Such is the case with you and me and all who are so specially
loved and chosen by the Father. Just as ancient Israel occupied that very special position in God s sight, so now we, as His spiritual children today, are His prized possession.
Paul told the Corinthians that we Christians are actually God s building, Christ being the chief cornerstone. The building blocks are gold, silver and precious stones. This building is
perfect and unique - spiritual in nature - highly treasured and filled with valuable, indeed priceless commodities. Remember the language of the Old Testament in its description of Israel as God s special people? Those statements served only as types, however, of
the far greater status conferred upon His spiritual people. Notice how similar the New Testament wording on this very subject is:
"For the grace of God that brings forth salvation to all men has appeared, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live
soberly, righteously, and Godly, in this present world; looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior Jesus, who gave Himself for us, that he
might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto Himself a PECULIAR PEOPLE, zealous of good works" (Titus 2:11-14). Peter also wrote concerning this special relationship that Christians have with the Father through Christ - this unique way in which God views His
chosen people. He says in his first epistle:
"Wherefore laying aside all malice and all guile and hypocrisies and envies and all evil speakings, as newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of
the Word, that you may grow thereby; if so be that you have tasted that the Lord is gracious. To whom coming, as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God and
precious, You also as LIVELY STONES are built up a SPIRITUAL HOUSE, an HOLY PRIESTHOOD...You are a CHOSEN GENERATION, a ROYAL PRIESTHOOD, a PECULIAR
PEOPLE, that you should show forth the praises of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light" (I Pet. 2:1-9). Just how special are you to the Father? True, we are all to become lively stones, a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, a chosen generation, a holy
nation, a peculiar people, God s prized treasure - but Paul goes even further in showing us the very reason for this remarkable status. Notice what he told the Ephesians:
"For through Him (Christ) we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father. Now therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow
citizens with the saints and of the household of God; and are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus being the chief cornerstone; in whom all the building fitly
framed together grows unto an holy temple in the Lord; in whom you also are builded together for an HABITATION OF GOD through the Spirit" (Eph. 2:18-22). Imagine that! This unique relationship, this special esteem in which we are held by God is for a reason - a magnificent purpose that transcends the
mundane of this world - for we are specifically chosen, singled out in this world to be built into the perfect RESIDENCE FOR ALMIGHTY GOD HIMSELF!!! We are to be the very dwelling
place of God. He is preparing us, cleansing us, building us up spiritually to become His own proper and worthy habitation - where He can live, where He can have His very being in and
through us! What a grandiose plan for you and me. We are created, called and chosen to bear the image of the man from heaven. We are here for the express purpose of showing forth Christ to
the world. Again I ask, just how special are we? Even though we so often fall short of the glory of God, even though sin so easily besets us, even though we are weak and inadequate - in spite of it
all, God has a special place in His heart for us. God desires us. He wants us. He craves us! He sees through all the problems, through all the maze and haze of this world, this life. So
greatly does He long for us that He gave up His only Son to purchase us. So dear are we to Him that He is willing to endure everything for us - to put up with and suffer long the sins of a
Noah, a David, a Hezekiah, a Peter and a Paul! Perhaps the apostle John, Christ's closest companion, said it best:
"Behold, what manner of love the Father has bestowed upon us, that we should be called the SONS OF GOD...Beloved, now are we the sons of
God, and it does not yet appear what we shall be; but we know that, when He shall appear, WE SHALL BE LIKE HIM; for we shall see Him as He is. And every man that has this hope
purifies himself, even as He is pure" (I John 3:1-3). The principle of God is that kind begets kind. When He stated in Genesis 1:26, "Let us make man in OUR IMAGE, AFTER OUR LIKENESS," we
can rest assured that He knew what He was talking about. Our great God is REPRODUCING HIMSELF!! There is nothing to compare with this fact. It is utterly unique and it
is taking place right here, right now, on this minuscule speck of a planet in a remote corner of the endless universe! The purpose of God is so grand, so exalted, so extraordinary, that it
literally defies all language, all description, all expression. When God says that we are His children, that is not to be taken in some figurative sense, the way the world's churches have
interpreted it. We are to become a part of the Divine Family of Yahweh - the God of heaven and earth! We are destined, because of His eternal love, to enjoy the priceless privilege of being
directly related to Him, just as close a relationship as a child has to its own loving parents - but even much more so! We will be like Him and will be raised to His divine level. We will
have His mind, His state of perfection, His kind of power and we will share with Christ in possessing the entirety of the Creation, whether known or unknown, visible or invisible, spiritual
or physical!! In this regarded notice how the Phillips translation of I John 2:24 reads:
"I beg you to stick to the original teaching. If you do, you will be living in fellowship with both the Father and the Son, and that means SHARING HIS OWN LIFE FOREVER, as He has promised." The passage, however, that really expresses the profound reality of God's love as revealed in His plans for your life and mine is found in I Peter
1:23. Once again, the Phillips translation catches the meaning perfectly:
"For you are to be SONS OF GOD - the live, permanent Word of the Living God has given you HIS OWN INDESTRUCTIBLE HEREDITY." Brethren, we are begotten of God Almighty, Yahweh Himself - just as surely as a little physical child is begotten in this life. WE HAVE GOD'S OWN
GENES!! We are in the process of being metamorphosed, transformed from mere human flesh and carnal-mindedness to divine, eternal Spirit. When the Messiah returns to this earth, we will be
changed into His own kind - His own composition - His own likeness. We will be exactly like Him, in the same way that a younger brother is like His older brother. As Paul said:
"If there is a natural body, there 18 also a spiritual body...The first man was of the dust of the earth, the second man from heaven. As was the
earthly man, so are those who are of the earth; and as is the man from heaven, so are also those who are of heaven. And just as we have borne the image of the likeness of the earthly man,
so shall we BEAR THE LIKENESS OF THE MAN FROM HEAVEN" (I Cor. 15:44, 47-49). Paul, in another place, shows our exceptional relationship with God and how we must become pure in this calling:
"What agreement has the Temple of God with idols? For you are the Temple of the Living God; as God has said: I will be their God and they shall be
My people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be you separate, says the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you. And will be a Father unto you, and you shall be
my SONS AND DAUGHTERS, says the Lord almighty" (II Cor. 6:16 - 18) . It isn't enough that we have been given life, the blessings promised to the fathers and the chance to be a servant of our God - No, the Father goes
on to tells us that we have been chosen to transcend the mere flesh into another realm, another relationship'- to go from a class of servants to that of His own divine children and the
inheritors of everything He possesses!! Written by: Jim Rector
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