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Chapter 6: Has Israel been "On Hold" for 2000 Years?
I believe that the first 2000 years of the history
of Israel, up to the birth of Jesus Christ, were essentially years in
which God was dealing with His chosen people. He intervened in their
lives, He led them, loved them and disciplined them. He spoke through
Moses and the prophets, He established kingdoms and He gave you the
Word of God. The history of Israel, its past, present and future was
made manifest. He promised a Messiah and He promised to restore His
Kingdom in the Promised Land.
I believe the Messiah did come as promised and that the subsequent 2000
year period has been a period without the sort of Divine Revelation
previously provided to the nation of Israel. Why would God have done
this? Read on.
Isaiah 6:10
10 "Make the heart of this people dull, and their ears heavy, and
shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their
ears, and understand with their heart, and return and be healed." (NKJ)
This verse has long puzzled many readers, Jew and Gentile alike. Why
did God tell Isaiah to speak these things? First, any thoughtful response
covers more ground that I can cover here. The entire Bible provides
answers. But there is one particular answer that I want to quote because
it seems to be the simplest explanation. It is an explanation of hope.
It's an explanation of how God first scattered His people; then said
that He plans to gather them and restore the Kingdom to them. But He
sustained them "as a nation" without a king, without prophets,
and without a Temple in Jerusalem. Listen.
Romans 11:7-10, 25-29.
7. Just as it is written: "God has given them a spirit of stupor,
eyes that they should not see and ears that they should not hear, to
this very day.
8. "And David says: "Let their table become a snare and a
trap, a stumbling block and a recompense to them.
9. Let their eyes be darkened, so that they do not see, and bow down
their back always.
10. "I say then, have they stumbled that they should fall? Certainly
not! But through their fall, to provoke them to jealousy, salvation
has come to the Gentiles…
25 For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this
mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness
in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has
come in.
26 And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: "The Deliverer
will come out of Zion, and He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob;
27 For this is My covenant with them, when I take away their sins."
28 Concerning the gospel they are enemies for your sake, but concerning
the election they are beloved for the sake of the fathers.
29 For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.< (NKJ)
Here the Apostle Paul has quoted David in a letter to the Romans and
a quote from Isaiah makes the point that "in part" Israel's
blindness has happened "until the fullness of the Gentiles has
come in". But do not miss the other key points in verses 26 and
27. "All Israel will be saved… The Deliverer will come out of Zion…
and take away their sins". Verse 29 says "the gifts and the
calling of God are irrevocable". When God made promises to Abraham,
Moses, Isaac, Jacob and Joseph and many others about His love for His
people, He also promised to keep those promises. He said the Messiah
would redeem them.
Deuteronomy 18:18
18 I will raise up for them a Prophet like you from among their brethren,
and will put My words in His mouth, and He shall speak to them all that
I command Him. (NKJ)
What prophet? Notice the capitalization of Prophet, His, He and Him.
This is a reference to our Lord. Moses was told by God that a Prophet
would be raised up, from among the brethren. Listen to the prophecy
of Isaiah.
Isaiah 11:1
1 "There shall come forth a Rod from the stem of Jesse, and a Branch
shall grow out of his roots." (NKJ)
The expected Prophet from among the brethren,
from Jesse, from the tribe of Judah, the father of David, is the lineage
from which the Messiah was to come. And He did, and here in the Gospel
of John, Jesus speaks and the recorder, John, quotes Isaiah.
John 12:36-41
36 "While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may
become sons of light." These things Jesus spoke, and departed,
and was hidden from them.
37 But although He had done so many signs before them, they did not
believe in Him,
38 that the word of Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled, which he
spoke: "Lord, who has believed our report? And to whom has the
arm of the Lord been revealed?"
39 Therefore they could not believe, because Isaiah said again:
40 "He has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts, lest they
should see with their eyes, lest they should understand with their hearts
and turn, so that I should heal them."
41 These things Isaiah said when he saw His glory and spoke of Him. (NKJ)
Here, the physician, Luke, who accompanied the apostles during the years
in which the Messiah was with them, quotes Paul, the apostle, formerly
a Jewish Pharisee.
Acts 28:25-29
25 So when they did not agree among themselves, they departed after
Paul had said one word: "The Holy Spirit spoke rightly through
Isaiah the prophet to our fathers,
26 "saying, 'Go to this people and say: "Hearing you will
hear, and shall not understand; and seeing you will see, and not perceive;
27 For the hearts of this people have grown dull. Their ears are hard
of hearing, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with
their eyes and hear with their ears, lest they should understand with
their hearts and turn, so that I should heal them." '
28 "Therefore let it be known to you that the salvation of God
has been sent to the Gentiles, and they will hear it!"
29 And when he had said these words, the Jews departed and had a great
dispute among themselves.< (NKJ)
I do not know how the Word of God can be more clear. Israel has been
"on hold", in terms of their understanding and for one specific
reason and perhaps many corollary reasons. That "reason" was
to allow the Gentiles access to the God of Israel. The blindness and
the hardness of heart refer specifically to the Messiah and the gospel
message.
The fact that the Jews have remained "a people" this past
2000 years, even in dispersion, is a miracle that distinguishes them
from any other nation. God has not forgotten His people nor has His
Arm been shortened that He can not heal and restore His chosen people.
The Jewish nation is at the very center of God's plan and every prophecy
concerning the Jews will be fulfilled.
These past 2000 years are often referred to as the "Church Age".
The New Testament, the Gospel, the chronology of the early church, the
letters and the Revelation of John, all were given to the Gentiles by
the grace of God, who sent His only begotten Son, as promised, that
those who believe on Him might have eternal life.
There are many signs that we are quickly moving toward the Kingdom Age,
a time of joyous reunion for Israel and for the souls of the faithful.
Listen to the circumstances:
Satan bound 1000 Years
Revelation 20:1-6
1 Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key to the
bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand.
2 He laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, who is the Devil
and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years;
3 and he cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set
a seal on him, so that he should deceive the nations no more till the
thousand years were finished. But after these things he must be released
for a little while.
4 The Saints Reign with Christ 1000 Years And I saw thrones, and they
sat on them, and judgment was committed to them. Then I saw the souls
of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the
word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not
received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands. And they lived
and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.
5 But the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years
were finished. This is the first resurrection.
6 Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over
such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God
and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years. (NKJ)
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