One of the most difficult portions of scripture for me
to comment upon is the point that "all Israel will be saved."
Does that mean that the saints of Israel as well as sinners will be saved?
Does it mean the family of those who married "outsiders" will
be saved? Does it mean only those who obeyed the laws of God and faithfully
worshipped Him will be saved? Gratefully, neither you nor I have to make
that call.
The scriptures teach two major themes regarding the redemption
of the Jews, throughout the Bible. The first point is frightening, in
my opinion. Only a remnant will be saved. Listen to one occasion where
God's word makes that point.
2 Kings 21:12-15
12 "therefore thus says the LORD God of Israel: 'Behold, I am bringing
such calamity upon Jerusalem and Judah, that whoever hears of it, both
his ears will tingle.
13 'And I will stretch over Jerusalem
the measuring line of Samaria and the plummet of the house of Ahab; I
will wipe Jerusalem as one wipes a dish, wiping it and turning it upside
down.
14 'So I will forsake the remnant of
My inheritance and deliver them into the hand of their enemies; and they
shall become victims of plunder to all their enemies,
15 'because they have done evil in My
sight, and have provoked Me to anger since the day their fathers came
out of Egypt, even to this day.' " (NKJ)
Then the prophet Ezra scolds Israel. The time was "then"
but the sense is "now."
Ezra 9:6-15
6 And I said, "O my God: I am too
ashamed and humiliated to lift up my face to You, my God; for our iniquities
have risen higher than our heads, and our guilt has grown up to the heavens.
7 "Since the days of our fathers
to this day we have been very guilty, and for our iniquities we, our kings,
and our priests have been delivered into the hand of the kings of the
lands, to the sword, to captivity, to plunder, and to humiliation, as
it is this day.
8 "And now for a little while grace has been shown from the LORD
our God, to leave us a remnant to escape, and to give us a peg in His
holy place, that our God may enlighten our eyes and give us a measure
of revival in our bondage.
9 "For we were slaves. Yet our God
did not forsake us in our bondage; but He extended mercy to us in the
sight of the kings of Persia, to revive us, to repair the house of our
God, to rebuild its ruins, and to give us a wall in Judah and Jerusalem.
10 "And now, O our God, what shall
we say after this? For we have forsaken Your commandments,
11 "which You have commanded by
Your servants the prophets, saying, 'The land which you are entering to
possess is an unclean land, with the uncleanness of the peoples of the
lands, with their abominations which have filled it from one end to another
with their impurity.
12 'Now therefore, do not give your daughters as wives for their sons,
nor take their daughters to your sons; and never seek their peace or prosperity,
that you may be strong and eat the good of the land, and leave it as an
inheritance to your children forever.'
13 "And after all that has come
upon us for our evil deeds and for our great guilt, since You our God
have punished us less than our iniquities deserve, and have given us such
deliverance as this,
14 "should we again break Your commandments,
and join in marriage with the people committing these abominations? Would
You not be angry with us until You had consumed us, so that there would
be no remnant or survivor?
15 "O LORD God of Israel, You are
righteous, for we are left as a remnant, as it is this day. Here we are
before You, in our guilt, though no one can stand before You because of
this!" (NKJ)
The Scriptures say, in many places that all Israel will
be saved. If you read long enough you also see that only a remnant will
be remain faithful. Listen to an "all Israel" account.
Isaiah 45:15-19
15 Truly You are God, who hide Yourself,
O God of Israel, the Savior!
16 They shall be ashamed and also disgraced,
all of them; they shall go in confusion together, who are makers of idols.
17 But Israel shall be saved by the LORD
with an everlasting salvation; you shall not be ashamed or disgraced forever
and ever.
18 For thus says the LORD, who created
the heavens, who is God, who formed the earth and made it, who has established
it, who did not create it in vain, who formed it to be inhabited: "I
am the LORD, and there is no other.
19 I have not spoken in secret, in a
dark place of the earth; I did not say to the seed of Jacob, 'Seek Me
in vain'; I, the LORD, speak righteousness, I declare things that are
right. (NKJ)
Since neither you nor I have to judge who will enter
the Kingdom (and under what conditions), it becomes incumbent on us to
focus on our own personal relationship with the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Will you be part of the remnant? Will the Father say to us, "come
unto your rest, good and faithful servant?" That becomes the only
question that matters.
As a personal aside, I believe that many will be in the
Kingdom, but not all will have the same rewards. We don't serve the Lord
for our "rewards." We serve Him in response to His love for
us and what He has done to reconcile our spirit with His Spirit. I would
never suggest that you are able to rely on God's mercy if you deny the
Messiah, don't honor God and are not filled with the Holy Spirit. God
may be merciful in one or more of those cases but why would you test His
mercy? Our Lord wants us to honor Him in every sense of the word, right
now, and to not put off responding to His love.
Finally, if some Jews are not "saved," who
decides on those who will comprise the remnant? That is not a question
you and I should try to answer. Judgment, has been given by God, to the
Messiah. Listen.
Isaiah 11:1-12
1 There shall come forth a Rod from the
stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots.
2 The Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon Him, the Spirit of wisdom and
understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge
and of the fear of the LORD.
3 His delight is in the fear of the LORD, and He shall not judge by the
sight of His eyes, nor decide by the hearing of His ears;
4 But with righteousness He shall judge
the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; he shall strike
the earth with the rod of His mouth, and with the breath of His lips He
shall slay the wicked.
5 Righteousness shall be the belt of
His loins, and faithfulness the belt of His waist.
6 "The wolf also shall dwell with
the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, the calf and
the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead
them.
7 The cow and the bear shall graze; their
young ones shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like
the ox.
8 The nursing child shall play by the
cobra's hole, and the weaned child shall put his hand in the viper's den.
9 They shall not hurt nor destroy in
all My holy mountain, for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of
the LORD as the waters cover the sea.
10 "And in that day there shall
be a Root of Jesse, who shall stand as a banner to the people; for the
Gentiles shall seek Him, and His resting place shall be glorious."
11 It shall come to pass in that day that the LORD shall set His hand
again the second time to recover the remnant of His people who are left,
from Assyria and Egypt, from Pathros and Cush, from Elam and Shinar, from
Hamath and the islands of the sea.
12 He will set up a banner for the nations,
and will assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed
of Judah from the four corners of the earth. (NKJ)
The first 5 verses tell us the basis of the judgment to come. Read them
carefully for they teach you the simple truth about judgment. No comment
is necessary, but note that the "rod of His mouth" is a reference
to the Word of God. Listen to these two quotes.
Revelation 1:16
16 He had in His right hand seven stars,
out of His mouth went a sharp two-edged sword, and His countenance was
like the sun shining in its strength. (NKJ)
This reference to the Messiah then leads you to this
quotation in Hebrews, one that I believe you should commit to memory.
Hebrews 4:12-13
12 For the word of God is living and
powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division
of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the
thoughts and intents of the heart.
13 And there is no creature hidden from
His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom
we must give account. (NKJ)
If you haven't yet figured out how to get to know God, at the most personal
level, it is the absence of His Word in your daily life that is handicapping
you. Reread these two verses, again and again, until the truth sinks in.
This "commentary" is intended to serve a single purpose. Go
to the Word of God as a starving soul and He will feed you as only He
can.
Regarding Isaiah 11:1-2, above, Christians believe, and the scriptures
confirm, that the genealogy of Jesus, on the human level, is traced to
Jesse, the father of David and that Jesus is the promised Messiah. Listen
to this quote. It is one of hundreds that make the same point, over and
over again throughout the scriptures. I beg you not to stop reading.
John 5:19-47
19 …"Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself,
but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does
in like manner.
20 "For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He
Himself does; and He will show Him greater works than these, that you
may marvel.
21 "For as the Father raises the
dead and gives life to them, even so the Son gives life to whom He will.
22 "For the Father judges no one,
but has committed all judgment to the Son,
23 "that all should honor the Son
just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not
honor the Father who sent Him.
24 "Most assuredly, I say to you,
he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life,
and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life.
25 "Most assuredly, I say to you,
the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the
Son of God; and those who hear will live.
26 "For as the Father has life in
Himself, so He has granted the Son to have life in Himself,
27 "and has given Him authority to execute judgment also, because
He is the Son of Man.
28 "Do not marvel at this; for the
hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice
29 "and come forth-- those who have
done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil,
to the resurrection of condemnation.
30 "I can of Myself do nothing.
As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is righteous, because I do not seek
My own will but the will of the Father who sent Me.
31 "If I bear witness of Myself, My witness is not true.
32 "There is another who bears witness
of Me, and I know that the witness which He witnesses of Me is true.
33 "You have sent to John, and he
has borne witness to the truth.
34 "Yet I do not receive testimony
from man, but I say these things that you may be saved.
35 "He was the burning and shining lamp, and you were willing for
a time to rejoice in his light.
36 "But I have a greater witness
than John's; for the works which the Father has given Me to finish-- the
very works that I do-- bear witness of Me, that the Father has sent Me.
37 "And the Father Himself, who
sent Me, has testified of Me. You have neither heard His voice at any
time, nor seen His form.
38 "But you do not have His word abiding in you, because whom He
sent, Him you do not believe.
39 "You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal
life; and these are they which testify of Me.
40 "But you are not willing to come
to Me that you may have life.
41 "I do not receive honor from men.
42 "But I know you, that you do
not have the love of God in you.
43 "I have come in My Father's name,
and you do not receive Me; if another comes in his own name, him you will
receive.
44 "How can you believe, who receive
honor from one another, and do not seek the honor that comes from the
only God?
45 "Do not think that I shall accuse
you to the Father; there is one who accuses you-- Moses, in whom you trust.
46 "For if you believed Moses, you
would believe Me; for he wrote about Me.
47 "But if you do not believe his
writings, how will you believe My words?" (NKJ)
These are the words of Jesus Christ, the One who was
sent by the Father to be our Savior and to be the Lord of our life, the
One who sent the Holy Spirit to fill us with the peace, wisdom and love
of God. This business of who is part of the remnant and who is not can
be set aside right now. You need not wonder any longer. Acknowledge the
promised Messiah and accept the certainty that He offers, now. Every verse
is important but read verses 24-27 again. |
