Israel’s National Choice
(Acts 3:19-26)
1. As a child, I remember when the original Star Trek program was introduced. Although we had a black and white television, the word was that those with color TV’s could see that Mr. Spock was greenish.
2. Marylu and I watched Star Trek, the Next Generation, but none of the other spin offs that came later. Lost interest.
3. But I noted a command that JeanLuc Piccard would give to Commander Ryker, "Number One, Make it so."
4. That command saved a lot of words or explanations; whatever was suggested would now become the plan.
5. God is a sovereign God. He says, "Make it so" and it is.
6. But often times, we are ignorant of the instructions that were stated beforehand because we have not paid attention to our Old Testaments.
7. And, in today’s text, the focus is on God’s past and promised dealings with Israel.
Main Idea: God can "make it so."
Last week, we covered the following…. (this is a brief review; sermon proper begins in point II C)
I. Israel is Guilty of REJECTING Jesus (11-18)
A. The Focus is JESUS, not His servants (11-12)
B. It is You Vs. GOD (13-16)
C. Contrast God’s PLAN and Your IGNORANCE (17-18)
A question last week: Are Jews saved just because they are Jews, part of the nation of Israel? No. Like gentiles who have not been born-again, they too are lost. But they are part of a nation and a people destined for greatness.
II. God Will Fulfill His Promises to Israel When Israel REPENTS (19-23)
A. REPENT and turn to GOD (19a)
B. To Be FORGIVEN (19b)
C. For Israel’s KINGDOM Age (19c)
1. The OT describes the NATURE of this Kingdom
GOD CAN MAKE IT SO.
This week, I’ve given you a couple of passages, one from Zechariah and one from Zephaniah that speak of the Kingdom Age. Please read them at your leisure, and note that the Kingdom Age involves God ruling from Jerusalem in a secure city, and that the Jews will be honored as throngs enter Jerusalem from around the world to worship.
==> Ezekiel’s temple measurements (Ezekiel 40-48) give two sets of important details:
(1) The details of the temple which will be built during the Millennium
(2) The land allotments for the tribes of Israel during the Millennium
If these are not to be taken literally, what good are they?
2. The NT suggests its DURATION
In the NT, we learn in Revelation that this Kingdom will last 1,000 years (Millennium)
from Revelation 20:1-3, where Satan is bound for 1,000 years.
D. For Jesus to RETURN (20)
• Romans 11:12, "But if their [the Jews’] transgression means riches for the world, and their loss means riches for the Gentiles, how much greater riches will their fullness bring!"
• "If the Israelites repent, they will be redeemed, but if not they will not be redeemed" (b. Sanh. 97b, R. Eliezer ben Hyrcanus, A.D. 90),
• "If the Israelites would repent for a day, the son of David (messiah) would come immediately" (p. Ta’an. 1:1 [64a]).
⇔⇔ There has always been an "Israel within Israel," a Remnant of faithful Jews. There was probably never a time when most Jews were saved, or, if so, not a very long time. The remnant varied.
Despite that fact that only a remnant truly believed throughout Israel’s history, God still made promises to the entire nation, not just the remnant. We need to remember that.
For Jesus to set up His kingdom on earth, the entire surviving nation must also be the believing remnant; they must become equivalent terms. Since God is sovereign, He will make this happen.
The connection to Zechariah is strong, showing that all surviving Israel will believe and repent at the end of the Tribulation period:
Zechariah 12:9-10, 13:1, 8-9
"On that day I will set out to destroy all the nations that attack Jerusalem. "And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication. They will look on me, the one they have pierced, and they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for him as one grieves for a firstborn son…
"…On that day a fountain will be opened to the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to cleanse them from sin and impurity.
"…’In the whole land,’ declares the LORD, ’two-thirds will be struck down and perish;
yet one-third will be left in it. This third I will bring into the fire; I will refine them like silver and test them like gold. They will call on my name and I will answer them; I will say, ’They are my people,’ and they will say, ’The LORD is our God.’ "
GOD CAN MAKE IT SO.
Illustration: I am a laid-back White Sox fan. All my life, I have had to deal with being out-numbered by Cub’s fans. Both Sox and Cub fans have long dreamt of a City series, where the two teams are competing during the World Series. That could happen this year. Statistically speaking, we could expect this to happen sometimes.
But for an entire nation to believe in Jesus like this, that is not a mere statistical flukes. People do not get saved by statistical chance, but by the plans of a sovereign God!
E. God will FULFILL all the promises made to Israel (21)
The promise of Restoration
In Acts 1:6, the Apostles asked, "Will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel."
The Greek word, "αποκατα’στασιs" means restoration or reestablishment; the verb form is used in Acts 1:6, but the noun form in 3:21.
The Apostles were not to know the TIME of the restoration, but they did know the CONDITIONS….(as I have just mentioned, Israel’s complete repentance)
GOD CAN MAKE IT SO.
F. Jesus is the Great Prophet Predicted by MOSES (22-23)
Deuteronomy 18:15-19, passim:
The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own brothers. You must listen to him…I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers; I will put my words in his mouth, and he will tell them everything I command him. If anyone does not listen to my words that the prophet speaks in my name, I myself will call him to account.
John 7:40-41 records the reaction of the crowd to some of Jesus’ teachings:
"On hearing his words, some of the people said, "Surely this man is the Prophet." Others said, "He is the Christ."
John 1:21, when John the Baptist came on the scene, they asked him some questions.
They asked him, "Then who are you? Are you Elijah?" He said, "I am not." "Are you the Prophet?" He answered, "No."
Just as the Jews did not understand that there was one Messiah with two comings, so they did not understand that "the Prophet" and "the Messiah" were one and the same.
Application:
• The same is true with us; we only understand a portion of what God has revealed.
• When Abraham went to sacrifice his son, Isaac, he could not figure things out; God had promised to give him many descendents through Isaac, but Isaac had not even married yet. He knew God would keep his promise. According to the book of Hebrews, he assumed God would resurrect Isaac. He did not anticipate that God would prevent the sacrifice.
• Still, he trusted God even though he did not fully understand; he clung to what he did understand.
• Isn’t this the way of life. We say, "why, God? I don’t understand!"
• It is okay. God expects us to work diligently to understand what we can about Him, but He knows our frame. As the Psalm 103:13-14 puts it: "Just as a father has compassion on his children, So the LORD has compassion on those who fear Him. For He Himself knows our frame; He is mindful that we are but dust.
God’s dealings with Israel provide us with an object lesson about sin, repentance, and responsibility.
III. Repentance Begins with the INDIVIDUAL (24-26)
A. God PREDICTED All These Things (24)
Bad weather had backed up all flights, and as a result our plane sat on the runway for three hours. All attempts to placate the passengers weren’t working. Then the pilot came on the intercom to announce his umpteenth update: "Folks, we’ll be getting permission to take off, but I have to tell you that we’re 26th in line for departure."
As a collective groan filled the aircraft, a flight attendant took the mike and added, "Ladies and gentlemen, please close your window shades. We’ll soon be showing our almost-inflight hit movie, ’Anger Management.’" A lot of strange things can happened by seeming coincidence. (Reader’s Digest, submitted by Steve North)
But keeping a nation in existence without a homeland for 1900 years is not just a freak event. No, the existence of the modern nation of Israel as a testimony to God’s faithfulness and the fulfillment of God’s plans.
God predicted the Messiah’s coming and His rejection by the nation.
GOD CAN MAKE IT SO
B. The Offer is to the JEW First (25)
Romans 1:16, "For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek."
C. The Choice Here: Judaism With or Without JESUS (26)
D. Later, Salvation to GENTILES Without Becoming JEWS
1. Note the phrase, "to turn each of you from your wicked ways
2. The nation of Israel or the church is made up of individuals
3. Each of us must covenant with God; there is no group plan
4. God has children, not grandchildren
5. Believers complain, "the church today needs to do this or that." But they must learn to look in the mirror and say, "I am the church!"
Application: GOD CAN MAKE IT SO, And He WILL Make it So!!!
Just as God will fulfill His promises to Israel in His time, so He will fulfill the promises He has made to we who are in Christ. But we need to remind ourselves that time is not object to God. He exists outside of time, so there is no hurry with Him!
God’s dealings with Israel provide us with an object lesson about sin, repentance, and responsibility.
