Hope of Israel
No matter where we find ourselves there is Hope
God knows our need for Hope
Witness of Hope
…from time to time a painting or picture will really speak a clear, strong message. There was a picture of an old burned-out mountain shack. All that remained was the chimney...the charred debris of what had been that family’s sole possession. In front of this destroyed home stood an old grandfatherly-looking man dressed only in his underclothes with a small boy clutching a pair of patched overalls. It was evident that the child was crying. Beneath the picture were the words which the artist felt the old man was speaking to the boy. They were simple words, yet they presented a profound theology and philosophy of life. Those words were, "Hush child, God ain’t dead!"
That vivid picture of that burned-out mountain shack, that old man, the weeping child, and those words "God ain’t dead" should remain in our mind. Instead of it being a reminder of the despair of life, it has come to be a reminder of hope! We need reminders that there is hope in this world. In the midst of all of life’s troubles and failures, we need mental pictures to remind us that all is not lost as long as God is alive and in control of His world. James DeLoach, associate pastor of the Second Baptist Church of Houston, quoted in When God Was Taken Captive, W. Aldrich, Multnomah, 1989, p. 24.
What wonderful hope we have today, as revealed throughout history to those who have been and will be faithful to God’s call in their lives.
No matter where we find ourselves there is Hope
I say then, Hath God cast away his people? God forbid. For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. Romans 11:1
Israel was disobedient to God, gripped by unbelief.
They even rejected God’s own Son, Jesus Christ.
He came unto his own, and his own received him not. John 1:11
How can this fact be reconciled with the fact that Israel is God’s people?
God had given birth to Israel through Abraham and had made some great promises to the nation through Abraham
ÞGod had even promised that He would never cast off His people: “For the LORD will not cast off his people, neither will he forsake his inheritance” (Psalm 94:14).
God upholds HIS Word.
“Has God cast away His people?”
To “cast away” (apotheomai) means to push away, to thrust away, to repel, to repudiate. To utterly and totally and finally cast away.
Has God utterly cast away the Jews?
Paul shouts: “God forbid” (me genito). It is impossible! It must never be! It can never be!
God has not and will not break His Word to Israel.
God’s promises were intended for those who believed and obeyed Him. These have always been “His people.”
Paul himself the believer is proof, he is part of God’s remnant…as there is even today in Israel.
Paul was a pure Jew, a true descendant of Abraham, not a mere proselyte; and he was of the elite, of the Benjaminite aristocracy.
Paul was part of the remnant of God.
“And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks. And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do” (Acts 9:5-6).
“But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ. And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith” (Phil. 3:7-9; cp. Romans 11:3-16).
Can you today claim those losses from your walk prior to Christ as gains in God today?
God knows our need for Hope
God hath not cast away his people which he foreknew. Wot ye not what the scripture saith of Elias? how he maketh intercession to God against Israel, saying, Romans 11:2
God’s knows all things, HE knows our need for “hope”.
“Known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world” (Acts 15:18).
“For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren” (Romans 8:29).
“God hath not cast away his people [Israel] whom he foreknew” (Romans 11:2).
“Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: who verily was foreordained [foreknown] before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you” (1 Peter 1:18-20).
“Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his. And, Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity” (2 Tim. 2:19).
“Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied” (1 Peter 1:2).
Witness’ of Hope
God hath not cast away his people which he foreknew. Wot ye not what the scripture saith of Elias? how he maketh intercession to God against Israel, saying, [3] Lord, they have killed thy prophets, and digged down thine altars; and I am left alone, and they seek my life. [4] But what saith the answer of God unto him? I have reserved to myself seven thousand men, who have not bowed the knee to the image of Baal. Romans 11:2-4
Elijah was given evidence of the remnant.
And he came thither unto a cave, and lodged there; and, behold, the word of the Lord came to him, and he said unto him, What doest thou here, Elijah? [10] And he said, I have been very jealous for the Lord God of hosts: for the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away. [11] And he said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the Lord. And, behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the Lord; but the Lord was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the Lord was not in the earthquake: [12] And after the earthquake a fire; but the Lord was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice. [13] And it was so, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle, and went out, and stood in the entering in of the cave. And, behold, there came a voice unto him, and said, What doest thou here, Elijah? [14] And he said, I have been very jealous for the Lord God of hosts: because the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away. [15] And the Lord said unto him, Go, return on thy way to the wilderness of Damascus: and when thou comest, anoint Hazael to be king over Syria: [16] And Jehu the son of Nimshi shalt thou anoint to be king over Israel: and Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah shalt thou anoint to be prophet in thy room. [17] And it shall come to pass, that him that escapeth the sword of Hazael shall Jehu slay: and him that escapeth from the sword of Jehu shall Elisha slay. [18] Yet I have left me seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth which hath not kissed him. 1 Kings 19:9-18
This is proof from the very highest authority among men, the authority of Scripture.
how many stray away from God and reject Him—how many within a nation, a state, a city, a neighborhood, a family, a religious body!
how God always has His few, His promised remnant who do obey and remain loyal to Him!
“Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us” (Hebrews 12:1).
“Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 1:13).
“Thou hast a few names even in Sardis which have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with me in white: for they are worthy” (Rev. 3:4).
“Behold, I come quickly; hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown” (Rev. 3:11).
“The law of truth was in his mouth, and iniquity was not found in his lips: he walked with me in peace and equity, and did turn many away from iniquity” (Malachi 2:6).
In Elijah’s time the people followed the life-style of the majority or at least a vocal minority.
Yet God indeed had his faithful who go out and serve HIM in every generation.
Will you submit to becoming one of God’s faithful today?
“Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people” (Proverbs 14:34).
The school system in a large city had a program to help children keep up with their school work during stays in the city’s hospitals. One day a teacher who was assigned to the program received a routine call asking her to visit a particular child. She took the child’s name and room number and talked briefly with the child’s regular class teacher. "We’re studying nouns and adverbs in his class now," the regular teacher said, "and I’d be grateful if you could help him understand them so he doesn’t fall too far behind."
The hospital program teacher went to see the boy that afternoon. No one had mentioned to her that the boy had been badly burned and was in great pain. Upset at the sight of the boy, she stammered as she told him, "I’ve been sent by your school to help you with nouns and adverbs." When she left she felt she hadn’t accomplished much.
But the next day, a nurse asked her, "What did you do to that boy?" The teacher felt she must have done something wrong and began to apologize. "No, no," said the nurse. "You don’t know what I mean. We’ve been worried about that little boy, but ever since yesterday, his whole attitude has changed. He’s fighting back, responding to treatment. It’s as though he’s decided to live."
Two weeks later the boy explained that he had completely given up hope until the teacher arrived. Everything changed when he came to a simple realization. He expressed it this way: "They wouldn’t send a teacher to work on nouns and adverbs with a dying boy, would they?" Bits & Pieces, July 1991.
We ourselves are given the task of carrying the most important message to a hurt and dying world, will you commit?
We are called to carry forth God’s “good news” of Jesus Christ to the world…will you go?
We are also called to commit ourselves to drawing nearer to God continually, will you make this commitment today? If you’ve previously made this commitment, will you now honor it.
