Heart for Israel

Where did the Jewish people come from? Are they still here today?

Genesis 12:1-3 is the passage commonly called the Abrahamic Covenant. That was the first time it was spoken to Abram, but God would reiterate it to him four more times (Gen. 13:14-18; 15:18-21; 17:1-27; 22:16-18). In v1, God tells Abram to get up and leave His country and go into a new land that He would show him. V2 God tells him that He will make “of thee” a great nation. Later, it will be seen that the nation’s birth was supernatural. God took a woman who was beyond the age of childbearing/a menopausal woman, and a man of 75 years old, and He would make a people and a nation.

          The Table of Nations listed in Genesis 10:1-32: Japheth 14 nations; Ham 30 nations; Shem 26 nations, for a total of 70 nations. God would exegete out of one of the descendants of Shem, one man, and create the 71^st nation. That nation would be to mankind a blessing, and Abram’s name would be great. Also, that new nation would be given land (v1). All people in the world who bless Abram and his descendants will be blessed, and those who curse them will be cursed (v3). One of Abram’s descendants would be the seed of the woman noted in Genesis 3:15. And Galatians 3:14, 16 show that the Messiah, who would come through Abraham, would be the ultimate fulfillment of the promise to bless the entire world. In v16, the term “seed” is singular, but a singular noun can sometimes take plural connotations. The term “people,” in the singular, can refer to a whole group. The ultimate fulfillment of the Genesis 12 promise is complete in Jesus Christ. In verse 17, Paul goes on to argue that even though Christ came and still lives, the Abrahamic Covenant remains valid because the Mosaic Covenant and its violation cannot cancel out the previous covenant, namely the Abrahamic Covenant.

          The Abrahamic Covenant comprises three elements. It possesses The Seed, The Land, and The Blessing. In Genesis 12:7, God reiterates that I will give this land to Abram and his seed. Is the “seed” Jesus? Ultimately, it sure is because He is part of the plural seed concept. The promise was made to all the descendants of Abram. 

          So, the Land of Israel was given by God to the descendants of Abraham, but not just any of the descendants. The Covenant was passed on and sustained through a particular line. It went through Isaac, not Ishmael, as clearly taught in Genesis 26:1-5, 24; from Isaac it was passed on not to Esau, but to Jacob (Gen. 28:13-15; 35:11-12). The seed of Jacob became the children of Israel, comprising 12 tribes. Those descendants have rights to the land that was given to them by God through a Covenant promise.

          To argue that there are no Jews today is a very difficult position to hold. For one, DNA tests can track this descent. Secondly, in understanding the Bible, God is not done with the Jewish people. This can be seen in several ways. First, after 70 AD and 135 AD, the Jews were clearly scattered to the four corners of the earth. There are prophecies in Ezekiel 36:19, 24 that have yet to be fulfilled. Ezekiel 34: 12-13 also depicts a scattering and a return of the Jewish people. Isaiah is packed with information on this phenomenon (11:11-12). Gentiles will help bring the Jews back to the land (Isa.14:1-2; 43:5-6; 49:22; 60:9-10).

          God is not done with the Jewish people because the return of the Messiah is based on their repentance. In Acts 3:19-20, back in v 12, Peter begins his sermon to the “Men of Israel”, the Jewish leadership who are leading the people of Israel. In v19-20 he says,  ^“Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord. ²⁰ And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you”. Clearly, Israel’s repentance results in the coming of the Messiah. We long for that day, which is not too far off; we ought to be ready at any moment for His return!