Subject: God and Israel - Part I
Date: Thu, 26 Feb 1998 22:58:42 +0000
To: "Hebraic Heritage Newsgroup"<heb_roots_chr@geocities.com>

 

From:          Luana Fabry <sos@fan.net.au>
To:            heb_roots_chr@geocities.com
Subject:       God and Israel - Part I

I recently wrote a couple of articles (lengthy) which I haven't uploaded
to our website yet. They are my understanding of who the "Bride" is. The
second article follows the first, but I will send it on a separate
email. This is the first one:


	     ISRAEL MY GLORY

"He said to me, `You are my servant, O Israel,  in whom I will be
glorified'"  Isaiah 49:3

There is no other witness that God is present in history, but in the
history of Israel and the Jewish people. Where else do we hear of Him?
Where else do we know of His works, His character, His Torah? Where else
is it written concerning the mighty works of God? Only in the Bible and
the histories of Israel. These speak of God as being ever active, ever
present and ever involved in the  Israel's history. God Himself made
this statement when He says in Isaiah 43:12b, "You are my witnesses,'
declares the LORD, "that I am God". Israel is the witness that her God
is GOD. 

God took for Himself a bride to whom He gave His name and through whom
He would reveal His splendour and glory. Israel has on the most part not
lived up to that Name. Often it has seemed that God gave her His Name in
vain. She has misused it, abused it and profaned it among the nations.
But God has not changed His mind. He said concerning Israel:

"And wherever they went among the nations they profaned my holy 			
name, for it was said of them, `These are the LORD'S people, and yet 			
they had to leave his land. I had concern for my holy name, which the 		
house of Israel profaned among the nations where they had gone."  			
(Ezekiel 36:20,21) 

So what does God do? Does He choose somebody else to carry His Name? No.
Let's keep reading verse 22-23:

"Therefore say to the house of Israel, `This is what El Shaddai says:
It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am going to do these 	
things, but for the sake of my holy name which you have profaned 		
among the nations... Then the nations will know that I am the LORD 
when I show myself holy through you before their eyes."

Rather than permanently rejecting Israel and choosing someone else to
bear His Name, He takes on the task of cleansing and restoring her.
Verses 24-28:

"For I will take you out of the nations; I will gather you from all the 
countries and bring you back into your own land. I will sprinkle 
clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all 
your impurities and from all your idols. I will give you a new  heart 
and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your
 heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my
Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my 
laws. You will live in the land of your forefathers and I will be your 	
God." 

God has not given His name to another. He is a monogamous God - He has
only one wife. He will as He promised, display His splendour through
Israel - the betrothed of YHVH. God is the perfect Bridegroom who
sanctifies his Bride and makes her holy, set apart unto Himself.

Because of the promise God made to Abraham, "Through your seed, all
nations on earth will be blessed", those gentiles who were once
foreigners to the Covenants and Promises, can now be joined to the
Household of Israel. The "Seed", Yeshua, has made a way. All the
blessings God gave Israel, (Romans 9:3-5) - "the covenants, the
promises, the law, the temple worship, the divine glory and the
Messiah", have been extended to all who love the God of Abraham, Isaac
and Jacob. Those who say "yes" to YHVH's Covenant of Betrothal given at
Sinai and acknowledge the Messiah of Israel, Yeshua, become a part of
Israel - the Household of God.

Many believe that Yeshua started something new. But in fact, he didn't.
He simply validated that which God had already chosen through which to
glorify Himself. Others say that Biblical Judaism is no longer valid
because the Temple and sacrifices no longer exist. Its quite the
opposite - Yeshua's atonement made it possible for Biblical Judaism to
continue, regardless of the destruction of the Temple and the end of
sacrifices, because HE fulfilled the sacrificial system "once and for
all". And it was all done before the Temple was destroyed! It is
important that we understand that the true Messianic Community is within
the Framework of Israel and Torah, not apart from it. It is for the sake
of this remnant, and the already established root, that Israel will one
day be nationally `saved' (Romans 11:11-26). 

Despite all odds throughout history, Israel has survived. She has
outlasted every civilization; she has survived every battle launched
against her. The Jewish people have survived more continuous persecution
and slaughter than any other race in the history of mankind. They have
been expelled from every country in which they lived and still they
exist as a witness to the God of History. This alone tells the world
that the God of Israel LIVES! He has kept her in the shadow of His wings
because she belongs to him. He has done this for no other people, no
other nation. Israel cannot exist without God. Neither can God be
glorified without Israel. This is the path He has chosen: "You are My
servant, O Israel, In whom I will be glorified." Israel is God's vision,
His ministry. God's vision of Israel came first and only then did she
come into the world. Though some of her children have gone astray,
Israel remains the Bride of God and we cannot hate what God loves.

Once the gentiles were foreigners, excluded from citizenship in Israel.
But because of Yeshua, "consequently you are no longer foreigners and
aliens, but fellow-citizens with God's people and members of God's
household" (Ephesians 2:2-19). Israel is the tree; it is in clinging to
the stem and being nourished by the root that keeps us alive. What
greater blessing, than to be part of the vision and Household of God!

There is no greater destiny than the destiny of God and His people. And
this destiny is that the God of Heaven and Earth will glorify Himself
through Israel. We have seen the miracles of the past. We have seen the
tremendous labour pains the Jews went through in birthing the Nation in
1948, and the continuing struggle of holding on to it. The Rabbis call
this the "birthpains of Messiah", in which the Jewish people share. Yet
as Paul says in Romans 8:18: "...The sufferings of this present time are
not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us."

Israel is the  Bride of YHVH. She continues to bear His name, for He has
redeemed her. Like Hosea, YHVH waits for His Bride. He waits for the day
that she realizes that there is no other Bridegroom, no other Lover, no
other Redeemer than the LORD. On that day, the fulness of Israel's
salvation will come.

"No longer will violence be heard in your land, nor ruin or destruction
within your borders, but you will call your walls Salvation (Yeshu'ah)
and your gates Praise. The sun will no more be your light by day, nor
will the brightness of the moon shine on you, for the LORD will be your
everlasting light, and your God will be your glory."  Isaiah 60:18 

Luana Fabry
Beit Y'shua Ministries
http://www.fan.net.au/~sos/beit.htm

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