Is God Finished With Israel? - Part 03

Guest (Male): Did God reject the Jewish people when they rejected his son 2,000 years ago? Has he replaced Israel with the church? Stay with us as Dr. Gary Hedrick discusses the question, is God finished with Israel today right here on Messianic Perspectives.
Liz Ayala: Shalom and welcome to Messianic Perspectives, a daily program where we look into the scriptures from a distinctive first century Jewish point of view. This is Liz Ayala. On today's edition of Messianic Perspectives, Dr. Gary Hedrick is discussing the question, is God finished with Israel? I'll be back a little later with information about a special offer. So have your pencil and paper ready. Now with today's study, here is Dr. Gary Hedrick.
Dr. Gary Hedrick: All right. Thank you and welcome listening friend to another edition of the program. It's good to have you with us today as we continue this series of studies on the question, is God finished with Israel? And we've been talking about the fact that Israel's relationship with God was not based on the Mosaic covenant of law, but on the Abrahamic covenant of grace. And you'll hear Messianics or Christians talk a lot about the new covenant and rightfully so. But all the new covenant is really is an extension of the Abrahamic covenant. You see, what we need to realize is that the mosaic law was never meant to serve as a basis of justification, but as a means of sanctification. In fact, the book of Hebrews tells us that the blood of bulls and goats could what? Never take away sins. All those sacrifices did was point forward to the sacrifice of the lamb of God who would take away the sins of the world. That's why the word atonement was used in the Old Testament to describe what those sacrifices accomplished. The word atonement means to cover. That's why the sacrifices had to be repeated over and over again from one year to the next because they could only cover sin temporarily. They could not take it away. But when John the Baptist saw our Lord approaching, what did he say? He said, behold who? The lamb of God who does what? Who taketh away the sins of the world. You see, he doesn't just cover our sins temporarily, but he takes them away permanently. That's the difference. So the Abrahamic covenant is for justification and the mosaic covenant is for sanctification. The Abrahamic covenant establishes relationship while the mosaic covenant regulates fellowship. One is faith, the other is works. One is grace, the other is law. That's the difference. You say, well, what does all of that have to do with the question of whether or not God is finished with Israel? And let me answer that. People who say God has washed his hands of the Jewish nation need to understand this difference between relationship and fellowship, between grace and law, between justification and sanctification, between Abraham and Moses because the only way Israel could forfeit her relationship with God by breaking the mosaic covenant, and we know she did violate that covenant many times, but the only way Israel could forfeit her relationship with God by breaking the mosaic covenant would be if that relationship was established by the mosaic covenant. If Israel's relationship with God was established by and based upon her ability to keep that law, then if she violated that law, the relationship would be terminated. Why? Because the mosaic covenant was conditional. You say, what does conditional mean? Very simple. A conditional agreement says, if you do this, then I'll do that. If you don't do this, then I won't do that. The mosaic covenant was conditional. God said, if you do this, I'll do that. So if Israel violates the terms, the whole deal is off. Does that make sense? Now here's what it means. Since Israel's relationship was established by the Abrahamic covenant which was unconditional, there is virtually nothing Israel can do to sever that relationship. That's eternal security, my friend. That's what the apostle Paul was talking about in Romans 11:29 where he's talking about God 's future plan for Israel when he said, for the gifts and calling of God are without repentance. In other words, the gifts and calling of God are irrevocable. That means Israel is just as called today as she was 4,000 years ago. It means Israel is just as much a people of God today as she was in the days of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob because the gifts and calling of God are without repentance. You say, that doesn't make any sense, Gary. You mean Israel can turn her back on God and everything is just hunky-dory? That's not what I said. I said the relationship cannot be severed, but the fellowship certainly can. It's like any earthly son or daughter. You may have a child who grows up to be a complete embarrassment to you. He may totally repudiate everything you tried to teach him and he may turn his back on everything you stand for. But do you know what? No matter what he does, he's still your son. Your blood still flows through his veins. It's like they said in the O.J. Simpson trial, DNA doesn't lie. DNA is who you are and what you are at the most fundamental level of existence, at least from a physical standpoint. And once that relationship has been established, it's permanent. You can deny it all you want, but the DNA doesn't lie because there's a relationship there. But now watch this. Just because you have a relationship doesn't necessarily mean you'll have fellowship with that child. Even though the relationship cannot be severed, the fellowship certainly can be. King David, for example, had a son who turned against him and even conspired to take the kingdom from him. So needless to say, they didn't have much fellowship, but they were still father and son. And David still loved that boy as low down and no good as he was, but as long as the boy was in rebellion, there could be no fellowship between them. And that's how it is between God and Israel. The relationship is unconditional which means it's all of God by grace, through faith, not of works lest any man should boast. You can't earn it through works and you can't lose it by works, but the fellowship is conditional. Jesus said, if you love me, do what? Keep my commandments. If you want to have fellowship with me, if you want to show that you love me, if you want to get close to me, then keep my commandments, he says. I wish we had more time to spend on this, but if you have difficulty with this concept of grace, just get our teaching tape on The Christian's Greatest Discovery because it'll help you understand the difference between justification and sanctification, between sonship and fellowship. It'll help you understand that the Abrahamic covenant is the underlying basis of the new covenant and that our relationship with God is based purely on his grace through faith in his son. And when you understand that, my friend, you begin to see that the issue is not how good I am or how good you are, but it's how good Jesus is because his righteousness has been imputed to me and to you if you've trusted him as your savior. But here's what I want to get into today. The Abrahamic covenant has three basic provisions. One has to do with the promised land, another has to do with the promised seed, and another has to do with the promised blessing. So let's turn over to 2 Samuel chapter 7 and see how the covenant with David develops these promises even further. Remember, the covenant with Abraham is the foundation and then there are seven other basic covenants throughout the Old Testament that elaborate on various aspects of God's promises to Abraham. Here it is. 2 Samuel chapter 7 beginning in verse 10. Here's what God says to King David. He says, moreover I will appoint a place for my people Israel and will plant them that they may dwell in a place of their own and move no more. Neither shall the children of wickedness afflict them anymore as in times past. Now look at that. He's taking David back to the Abrahamic covenant where God had promised the children of Israel a land and he says there will come a time when Israel will be planted permanently in their own land, a place of their own, and they will move no more. Did you get that? There will come a time when Israel will never again be dispersed from their land. That's God's promise. Now when was that promise ever fulfilled? It wasn't fulfilled in Solomon's time because the Jews were dispersed from the land long after Solomon had died. The Assyrians destroyed the northern kingdom in the 8th century BC. The Babylonians destroyed the southern kingdom in the 6th century BC. Then over the next several centuries, Jewish people from the 12 tribes in the diaspora filtered back into Palestine. Zerubbabel tried to rebuild the temple in 536 BC, but people who remembered what Solomon's temple had looked like wept at the comparison. By the time the Messiah was born, King Herod had started expanding and rebuilding the Jerusalem temple in what would become the second temple or Herod's temple. But what happened? In AD 70, the second temple was destroyed and the Jewish people once again were dispersed from their homeland. The last Jewish stronghold was at Masada, the mountaintop fortress that fell in AD 73. So the Jewish people were dispersed from their land once again. Now today they're back in the land, but it's only a little sliver of what they were promised. So there's only one conclusion and that is that the fulfillment of this promise to King David is yet future. It happens when the Messiah returns and that's when they are planted in the land never to be moved again. Well, that's all of our time for today. Why don't you send for the booklet? You might even get it in time to follow along with our studies here on the radio. I'll see you next time. God bless you. Take care. Bye-bye.
Liz Ayala: Thank you, Gary, and thank you, listening friend, for tuning in today. Now let me tell you about our special offer. It's Gary Hedrick's booklet entitled, Is God Finished with Israel? It's available for a suggested gift of $7. This booklet is especially helpful because it includes a word-for-word transcript of an internet debate between Gary Hedrick and an amillenialist. This is someone who very definitely believes that God is finished with Israel and of course, Gary very definitely believes that he is not. So it made for quite a lively discussion. Then we also have the programs you're hearing here on the broadcast. This series of studies is available on compact disc for a suggested contribution of just $6 to this ministry. The title again is, Is God Finished with Israel? Just visit our secure online store at messianicspecialties.com to place your order. If you would prefer to order by mail, just address your request to Messianic Perspectives, P.O. Box 345, San Antonio, Texas 78292. To order by phone, use our toll-free order line. The number is 1-800-926-5397. Let me remind you that when you order the materials we offer here on the program, you're not only enabling us to remain here on your station, but you're also helping us take the good news of Yeshua Ha Mashiach to Jewish people and Gentiles all over the world. Messianic Perspectives is sponsored by CJF Ministries, one of the largest missionary organizations in the world. We currently have missionary families serving the Lord all over the world including the United States, Canada, South America, England, France, and of course, Israel. So when you write, consider helping us with a gift above the suggested amount. We'd be very grateful. And as always, when you're in touch with us, please mention the call letters of this station. If you're listening to our webcast or podcast, we need to know that too. I'm Liz Ayala. Join us next time, won't you? As Dr. Gary Hedrick continues our series of studies on, Is God Finished with Israel? Right here on Messianic Perspectives. Messianic Perspectives is sponsored by CJF Ministries of San Antonio, Texas and is made possible on this station by the free will contributions of our listeners in this area.