Israel
The Nation of Israel
Israel, a Holy People, a Chosen People, Possessed by God, Loved by God, Deuteronomy 7:6-10. Israel is the Lord’s Son, the Lord’s firstborn, Exodus 4:22
Exodus 4:22, 22 “Then you shall say to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says the LORD, “Israel is My son, My firstborn.
1406 BC > Moses, 120 years old, speaking to the Nation of Israel, before entering the Land
1406 BC > The Fate of Israel Revealed – When You do Evil, You will perish, be destroyed, and be scattered
Deuteronomy 4:25–28, 25 “When you become the father of children and children’s children and have remained long in the land, and act corruptly, and make an idol in the form of anything, and do that which is evil in the sight of the Lord your God so as to provoke Him to anger, 26 I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that you will surely perish quickly from the land where you are going over the Jordan (River) to possess it. You shall not live long on it, but will be utterly destroyed. 27 “The Lord will scatter you among the peoples, and you will be left few in number among the nations where the Lord drives you. 28 “There you will serve gods, the work of man’s hands, wood and stone, which neither see nor hear nor eat nor smell.
“When” You do Evil in sight of God, Not “IF” you do evil, you will surely perish and be driven out from the Land you possess. You will be “utterly destroyed” and “scattered” and “left few in number among the nations”. This is Moses revealing ahead of time prophetically, what Israel will do, after Israel has “remained in the Land” for many generations, Deut 4:25.
1406 BC > The Fate of Israel Revealed – In the Latter Days you will Return and Listen to the Lord
Deuteronomy 4:29–31, 29 “But from there (the nations) you will seek the Lord your God, and you will find Him if you search for Him with all your heart and all your soul. 30 “When you are in distress and all these things (destroyed and scattered) have come upon you, in the latter days you will return to the Lord your God and listen to His voice. 31 “For the Lord your God is a compassionate God; He will not fail you nor destroy you nor forget the covenant (Abrahamic) with your fathers (Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob) which He swore to them.
But “When” these things have come upon you, in the latter days, Moses is revealing ahead of time, you will return and listen to the Lord. Why is this so? Because the Lord is a “compassionate God”, and therefore “He will Not fail you nor destroy you nor forget the Covenant, He made and swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The Lord is bound by His sworn oath to Abraham. This is Not based on the conditional Mosaic Covenant, but on the unconditional Abrahamic Covenant.
1406 BC > The Warning to Israel – to obey God
Deuteronomy 4:35–40, 35 “To you it was shown that you might know that the Lord, He is God; there is no other besides Him (the oneness of God). 36 “Out of the heavens He let you hear His voice to discipline you; and on earth He let you see His great fire, and you heard His words from the midst of the fire. 37 “Because He loved your fathers (Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob), therefore He chose their descendants after them (the sons of Israel). And He personally (“certainly I, the “I AM WHO I AM”, will be with you”, Exodus 3:12, 3:14 ) brought you from Egypt by His great power, 38 driving out from before you nations greater and mightier than you, to bring you in and to give you their land for an inheritance, as it is today. 39 “Know therefore today, and take it to your heart, that the Lord, He is God in heaven above and on the earth below; there is no other (the oneness of God). 40 “So you shall keep His statutes and His commandments which I am giving you today, that it may go well with you and with your children after you, and that you may live long on the land which the Lord your God is giving you for all time (the “for all time” gift of the Land).”
To you, Israel, was shown, many things. “He let you hear His voice”, “He let you see His great fire”. Why did He do this? That “you might know the Lord”, the one and only God. Why did God let Israel see and hear all about Him? Because He loved Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Therefore, because of His love for them, He chose their descendants, you, the sons of Israel.
1406 BC > Israel – Chosen as God’s Possession and Holy People, because God Loved them
Deuteronomy 7:6–10, 6 “For you are a holy people to the Lord your God; the Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for His own possession out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. [See also Ex 6:7, Ex 19:5, Deut 4:20, Deut 7:6, Deut 10:15, Deut 14:2, Deut 26:18-19, Deut 28:9, Deut 29:13] 7 “The Lord did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any of the peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples, 8 but because the Lord loved you and kept the oath which He swore to your forefathers, the Lord brought you out by a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. 9 “Know therefore that the Lord your God, He is God, the faithful God, who keeps His covenant and His lovingkindness to a thousandth generation with those who love Him and keep His commandments; 10 but repays those who hate Him to their faces, to destroy them; He will not delay with him who hates Him, He will repay him to his face.
1406 BC > Israel – Crossing the Jordan, God will destroy the Canaanites, so Israel will drive them out
Deuteronomy 9:1–3, 1 “Hear, O Israel! You are crossing over the Jordan today to go in to dispossess nations greater and mightier than you, great cities fortified to heaven, 2 a people great and tall, the sons of the Anakim, whom you know and of whom you have heard it said, ‘Who can stand before the sons of Anak?’ 3 “Know therefore today that it is the Lord your God who is crossing over before you as a consuming fire. He will destroy them and He will subdue them before you, so that you may drive them out and destroy them quickly, just as the Lord has spoken to you.
1406 BC > Israel – to Possess the Land, Not because of Israel’s righteousness, but because of Canaan’s wickedness and to confirm the Covenant with Abraham
Deuteronomy 9:4–6, 4 “Do not say in your heart when the Lord your God has driven them out before you, ‘Because of my righteousness the Lord has brought me in to possess this land,’ [Also Deut 11:29] but it is because of the wickedness of these nations that the Lord is dispossessing them before you. 5 “It is not for your righteousness or for the uprightness of your heart that you are going to possess their land, but it is because of the wickedness of these nations that the Lord your God is driving them out before you, in order to confirm the oath (Abrahamic Covenant) which the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. 6 “Know, then, it is not because of your righteousness that the Lord your God is giving you this good land to possess, for you are a stubborn people.
After 597 BC > Jeremiah speaking in a Letter to the Nation of Israel, already in Exile in Babylon
Jeremiah 29:10–11, 10 “For thus says the Lord, ‘When seventy years have been completed for Babylon, I will visit you and fulfill My good word to you, to bring you back to this place. 11 ‘For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.
Jeremiah 30:3, 3 ‘For behold, days are coming,’ declares the Lord, ‘when I will restore the fortunes of My people Israel and Judah.’ The Lord says, ‘I will also bring them back to the land that I gave to their forefathers and they shall possess it.’ ”
Jeremiah 30:9, 9 ‘But they shall serve the Lord their God and David their king, whom I will raise up for them.