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CHAPTER
25
CHAPTER
TWENTY FIVE
THE
PORTION OF JACOB
A
portion is usually meant as a particular amount or share
of something, like food. But, according to the Oxford
Dictionary, it can be used in the sense of destiny;
I think we have this meaning here. God is the ultimate
destiny of, or the end in sight for, Jacob; and Jacob
is the ancient patriarch whose name God changed to Israel.
So we might reverently substitute the above chapter
heading with ‘The God of Israel.’
Speaking
through the prophet Jeremiah on the subject of false
gods and idols, the Lord declared:
He
who is the Portion of Jacob is not like these, for he
is the Maker of all things, including Israel, the tribe
of his inheritance---the LORD Almighty is his name.
(Jeremiah
chapter 10, verse 16).
In
the above verse we find that God calls Israel ‘the tribe
of his inheritance’. This is also seen much earlier
in the Bible:
For
the LORD’S portion is his people, Jacob his allotted
inheritance.
(Deuteronomy
chapter 32, verse 9).
Israel,
representing the people of God, is therefore seen to
be His property; He is their rightful Owner. While God
Himself is, in a way, His people’s inheritance. The
believer’s destiny, or portion, is to live with God
and to be like Christ. We are to inherit His character
as well as all the riches of heaven.
I
am aware that I have now made a jump from Israel, the
nation, to the Church. I believe that these are realities
for those who have faith in Jesus, and that this same
faith is the promised inheritance of many who will come
from the actual nation of Israel. I am convinced that
God’s prophetic word regarding Israel is, in large part,
meant to be taken literally. Too much Scripture becomes
meaningless nonsense if we attempt to spiritualise the
prophecies concerning Israel; it does not stand up if
we replace Israel with the Church.
When
God said, because of their unfaithfulness, He would
drive the people of Israel from the land He had given
them; that is exactly what happened:
If
you do not carefully follow all the words of this law------you
will be uprooted from the land you are entering to possess.
(Deuteronomy
chapter 28, verses 58, 63).
When
God said He would scatter them throughout all the nations
of the earth; that is exactly what happened:
“I
dispersed them among the nations, and they were scattered
through the countries-----”
(Ezekiel
chapter 36, verse 19).
When
God said they would live in fear and persecution and
their very name would be held in derision wherever they
lived; that is exactly what happened:
You
will become a thing of horror and an object of scorn
and ridicule to all the nations where the LORD will
drive you.
(Deuteronomy
chapter 28, verse 37).
When
God said that after many years He would bring them back
from the nations, back to the very mountains of Israel,
the very land of their forefathers; that is exactly
what is happening:
“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-----You will live in the land I gave your forefathers----”
(Ezekiel
chapter 36, verses 24, 28).
When
God said He would do an amazing thing by bringing the
nation back into existence in a single day; it happened
in a single day in 1948:
“Who
has ever heard such a thing? Who has ever seen such
things? Can a country be born in a day or a nation be
brought forth in a moment? Yet no sooner is Zion in
labour than she gives birth to her children.”
(Isaiah
chapter 66, verse 8).
When
God said they would come back to their land after war,
back to a land that lay ruined, swamp-ridden and desolate;
it happened, they came back after 6,000,000 Jews had
been slaughtered during World War 2:
“-----a
land that has recovered from war, whose people were
gathered from many nations to the mountains of Israel,
which had long been desolate.”
(Ezekiel
chapter 38, verse 8).
When
God said the two kingdoms, Israel and Judah, would come
back to the land as one; it happened, Israel is one
nation:
“I
will take the Israelites out of the nations where they
have gone-------I will make them one nation in the land,
on the mountains of Israel------they will never again
be two nations or be divided into two kingdoms.”
(Ezekiel
chapter 37, verses 21-22).
When
God said Hebrew, their original, pure language, would
again become the language of all Israel---though they
are returning from many nations speaking many different
languages---it is happening, the immigrants become fluent
in Hebrew. Most, if not all, of the world’s major languages
have long been contaminated by the speech of differing
races (English is a mix of Latin, French, German etc.).
Martin Luther said the ancient Hebrew language was a
pure, unadulterated tongue (Luther’s Discourses).
For
then I will turn to the people a pure language-----.
(Zephaniah
chapter 3, verse 9 KJV).
When
God said whoever blesses them He will bless, and whoever
harms them He will harm; it has happened and will continue
to happen:
“I
will make you into a great nation and I will bless you;
I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.
I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses
you I will curse-----”
(Genesis
chapter 12, verses 2-3).
Much
more could be said, but let’s hear the Apostle Paul:
I
do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers,
so that you may not be conceited: Israel has experienced
a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles
has come in. And so all Israel will be saved-----.
(Romans
chapter 11, verses 25-26).
Here
is the mystery: the hearts of the Israelites have been
hardened, in part, to the Gospel. In any given generation
only a handful of Jews come to faith in Jesus. This
will continue ‘until the full number of Gentiles has
come in’, and then God will do a great work of grace
in the hearts of the remnant of Israel.
Jesus
referred to this very mystery when He said to the Jews:
“So
the last will be first, and the first will be last.”
(Matthew
chapter 20, verse 16).
Israel
was the first nation on earth to receive the revelations
of the one true God. Jesus came to that nation to reveal
the coming Kingdom of God through His Gospel. On the
whole, they rejected Him and His message, though He
had warned on several occasions, in parables, that to
do so would mean the Gospel would be taken from them
and given to others who would believe it and become
responsible for its spread across the earth.
Israel
was meant to be first to come into the Kingdom of God
and then the other nations (Gentiles). We now know they
will be last.
Some
other titles which can apply to Jesus in relation to
Israel are:
THE
KING OF ISRAEL
“Rabbi,
you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel.”
(John
chapter 1,verse 49).
THE
KING OF THE JEWS
Pilate
had a notice prepared and fastened to the cross. It
read: JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS.
(John
chapter 19, verse 19).
JACOB’S
KING
“Present
your case,” says the LORD, “Set forth your arguments,”
says Jacob’s King.
(Isaiah
chapter 41, verse 21).
ISRAEL’S
CREATOR AND KING
“I
am the LORD, your Holy One, Israel’s Creator, your King.”
(Isaiah
chapter 43, verse 15).
SAVIOUR
OF ISRAEL
Truly
you are a God who hides himself, O God and Saviour of
Israel.
(Isaiah
chapter 45, verse 15).
THE
MIGHTY ONE OF JACOB
“Then
all mankind will know that I, the LORD, am your Saviour,
your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.”
(Isaiah
chapter 49, verse 26).
THE
LIGHT OF ISRAEL
The
Light of Israel will become a fire, their Holy One a
flame.
(Isaiah
chapter 10, verse 17).
THE
HOLY ONE OF JACOB
---they
will acknowledge the holiness of the Holy One of Jacob---
(Isaiah
chapter 29, verse 23).
THE
HOLY ONE OF ISRAEL
---let
the plan of the Holy One of Israel come---
(Isaiah
chapter 5,verse 19).
THE
MIGHTY ONE OF ISRAEL
Therefore
the Lord, the LORD Almighty, the Mighty One of Israel,
declares-----
(Isaiah
chapter 1, verse 24).
THE
GOD OF ISRAEL
---and
rely on the God of Israel----
(Isaiah
chapter 48, verse 2).
ISRAEL’S
MAKER
“This
is what the LORD says---the Holy One of Israel, and
its Maker---
(Isaiah
chapter 45, verse 11).
THE
GOD OF JACOB
“Come
let us go up to the------house of the God of Jacob.”
(Isaiah
chapter 2, verse 3).
THE
GOD OF ABRAHAM AND THE FEAR OF ISAAC
“If
the God of my father, the God of Abraham and the Fear
of Isaac, had not been with me----”
(Genesis
chapter 31, verse 42).
THE
GOD OF ABRAHAM, THE GOD OF ISAAC AND THE GOD OF JACOB
Then
he said, “I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac
and the God of Jacob.”
(Exodus
chapter 3, verse 6).
ISRAEL’S
KING AND REDEEMER, THE LORD ALMIGHTY
“This
is what the LORD says---Israel’s King and Redeemer,
the LORD Almighty-----”
(Isaiah
chapter 44, verse 6).
THE
ROCK OF ISRAEL
---to
the mountain of the LORD, to the Rock of Israel.
(Isaiah
chapter 30, verse 29).
THE
SHEPHERD OF ISRAEL
Hear
us, O Shepherd of Israel----.
(Psalm
80, verse 1).
A
STAR OUT OF JACOB; A SCEPTRE OUT OF ISRAEL
“A
star will come out of Jacob; a sceptre will rise out
of Israel.”
(Numbers
chapter 24, verse 17).
The
Lord is also spoken of as ISRAEL’S HUSBAND:
For
your Maker is your husband---the LORD Almighty is his
name---.
(Isaiah
chapter 54, verse 5).
The
God, the I AM, who first spoke to Moses from the burning
bush is the God of all the above titles; as is the God,
the I AM, who came to earth to die for sinners.
Dear
brothers and sisters in Christ, do not do the Portion
of Jacob and His word an insult and an injustice by
rejecting, in any way, the Jewish people and the nation
of Israel---among them is, and will yet be, His treasured
inheritance.
El
Shaddai, El Shaddai’
El
Elyon, El Adonai;
Age
to age you’re still the same,
By
the power of your name
God
Almighty is the Portion of Jacob.
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