Philippians 1:6
And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Yeshua HaMashiach. Moses seems to peer into the future as he warns the Congregation in the desert of their future apostasy and exile. He seems to know that Israel will eventually forget the God that delivered her from Egypt. He knows that she will pervert the beauty of Torah observance, and go after idols according to the willfulness of her own heart (Deuteronomy 2916-29). According to these passages, some people claim that God forsook Israel when it deviated from the straight and narrow path of obedience to Torah and as a result rejected Messiah. I find this strange because God's Oracle through Moses doesn't stop there. It continues. It continues with a prophecy of Israel's repentance and return to the Land (Deuteronomy 30 1-14). As a new bride who carelessly played the harlot in her husband's house while he was away, Israel has been ravished, raped, used, misused, and abused. The nations kidnapped her and made her house desolate: a result of her own willful choices. I don't know about you, but I believe in the God who inspired Paul with the words, "he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Yeshua HaMashiach (Philippians 1:6)". After the Holocaust Israel said, "that is enough"! As the Prodigal Son of the Master's parable, she assessed her fate and made a decision to return home where the Father waits for her with open arms and tears of joy (Luke 15:14-24). As with Jacob returning from exile at Laban's, angels wait for her at the entrance of the Land; God also gives her wisdom on how to deal with Esau's evil intentions (Genesis 32 and 33). As with Nehemiah' crew rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem, God protects her from the Samaritans who try to intimidate her from rebuilding; she works hard at rebuilding her home, one hand with the work tool and the other holding a weapon (Nehemiah 1-6). Many look at Israel today and can hardly think of it as a godly nation. The Israel Hashem so carefully nurtured in the desert has returned soiled with the spiritual, moral and idolatrous filth she has collected during her sojourn in the nations. It is like going to jail and live among criminals. One will be affected. God knew that would happen. But her returning to the home God had appointed for her through Abraham and rebuilding herself as a sovereign nation is the mustard seed of faith that precipitates the rest of the prophecy spoken by Moses, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and many others (Isaiah 27:13; 56:8; Ezekiel 37: 21-24; Jeremiah 31:31-40). After this extensive punishment that God claims being 'double for what she's done (Isaiah 40:2; 61:7), like Job Israel is restored twice above her former glory as in the days of Solomon's reign (Job 42:10). She also regains her place as a Light to the nations, and nations even flock to her for the Feasts of Tabernacle that they may hear the "Torah that comes out of Zion" (Zechariah 14; Isaiah 2:3; Micah 4:2). Thus goes the story, a beautiful story that indeed ends well. We must just be patient and not draw a premature ending. All things truly will be restored. May it happen soon Abba, even in our days!
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Romans 11:25-26
Blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in. And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob: The Book of Genesis tells us the story of Isaac, a father blinded to his son’s wickedness. Isaac could have been fooled by Jacob’s ruse but Rebecca his wife had been given a prophecy about the future of her two children. Did Isaac know about this? And how could Isaac be oblivious to Esau’s marriages with several Canaanite women? It seems also that Isaac was unaware of the birthright-for-‘red-stuff’ (that it how the dish was called in the Hebrew text) deal between Esau and Jacob. Many Talmudic commentators attribute Isaac’s blindness to an act of God’s mercy to spare him the distress of seeing his son Esau’s wicked behavior. Some also suggest that it was due to Esau’s smoke-screen of hypocrisy, pretending to be so righteous in front of his father. It could also simply be that he was old and had cataracts. Interesting elements are unveiled when we look at this story as the prophetic foreshadow of a future situation, as the microcosm of a larger concept. Not only was Isaac blinded to Esau’s wickedness, but so was he to Jacob’s righteousness. Here we have Isaac, the promised seed of Abraham, blinded to the righteousness of he who in essence would carry the seed of Messiah in him, which caused him to leave his mother’s tent for exile. We must remember also that Rebecca lived in Sarah’s tent which was in the eyes of the sages compared to Jerusalem. Jacob therefore is exiled from ‘Jerusalem’, and we never hear of Rebecca again. Jacob later returns to the Land with an angelic escort (Genesis 34). Two thousand years ago, Hashem ‘blinded’ the eyes of Israel to the early messianic movement (Romans 11:7, 25). The apostle Paul also started out blinded to the fulfillment of the promises made to the fathers. This forced the Messianic believers of Israel, which were mostly a Temple sect of Jerusalem found gathering by Solomon’s Portico, to leave the Land and go into exile. Today, as Jacob escorted by angels (Genesis 32:1) that seed is returning to the Promised Land as a growing Messianic movement. Though they face many ‘Esau’s, angels also escort them and will see them to destination in conquering the Land until, as in the story of old, The Messiah who is also called David (Hoseah 3:5) arrives and establishes his Kingdom in Jerusalem from where the whole world will learn to live by the Torah of God. May it be soon Abba, even in our days! |
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