God's Dwelling Place

The title today, The Israel of God. How thankful are you that you are a part of the Israel of God? The Israel of God is not limited to any one ethnic group or national group, any race or anything like that, any social structure. The Israel of God eventually will be open to all humans. How thankful are you that God has called you at this time to be a member of the Israel of God? One of the things that I try to do most of the time in our sermons is to try to get you to view the Bible as a whole. Genesis to Revelation, what is it all about? For you not to get lost in the twigs, for you not to get lost in details and this or that, and to keep in mind the great grand overview and the plan of God and what He is doing and why He created human beings in the first place. God's desire and intent for humankind from the day they were created to the present day is to dwell not just with them but in them through His Spirit and for them to eventually actually be Spirit beings in His Kingdom. He set the tree of life in the Garden of Eden, symbolizing the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is that great essence that bridges the gulf, the great gulf, between our physio-chemical existence and eternal life. When God called Israel out of Egypt and delivered them into the Promised Land, His desire was to dwell with them, to have a relationship with them. If you would look at Leviticus 26 and verse 9, Leviticus 26 and verse 9, here Leviticus 26 and Genesis and Deuteronomy 28 are often signs called the blessings and cursings of the chapter. Leviticus 26, again in verse 9, here God is making promises to Israel. Notice this plea. It is so easy, especially for those who have grown up in the Church and those of you who have been in the Church 50-plus years, to hear some of the things repeated over and over again of how wonderful it is, how great it is, and all of this. And we somehow lose sight, indeed, of really how wonderful it is and how precious the promises are that God has extended to us. So in Leviticus 26 and verse 9, I don't know for sure why Israel. He had to start somewhere, so he decided to start with one of the weakest, least known at that time, nations or peoples on the face of the earth. Of course, Israel has ethnically sprang from Shem, one of the sons of Noah, but if you will not hearken unto me and will not do all these commandments, then of course that is a different story.

But the main point of what to focus on is that initially, when God created human beings, He created them so that He could have a relationship with them, that they could be members of His family. When He called Israel out of Egypt, He wanted to have a relationship with them. At that point, He only dwelt among them, not in them. He cleaned them up and put their sins away. Turn to Ezekiel 16 now. In Ezekiel 16, we see the condition of Israel when God called them and began to work with them. The analogy here is between a newborn baby and this nation that Israel was as a newborn baby is when and before they are cleaned up after they were born. We'll pick it up in verse 10. Ezekiel 16 and verse 10. I clothed you with bordered work and shod you with badger skin. I girded you about with linen and I covered you with silk.

So God dressed them up. I decked you also with ornaments. I put bracelets upon your hands and a chain upon your neck. And I put a jewel in your forehead, earrings in your ears and a beautiful crown upon your head. Thus were you decked with gold and silver and your raiment was of fine linen and silk and bordered work. That did eat the flower and honey and oil. And you were exceeding beautiful and you did prosper as a kingdom. This is what God did for Israel. But Israel did not really appreciate what God had done for them. And as we shall see in Hosea, they played the role of the harlot, spiritual harlotry. And God had to eventually put them away. And your renown went forth among the nations, and your beauty for it was perfect through my calmliness, which I put upon you, says the Lord God. And in verse 20, Moreover, you have taken your sons and your daughters, whom you have borne unto me, and have you sacrificed you to be devoured.

In this your hoardance is no small matter, that you have slain my children. See, God gives us our children. Like our personal goods, as you heard in the sermonette, they're not our own. God owns the cattle on a thousand hills, the world as is, the fullness thereof, as it says in Psalm 50. And children are a precious gift from the eternal. Can you imagine that a nation would go so far in spiritual deception, harlotry, that they would sacrifice the very fruit of their womb to the God Molech? Israel did. Israel did.

In all your abominations and your hoardance, you have not remembered the days of your youth when you were naked and bare and was polluted in your blood like a newborn.

A newborn is... I've never seen a baby before, it was cleaned up, don't I hope I never see one. But anyhow, Israel was in that condition. God cleaned them up, he entered into a covenant with them. Look at Exodus 24. In Exodus 24, God enters into a covenant with them. In verse 6, Moses took half of the blood and put it in basins, and half the blood he sprinkled on the altar. And he took the book of the covenant and read it in the audience of the people. And they said, all that the Lord hath said will we do and be obedient. See, that was their marriage covenant. That was the marriage ceremony when Israel became the bride of God, as it were, in and under the terms of the O covenant. And Moses took the blood and sprinkled it on the people, and said, Behold, the blood of the covenant which the Lord hath made with you concerning all these words. Israel went on to build a sanctuary. You see in chapter 25, verse 1, and the Lord God spoke unto Moses, saying, speaking to the children of Israel, that they bring me an offering. The purpose of the offerings, and he specifies the offerings, was verse 8, Let them build me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them. According to all the pattern that I show you after the pattern of the tabernacle and the pattern of all the instruments thereof, even so shall you make it. And it was patterned after the heavenly. There is a temple in the heavens, and it is this tabernacle was to be patterned after that which is in heaven. You look in verse 40, and took that, and looked that you make them after their pattern, which was shown you in the mount. And so God revealed to them what the pattern would be like, and what the instruments. Most of the rest of the book of Exodus is taken up with the various instruments, the various things that were in the tabernacle. Now you look at the last chapter of Exodus, chapter 40. It took them about a year to build the tabernacle. We could title the sermon today, God's Dwelling Place, the Israel of God. Of course, God is dwelling in you today, if you have God's Spirit. And you look in Exodus 40, verse 17, And it came to pass in the first month, in the second year, on the first day of the month, that the tabernacle was raised up. So about a year after they had left Egypt, the tabernacle was built.

Notice verse 33. And he raised up the court, round about the tabernacle, and the altar, and set up the hanging of the court gate, so Moses finished the work. Then a cloud covered the tent of the congregation, and the glory of the Eternal filled the tabernacle. The very presence of God filled that tabernacle. It was so bright that Moses could not even enter into the tabernacle. Verse 35, Moses was not able to enter into the tent, because the glory of God filled the tabernacle. And when the cloud was taken out from over the tabernacle, the children of Israel went onward in their journeys. So the very presence of God. It says that in 2 Corinthians chapter 10, that the rock they followed was Christ. Christ led them into the Promised Land. But if the cloud was not taken up, they didn't journey. And the cloud of the Eternal was upon the tabernacle by day, and the fire was upon it by night, and all the house of Israel threw out all their journeys. So God's Spirit was with them, and among them, but not in them. But Israel did not keep the covenant. They did not keep that covenant that we read about in Exodus 24 verses 6 through 8. And they departed from God, as we've already read in Ezekiel. Now we go to Hosea chapter 1, and many of the events in Hosea are symbolic of what is taking place in the church and the Israel of God. The transition from the old covenant to the new covenant, the transition from God dwelling in a building, or making His presence known in a building made by hands, to God dwelling in you, the Church of God not made with hands. Hosea literally means Savior. Hosea was a type of Christ. Hosea chapter 1. Now what Hosea does is like an allegory, an analogy that depicts what Israel had become after they entered into the covenant with God. We read from Ezekiel 16 how He cleaned them up. We read from Exodus 24 how He entered into covenant with them. And now in Hosea we see what they had become. Hosea 1.1, the word of the Eternal that came unto Hosea the son of Barai in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Aaz, Azakiah, kings of Judah in the days of Jeroboam, the son of Joash, king of Israel.

The beginning of the word of the Lord by Hosea, and the Lord said to Hosea, Hosea, go take unto you a wife of Hordim's and children of Hordim's, for the land have committed great Hordim's, departing from the Lord. Perhaps the zenith of that being that they actually sacrificed their children firstborn to Molech. So he went and took Gomer, the daughter of Diblium, who conceived and bear him a son, and the Eternal said unto him, Call his name Jezreel.

Now, Jezreel has dual meanings. It literally means God sows. So God can sow on the one hand destruction, or he can sow on the other hand restoration. As we've already mentioned, the book of Hosea, and Hosea means salvation, the theme is salvation through Jesus Christ. It is an allegory showing how Israel went astray, committed spiritual fornication, and then how they will be restored upon repentance and acceptance of the Messiah. These themes are taken up in the New Testament, as we shall see. So this name Jezreel can mean God sows destruction, or on the other hand it can mean God sows destruction. There are a lot of parallels between today's society and Israel in the days of Hosea. One would be hard pressed to find a more vivid or apt description of the situation than the one we find in Hosea 6. I'm not going to read Hosea 6, but I guess the verse that most people memorize from Hosea 6 is that my people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. So Hosea takes this wife of Hordim, and the northern kingdom was regarded as idolaters. So this wife represents the kingdom of Israel, the northern kingdom as a kingdom, and what they had done. So the Hordim represents what Israel had become spiritually, intermarrying with, making alliances with other countries. The children of Hordim's refers to the people. They really were not God's people after they departed from him. So he took this wife, and this first son is called Jezreel. For yet a little while I will avenge the blood of Jezreel upon the house of Jehu, and will cause to cease the kingdom of the house of Israel. I'm reading the Bible. Now Jezreel is an area shaped sort of like an upside-down triangle if you're in Jerusalem and looking north, a vast plain going up towards some area where a lot of battles have been fought historically. Evidently, one of the places where the armies will be gathered, the valley of Megiddos in that area, when the armies are gathered for the battle of the great day of God Almighty at Armageddon.

It shall come to pass in that day, verse 5, that I will break the bow of Israel. Bow is symbolic of military strength in the valley of Jezreel. So this first son represents God saying, look, I am going to do away with the kingdom of Israel. I'm going to break their pride, their military power and strength.

And she conceived again and bear a daughter. And God said unto him, Call her name, Lo Ruhama. Now, Ruhama in Hebrew means mercy. And any time in Hebrew you see the word proceeding, a word, you see lo. Lo is analogous to the English word not. So lo ruhama means not having obtained mercy. So this is the way that God said he was going to present this allegory, that this second child, a daughter, would be named lo ruhama.

And it means not having obtained mercy. Now we go to verse, continuing this verse, I haven't read all of this one six. Call her lo ruhama, and for I will no more have mercy upon the house of Israel, but I will utterly take them away. So once again, we rehearse that God was married to Israel, and now because of the harlotries here, the northern kingdom is going to be removed. They're going into captivity under the hands of the Assyrians, and the kingdom of Israel ceases to exist.

You know, when you look at the way Israel had become in these first few verses here, it is the same way that we were when God first looked down on us, because each one of us, all of our righteousness is a filthy rags, and we were in our sins before we repented and exercised faith in the sacrifice of Christ, and were baptized, so that our sins, our past sins, could be removed as far as the east is from the west, and that we might have an intercessor, a mediator, of the new covenant, that we might come before him at any time, day or night, and call upon him.

So God has made it possible for our sins to be forgiven, and for his spirit to not just be among us, but to dwell in us. There can be no higher thing that man can achieve in this life than for God to say, I will dwell in him. I will dwell in him.

You see, you look at James, we're coming back here to Isaiah if you want to hold your place, in James chapter 1, see, there's no accident that you are here today. In the Gospel of John it says, You have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, that you should bear much fruit.

God has chosen you. God has chosen me. God is directly involved. Sometimes I think we forget that God is directly involved in our lives.

In James 1.17, every good gift, every perfect gift is from above and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom is no verableness, neither shadow of turning, of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, his own will, that we should be a kind of first-roots of his creation. Now you look, there, forward to 1 Peter chapter 1. These first two verses here, I spent a good bit of time on these two verses when we covered this in our Bible studies, the General Epistles. 1 Peter chapter 1, verse 1, Peter and Apostle Jesus Christ to the strangers, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, Bithynia, elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, under obedience and sprinkling the blood of Jesus Christ, grace unto you, divine favor and peace be multiplied. Is that mind-boggling? Is that sobering? To consider, elect according to the foreknowledge of God of his own will, but yet he you with the word of truth. Of course, Israel, that covenant was a national covenant with basically physical promises, but our covenant so far exceeds that, God dwelling in us. That is why God is so against fornication and adultery, because you take the very body that he dwells in and you join it to something else. There can hardly be any greater slam in the face of God. And so for Israel as a nation to go commit whoredoms with other nations and forsaking God both in religious, military and economic terms, I mean, what does that say? Now, spiritual fornication is often preceded by physical fornication.

Israel began to fornicate physically, and then before long they were into spiritual fornication, both literally and figuratively. So we could look at ourselves. God cleaned us up and allowed His Spirit to be in each one of us. And that is greater than any physical covering or any physical achievement you could possibly have in this life. It is a humbling thing to really consider. We have the blood of Christ, His sacrifice to cover our sins, to forgive our sins, and secondly, we have the Spirit of God to dwell in us. Israel was given great physical blessings for a time, and symbolically in God's mind, even spiritually she was cleaned up because He forgave them of the past. He gave them His law so that they could walk in His ways. And so it's no wonder that God was so moved with indignation against Israel as they began to commit their hornets. We'll come now to verse 7, which is an inset verse, But I will have mercy upon the house of Judah. So Israel went into captivity circa 722 B.C. And Nebuchadnezzar began to send waves of armies against Judah in circa 604 B.C. So about 118 years or so, Judah continued before they were taken captive, I will have mercy upon the house of Judah, will save them by the eternal dear God, and will not save them by bow, nor by sword, nor by battle, nor horses, nor horse-myth. Of course, this can get into extended prophecy. We covered this somewhat in our Bible study on Hosea. Of course, you get Zechariah 12, where Judah is surrounded by Jerusalem by armies, and that God is going to deliver them in the day of the Lord. Now, continuing the narrative here in the chronological sense is verse 8. Now, when she had weaned Lo Ruhama, she conceived and bare a son. Then said God, call his name Lo Ami, and Ami means people and Lo means not, so not my people. So three children here, Jezreel meaning God sows, symbolic of God going to take the kingdom away, Lo Ruhama, not having obtained mercy, Lo Ami, not my people. So God said, call his name Lo Ami, for you are not my people, and I will not be your God. Now, let's go to Romans chapter 2. In Romans chapter 2, we see that spiritually we are called Jews. In Romans chapter 2, I think we have not explored the depths, and I don't know if we ever can. With regard to the names Israel and Judah, there are two separate kingdoms. But in the New Testament, sometimes it seems that Jew is generic for all the twelve tribes, because there were some of the twelve tribes remaining in Judah and in the land of Israel after they went into captivity. At the hands of Assyria, the northern kingdom. In fact, when Hezekiah restored true worship in Israel, He sent out notices. I don't know if I will have this in my notes. Just look at 2 Chronicles chapter 32-33 somewhere along in there. Let's see if I see it. In 2 Chronicles chapter 30 and verse 15, Then they killed a Passover on the fourteenth day of the second month, and the priests and Levites were ashamed and sanctified themselves, and brought in the burnt offerings in the house of the Lord. The reason they killed it in the second month, they didn't get the temple and everything cleaned up totally so that they could keep it in the first month. You look at chapter 31 verse 1.

The children of Israel turned every man to his possession into their own cities. Now, you look back in chapter 30 and verse 6. They put out an invitation to everybody to come to Jerusalem to keep the feast. So the post went out with letters from the king and his princes throughout all Israel and Judah. And according to the command of the king, saying, You children of Israel, turn again unto the Lord, God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, and he will return to the remnant of you that are escaped out of the hand of the kings of Assyria. So there were representatives from the twelve tribes all along. You remember Anna the prophetess of the tribe of Asher?

So in Romans chapter 2, Paul writes verse 28, For he is not a Jew which is one outwardly, neither is that circumcision which is outward in the flesh. But he is a Jew which is one inwardly, and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit and not in the letter, whose praise is not of men but of God.

Now we go to chapter 9, and we'll begin to see the New Testament fulfillment of this prophecy that we have read about in Hosea chapter 1. First of all, about Loh-rahama and Lo-ami. In Romans chapter 9, I say the truth in Christ, I lie not, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Spirit, that I have a great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart, for I could wish that myself were a curse from Christ, for my brethren, my kinsmen, according to the flesh, those that are ethnically, and you could say biologically, of Israel, who are the Israelites, to whom pertains the sonship, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the service of God, and the promises, whose are the fathers, and whom, as concerning the flesh, Christ came.

He sprang out of the tribe of Judah. So ethnically and biologically, Christ was from Judah, the son of David, who was over all God blessed forever, not as though the word of God had taken non-effect, for they are not all Israel, which are of Israel. So the Israel of God is not limited to those who are biologically descended from Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, neither because they are the seed of Abraham, or they all children, but in Isaac shall your seed be called.

That is, they which are the children of the flesh. These are not the children of God. You could be a direct descendant of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and be as lost in your sins as anybody else. Or you could be a descendant of Jacob or Ham, and have repented and be a part of the Israel of God. Of course, there are Jew and Gentiles that have been converted and are of the Israel of God.

Then he shows how it is through election that you become a part of the Israel of God. Now look down in verse 24. Even us, whom we have called, not of the Jews only, but also of the ethnos, the Gentiles, the nations. As he said, also in Hosea. See, where does this restoration then? Jezreel means God sows destruction. I'm putting them away. So how does the restoration begin?

The restoration begins with the Church of God. As we have heard so many times, the Church of God is the kingdom of God in Imbriah. As he said also in Hosea, Romans 9.25, I will call them my people, which were not my people, neither her beloved, which was not beloved, and it shall come to pass into the place where it was said unto them, You are not my people, Lo Ruhami.

There shall they be called the children of the living God, Ami, my people. And it begins with the Church of God. Now notice how the Apostle Peter takes up on this theme. You look in 1 Peter 2. Here we see even more clearly that this restoration begins with the Church of God. Now, none of this means that the Church has replaced Israel as a nation. There is a broad branch of theology, so-called, that teaches what they call restoration theology, that the Church has replaced Israel.

Israel will be restored in the millennium as a nation. The bands that are broken between the Northern Kingdom and the Southern Kingdom, Israel to the North, Judah to the South, will be healed, and the two sticks shall be made one in the millennium. In 1 Peter 2, verse 5, You also as living stones are built up a spiritual house. A spiritual house. That's the house not made by hands. It is the place where God dwells.

It is the Church and holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. Wherefore also it is contained in the Scripture. Now here's a quote from Isaiah 28, 16. Behold, I lay in Zion. Zion, of course, is a geographical place in the environs of Jerusalem. Zion symbolized the Church. Behold, I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone. Elect, precious, and he that believes on him shall not be confounded. Unto you therefore which believe he is precious, but unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed are the same as made the head of the corner.

Jesus Christ is the head of the Church. He is the foundation along with the Apostles and prophets, but he is also the head. And a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense, even of those which stumble at the word, being disobedient, whereon to also they were appointed.

He came to his own, his own received him not, but under them that received him, he gave them power to become the sons of God. This is John 1.12. But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, and a holy nation. One of the few places where the Church is called a nation. A purchased people that you should show forth the praises of him, which is called you out of darkness, into his marvelous light, which in times past were not a people, lo Ami. But now are the people of God Ami, which had not obtained mercy, lo Ruhama, but now have obtained mercy, Ruhama. Dearly beloved I beseech you, so in view of that, in view of what God has done, dearly beloved I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims abstained from fleshly lusts which war against the soul, having your conduct honest among the nations, that whereas they speak against you as evildoers, they may by your good works, which they shall behold, glorify God in the day of visitation.

So the promises that were made to Abraham and Isaac and Jacob are passed on to the Church. We are now the holy nation. We are Ruhama and Ami. But once again, it does not mean that Israel will not be restored in the millennium because they will as a nation. There will be the spiritual dimension and there will be the physical dimension in the kingdom of God.

Now we go back to Hosea. Hosea 1, we left off there with a reading, I think, of verse 9. So in Hosea 1, let's resume again.

We'll read verse 9. Then said God, call his name Loami, for you are not my people, and I will not be your God. So we have read from Romans 9, verse 25, 26. We have read from 1 Peter 2, verses 9, 10, 11. But this is now the Church of God. And so the gap between God putting away Israel and the beginning of the millennium, several hundred years, in the interim the Church has come on the scene.

We are the children of Abraham, heirs according to the promises. Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured nor numbered, and it shall come to pass in the place where it was set unto them, you are not my people, Loami.

There it shall be set unto them, you are the Ami, the sons of the living God. And it begins with the Church, with you. Then shall the children of Judah and the children of Israel be gathered together and recognized. King James says, appoint. We're not going to appoint Jesus Christ.

Jesus Christ is going to rule over the nations. And one head, one head, and they shall come up out of the land, for great shall be the day of Jezreel. Now the opposite meaning, God sows them back into the land. You will be there as kings and priests to help them along the way. Now we look at chapter 2.

And verse 14 begins this, great is the day of Jezreel, of God sowing them back in the land. Therefore, behold, I will allure her and bring her into the wilderness and speak comfortably unto her. And I will give her her vineyards from there in the valley of Acor for a door of hope.

And she shall sing there, as in the days of her youth, as in the days when she came up out of the land of Egypt. Remember in Exodus 15, when there came up out of the land of Egypt, and Miriam led them in the singing of how God is triumphed gloriously over the foes there, called the song of Moses. And it shall be at that day, says the eternal, that you shall call me Ishi, and call me no more Bailey, for I will take away the names of Balaam out of the mouth, and they shall no more be remembered by their name.

And in that day will I make a covenant for them with the beast of the field, the lion lying down with the lamb, the child putting its hand on the whole of the asp, the millennial familiar from millennial themes. And with the fowls of the air, with the creeping things of the ground, I will break the bow and the sword in the battle out of the earth.

They'll beat their plowshares, their beater swords into plowshares, instead of what they're doing today. And I will make them to lie down safely, and I will betrothe you unto me forever. Yes, I will betrothe you unto me in righteousness and in judgment and in loving-kindnesses and in mercies. So, brethren, one of the things that you hope to do in teaching scriptures is to try to get everybody to see how beautifully the scriptures are woven together. That the New Testament reinforces the Old Testament, and this thing of progressive fulfillment and the familiar themes all tie together, written by authors over the course of hundreds of years.

If human beings were to just try to sit down and do this without the inspiration of God, what kind of mess would it be? It would be like starting here with Walter of telling him something, and him passing it on to Kitty, his wife, and then on to the children and all back through. And when it got over here to Mrs. Wynn, what would it be? Well, who knows? But with the scripture, you have all of these themes and all of this history and all of these various elements, and they all fit beautifully together.

I will betroth you unto me in faithfulness, and you shall know the Lord, and it shall come to pass in that day. I pointed this out several times in the prophets when you see the phrase, in that day. That's the merging into the millennium. It shall come to pass in that day.

I will hear, says the eternal. I will hear. It means, this word here literally means I will respond the heavens. It means, you know, you can hear something and not respond. In this case, the hearing means, yeah, I got it, and this is what I'm going to do. I will respond the heavens, and they shall respond the earth, and the earth shall respond the corn.

And of course, from corn or grain, you get bread and the wine and the oil, and they shall hear, Jezreel, God sows, God is sowing righteousness, God is sowing prosperity. And I will sow her unto me in the earth, and I will have mercy upon her, Ruhamah, that had not obtained mercy. And I will say to them which were not my people, you are my people. Just like we read from 1 Peter 2, verse 10. You are my people, and they shall say, you are my God.

All of this is a perfectly unified picture of what God is working out with humankind. It is very similar to what we read. Look at Amos. I gave a sermon here probably four years ago showing this, but it's good to review because even the vast minds sometimes forget things, believe it or not. But in Amos chapter 9, this wonderful prophecy here, which also begins with the church, it's just essentially the same thing that we just read about restoration, beginning with the church, as we read from Hosea and Romans and 1 Peter. In Amos 9-11, in that day, notice that prophetic expression, in that day will I raise up the tabernacle of David that has fallen and close up the breaches thereof. Now, why the tabernacle of David? What is that about? Why say that?

Because what did David do and what I'm planning for the Feast Bible study will be on Zion and maybe more here before then. What did David do? Well, he took Jerusalem, he built the city of David, which is Zion, and he built a tabernacle on Zion. Now, Solomon's temple was built on Mount Moriah across the valley there, across the way. But God loves the tabernacles of Zion more than any other. We'll look briefly at this. If you look at Psalm 78, once again, showing this unity, showing this beautiful tapestry, the picture that is woven together. A lot of it, of course, is in symbolism, figures of speech and all of that. But in Psalm 78, Psalm 78 is one of the great historical summary chapters of the Bible.

Reviewing the history of the ups and downs of Israel. We will pick it up in verse 67.

Moreover, he refused the tabernacle of Joseph. Now, this Psalm is written in parallelism. Joseph is sometimes used as generic for all of Israel, the northern kingdom, and chose not the tribe of Ephraim, which sometimes is used for all the northern kingdom, but chose the tribe of Judah.

Zion is in Judah, and we have read from Romans 2, 27, 28, that we are Jews. Circumcision is of the hearts in the spiritual sense.

But chose the tribe of Judah, the Mount Zion, which he loved.

He built the sanctuary like high places, like the earth, which he had established forever. He chose David also, his servant, and took him from the sheepfold. From following the years, David was a type of Christ. The prophecy in Isaiah 9, verse 6, also in Luke 1, 31, 2, long and dear. I will give him that is Christ, the throne of his father David. He chose David also, his servant, and took him from the sheepfolds. From following the years, great with young, he brought him to feed Jacob, his people, and Israel, his inheritance. So he fed them according to the integrity of his heart, and guided them by the skillfulness of his hands. So when Amos uses this expression, and we'll go back there to Amos, when he uses this expression, in that day will I raise up the tabernacle of David, which is that is fallen.

The tabernacle of David, Mount Zion, a temple was built, and the Ark of the Covenant transferred from Zion to that temple. But God's long-term plan is that Zion, which symbolizes the church, is a tabernacle in which he will dwell forever. We got it? And I will raise up his ruins, and I will build it, as in the days of old, that they may possess the remnant of Edom.

Now there's controversy here with regard to Edom. Should that be translated Adam? In Acts 15, as we shall see, it is basically it means all people. And whether it's because here it says, and all the nations which are called by my name says, eternal that does this. So now you go to Acts 15. What is Acts 15 about? We call it the Jerusalem Conference, the Acts 15 Conference, where Paul said, hey, we need to get together and settle this question of circumcision. So they called this great conference.

Many of the Jews were saying that you had to be circumcised in order to be justified, whereas Paul and Barnumas were teaching that you did not. So they came together to hash this out. And there was a lot of disputing back into Peter spoke, Paul and Barnumas, Paul spoke. Then James got up and made a decision. Verse 13, Acts 15, 13, and after they had held their peace, James answered, saying, Men and brethren, hearken unto me, Simeon, or Peter, hath declared how God at the first had visited the nations to take out of them a people for his name. Remember that Peter went to the house of Cornelius.

The Holy Spirit came upon the household of Cornelius. They spoke in tongues. They were baptized. And it was evident that God was calling out the nations, not just those who descended from Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, not just the Jews. And notice this, and to this agree the words of the prophets as it is written.

And now he quotes what we have just read from Amos. After this, I will return. We'll build again the tabernacle of David, which has fallen down. See that which was on Mount Zion and Mount Zion and the symbolic of the church, Hebrews 12, 22, 23. And I will build again the ruins thereof, and I will set it up that the residue of men, everybody, and Amos it says, Edom and all the nations, that the residue of men might seek after the Lord and all the nations upon whom my name is called says the eternal who does these things.

Once again, you see the beauty of the Bible and its unity. Now let's go to Zechariah. We're about through here. And Zechariah will never get through with this, but it may mean anyhow, we'll bring this to a close here in just a few minutes. In Zechariah chapter 8, Zechariah gives to a large degree a summary of the restoration, beginning in verse 20. Zechariah 8, 20. Thus says the Lord of Hosts. And I'm working on a study having to do with the Lord of Hosts, who is the Lord of Hosts, what is his relationship to the one who became Jesus Christ, and all the verses about the Lord of Hosts.

If you want to have a very interesting study, then you look up and read every scripture on the Lord of Hosts. Just put that in your search engine or look at your concordance. Lord of Hosts. Used 46 times, I believe it is, in Zechariah.

Thus says the Lord of Hosts. It shall yet come to pass that there shall come people and the inhabitants of many cities. And the inhabitants of one city shall go to another, saying, let us go speedily to pray before the Eternal, and to seek the Lord of Hosts. The Eternal of Hosts. I will go also. Yes, many people in strong nations shall come to seek the Lord of Hosts. Who do they come to seek? The Lord of Hosts. Where? In Jerusalem. I don't know if that can sink in.

And all the implications are, to seek the Lord of Hosts in Jerusalem, and to pray before the Lord. Thus says the Lord of Hosts. In those days it shall come to pass that ten men shall take hold out of all languages of the nations. Even shall take hold of the skirt of him that is a Jew. So once again, and you remember what I was talking about, of trying making a distinction between a Jew and an Israelite and all of that.

And sometimes you know you can say, well, all Jews are Israelites, but now all Israelites are not Jews. But according to Scripture, all Christians are Jews spiritually. I read it from the Bible. For he is not one outwardly, circumcision, and not of the flesh, but of the heart. For he is a Jew who is circumcised inwardly. So they shall take hold of the skirt of him that is a Jew, saying, We will go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.

Now let's go to Galatians chapter 6. I believe this is the only place that you will find in the Bible where this expression, this phrase, is used. And it summarizes the whole thing. Where is God dwelling now? Well, God is dwelling in the Israel of God, which is the church.

The tabernacle of David is being raised up.

We are now Ami. We are now Ruhama. We are the people of God, having obtained mercy. In Galatians 6.15, For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision avails anything, nor uncirconsision, but a new creation.

And as many as walk according to this rule, peace be on them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of God. So may we never lose sight of who we are. We must never let anyone steal our identity, and we must not let anyone take our crown.