Israel of God

This Bible study today would be what I consider a pre-Pentecost Bible study that has a lot of background with regard to God's dwelling place. It's titled Israel of God, and or subtitled God's Dwelling Place. God's intent and desire for humankind from the day that were created to the present day is to dwell in them through His Spirit. He set the tree of life in the Garden of Eden, symbolizing the Holy Spirit. Adam and Eve rejected the tree of life and thus the Holy Spirit, and chose to dwell in Satan's world. When they did that, the world was taken captive in that sense and cut off from the tree of life until Jesus Christ came on the scene and paid the price for sin and redeemed us. When God called Israel out of Egypt and delivered them into the Promised Land, His desire was to dwell with them. Let's go to Leviticus chapter 26. So once again, what we're going to do here is to show from the Garden of Eden, which I've just said, the tree of life, that God has wanted to dwell with man and in man. To a large degree, that's what the Bible is about, of course, bringing many sons to glory. And if you're going to be in the last book of life, you have to have God's Spirit, and God has to dwell not only with you, but in you. And with ancient Israel, He dwelt with them and among them, and we'll see that in Leviticus 26 and verse 9.

Now, His tabernacle is His dwelling place. So God cleaned up Israel, and He entered into a covenant with them, and He was the one who was the one who had the God cleaned up Israel, and He entered into a covenant with them. In Exodus 24 and verse 6, in Exodus 19, Israel came to Sinai in the third month. And according to Jewish tradition, the law was given, and the Jews celebrate Pentecost the way they celebrate Pentecost. To a large degree, it centers on the giving of the law on Pentecost. And that's why in so much emphasis it's placed on reading the Torah and prayers. So Exodus 19 and 20 all the way up to 24 deal with the Ten Commandments and the statues and the judgments. Then in Exodus 24, they enter into the marriage covenant or the old covenant. In Exodus 24 verse 6, Moses took half of the blood, put it in basins, half the blood sprinkled on the altar, and he took the book of the covenant and read in the audience of the people. The book of the covenant would be the law covenant, the Ten Commandments. And I don't know if he read the statues and the judgments or not at that time.

And they said all that the Eternal has said we will do and be obedient. So they agreed to the terms of the covenant. And Moses took the blood and sprinkled it on the people and said, Behold, the blood of the covenant which the Eternal have made with you concerning all these words. So God cleaned them up and he put their sins away. Now let's notice that this will be important to understanding some things in Hosea.

So we're going to Ezekiel 16. Ezekiel 16 depicts Israel before God cleaned them up and shows what God did with them as they entered into this covenant, what we call the old covenant or the law covenant. In Ezekiel 16 and verse 1, And the word of the Eternal came unto me, saying, Son of man, caused Jerusalem to know her abominations.

Then it begins in verse 3 to describe the condition of Jerusalem, which sometimes is used symbolically for the whole nation, Israel, all twelve tribes. And say, Thus says the Eternal God unto Jerusalem, Your birth and your nativity is of the land of Canaan. Your father was an Amorite, and your mother an Hittite. And it goes on to show how that when God came and discovered them, that they were in their abominations. Verse 6, And when I passed by you and saw you polluted in your own blood, I said unto you, when you were in your blood, lived.

Yes, I said unto you, when you were in your blood, lived. He caused you to multiply as the butt of the field. You have increased and waxen great, and you are come to excellent ornaments, your breasts, your fashion. Your hair is grown, whereas you are naked and bare. So he compared them to a newborn. When the newborn is born, not a very pretty sight until they are cleaned up and presented to their mother. It's altogether different than quite beautiful. So God cleaned up Israel.

We'll pick it up again. Verse 9, Then washed I you with water. Yes, I thoroughly washed away the blood from you. I anointed you with oil, oil symbolic of the Holy Spirit. Not that they had the Holy Spirit in them, they did not. I clothed you with your with burrowed work, and shot you with badger skins, and I girded you about with fine linen, fine linen is symbolic of righteousness of the saints. And I covered you with silk.

I decked you also with ornaments, and I put bracelets upon your hands and a chain on your neck. I put a jewel on your forehead, and earrings in your ears, and a beautiful crown upon your head. You were decked with gold and silver, and your raiment was of fine linen, silk, and broidered work. You did eat fine flour and honey and oil.

You were exceeding beautiful, and you did prosper into a kingdom. But, and your renown went forth among the heathen, the nations, for your beauty, for it was perfect, through my calmliness, which I put upon you, says the eternal God. Then what did they do? But you, to trust in your own beauty, played the harlot because of your renown, and poured out your fornications on everyone that passed by, his it was. So Israel committed gross spiritual idolatry and fornication with the other nations. But Israel did build a tabernacle. After they came out of Egypt, God instructed them. We go back to Exodus 25, but it wanted that inset there with Ezekiel to show that God cleaned them up, and they were viewed as clean and perfect in his sight when he cleaned them up and entered into that covenant with them.

And then they became what they became, as we'll see in Hosea. In Exodus 25, verse 9, remember we've read Exodus 24, where they entered into the covenant with God, the marriage covenant, the old covenant. In Exodus 25, 1, and the eternal spoken to Moses, saying, speaking to the children of Israel, that they bring an offering of every man that gives willingly with his heart, you shall take my offering.

And so for what purpose? On this particular occasion, the Israelites gave generously, and they had plenty. Verse 8, and let them build me a sanctuary, a dwelling place. Remember I said from the day that God created humankind, from Garden of Eden to the present day, God's desire has been to dwell with man and in man. He started with the nation of Israel with this tabernacle, this sanctuary, of making his presence known in a visible way to them.

It took them over a year to build this tabernacle. So it says, and let them make me a sanctuary that I made dwell among them, according to all that I show you after the pattern of the tabernacle, and the pattern of all the instruments thereof, even so shall you make it. So it was made from what was in heaven. It was pattern after the heavenly. Now we go to Exodus 40, where they had completed the tabernacle. Much of the rest of Exodus is taken up with the instructions on how to build the sanctuary and everything that went in it.

Of course, the Ark of the Covenant with the Ten Commandments was in it, and the Mercy Seat was on this Ark of the Covenant, and God's presence, which the Jews call the Shekinah Glory, was above the Mercy Seat. So in Exodus 40, verse 17, it came to pass in the first month of the second year, on the first day of the month that the tabernacle was reared up.

It took them just under a year to build it. Verse 33, and it reared up the court round about the tabernacle and the altar, and it 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, that is the presence, of the Eternal filled the tabernacle, the omia sanctuary that I may dwell among them.

And Moses was not able to enter into the tent of the congregation because the cloud abode thereupon was so bright, which is so blinding, that he could not enter in, and the glory, the presence of God filled the tabernacle. When the cloud was taken up from over the tabernacle, the children of Israel went onward in all their journeys.

But if the cloud were not taken up, then they journeyed not to the day that it was taken up, for the cloud of the Eternal, or the presence of God, was upon the tabernacle by day, and fire was on it by night, inside of all the house of Israel, throughout all their journeys.

So they had physical evidence of the presence of God with them, a cloud by day and a fire by night. And they didn't leave the campsite and journey onward unless that cloud moved. Of course, in 1 Corinthians 10.4, it talks about how they followed that rock, and that rock was Jesus Christ. But Israel committed growth, spiritual idolatry and harlotry. And the book of Hosea depicts what Israel did in departing from God to the point that he had to give them a bill of divorcement. So let's look at Hosea 1. Hosea 1.

Hosea, the word, literally means salvation. Hosea is a type of Christ, but it's a type of Christ after Israel committed their idolatry and harlotry. And so God commands Hosea to take a wife of Hordim's to depict what Israel had become.

In Hosea 1.1, the word of the Eternal that came at Hosea, the son of Bariiah. In the days of Ziah, Jotham, Ahaz, Hezekiah, kings of Judah. And in the days of Jeroboam, the son of Joash, king of Israel. That would be probably Jeroboam II. The beginning of the word of the Eternal by Hosea, and the Lord said, Hosea, go take you a wife of Hordim's and a children of Hordim's for the land that committed great Hordim's departing from the Eternal. So get this clear, those of you who were in our Bible studies when we covered the book of Hosea, this should be a great review for you, for the rest of you, and I hope you get it, that Hosea now is showing what Israel had become. So God, in a very concrete, physical way, is depicting what Israel had become. But this has great significance for us today, because some of the most very important quotes in the New Testament are taken from Hosea and given the spiritual meaning. Verse 3, So he went and took Gomer, the wife of Diblium, which conceived and bare him a son. And the Eternal said unto him, Call his name Jezreel. Jezreel literally means God's souls. Now, there is a physical place in Israel called Jezreel. Jezreel is somewhat of a flat plain that extends for some 30 to 50 miles from Samaria down to Jerusalem, and it's sort of like a triangle coming down to a funnel toward Jerusalem, and a lot of military battles have been fought in the plains of Jezreel. So Jezreel means God's souls. He can either sow destruction or he can sow restoration. In the first case here, God is going to sow destruction. For yet a little while, and I will avenge the blood of Jezreel upon the house of Jehu. That's a period of time in which some of the intrigue of killing kings and all of that because of jealousy and intrigue, and will cause to cease the kingdom of the house of Israel. The kingdom was to cease, but not the people. Of course, we know that Israel went into captivity at the ends of the Assyrians. It shall come to pass that that day that I will break the bow, bow symbolized military power and strength, I will break the bow of Israel in the valley of Jezreel. Remember I said it was this vast plainer valley from Samaria down to Jerusalem. And she can see begin and bear a daughter, and God said unto him, Call her name, Lo Ruhama. So what we see here now, the Hosea took a wife of Hordim's of idolatry. The kingdom was regarded as idolaters. The wife of idolatry represents Israel as a kingdom. And Israel was married to Jesus Christ, the one who became Jesus Christ. We read that in Exodus 24. The Hordim symbolizes what Israel had become, intermarrying with and making alliances with pagan countries, setting up idols, worshiping them instead of the true God. Now the intermarrying did not have to do with ethnic origin or race or whatever. It had to do with the religion, which led them astray. So unless we get into that, that's not what we're talking about. Remember, Solomon took many strange wives, and these strange wives, in other words, they were not of the true religion. That's one of the reasons why that the church encourages, teaches that in marriage, we should be careful who we marry, and if possible, do not marry outside the faith. The children of Hordim's refers to the people. They really were not God's people after they departed from him. That's what we're going to see depicted in just a moment. First of all, this first child, I mean the second child, which is a daughter, is named Lo-ru-hamma. Now what does Lo-ru-hamma mean? In Hebrew, any word that is preceded by Lo means not. Ru-hamma is the Hebrew word for mercy. So Lo-ru-hamma means not having received mercy.

We'll see this here. And she conceived again, buried daughter, and God said in her, Call her named Lo-ru-hamma, for I will no more have mercy upon the house of Israel, but I will utterly take them away.

We look at analogy between each one of us and Israel. You consider Ezekiel 16, what they were and what they became. Each one of us was in the same condition when God allowed each one of us to know His truth. We were in our sins. We were in our abominations. Each one of us was likened to a newborn who had just come out of the mother's womb, all bloody and covered with all the things that cover a newborn. This is the way we look when God first looked down, and He had mercy on us, and He cleaned us up. The physical things that He did for Israel are paled into insignificance by what He did for us, because for us, He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. God made it possible for our sins to be taken away, and for His Spirit to dwell in us. We'll see more about that. There can be no higher thing that man can achieve in this life than for God to say, He is my Son, He is my daughter, She is my daughter, I will dwell in Him, I will dwell in Her. That is why God is so against fornication and adultery, because you take the very body that He dwells in, and you join that to something else. This is a great slam in the face of God, because the price that was paid through all the history of Israel, through all of what took place with Jesus Christ and His crucifixion and paying for our sins, all that went into that. Let's note this, in whole your place there in Hosea, we'll be coming back. In 1 Corinthians 6, verse 15. In 1 Corinthians 6, verse 15. Know you not that your bodies are the members of Christ. Why is it member of Christ? Because Christ dwells in you. Shall I take the members of Christ and make them the members of an harlot? God forbid. What know you not that He which is joined to an harlot is one body, for He said, He shall be one flesh. But He that is joined unto the eternal is one Spirit. Remember, they are all of one. Hebrews 2, 10, and 11. Therefore He is not ashamed to call them brethren. Flee fornication, every sin that a man does is without the body, but He that commits fornication sins against His own body. What? Know you not that your body is the temple, the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit. The tabernacle was filled with God's presence, but God was not in them. He was in the tabernacle and He led them to the Promised Land, which was a physical promise which they achieved, not because of them, but because of God's perseverance. Know you not that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, which is in you, and you have of God, and you are not your own. For you are bought with a price, therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirits, which are the Lord's. Spiritual fornication is often preceded by physical fornication. Israel began to fornicate physically with the people round about, and then, before long, they were into spiritual fornication and worshiping the gods of the other nations. So look at ourselves. We were in the same condition that Israel was. God cleaned up each one of us and allowed each one of us to have His Spirit so that He could dwell within us. And we have the sacrifice of Christ to forgive our sins, not just covered, but removed. Our sins removed as far as the east is from the west, which is infinity. And secondly, we have the Spirit of God to dwell in us. Israel had great physical things given, and symbolically in God's mind, even spiritually, she was cleaned up because He forgave them of the past. As we read in Ezekiel 16, He gave them His laws so that they would walk in His ways. But we have seen what they have, what they became.

So in Hosea, we're going to read through verse 8 and then come back to verse 6. Verse 7 is sort of an inset and sort of an anomaly set in here. It seems somewhat out of place. But I will have mercy upon the house of Judah, and will save them by the eternal their God, and will not save them by military might nor by sword, nor by battle, nor by horses, nor by horsemen.

And this verse here has puzzled scholars and commentators through the centuries. But let's see what we can see about this. In verse 6, He's saying, I will have no more mercy upon the house of Israel. But now He's saying I will have mercy upon the house of Judah.

And Judah lasted another 120 years, circa 120 years after Israel, went into captivity. But it says, I will save them by the eternal their God, and will not save them by military might nor by sword, nor by battle, nor by horses, nor by horsemen. So it is a... it seems to me it is a spiritual salvation. When we agree to that, I will have mercy upon the house of Judah, will save them by the eternal their God, will not save them by military might, nor by sword, nor by battle, nor by horses, nor by horsemen. But by the eternal their God. So we could look at this. As we've noticed, the kingdom of Judah did continue for another 120 years.

The Babylonians began to come against them in 604, and about six... I mean, I'm sorry, about 585, that was over. The temple had been sacked and burned, and much of Judah had been taken into captivity into Babylon. We can look at this as an end-time prophecy as well. When Christ comes again and Judah is surrounded by armies and in dire straits, and in difficult times, God is going to save them and crush their enemies.

I'd rather suspect what number three is, but let's look at this one. In Zechariah chapter 12, in the end times, God is going to intervene, and He is going to spare Judah and Jerusalem. So Ahmadinejad is not going to drop an atomic bomb on Jerusalem, and neither is any other nation. If they do, then we've got for the nuclear fallout to run its course and all of that.

I guess God can do anything He wants to. I guess He can just say, be gone nuclear fallout. But I don't think that's how it's going to happen, because I don't think they're going to be bombed. In Zechariah 12.1, and if He didn't intervene miraculously if an atomic bomb would drop, then we would have centuries to go before the return of Christ. Centuries! The burden of the Word of the Eternal for Israel. I don't know if I said Zechariah 12.1. The burden of the Word of the Eternal for Israel says the Eternal, which stretched forth the heavens, showing that He is a Creator and overall, lays the foundation of the earth, and forms the Spirit of man within Him.

Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and Jerusalem. One of the big news items of the past day or two is Abbas, who is the leader of the Palestinians. He once again says that he is going to go directly to the UN if Israel doesn't come around to the peace table, which is Netanyahu just in the past few days, said that Jerusalem is going to be the eternal undivided capital of Israel, and they are not going to give it up.

And of course, in this, if we go in the peace plan of the two-state solution, Jerusalem would be divided, and the eastern part where the Temple Mount is would be given to the Palestinian state. Now, we also read, I think we read this last week, I'm pretty sure we did, in Revelation 11, where it says that we measure the Temple and those that worship therein, and it talks about how that Jerusalem is going to be given over to the nations for 1260 days, and they will trample it down. And we have some already who are saying, well, let's just internationalize Jerusalem.

In that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people, and all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it. And in the battle of the great day of God Almighty, while the nations from the east, everywhere the beast and the false prophet, the devil go out to stir up, they're going to come against Jesus Christ and the returning saints. And that day says, the Lord, I will smite every horse with astonishment, and his rider with madness, and I will open mine eyes upon the house of Judah, and will smite every horse of the people with blindness.

Verse 9, it shall come to pass in that day that I will seek to destroy all nations that come against Jerusalem. And I will pour upon the house of David, upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the Spirit of grace, and of supplications, and they shall look on me, whom they have pierced. And it seems that really a great repentance from the Jews, Israel, however you want to frame it, will not come until this time. Of course, it would be hoped, some think, well, during the Great Tribulation, there will be a lot of Jews and Israelites converted.

It says here, they shall look upon me, whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him as one mourns for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.

At that juncture, they are going to come to see who the true Messiah really is. Let's go to Revelation 1. We're going to go back to Hosea after this. Revelation 1. This Bible study is not for the faint of heart or the weak in spirit. Revelation 1. Verse 5, So they're going to look upon him whom they have pierced. Now, of course, there was a big discussion about who killed Jesus Christ. Did the Jews or did the Romans? Technically, we could say the Romans nailed him to the stake. Technically, we could say that the soldier thrust the spear into his side.

But the Jews gave him over to the Romans to be crucified. Pilate said, whom shall I give to you? Boradus, or the one who claims to be the king of the Jews? And they all cried out, Boradus, Boradus! Jesus Christ was led away to be crucified. So the sentence was given. Even in the book that one well-known personality wrote about the real Jesus, it says that the Romans killed Jesus, not the Jews. Now, if you want to look at it from one point of view, we all killed Jesus.

Each one of us individually, because he died for each one of our sins. Each one of us, he died for your sin, personally and individually and for mine. So in that sense, I'm guilty of the blood of Christ. But going back to that actual event, if they had said, give unto us Jesus, then Boradus would have gone. So they're just as guilty as the Roman soldiers who carried it out. But the Jews did not have the prerogative of putting someone to death. Once a year, they had this situation where one could be released, and they called for Moravus. They were not given the prerogative of capital punishment, even though, as we read later, that Stephen was stoned to death because of his testimony.

Now back in Hosea, we're still at this verse 7, and we're looking at this. We said, well, Judah continues for 120 years. At the end of the age, as we read from Zechariah 12, God is going to supernaturally intervene, and he's going to, through the word of his mouth, through the sword of the Spirit, he will smite these nations and these armies.

Now, another possibility here, which ties in, spiritually we are called Jews by Paul, and salvation came from Jesus Christ, who was a Jew. So let's notice that for a couple of minutes here. In Hebrews 7.14, Paul is showing how the priesthood had changed from the Old Covenant to the New Covenant, comparing and contrasting the two Covenants. Now instead of the priesthood of Levi, it's the priesthood of Melchizedek. In verse 14, for it is evident that our Lord sprang out of Judah. See, the Levites were from the tribe of Levi.

It is evident that our Lord sprang out of Judah, of which tribe Moses spoke nothing concerning priesthood. So you had to be of the house of Levi, and to be the high priest, you had to be a descendant of Aaron.

And it is yet far more evident for that after the similitude of Melchizedek, there arises another priest. And of course, that priest is Jesus Christ. Now we look at Jeremiah 9.25. These two verses here are sort of enigmatic as well. In Jeremiah 9.25 and 26... Jeremiah 9.25... Of course, Jeremiah was sent to Judah before the Babylonians came in and conquered them.

Essentially, God told Jeremiah for the nation for Judah to go along with it and not to resist it. And they accused him of being a traitor and all kind of things. Look at this, Jeremiah 9.25...

And God once said, In the heart, Paul then, we go to Romans 2, says that he is a Jew or of Judah in the sense that he is in Christ. We'll read it right here in the words of Paul in Romans 2. Romans 2.28...

The nation of God, the Israel of God, is a spiritual nation. It is not limited to ethnic or any other origin. He is not a Jew, which is one out related, neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh. Just because you are circumcised physically does not make you spiritually a Jew or one who is in the Israel of God. But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly, and circumcision is that of the heart in the spirit, not in the letter, whose praise is not of men but of God. So we go back to Hosea 2 verse 7. We have seen three possibilities here. One, Judah continued another 120 years. Two, at the end of the age, when Judah is surrounded by all the armies, God supernaturally intervenes and delivers them. They'll look up on him when they're pierced. And three, he is a Jew who is one inwardly, and circumcision is of the heart and not of the letter, not of the flesh. I lean toward two and three, of course. Obviously, it's a historical fact that Judah continued another 120 years. Verse 8, now when she had weaned Lo Ruhama, she conceived and bear a son. Then said God, call his name Lo Ami. Lo means not. Ami means people. For you are not my people, and I will not be your God. So now we go to 2 Peter, and we see the spiritual fulfillment of that. And one of the great things, remember what we said that Jezreel means? Jezreel means God sows. God can sow destruction. God can sow restoration. The mind of prophets, really, is to a large degree God sending a prophet, warning them if they don't repent, they're going to go into captivity. Be punished. Of course, in Hosea, it's like a done deal. They're going to go into captivity. But there is a promise of restoration. The true restoration begins with the Church of God. The true restoration begins with the Church of God. I'm sure you heard Mr. Armstrong say it several times before he died, but the Church of God is the kingdom of God in the embryo. God now dwells in each one of us. We have now obtained mercy. We are now the people of God. We are now that holy nation that God wanted Israel to be. So we read this in 2 Peter. I mean 1 Peter. 1 Peter 2. 1 Peter 2 verse 9. 1 Peter 2. 9. You are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, and holy nation. See, in Exodus 19 verses 5, 6, 7, and 8, God had told Israel, If you will obey me and keep my commandments, then you will be a holy nation. And really their commission was to bring other nations into relationship with God, and they failed. You are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, and holy nation. They purchased people. That you should show forth the praises of Him who had called you out of darkness into His marvelous light, which in times past were not a people, lo Ami, but are now the people of God, Ami, which had not obtained mercy, lo Ruhama, but now have obtained mercy. So that restoration.

Israel is not going to be truly restored until they look on Him whom they pierced. And that restoration and that building, the tabernacle of David, begins with the Church of God.

Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers in pilgrims abstained from fleshly lust, which war against the soul, having your conduct honest among the nations, that whereas they speak against us as evildoers, they may by your good works, which they shall behold, glorify God in the day of visitation, when they are called, when they come to their senses. Now we go back to Hosea and another interesting verse in which the fulfillment, the spiritual sense, as we shall see, begins with the Church of God. Verse 10, Yet, see, in spite of these prophecies of lo Ami and lo Ruhama, 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 that in the place where it was set unto them, you are not my people, lo Ami. There it shall be set unto them, you are the sons of the living God, having obtained mercy. Now notice in Romans 9 where Paul quotes this. Remember what I said, that this restoration begins with the Church of God, and God's desire has always been to dwell in all peoples His Spirit, and for all people to eventually become His sons and daughters in the kingdom of God. In Romans 9 we have what sounds like sort of an anomaly, a paradox. Verse 2, Romans 9, I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart, for I could wish that myself were a curse from Christ, from my brethren, my kinsmen, according to the flesh. That's Israel. Who are Israelites? Do home pertains the adoption of the sonship, and the glory, and the covenants, the giving of the law, and the service of God in the promises. Whose are the fathers, and of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came? John 1, verse 12, He came to His own, and His own received Him not. But to them who received Him, He gave them power to become the sons of God.

Who are the fathers, and of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came, who is over all God bless forever. Not as though the word of God had taken not a thing, for they are not all of Israel, which are of Israel. And what that means, He'll explain, it means that to be of the Israel of God, it is not by inheritance that you are descended physically from Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

Neither because they are the seed of Abraham are they the children, just because you are descended physically. But in Isaac shall they be called. Why are they called in Isaac? Because Isaac was the son of promise who was born of faith.

Because Abraham and Sarah had faith in the promise, they came together, they were able to conceive, and they had the son of promise, Isaac, through faith. That is, they which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God. Of course, the Jews today claim that because God initially gave the land to them, they have the right to it, and they are God's people, and they act like they are better than everybody else. Now, Christ told them in John 5 that you think because you have the Word of God that salvation is in the Word of God. And He says that they do speak of Me. Maybe we should read that. John 5, 35. I might mess it up, just quoting it, in John 5 and verse 35.

We'll read into it, 35. He was a burning and shining light, John the Baptist, and you are willing for a season to rejoice in His light, John the Baptist. But I have greater witness than that of John, for the works which the Father hath given me to finish, the same works that I do, bear witness of Me that the Father hath sent Me. And the Father Himself which has sent Me has borne witness of Me. You have neither heard His voice at any time, nor seen His shape. And you have not His Word abiding in you, for whom He hath sent Him you believe not. Search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life, and they are they which testify of Me, and you will not come to Me that you might have life. You can memorize the Bible forward and backwards. You can quote every line, every jot and tittle, and yet be as unconverted and uncircumcised in heart as a toad from.

Now back in Romans 9.

For this is the word of promise at this time, for this is the word of promise, will I come and Sarah shall have a son. And it talks about how they were striving in the womb, and through grace one got the promise, but I want to come down now to verse 22. What if God willing to show His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much long suffering, the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction, and that He might make known the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy, which He had before prepared unto glory, even so whom He hath called, not of the Jews only, but also of the nations, the ethnos, or translated Gentiles. As He said also in Hosea, here's a quote, this is Hosea 2.10, He's quoting, I will call them my people, which were not my people, and her beloved, which was not beloved. And it shall come to pass that in that place where it was said unto them, You are not my people, there shall they be called the children of the living God. And it starts with conversion. Of you being called of God through His grace, through His mercy, granting repentance, exercising faith in the sacrifice of Christ, being baptized, receiving the laying hellen of hands, and God's Spirit, and now you are, because of that, of the Israel of God. Now back to Hosea 2. I mean 1. Then we come to Hosea 1.11, Then shall the children of Judah, when it's said once again that, in the place where it was said, You are not my people, it will be said that You are the sons of the living God. Then, when you are converted and you recognize that, Then shall the children of Judah and the children of Israel be gathered together, and they shall, and the King James says, appoint. Well, they are not going to appoint a Jesus Christ. That word in the Hebrew means that they will recognize, and that one that they are going to recognize is Jesus Christ. They will appoint themselves one head, and they shall come up out of the land. For great shall be the day of Jezreel, and here Jezreel means God's souls, where once He had sown destruction, He now sows restoration. And it begins with the Church of God, the Israel of God, the restoration of physical Israel, now converted, and now the Israel of God, along with the other nations that are converted. It seems that many of our people have been for years more concerned with the destruction of Gentile kingdoms than with the restoration of all things through God and Christ and the resurrected saints. What is more thrilling? What is more exciting? What is more encouraging than to know that these prophecies are here and that you are living these prophecies? God is now dwelling in you. Of course, that's what Pentecost, to a large degree, is all about.

The blending of the prophecies concerning the Israel of God, the Church and repentant and restored Israel, are exceedingly wonderful to contemplate. Now, the prophecies can be, of course, a bit confusing. And you have to be careful by how you divide it. But if we keep in mind that the Church of God is the Kingdom of God and embryo, that the restoration of all things begins in and through the Church, the Israel of God, the picture is much clearer. We also have to remember that God is not going to restore Israel in the ultimate sense. Until they repent, look on Him whom they pierced, exercise faith in the sacrifice of Christ, be baptized, and receive the laying on of hands. The above is what the Zionists, what we've just talked about, that's what the Zionists and the evangelical Protestants have forgotten.

In Hosea chapter 2, Say you unto your brethren, see, this is after the restoration. I don't know why they put the chapter break right here. I would have put it if I was going to have a chapter break after this verse. But say you unto your brethren, Ami, which means my people, and to your sisters, Ruhamah, which means having obtained mercy. Now plead with your mother, plead for she is not my wife, neither am I her husband.

So a big role, of course, to the church today is to take the gospel message to the whole world that they might understand who the people are, God's people, who the real people of God are, and who has really obtained mercy. Let her therefore put away her hoardums out of her sight and her adulteries from between her breasts. It very clearly says in Isaiah that he gave Israel a bill of divorcement. Lest I strip her naked and set her as in the day she was born, Ezekiel 16, and make her as a wilderness and set her like a dry land and slay her with thirst. And I will not have mercy upon her children, for they are the children of hoardums. In order to have mercy, you have to do what we've said three or four times already to repent, to exercise faith in the sacrifice of Christ, be baptized, and receive the Holy Spirit.

Their mother hath played the harlot. She that conceived them hath done shamefully, for she said, I will go after my lovers, that give me my bread and my water, my wool and my flax, my oil, and my drink. How could you possibly come to that point? Because it is God who has given all of these things. Psalm 50, the world is mine, the fullness thereof. If I were thirsty, I would not tell you. If I needed food, I wouldn't tell you. I want everything, anyhow. And then you think that your lovers gave you this? Therefore, behold, I will hedge up your way with thorns, make a wall that she shall not find her paths. She shall follow after her lovers, but she shall not overtake them, and she shall seek them, but it shall not find them. And then shall she say, I will go and return to my first husband. I will repent. For then it was better with me than now. And finally I began to learn her lesson. For she did not know that I, God, gave her wine and oil. Of course, you could look at the symbolism of wine and oil, and what wine and oil really mean. Wine, of course, at the Passover, symbolizes the blood of Jesus Christ. Oil symbolizes the Holy Spirit. Or you could look at it in the physical sense, and multiply it with her silver and gold. Gold is used symbolically in the New Testament as the highest form of character, which they prepared for Baal. They gave that all the way to false God. Therefore will I return and take away my corn, and the time thereof, my wine and the season thereof, will recover my wool, my flax, given to cover her nakedness.

Flax, from flax, you get... they made linen from flax. It's quite the story of what they went through with flax. You would cut the flax, put it on the rooftop, have it dry out. Then you would comb out the threads. After you would beat it, then you'd comb out the threads, and from the best threads, you would eventually make the linen. And you could use that as symbolic of what Christians go through.

And now will I discover her lewdness in the sight of her lovers, and none shall deliver her out of my hand. I will also cause her mirth to cease her feast days, her new moons, her Sabbath, and all her solemn feasts. So Israel forgets all of that, and it's only those who've been called into God's marvelous light who really understands today the Sabbath and the feast.

I will destroy her vines, her fig trees, whereof she said, These are my rewards that my lovers have given me, and I will make them a forest, and the breast of the field shall eat them. The breast? Sorry, I think that's beast. And the beast of the field shall eat them. And I will visit upon her the days of Balaam, wherein she burned incense to them, and she decked herself with earrings and her jewels, and she went after her lovers and forgot me, says the Eternal. Now, it's going back in two between the repentance and what they did. Then we come to verse 14, and from verse 14 to the rest of the chapter, it's about the restoration. Therefore, behold, I will allure her, bring her into the wilderness, speak comfortably unto her, and I will give her her vineyards from there, in the valley of Acore, for a door of hope. She shall sing there, as in the days of her youth, as in the day when she came up by the land of Egypt. And it shall be at that day, says the Eternal, that you shall call me Ishi, and shall call me no more Bali. For I will take away the names of Balaam out of her mouth. They shall no more be remembered by their name. And that day will I make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field, with the vows of heaven, with the creeping things of the ground. And it's like you remember the Isaiah 11, where that the child shall play on the den of the snake, and the lion and the bear, and all that will be tamed. And I will break the bow and the sword and the battle out of the earth, see, they're going to beat their spears into pruning hooks, and their weapons into plowshares, and will make them to lie down safely. And I will betroll them unto me forever. This will be what we have already done. We are betrolled to Christ. And eventually, all the nations of the world will have this opportunity. All your place there, we look at 2 Corinthians 11.2. In 2 Corinthians 11, verse 2, We call the issue, My husband, I will betroll her unto me forever. See, we have already been betrolled, those who are in Christ. That's where the betrothal begins. 2 Corinthians 11.2 You see, you've been betrolled to one husband, that is Christ, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. Then you go to Revelation 19, in Revelation 19, verse 6.

In Revelation 19, verse 6, And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, as the voice of many waters, and the voice of mighty thundering, saying, Alleluia, for the Lord God, omnipotent, reigns, let us be glad under joys, and give honor to him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, his wife has made herself ready, and to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white, for the fine linen is the righteousness of the saints. And he said unto me, Right, blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. Of course, that's the consummation of the metrothed. Now back to Hosea 2, verse 19, And I will betroth you unto me forever, Yes, I will betroth you unto me in righteousness and in judgment, and in lovingkindness.

And I will even betroth you unto me in faithfulness, and you shall know the Lord. And it shall come to pass, and that day I will hear, says the Eternal, I will hear the heavens, and shall hear the earth. Now that word here is better translated as respond. When the prayers go out, when the requests, whatever goes out, God not only hears, but He responds. Whereas when they were in their hoardums of captivity and all that, His ears, your sins have cut you off.

So I will respond to heavens, and they shall respond to the earth. The earth shall respond with the corn and the wine and the oil, and they shall respond, Jezreel God sows, in this case, and I will sow her unto me in the earth. I will have mercy upon her that hath not obtained mercy, and I will say to them which were not my people. See, this is what Peter quotes, and we read in Peter chapter 2 verse 10. I will say to them which were not my people, you are my people, and they shall say, you are my God. I mean, when you consider this prophecy and the fulfillment of it, and you have already entered into that, and that God dwells in you through His Spirit. Now let's go to Amos chapter 9. It is somewhat similar to these verses here. In Amos chapter 9, see, once again, I said God would send the prophet to the people. They would tell them of their sins, urge them to repent. Amos, to a large degree, deals with the day of the Lord and end times. There is an interesting verse here. I don't know if my eye will fall on it immediately, because I don't have it in my notes about the day of the Lord. I can quote it which says, Woe to them that desire the day of the Lord, for what benefit is it to you, as the day of darkness and so on. God had rather that the nations repent, but eventually they are not. In Amos chapter 9, very similar to Hosea in a way, Amos chapter 9 verse 8, Behold, the days of the Lord God, Adonai, are upon the sinful kingdom, and I will destroy it from off the face of the earth. Remember when we read Hosea, I will cause it to cease being a kingdom, saving that I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob, and not destroy the people. It says, The Eternal, For lo, I will command, and I will sift the house of Israel among all nations, like his corn is sifted in his sieve, you shall not, yet shall not the least grain fall into the earth.

All the sinners of my people shall die by the sword, which say, The evil shall not overtake nor prevent us. Oh yes, judgment is coming. Be not deceived, God is not mocked, for whatsoever man sows, that shall also reap. And that is not just individualists for the nations as well. In that day, these two verses, we shall see, these two verses right here, are quoted by James when he makes the decision in settling the question that came up in the conference in Jerusalem about the question of circumcision. Remember, they called together this big conference, Paul and Barnabas went to Jerusalem to clarify once and for all that he thought the Gentiles, the non-Jews, had to be circumcised in the flesh in order to be justified.

And James' sentence and his decision about that, he quotes these two verses. We'll see in just a moment. But the great significance of it, I think, oftentimes, just passes over our head. In that day will I raise up the tabernacle of David that has fallen. The tabernacle of David that has fallen is the Church of God.

We'll look at a few scriptures and come back here with regard to this, about the tabernacle of David and this symbolism of it. Remember that David pitched a tabernacle on Mount Zion.

Go to Psalm 78. Psalm 78 is a great summary chapter of the history of Israel. It has very key points.

It talks about the ups and downs of Israel. Look at Psalm 78, verse 67.

Finally comes down to this is really sort of the sum of it, and it comes into the great spiritual significance of this psalm.

Moreover, this is 67, the more he over he refused the tabernacle of Joseph and chose not the tribe of Ephraim. When Israel came into the Promised Land, where was the tabernacle pitched? It was pitched at Shiloh in Ephraim.

But, of course, they went astray, and the tabernacle in Ephraim and Shiloh was destroyed. The Ark of the Covenant at the time was even in captivity.

But chose the tribe of Judah, the Mount Zion, which he loved. Of course, this is pointing toward the church. It's not just that he loves a physical mountain.

And he built his sanctuary like high places, like the earth which he had established forever. See, David pitched a tabernacle on Mount Zion.

He chose David also his servant and took him from the sheepfolds. And David is a type of Christ.

From following the ewes great with young, he brought him to feed Jacob his people and Israel his inheritance. The Church of God, as it says in Romans 8-17, that you are heirs of God and joint heirs with Jesus Christ. To feed Jacob his people and Israel his inheritance, so he fed them according to the integrity of his heart and guided them by skillfulness of his hands.

Now we go to 2 Chronicles chapter 5. 2 Chronicles chapter 5, when David died, before David died, he desperately wanted to build a temple, a better, more suitable, he called, greater dwelling place, great splendor and so on, for God to dwell in, as opposed to the tabernacle that he had built on Mount Zion. And David gathered the materials, but was not permitted to build it, because God said your hands, or the hands of blood, and your son Solomon would be able to build the temple, not you. But there, God has still chosen the Mount Zion, which he loved, and he pitched his tabernacle there, his dwelling place. Now notice this. In 2 Chronicles chapter 5, Then all the work that Solomon made for the house of the Lord was finished, and Solomon brought in all the things that David his father had dedicated, in the silver and the gold, and all the instruments, put he among the treasures of the house of God. Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel and all the heads of the tribes, the chief of the fathers and the children of Israel, unto Jerusalem to bring up the ark of the covenant of the Lord, out of the city of David, which is Zion. Wherefore all the men of Israel assembled themselves under the king, in the feast, the seventh month, the Feast of Tabernacles. And that's what they did. And the glory of God, as you see down in verse 13, And it came to pass, as the trumpeters and singers were as one, to make one sound, to be heard in praising and thinking the eternal, and when they lifted up their voice with the trumpets and cymbals, of music and praised God for his good, his mercy and dears, for ever. Then the house was filled with a cloud, the presence of God, even the house of the Lord, God's dwelling place. Now these were, of course, the tabernacle in the wilderness, the tabernacle at Shiloh, the tabernacle that David built on Mount Zion, and the temple that Solomon built, where all temporary dwelling places were God's spirit. God was not in them, but he was manifested, his spirit, in the cloud. When it was dedicated, tabernacle in the wilderness, Solomon's temple. Now when the Restoration Temple was built, that temple that was built in the days of Haggai Zechariah, led by Joshua and Zerubbabel, when that house was dedicated, God's presence did not fill that house. But Haggai's prophecy says, The glory of this latter house shall be greater than that of the former house, Solomon's temple, which was, of course, pointing toward the church. Now you go to Hebrews 10.

Go to Hebrews 12 and verse 22.

Hebrews 12 and verse 22.

We want to read verse 20 first. In the preceding verses here, verse 20, Paul is talking about when Israel came to Mount Sinai in the third month and they were given the law.

So terrible was it's sight that Moses said, I exceedingly fear and quake, but you are come to Mount Zion. You haven't come to Mount Moriah.

You haven't come to Mount Sinai. You are come unto Mount Zion. Remember Psalm 78? He has chose the mount which he loved, Mount Zion. And I will pitch my tabernacle there. You have come unto Mount Zion and the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels to the General Assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven and to God the judge of all and to the spirits of just men made perfect.

That's where we are.

That's where we are. Now we go to Psalm 87.

Psalm 87, glorious things of these are spoken, Zion, oh, city of our God.

So when we sing that, what are we singing about? We're singing about us. We're singing about the church. And of course, here it goes into the resurrection. In Psalm 87, his foundation is in the holy mountains. The Lord loves the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob. Tabernacle in the wilderness, tabernacle at Shiloh, tabernacle at Mount Zion that David built, tabernacle or the temple, Solomon's temple. His glory did not fill the restoration temple, but he's chosen the Mount Zion, which he loves, and he'll put his tabernacle there.

And we have read clearly from Hebrews.

Verse 3, glorious things are spoken of you, oh, city of God. I will make mention of Rahab and Babylon to them that know me. Behold, Philistia and Tyre, with Ethiopia, this man was born there, not in literal Mount Zion.

And of Zion it shall be said, this and that man was born in her, and the highest himself shall establish her. And I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

The Lord shall count when he writes up his people that this man was born there. See, everyone that's in the symbolism, that's in the Israel of God, the resurrection will be born there. And the highest himself shall establish her. The eternal shall count when he writes up the people that this man was born there. As well as the singers, as the players on the instrument, shall be there, and all my springs, my wells of water, are in you. God's dwelling place.

Go now to Galatians chapter 6.

I really should have read this earlier. But in Galatians chapter 6, Galatians chapter 6, remember what the book of Galatians is about. There were Judaizers in Galatia who contended that in order to be justified, you had to be circumcised in the flesh.

In Galatians chapter 6, verse 15, For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision avails anything nor uncircumcision 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. Now we go to what I mentioned in Amos that James quoted in Acts chapter 2. Acts, I mean Acts 15. Acts chapter 15, the Jerusalem conference, talked about so often, but in all the years of the church, I never heard it explained until I explained it.

And we did this in refresher way back in the 80s in Pasadena. In Acts chapter 2, verse 12, Then all the multitude kept silence, gave audience to Barnabas and Paul, and declaring what miracles and wonders God had wrought among the nations by them. Non-Jews, they weren't circumcised. And after they had held their peace, James answered, saying, Men and brethren, listen unto me. Simon had declared how God at first did visit the nations to take out of them a people for His name. Remember Acts chapter 10, Peter goes to the house of Cornelius. God's spirit falls on the house of Cornelius, and they're baptized. Cornelius is a Roman.

It is evident then that God's spirit was to be for all nations and all peoples. Peter had declared, or Simeon, God at first did visit the nations to take out of them a people for His name's sake, Ami. And to this agree the words of the prophets, as it is written. Here he quotes Amos, what we read from Amos. I think it's verses 12, whatever it is in Amos 12 and 13, maybe it's 11 and 12. After this, will I return, and will build again the tabernacle of David? So what James is saying, here we are building the tabernacle of David. These people are being converted. We're building the tabernacle of David, which has fallen down, and I will build again the ruins thereof, and I will set it up. That the residue, the remnant, the remnant of men, all nations, might seek after the Lord in all the nations, upon whom My name is called, says the Eternal, who does all these things. Known unto God are all His works, wherefore My sentence is that we trouble not them, which from among the Gentiles are turned to God. Her circumcision is of the heart and not of the flesh.

So the beginning of the Great Restoration began on the day of Pentecost, 31 A.D., which tomorrow we will be observing, the day of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit was sent to not just dwell with humans, but in them. So, brethren, we are that people in which the Restoration has begun. One final scripture, and we're through 2 Corinthians 6, 16.

2 Corinthians 6, 16.

2 Corinthians 6, 16. And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said, I will dwell in them, walk in them, and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.