Romans (Session 12) Chapter 9a

[Music] well we're reviewing the epistle to the romans what many would regard as the high water mark of the new testament and clearly uh paul's letter to the romans is not to the church rome by the way it's the epistle to the the christians in rome and uh it is the definitive statement of christian doctrine this is one reason that this epistle gets such primary treatment uh in the course of the institute and elsewhere and uh so we're in the second of three major sections the book of romans the first eight chapters are about doctrine the first three chapters are the definitive statement of of sin in the in the bible most complete diagnosis of sin and the problems it creates the next couple of chapters are about salvation and god's greatest problem and his greatest gift what's god's greatest problem how can he save sinners without violating his justice a real dilemma and he was able to do that by the greatest gift and i love the acronym that hal lindsey always uses for grace god's riches at christ's expense he paid the price to make it possible for god to be able to impute his righteousness on us so all that's in chapters four and five and we finally get to chapter six seven and eight sanctification and we just finished in the previous few sessions this incredible tour de force called romans chapter eight and if you know nothing else about your bible remember the last half of chapter eight of romans that's where you jump anytime you're down anytime you're discouraged anytime you're confused just jump into romans 8 and read the last half of that chapter and i assure you you it's mind-blowing but anyway these eight chapters are the doctrinal part of romans they are now behind us we now go into the next major section of three chapters and that's israel past israel present and israel future and you'll wonder g what's that got to do with us we're new testament christians what's israel got to do with any of this stand by for a shock because you're going to discover that these these issues have two characteristics they are a paramount interest to every one of us in this room and they're virtually not taught by nine out of ten churches in america why is that what is what on earth well you'll see but we're gonna 9 10 11 paul hammers away for three chapters that god is not through with israel they have a past we're going to explore that and that'll have some surprises they have a present and they do have a future and we'll be very much in the middle of that one then the last part of the book are the practical personal notes that paul sends to his friends and so we'll call it faith hope and love in those three sections the first one is doctrinal the middle one we could we could call dispensational and the last is practical love real people with real problems that he deals with about 28 of them actually but this is the section we're entering a different section from the eight chapters that we've just completed and we're on our way now these three chapters 9 10 11 are one of the most important trilogies in the bible and it's interesting there are other trilogies that are useful to remember there are the sermon on the mount matthew five six and seven how many have heard of the sermon on the mount about thirty percent okay well that's a good start all right spiritual gifts 12 13 and 14. and everybody asks questions about tongues and gifts of the spirit remember that 13 is right in the middle of that trilogy behold i show you a better way and then of course second coming there's several but zechariah 12 13 14 is perhaps the pivotal trilogy if you will on that subject so trilogies are around but uh from genesis chapter 12 to acts chapter 2 the bible is all about what subject israel it's all about israel from chapter 12 in fact you could say more than that but certainly definitively from chapter 12 all the way to acts 2 that's the focus and the theme through that entire scenario is that god keeps his promises and i want to emphasize that because right now we face an adversary that worships a god who is capricious a god who is presented that he can do anything and does read that untrustworthy that's in contrast to the god of abraham it's who delights in making and keeping his promises their opposites even in terms of just the presentation by their advocates their opposites now by the way we need a doctrinal as well as devotional understanding of god's word i read my bible every day good i hope you do i take that for granted but we also need in-depth exposition and we need to have a doctrinal perspective also that's what we're into here now the book of uh the the chapter eight of romans opened up with there is therefore no condemnation of them who are in christ jesus and it closes by saying there's no separation for those who are in christ jesus that's an incredible closure that we've just completed in our previous chapter well here's the here's the enigma that this leaves us with if god is so faithful to his word that none he has justified can be condemned isn't that what we learned last chapter and that none in him can be is separated with me so far then why have the israelites who were sovereignly chosen by god and given unconditional promises completely failed and been rejected wow that's your exam that's your final exam question turn in your papers when you're ready that's a tough one if god is so faithful and what he justified can be uh can't you can't be condemned none in him none in him can be separated and the israelites have been chosen in him and given unconditional promises we emphasize that as we go here how come they can be completely failed and then rejected this issue that i've just posed was first posed in the study in romans three back in chapter three this is way back review now paul writes what advantage then hath the jew what prophet is there in circumcision much in every way chiefly because that unto them were committed the oracles of god and what if some did not believe shall their unbelief make the faith of god without effect he raised that question back in chapter 3 and we're going to pick it up again in chapter 9 here and one of the questions this begs is okay how are the gentiles then to relate to jews that's a serious question for the jew not just the gentile that's that's an enigma and it was an enigma back then if circumcision is of no value without faith then what advantages did you have reasonable question okay that's one of the two questions that was begging their attention in acts 15. we read acts 15 they're all arguing about what does a gentile have to do to be saved that's only one of two questions if a gentile doesn't have to become a jew to be saved okay what's to become a jew that's the unexpressed answer that james answers both by quoting from amos we'll come to that what's the benefit of circumcision see this is the same question that was underlying acts 50 and it's going to be answered not just in acts 15 but also in chapters 9 10 and 11 in romans and it's going to impact every one of us in this room and the issue of course behind all of this is a demonstration by god to the world that he does keep his promises in spite of what you may think is going on with israel today we need to understand that you need to understand that to understand the daily newspaper in acts 15 paul and peter and others finally decide it's time to get to jerusalem a couple of decades probably have gone by and and there's this big bruja see in the past if you were interested in joining judaism as a gentile you proselyted to become a jew and you could and adopt all that and and become part of the congregation as jews became christians they presumed that was the procedure you want to become a christian become a jew first then you become a christian because most of the early christians obviously were jews right but paul and peter found out in in the field that it wasn't that simple and they they invoked this council in jerusalem and uh when they would just exert part of it here put no difference between us and them purifying their hearts by faith now therefore why tempt you god to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear this is peter talking paul had explained to them how gentiles were coming to faith and were really turned on and peter also and peter's arguing this is a conclusion of his argument he said put no difference between us and them purifying their hearts by faith and he's scolding them the leadership there why why you tempt god to put a yoke upon the neck of disciples which neither our fathers or we are able to bear that's their assessment of judaism right there but i love the next sentence his last sentence is a corker in fact it's interesting when you see peter in the gospels he's always fumbling we say he has foot and mouth disease you know he's always saying the wrong thing at the wrong time right notice what happens after acts chapter 2. he always he is elegant crisp focused we watch the holy spirit move the second sermon of peter in acts chapter 3 is a masterpiece from this unlearned fisherman the holy spirit's moving here notice this last sentence i love this he's arguing to these jews that they don't have to make a gentile become a jew to be saved he says but we believe that through the grace of our lord jesus christ we shall be saved even as they get to get the ellipsis there in other words we might do as well as they do we're supposed to be their example hurry up there they go we're their leaders kind of thing and then all the multitude kept silence and gave audience to barnabas and paul declaring what miracles and wonders god had wrought among the gentiles by them and after they had held their peace james we believe was the brother or half-brother of jesus christ himself james answered saying men and brethren hearken unto me simeon hath declared how god at the first did visit the gentiles to take out of them a people for his name and to this agree the words of the prophets as is written after this i will return and build again 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 of men might seek after the lord and all the gentiles upon whom my name is called saith the lord who doeth all these things notice this middle verse this is a quote james is quoting from amos chapter 9 verse 11 and 12. god speaking through amos and after this i will return well to return he must have left i will return and build again the tabernacle of who david david not levi david which has fallen down and i will build again the ruins thereof and i will set it up and so on okay so see back to the thought in in romans 3 what advantage than half the jew or what ben prophet is there of circumcision paul answering his own question rhetorical question much every way chiefly because that unto them were committed the oracles of god and we're going to see that ex echo yet so now we find after that preamble we're now jumping in romans 9. ready for it that was all a warm-up first verse first two verses of romans 9 paul says i say the truth in christ i lie not my conscience also bearing me witness in the holy ghost that i have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart what's he saying here he is pouring paul is pouring his heart out he's going to say something that will shock you he feels this more deeply than probably anything you can imagine he said paul is pulling out his heart he is talking passionately here this is not an academic or intellectual issue paul's mind he is regarded by most experts as probably the most brilliant mind that ever walked the planet earth and some of his logical arguments are bulletproof the terrific this isn't one of them this isn't logic here it's passion pouring out of paul it's not just academic intellectual he is totally involved with issue i want you to be prepared for the statement he's about to make in the next verse he says it for i could wish that myself were accursed from christ for my brethren my kinsmen according to the flesh you've got to be kidding i could wish this is the imperfect tense that means continuous in action in past time it's the opposite of mood you in the we don't have that in the english really you know but it's it's it's a it's rarely used in the new testament actually also the optim optative mood of a verb is is expressive of a wish that implies a contrary to fact subjunctive something you're wishing you know can't possibly be true what is to get as close as we can get to it in english something you wish but you know is impossible by the way the grammar here implies that that statement is impossible okay this is an overlooked additional proof of what your absolute eternal security in the last session i should explain the last session we talked about can you lose your salvation you certainly can if it depends on you mine doesn't depends on him right and uh i know in whom i believe that he's able to keep that which i've committed against that day and in john 10 we know that no one can take him out of my hand no one can take out of my father's hand jesus says right there's two hands involved right and as walter martin might say if you can lose your salvation i got a new name for god butterfingers and it's typical irreverent humor of walter martin although i i'm doing him and adjusted perhaps but um but here's another one this the grammar here underscores the same thing this event only occurs one other place in the entire bible but before i go there think about it is there anyone you love enough to give up your eternal salvation for i don't think so paul is saying i could wish that myself were a curse from christ for my brethren my kinsmen according to the flesh moses said the same thing by the way in acts in exodus 32 it came to pass on tomorrow that moses said unto the people ye have sinned a great sin and now i will go up unto the lord per adventure i shall make an atonement for your sin and moses returned unto the lord and said oh this people have sinned a great sin and have made them gods of gold yet now if thou wilt forgive their sin in complete cause and if not blot me i pray thee out of thy book which thou hast written and he knew what he was saying lord said to moses whatsoever hath whosoever hath sinned against me him will i blot out of my book the lord said unto moses how long will this people provoke me how long will it be are they believe me for all the signs which i have shown among them i will smite them with pestilence and disinherit them and will make of thee a greater nation and mightier than they god is bluffing moses here a little bit but he's saying you know i'll just start over i've had enough with these guys but you know you really need to read moses with a new york accent i can't do accents alright moses said of the lord then the egyptians shall hear it for thou brought us up this people and thy might from among them and they will tell it to the inhabitants of the land for they have heard that thou art that lord art among his people that thou lord art seen face to face and that thy cloud standeth over them and that thou goest before them by daytime and a pillar of a cloud and a pillar of fire by night now if thou shalt kill all his people as one man then the nations which have heard the fame of thee will speak saying because the lord was not able to bring this people into the land which he swear unto them therefore he hath slain them in the wilderness you know he's trying to manipulate god and now i beseech thee let the power of my lord be great according as thou hast spoken saying the lord is longsuffering and of great mercy forgiving iniquity and transgression and by no means clearing the guilty visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generation pardon i beseech thee the iniquity of this people according to the greatness of thy mercy as thou has forgiven this people from egypt even even until now moses is quite a guy gutsy guy and one thing you know the more you study moses the more you study abraham you realize they didn't tiptoe they you know abraham's negotiation with god and you know in uh genesis 19 is a classic anyway now if this argument that moses uses which of course was successful if this argument had validity before the davidic covenant and the hundreds of other affirmations throughout the prophets how much more now the point that we want to glean out of all this is that god keeps his promises if he did then and that's despite their apostasy despite their apostasy understand that that's going to be important because we're going to talk about unconditional covenants and they're confirmed under conditions of disobedience let's take a look at ezekiel now 36 where god says i scattered it 36 comes ahead of 37 the regathering of nations in the land and before magog invasion 38 and 39. why does god re-gather them in the land the dry bones thing in ezekiel 37 and why does he protect them so miraculously in the invasion that's forthcoming in ezekiel 38 39 he says so in chapter 36 it's a preamble god says i scattered them from among the heathen and they were dispersed through the countries according to their way and according to their doings i judged them and when they entered into the heathen whether they went they profaned my holy name when they said to them these are the people of the lord and are gone forth out of his land god speaking but i had pity for them no i had pity for what i had pity for my holy name which the house of israel had profaned among the heathen whether they went therefore say unto the house of israel thus saith the lord god who those are heavy words thus saith the lord god i do not this for your sakes the house of israel but for my holy name's sake which ye have profaned among the heathen whether he went i will sanctify my great name which was profaned among the heathen which ye have profaned in the midst of them and the heathen shall know that i am the lord saith the lord god when i shall be sanctified in you before their eyes god's not doing it for their sakes for his sake the same thing's true of your salvation if you can lose your salvation god will do something more than you do he'll lose his good name because he's committed to it he's committed to you continues for i will take you from among the heathen and gather you out of all countries and bring you into your own land then will i sprinkle clean water upon you and ye shall be clean from all your filthiness from all your idols will i cleanse you how will they be converted by the magog invasion and the succeeding events we'll talk about shortly let's get back to romans 9. pick up where we were verse 3 was the one we stumbled on before paul said for i could wish that myself were accursed from christ for my brethren my kinsmen according to the flesh can you can you feel the passion now he goes through and gives you ten characteristics of the jew he goes on to speak who are israelites to whom pertain of the adoption and the glory and the covenants and the giving of the law and the service of god and the promises whose are the fathers and of whom as concerning the flesh christ came who is over all god blessed forever amen okay what's that all about ten advantages of the jews well first of all they receive the words of god that's pretty good for starters that's what the first couple of verses dealt with back in romans 3. then we have who are israelites what does that mean of course the jews are israelites no no the second one the word israelites mean princes of god that's what it means princess of god and why were they chosen as a witness of his reality all nations on the earth had excluded all knowledge of god but he did all this in spite of that he called an assyrian an idol worshiping gentile by the name of abraham and makes him the beginning of a whole new thing and we got into that chapter one i won't go through all that again here okay there are israelites prince of god to whom pertaineth the adoption what is he talking about there well they're adopted as sons deuteronomy seven god explains their selection he selected them because they're so likable why are you laughing okay god says for thou art and holy people under the lord thy god the lord thy god hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself above all people that are upon the face of the earth that's quite a sentence that's why everybody else in the world resents them whether they realize it or not the lord did not set his love upon you nor choose you because you were more in number than any people for ye were the fewest of all people but because the lord loved you and because he would keep the oath which he had sworn to your fathers hath the lord brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you out of the house of bond men from the hand of pharaoh of egypt know therefore that the lord thy god he is god a faithful god which keepeth the covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations okay so we've got the adoption and the glory what is what what does the jew have that no one else has the shekinah and we go through all those verses about the presence of god holy spirit the pillar of fire cloud cloud by day fire at night and so forth it departs from them it talks about ezekiel 9 and 10 and yet he also has a temple covenant to return that's high guy too many people miss that and will re and he will return through the east gate and so forth okay and the covenants now here's another one now this is a full plate here there are four covenants that you and i as christians have to understand without it we're incomplete we need to understand this there are four covenants that have a common characteristic they are unconditional and i realize i'm going against the traditional teachings of many churches but let's decide right up front to see what the word of god has to say about this these are unconditional covenants they're essential to your understanding the new testament the abrahamic covenant strangely enough is the most jewish of them in a sense and yet it's the most essential for you and i as christians and uh it all starts in genesis 12. the lord said had said to abram get thee out of thy country and from thy kindred and from their father's house into a land which i will show thee actually when he said that abraham didn't do that he just moved upriver to iran until his dad died but i won't go into that god doesn't so we won't stephen did if you want to get into his acts 7. but the next two verses genesis 12 verses 2 and 3 are crucial and i believe the the umbrella that shields america from its overdue judgment god says abram i will make of thee a great nation i will bless thee and make thy name great thou shalt be a blessing i will bless them that bless thee and curse him that curseth thee and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed we could spend the entire hour just unraveling what's here there's more than it may seem on here i will make of thee a great nation indeed he has more than one i will bless thee and make thy name great there's no name under on the planet earth that's better known to more people than abraham and thou shalt be a blessing i will bless them that bless thee everybody will sign up for that one right the next one is not too enthusiastic but curse him that curses thee whoops god anticipated anti-semitism and all the families there to be blessed let's take a little closer look at these there are seven i wills here four direct and three understood and from this flows god's plan for all mankind all the other covenants build on this one we need to understand this i'll make the great nation i'll bless thee i'll make thy name great thou shall be a blessing i'll bless them that bless thee and curse him that curse of thee and thee shall all the families of earth be blessed let me surprise you with numbers five and six they are the basis for the first judgment when christ sets up his kingdom commonly called the sheep and goat judgment it is probably one of the strangest judgments in the bible why because the people that are before his judgment seat are mortal people that have survived the tribulation they're not resurrected people they are immortals and they will be either saved or sent to hell on the basis of their works what works very specific works how do they treat israel during the tribulation the tribulation is going to be more difficult than anyone has the capacity to imagine it's literally going to be twice as bad as the nazi holocaust nazi holocaust took one jew and three on the planet earth this one could take two out of three there will be among the gentiles in that day people like eric schindler or corey tenbu who will at the risk of their lives shield the jews that are being singled out by the antichrist they are the ones that are called sheep in this judgment matthew 25 last half of the chapter you can check it out the ones that didn't help are called goats and they are sent not to some temporary punishment no they're sent to hell it's a very strange judgment because it's mortals judged entirely on works now you can argue that the works are representative of their faith obviously but still it's a strange verse god for knew satan's anti-semitism and history has been patterned and destined after this reality in zechariah and elsewhere the sheep and goat judgment proves that the church will not be in the tribulation it's one of the many many places the churches conspicuous in its absence as there will be no distinction between jew and gentile of the in that judgment the brethren of matthew 25 derives from items five and six of the abrahamic covenant and that covenant by the way all through the scripture is declared eternal unconditional and immutable unchangeable and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed all families that's us gang will be blessed through the abrahamic covenant god's contract is still intact the nations are to be judged as we've just looked at it foresees the blessing of every family on the entire earth galatians 3 talks about that before the throne of god in revelation 5 9. in genesis 15 he speaking of abraham he believed the lord and he counted to him for righteousness and he said to them i am the lord that brought thee out of the ureth to give thee this land to inherit it he said lord god whereby shall i know that i shall inherit it and then god tells abraham to do a very bizarre thing it was a common thing in those days but god has abraham go through this procedure take a heifer of three years old and she go to three years old and a ram of three years old and a turtle dove and a young pigeon and there was a procedure if you had a really solemn contract to to uh signify the two participants would set up this offering cut them in half and put them apart and they would walk between them together citing the terms of their agreement that was the considered in those days the solemn way to to get into a contract that's exactly what god has him do the word barat to cut a covenant that's where it comes from to cut a covenant you know we used we saved the air force to cut some orders many people think it's because the old mimograph machine no no no it actually goes a deeper route than that to cut a covenant and participants divide a sacrifice and then together they would repeat they'd walk together repeating the terms that they'd agreed to between the things and they divide the the thing in two parts and then they'd walk between them reciting the the deal now what god does just after it's all set up he puts abraham in a deep sleep and god himself alone goes through the procedure in the form of a flame of fire why does he go alone because he's demonstrating rather dramatically it's unconditional there's nothing abraham has to do there's no part for him it's a unilateral one-way thing he took all these divided them in the midst laid each piece against the other birds he divided not when the fowls came down upon the carcasses abraham drove away when the sun was going down a deep sleep fell upon abram and low a horror of great darkness fell upon him and he said abram god has no assurety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs and shall serve them and inflict them for four hundred years shall afflict them for 400 years well there's a conflict with galatians because they were down there 430 years yes he didn't see us going to be there 40 years you're going to be afflicted 400 years 30 years they weren't afflicted do the math okay also that nation whom they shall serve i will judge and afterwards shall they come out with great substance and thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace and be buried a good old age and the fourth generation they shall come here there again for the iniquity of the amorites is not yet full so satan has forged four generations to lay down a minefield the rephaim the zamzumi and so forth and that's why josh was told to wipe out every man woman childish of certain tribes anyway came to pass that when the sun went down it was dark behold a smoking furnace and a burning lamp passed between those pieces that's the appearance of god declared eternal unconditional it was reconfirmed by an oath in genesis 22 it was then reconfirmed to isaac and to jacob in genesis 26 and by the way when it's being reconfirmed they're in acts of disobedience they don't have to do anything it's a one it's a one-way it's one-way street the new testament declares it immutable unchangeable in hebrews 6. that's the abrahamic covenant where was abraham and jesus when he was asleep he was not walking through these things god himself passed through between the pieces god's unconditional lateral commitment and we talk about fire and purifying and like on a metal smith how do you tell when something's finally meddled because he sees his reflection in it right how does god know when he's through with you when you reflect him so forth you can get through all of that flaming fire deuteronomy 4 then it'll be in the notes genesis 15 continues the same day the lord made a covet with abram saying unto thy seat have i given this land from the river of egypt unto the great river the river euphrates when people won't talk about the west bank say which river did you have in mind the jordan not their boundary their euphrates ultimately will be and it goes through all the different tribes and so forth reconfirmed by an oath confirmed by isaac and jacob and to both of them the promises were repeated in the original form and you can go through all the verses if you like and it's it it impresses me that this recon commitment of it is when they were disobedient underscoring that it's unconditional and the new testament declares it as such okay that's one of four covenants that we want to cover here the second one and by the way each of these are militantly being attacked by armed forces today the abrahamic covenant is what the islam is trying to undo to take that piece of ground and call it theirs that leads to the palestinian covenant genesis 13 even draw the land of canaan lot dwell in the cities of the plain and pitches tent towards sodom the men of sodom were wicked and sinners before the lord exceedingly and the lord son of abram after that lot was separated from lift up now thine eyes and look from the place where thou art northward southward eastward and westward for all the land which thou seest to thee will i give it and to thy seed forever not the u.n not the plo no no and i will make thy seed as the dust of the earth so that if a man can number the death of the earth then thy seed also can be numbered arise walk through the land in the length of it and in the breath of it for i will give it unto thee for how long or ever till the u.n takes over no forever that piece of ground does not belong to the u.n it does not belong to the palestinians whoever they are it doesn't belong to anyone but god and when we mess around the middle east with our foreign policies we run the risk of poking our finger in the eye of god abraham removed his tent came and dwelt the land of mamra which is in hebron and built there and altar into the lord okay palestinian covenant now due to their failure under the mosaic covenant that is conditional that's a different covenant worldwide dispersion was predicted under that covenant not this one in deuteronomy 28 it talks about what will happen and it doesn't say if it says when you disobey interesting construction in leviticus 26 it uh especially verse 42 contrasts with the conditional mosaic covenant with the unconditional covenants the mosaic covenant was conditional this one is not many people missed that point they will be regathered that's what ezekiel 36 that we read about and the the the it's they will be re-gathered and then be repentant they're regathered now they're not repentant yet if you notice verse 36 verse 25 in the middle of that they are being gathered before they have the spirit of god in them how will they then know this lord because he keeps his promises despite their failures and you and i also are not on the merit system it also declared to be everlasting ezekiel 16 talks about his land his city and so we're going to come back to that in a minute that brings us to perhaps the most interesting of the three as new testament christians we tend to ignore the old testament to our peril the davidic covenant is one that after tonight i think you're going to take a lot more interest in it as you really understand what's going on there let's talk a little bit about the scepter of judah back in genesis 49 when jacob was prophesying over the 12 tribes over judah he says the scepter shall not depart from judah nor the law giver from between his feet until shiloh come unto him shall the gathering of the people be now that word shiloh is understood rabbinically and talmudically and otherwise as a messianic term the early rabbis the talmud authorities re recognize that term as being an allusion to the messiah it's a linguistic issue now the davidic covenant is generally associated with second samuel seven in first chronicles 17. the kingship the right to rule was promised to the tribe of judah we just saw that in genesis 49 so far so good what many people don't know it's also hidden in the text of genesis 38 in the torah in chapter 38 in the hebrew is encrypted the genealogy of david boaz ruth obed ishea it's also in the book of ruth david is to be their king that was predicted in the torah what's interesting in ezekiel talking about the millennium who's going to be the king during the millennium well jesus christ is going to rule yes ultimately but who's the king david four times it says david will be the king in that time that's interesting the scepter of judah you know it's interesting that between 6 and 7 a.d the roman procurator caponeus took away the legal power of the sanhedrin by roman edict that was their standard policy they lost the ability to administer capital punishment that's very obvious by the time you get to christ and they they didn't have the right but by the romans to administer capital punishment that was taken away in six or 780 and there's the talmud and josephus record a very unusual thing that happened when they realized that they no longer had the authority to deliver capital punishment the hype the priests and the high priest put on sackcloth and ashes and marched around the city of jerusalem weeping that the word of god had been broken they actually thought the word of god because the scepter had departed from judah and there was no messiah caused panic among them the sceptre had departed from judah that's a matter of record they didn't know that while they were doing that up in nazareth there's a young boy in a carpenter shot they thought the word of god had failed let's get back to ezekiel 37 and sin and thus saith the lord god behold i will take the children of israel from among the heathen whether they be gone and i will gather them on every side and bring them into their own land and i will make them one nation in the land upon the mountains of israel and one king shall be king to them all and they shall no more be two nations neither shall be divided into two kingdoms anymore at all israel and judah and all that business neither shall they defile themselves anymore with their idols neither with their defensible things nor any of their transgressions but i will save them out of their dwelling places wherein they have sinned and will cleanse we'll cleanse them they've gathered first they'll cleanse later so shall they be my people and i will be their god and david my servant shall be what king is that a resurrected david apparently be king over them and they shall have one shepherd and they shall also walk in my judgments and observe my statutes and do them david my servant shall be king that's a strange idea for most of us david's actually going to rule in jerusalem okay promise the tribe of judah david's promised kingdom is a political kingdom if you don't believe that all you have to do is look at daniel 2 verse 44 where god says that the nebuchadnezzar that he's going to set up a kingdom it's not a spiritual thing it's a tangible physical king with a dynasty and a royal line and so forth this was all emphasized at abraham earlier it was prophesied in advance as i've mentioned it was also confirmed by oath in psalm 132 189 it's all through the psalms actually but especially psalm 89 now solomon's sons after david come solomon after solomon his sons they fail so badly you finally get to the last of the line jericho he's the last of david's line to sit on the throne of david and god pronounces a blood curse on him that no more of his seed will ever prosper again and that's in jeremiah 22 30. a very interesting verse because that ends it and there's a whole study on that that i encourage you to get into either in our matthew or genesis commentary now jesus of course has a legal claim through joseph which is a descendant of solomon but not a bloodline of jesus christ but he also had a claim through mary because of the exception granted in the torah for the daughters of zella fahad that's all in numbers 27 and josh 17. if you want to get into that mary was of the line of david but not through not through solomon through another son of david nathan not the prophet nathan but a son named nathan you'll find that in second samuel 5 and first chronicles 14. and luke 3 verse 31 when it speaks of joseph being the son-in-law of eli the word in the greek implies a what we would call an in-law relationship so he jesus has he's of the legal line of joseph but he's also the bloodline back to david through mary but what any case though jesus at the david's throne did not exist during those days it was gone rome was running things so how we're going to get around this it's declared to be everlasting david's covenant is everlasting it was confirmed to mary by gabriel when the child was announced to mary gabriel told her that her child would sit on the throne of david it was also recognized by the first church council when james was quoting from amos 9. the same essence was there you and i pray the lord's prayer thy kingdom come what on earth are we talking about well that he might rule in his heart no that's not what he's talking about that's not what he's talking about thy kingdom come what are we praying for you know it's interesting if you go back to daniel chapter 9. early chapter daniel's reading from jeremiah he knows that their captivity is almost over it was destined to be 70 years about 60 some odd have gone by he knows it's coming to an end what does he do about it put his feet on it and say boy i'm glad we're going to get through all this no he prayed intensely he prayed for that result he prayed so intensely that even in the translation you can feel the verbs you can hear him vibrate we should do the same thing is the rapture coming sure have you prayed for it you are to pray for that's god's way of enlisting you in what he's doing the root of david is one of the titles of christ in revelation 5 and it's also in hosea 3 5. now let's talk a little bit about another surprise this is all the stuff i assume is familiar to you this is something that may surprise you you've heard the term the kingdom of heaven all through the scripture here the kingdom of god the kingdom of heaven do you know who uses the term kingdom of heaven only one writer obviously jesus is speaking but who's the writer only one matthew mark and luke always say kingdom of god matthew's term kingdom of heaven luke and mark kingdom of god matthew only uses this kingdom of heaven term 33 times and i've read a lot of books where they say well matthew was just jewish and he was being a jew he didn't like to use the name of god he'd use a euphemism hashem or something else and that was just his preference oh really some people hold that view good scholars hold that view i don't have to agree because matthew also used the kingdom of god five times 33 times jesus kingdom of heaven only matthew uses that term five times says in many of the parallel passages mark and luke's account will just say kingdom of god matthews is the kingdom of heaven there's even a place where he uses both some people say well i just proves they're interchangeable most scholars assume they're interchangeable i don't think so i think that word of god is pure and i think it's very specific he uses them together in matthew 19 but he also there are different views about what this means my wife and i are going through a very serious study of this because it's impacting the approach we're taking in the book that we're working on that we're very excited about by the way but what fascinates us is the keys to the kingdom is a term used in matthew 16 that that's another term no one's sure about the the spiritual warfare people have their conjectures the catholic church thinks it's the they're linked to apostolic succession they're all these contrived perceptions who knows the term shows up in the old testament only one place in isaiah 22 where it is identified the keys to the kingdom is the key to the house of david and what this i think this is a pun i think the key to the riddle is to understand that the kingdom of heaven that matthew's talking about is the davidic kingdom specifically what do i mean by that i think the kingdom of god obviously is an all-inclusive god's kingdom anything since when he first started creating anything long before he created the earth he created the angels he created the earth long before he created the universe the universe comes around day four the earth's around for quite a while before then really so the kingdom of god is the big one the kingdom of heaven is a term of something more specific within that matthew uses 33 times you just came to god five which means i think he is making a discernment the others are missing now what does that mean that's where i want to get into a little bit more what is the kingdom of god well any it's beyond visibility obviously includes the angels he got created them the cherubim etc satan was one of those it began long before the earth because the the angels shout and cheer in job when the earth is created we understand it's inclusive of everything god has created no problem there kingdom of heaven is physical it has a locality it has boundaries it has a capital it has a king it has specific subjects mankind only it's earthly it's a political institution daniel 244 is one of the many references to that it has a capital the capital is jerusalem maybe not the jerusalem you and i know but one that's going to replace it it was usurped and by by violence and it's destined to be regained according to matthew 11 verse 12. these are just thoughts to stir your attention to get into this the throne of david is going to be reestablished that was a promise to mary it'll be in jerusalem well it's going to be in heaven no we're talking about jerusalem it's a tangible place you can find a floor plan of his palace or temple in ezekiel 43 48. this was also all emphasized to abraham david apparently is going to rule in the millennium that surprised me to really come to grips with it shows up four times five times four or five times none of this can be applied to the church for lots of reasons the church's primary association is the kingdom of god not the kingdom of heaven oh what does that mean well one of the things going to be involved is a relief of the not the elimination but the relief at least of the curse on the creation it's going to be a different time and there's lots of that's a whole study on its own right so okay we've had three that's one more everlasting covenant what is that all the churches think that's to them no no it's to israel jeremiah 31 is to israel let's take a look at it the holy days come saith the lord that i will make a new covenant with the house of israel and with the house of judah really doesn't say anything about the church and does it not according to the covenant that i made with their fathers in the day that i took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of egypt which my covenant they break although i was a husband unto them saith the lord but this shall be the covenant that i will make with the house of israel after those days say the lord i will put my law in their inward parts and write it in their hearts and they sh and i will be their god and they shall be my people. very important covenant but it's to israel and they shall teach no more every man his neighbor and every man is brother saying know the lord for they shall all know me from the least of them unto the greatest of them saith the lord for i will forgive their iniquity and will remember their sin no more and let's talk about israel specifically when will all this happen well in hosea 5 he says i will go and return to my place to return he must to in order to return he must have left it i'll return my place till they acknowledge their offense and seek my face in their affliction they shall seek me earnestly in zechariah 13 it talks about the troubles that they're going to face that jeremiah calls the time of jacob's trouble that michael says in daniel 12 calls it the great tribulation that's the one that jesus quotes when he identifies this time of period shall come to pass that in all the lands that the lord two parts therein shall be cut off and die but the third shall be left therein and i'll bring the third part through the fire and we find them as silver as refined and will try them as gold is tried and they shall call on my name and i will hear them i will say it is my people and they shall say the lord is my god. zechariah a third of them will be left tough times and the people that help them are the ones that get rewarded in the sheep and go judgment unconditional under grace based on god's i wills it's an everlasting covenant all through the scripture it includes a new heart and a new mind of all the israelites interestingly enough and the restoration of the nation israel and applies during the millennium interesting time coming up here provides permanent forgiveness it provides the permanent dwelling indwelling of the holy spirit something we associate with the church now universal teaching in the ministry the holy spirit national israel will be restored to the land god's true temple will be established in jerusalem that's what ezekiel details even gives you gives you thickness of the walls all the details and there'll be global peace not until then but then there will be glo wars will cease in the millennium plenty of scriptures they'll all be in your notes we started talking about the advantages of the jews we talked about adoption sons we talked about the shekinah we and uh went through that list if you will back in romans uh three four four five we talked about the covenants because they're so important that's when the reason we went into this is because there's a critical issue that we're dealing with here we will ultimately deal with and that's the thing called al millennialism nine out of ten churches probably i'm guessing i don't the actual statistics are do not believe the millennium is serious it's literal it's they allegorize it allegorize an allegory is a license to invent and not that there aren't allegories but you always do your doctrine from you take the literal translation to interpret the allegorical ones not the other way around so it's unscriptural and it's going to be critical because so much of what we're facing in this world requires an eschatological perspective that's valid and it's heresy and the hero it was the heresy that led to the holocaust in nazi germany and it's that same heresy it's going to lead to the next holocaust that we've just read about that's why this is so important and okay we talked about the covenants and there's a there are a few more we won't go through this length the law the surface the promises the fathers and the fact that christ came in the flesh there's five more advantages of being a jew we'll just whip through them quickly giving the law of course we went through that romans seven we'd have to talk about it here the service of god the temple services and priesthood and this is this is promised to be re-established in haggai 2 2 2-9 many commentators missed that these rituals were israel not the church were warned against them in unmistakable terms in colossians 2 16 and elsewhere let no man judge you in the meat and drink and keeping of any holy day that's not jewish that's us the special promise is the future kingdom the fathers of the faith abram isaac and jacob we don't have to elaborate on that that's pretty straightforward but that's obviously advantage jews have the final one of course the ultimate privilege is that the messiah the redeemer himself is jewish and he would come from their physical race and that's wraps it up then well we're close to the end not bad for five verses huh i want you to read from the sixth verses to the end of the chapter for next time and one as you go consider has the word of god failed if we have all these assurances of protection what about israel they've gone through some pretty dark times and going through dark times coming if israel was chosen where are they now how does this all fit together and we're also going to encounter head on next time this strange doctrine of election and faith versus free will if it's for if it's prophesied do we have a choice where does the sovereignty of god and the sovereignty of man tally here and what's the difference between the body of christ and the bride of christ are they the same thing not so they are different and we'll hit all that head head-on in the next session so let's stand for a closing word of prayer you know it's really interesting at the more you start to learn about the millennium the more you take the trouble to understand the prophecies associated with the davidic covenant the more you will begin to realize that this is tangible it's coming it's soon most of us tend to look well gee what's the rapture everything's fine and okay great no there's a great deal of insight as to what happens after the rapture what's the bema seed all about most people have been mistaught tragically what's this you know what what's what's this bride of christ how does that relate to the body of christ are they different what are they all about and then when he comes back and sets up his kingdom we've got the sheep and goat judgments you've got what's all this business about the ten virgins we suspect that all ten are saved and yet some interesting distinction distinctives that will emerge out of that study and what's this outer darkness the darkness outside are these people that were saved being sent to hell no no something else going on we'll talk about that we'll talk about compartments that are described in ezekiel's floor plan that are not no one knows what they're for we'll explore something my wife and i are doing a book on this and we're still studying so we don't have any glib answers but boy it's astonishing to see how the fog lifts and how much of all this becomes real and begins to impact our personal walks and we're beginning to suspect that one of the biggest problems in the body of christ is taking too much for granted just because we're saved that's that means we're on first base doesn't mean we have a home run there's more to be done it's all in him we're not talking about works we're not talking about rituals we're not talking about but we are talking about paying attention that's our hearts father we do thank you for your word we thank you father you've gone to the trouble of laying out everything we thank you father that you have chosen to nothing to do nothing but that which you have revealed to your servants the prophets we thank you father for this visibility we pray father that through your holy spirit you would draw us into your word that we might each grow in understanding help us father to apprehend what it is you would have of each of us in the days that remain we thank you for the gift of your son jesus christ we thank you father for the gift of your holy spirit to illuminate these things we thank you for your word which is pure we pray father you'd help us through that spirit to more fully apprehend what you have here for us that we might grow that we might be more effective stewards of the opportunities and resources you've made available to us but above all father we might be more pleasing in your sight as we commit ourselves into your hands with no reservations whatsoever in the name of yeshua our lord and our savior jesus christ [Music] amen [Music] you

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Length: 62min 2sec (3722 seconds)

Published: Thu Oct 15 2020