Coffee House Chapel #4

I can't wait!

 

July 22

Romans 11:26-27, “And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob: For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins.”

Today, I quote word for word a passage from Boice’s commentary on Romans.

“About one hundred years ago, Frederick the Great, King of Prussia, was having a discussion with his chaplain about the truth of the Bible. The king had become skeptical about Christianity, largely through the influence of the French atheist Voltaire. So he said to his chaplain, ‘If your Bible is really true, it ought to be capable of very easy proof. So often, when I have asked for proof of the inspiration of the Bible, I have been given some large tome that I have neither the time or desire to read. If your Bible is really from God, you should be able to demonstrate the fact simply. Give me proof for the inspiration of the Bible in a word.’

“The chaplain replied, ‘Your Majesty, it is possible for me to answer your request literally. I can give you the proof you ask for in one word.’

“Frederick was amazed at this response. ‘What is this magic word that carries such a weight of proof?’ he asked.

“‘Israel,’ said the chaplain.

“Frederick was silent.

“There are many other proofs for Christianity, of course. But is can hardly be doubted that the continuing existence of Israel as a distinct people throughout the four thousand years of her history is a striking phenomenon. Dispossessed of her homeland and dispersed throughout the world, Israel has nevertheless survived while other peoples in similar situations have not. Coupled with the Bible’s identification of the Jew as God’s elect people and its many prophecies concerning their unfolding history, the preservation of Israel as a people is strong evidence for the Bible being the inspired and inerrant Word of God.

“Even more than that, and much to the purpose for our study, the survival of Israel suggests that God has preserved these people through their many dispersions and persecutions not because He does not care for them, but because He does, and because He has a plan for the Jewish people that will unfold in blessing in the last days.”

In Christ,
Dan Todd

 

Richard - that is the question that we'll never understand the answer to.

But - by grace through faith - gives us what we do not deserve.

Thank you Blackbird!

 

July 24

Romans 11:26-27, “And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob: For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins.”

“All Israel will be saved.” “Romans 11:26 is the conclusion and clearest statement of this argument, the bottom line of Paul’s discussion of God’s historical purposes with the Jews, namely, that in the last days God will fulfill His promises to the Jews nationally by bringing the mass of Israel to faith in Jesus Christ as the Messiah.” (Boice)

Paul has a pattern of making his argument and then backing it up with O.T. Scripture. He did this in his discussion of the depravity of man in Romans 3. At the end of Romans 3 Paul explains the gospel and quotes the O.T. in chapter four. Paul did the same thing in Romans 9 and 10. The Apostle Peter did just the opposite. Peter would give his O.T. texts, and then make his argument. On the day of Pentecost, Peter used Joel 2:28-32; Psalm 16:8-11; and Psalm 110:1 in his message recorded in Acts 2:14-41.

In Romans 11, Paul proves his argument concerning Israel by quoting the following:

Isaiah 59:20-21, “And the Redeemer shall come to Zion, and unto them that turn from transgression in Jacob, saith the Lord. As for me, this is my covenant with them, saith the Lord; My spirit that is upon thee, and my words which I have put in thy mouth, shall not depart out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy seed, nor out of the mouth of thy seed's seed, saith the Lord, from henceforth and for ever.”

Isaiah 27:9, “ By this therefore shall the iniquity of Jacob be purged; and this is all the fruit to take away his sin; when he maketh all the stones of the altar as chalkstones that are beaten in sunder, the groves and images shall not stand up.”

Jeremiah 31:33-34, “But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people. And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his 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 I will remember their sin no more.”

Our text can be taken two ways: (1) That Messiah will come out of Israel in order to take away the people’s sins by His death on the cross. [This has reference to Christ’s first advent.] (2) That Messiah will come out of heaven - to Israel - in order to turn the hearts of Israel from unbelief to faith. [This refers to a time of future blessing.] “Those who do not believe in a future period of national conversion for Israel naturally incline to the former interpretation. Those who think Paul is prophesying an age of future blessing choose the latter.” (Boice)

Please note that Paul’s quote from Isaiah 59:20 is in the future tense - “shall be.” When Isaiah wrote his prophecy, he could have been writing of Christ’s first coming. But Paul, writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit interprets Isaiah’s words as referring to a future blessing. Paul’s interpretation clarifies many other O.T. prophesies, of which we shall look at some of them in future devotionals.

Adapted from “Romans” by Boice.

In Christ,
Dan Todd

 

Our adversary is powerful - but our God is all-powerful!

 

July 26

Romans 11:26-27, “And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob: For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins.”

Whenever there is a question as to what a particular passage of Scripture is referring to - it is best that we look to other Scriptures to find the meaning. Paul, writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit interprets Isaiah 59:20-21 as referring to a future blessing for Israel. Last time we mentioned that Paul’s interpretation clarifies many other O.T. prophesies. Before we begin to look at some of them, there is another Isaiah text which amplifies the necessity of using the above mentioned principle. The critics have long scoffed at the virgin birth of our Savior. They correctly say that the Hebrew word virgin (almah) in Isaiah 7:14 can be properly translated damsel and maid (young woman), as well as virgin. Both Matthew and Luke use the Greek word parthenos which means “a maiden; by implication, an unmarried daughter.” Matthew clarifies the situation by stating “before they came together” (1:18), and Luke quotes Mary as saying, “How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?” (1:34) God’s Word is the best place to find answers regarding God’s Word.

Now to an O.T. prophesy that Paul clarifies with his statement in Romans 11:26.

Jeremiah 16:14-16, “Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that it shall no more be said, The Lord liveth, that brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt; But, The Lord liveth, that brought up the children of Israel from the land of the north, and from all the lands whither he had driven them: and I will bring them again into their land that I gave unto their fathers. Behold, I will send for many fishers, saith the Lord, and they shall fish them; and after will I send for many hunters, and they shall hunt them from every mountain, and from every hill, and out of the holes of the rocks.”

Jeremiah wrote this prophecy before the fall of Jerusalem to Nebuchadnezzar. Many take these words as referring to the return of Israel to the land in the days of Ezra and Nehemiah. Boice writes that “it may even have had a partial fulfillment at that time. However, in view of the apostle Paul’s understanding of Isaiah 59:20-21, it may also be referring to a more important return of Israel to her ancient homeland in the last days.”

In fact, there is another thing to consider in this Jeremiah text. Jeremiah refers to the children of Israel as coming “from the land of the north, and from all the lands whither he (the Lord) had driven them.” Returning to the land from one land (Babylon) does not adequately fulfill the prophecy that Israel would return from the land of the north (Babylon is generally east of Israel) and all the nations from whence God had driven them. The Jews have been scattered to most all nations on the face of the earth. They have, since Israel’s modern era birth in 1948, been returning in droves to that once desolate land that seemed to have nothing to offer its residents.

Thank you Paul for the clarifying verse of Romans 11:26, “And so all Israel shall be saved.” It seems that we may be seeing events that will lead to the fulfillment of this prophecy in our own generation.

Adapted from “Romans” by Boice.

In Christ,
Dan Todd

 

We certainly cannot find off that old snake in our own power!

Thank you Blackbird!

 

July 28

Romans 11:26-27, “And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob: For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins.”

God will yet save “all Israel” as prophesied by Paul in our text. Another of the O.T. prophesies that become clearer because of Paul’s prophecy is Jeremiah 32:36-40, “And now therefore thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel, concerning this city, whereof ye say, It shall be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon by the sword, and by the famine, and by the pestilence; Behold, I will gather them out of all countries, whither I have driven them in mine anger, and in my fury, and in great wrath; and I will bring them again unto this place, and I will cause them to dwell safely: And they shall be my people, and I will be their God: And I will give them one heart, and one way, that they may fear me for ever, for the good of them, and of their children after them: And I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from them, to do them good; but I will put my fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from me.”

In Jeremiah 32, God tells the prophet to buy a corn field as a symbol of His lasting commitment to the Jewish homeland. “For thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; Houses and fields and vineyards shall be possessed again in this land.” (Ver 15) When Nebuchadnezzar took the southern kingdom of Judah into captivity, he began an odyssey that left Israel, either in foreign captivity or when they were in their own homeland, in subjection to other powers until the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948. True possession of houses and fields and vineyards in the land was not possible until 1948. I’m sure there must of been times that Jewish people despaired of ever being able to return to their ancient homeland, as God promised, when the land was totally controlled by others from 70 A.D. until 1948. No nation (people) has ever been so dispersed among the nations of the world and yet retained their identity. God has and is truly keeping His promises to His “chosen people!”

Like Jeremiah 16:14-16, the above text quoted from Jeremiah “seems at first to be referring only to the return of the Jews to Jerusalem from Babylon, even though some of the elements in the prophecy do not seem to fit perfectly.” (Boice) There are several phrases in the prophet’s message that were not fulfilled in the return of the Jews to the land in Ezra and Nehemiah’s day, in Jesus’ day, in 1948, nor until this present day. Those promises then must be still be looking for a future fulfillment (“all Israel shall be saved”).

Those phrases are:
1. Singleness of heart (“one heart, and one way”);
2. Always fear Him (“fear me for ever”);
3. and “an everlasting covenant with them.”

“Singleness of heart hardly describes the history of the people from the days of Ezra and Nehemiah on. In fact, they were as wayward then as ever, and in the days of Jesus they actually turned against their Messiah.” (Boice) But when we begin to think in terms of a future blessing for Israel, the idea of “singleness of heart” and “always fearing” God and “an everlasting covenant” take on a specific meaning. Paul wrote “and so all Israel shall be saved.” That salvation shall come to the Jews, as promised, at the end of the Great Tribulation when “they shall look upon me whom they have pierced.” (Zech 12:10) Israel will then believe on Jesus the Messiah, and they shall go with Him into the Millennium, and the promises of God will be fulfilled in Israel with Israel, literally. This is Paul’s message in Romans 9-11. We can trust God to keep His promises to us (the Gentile church), because He has and will continue to keep all of His promises to the Jewish people.

Adapted from “Romans” by Boice.

In Christ,
Dan Todd