Sunday, September 6, 2015

All Israel Will Be Saved (Part 4 of 3)

  

This is a supplement to a previous post in January 2015, entitled, “All Israel Will Be Saved?”  The blog was addressing the question, of why the Patriarchs are consistently referred to as “Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob” (Matt 22:32), and not “Abraham, Isaac, and Israel” the names given by God to each man.  Over the weekend I stumbled onto three references in scripture where God is called “The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel.”  Chronologically, the first time is found in a prayer of David around the time Solomon was made king over Israel,

“O LORD, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, our fathers, preserve this forever in the intentions of the heart of Your people and direct their heart to you,” (1 Chron 29:18). 

The next time is found in a prayer of Elijah after he build the altar next to the prophets of Baal and was preparing to call down fire from heaven,

“O LORD, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, today let it be known that You are God in Israel and that I am Your servant and I have done all these things at Your word,”
(1 Kings 18:36). 

Immediately after Elijah’s prayer, God sent down fire from heaven to consume the offering.  The final time was when King Hezekiah restored the temple worship and called all of the people to come to Jerusalem and celebrate the Passover saying,

“O sons of Israel, return to the LORD God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, that He may return to those of you who escaped and are left from the hand of the kings of Assyria,”
(2 Chon 30:6).

It is fascinating that all these references have Messianic connections.  Elijah is the prophet that prepares the way of the LORD, as John the Baptist did in the first century.  Jesus is a descendant of David Who will reign on the throne of David, and Hezekiah is a king that called the nation to repent.  Some initially thought Hezekiah could be the Messiah, but he ultimately became a type of the Messiah calling the nation to repentance, which saved the nation from the Assyrians.

These passages seem to foretell of a future time when the nation comes to believe in Jesus as Messiah, a time when “All Israel will be saved,” (Rom 11:26).  At that time, the Patriarchs may then be referred to as “Abraham, Isaac, and Israel.” 

As discussed in the previous blogs, “Israel” is the name used in scripture for the believing remnant, while “Jacob” is often associated with unbelief.  Israel is the name given to Jacob after he struggles with and comes to know God, “Your name shall no longer be Jacob, but Israel; for you have striven with God and with men and have prevailed,” (Gen 32:28, NASB).  The NIV translates the verse this way, “…you have striven with God and with humans and have overcome.

The NIV use of the word “overcome” brings to mind the use of the term “overcome” in reference to each of the seven churches of Revelation, To him who overcomes, I will grant to eat of the tree of life which is in the Paradise of God,” (Rev 2:7-Ephesus, 2:11-Smyrna, 2:17-Pergmum, 2:26-Tyatira, 3:5-Sardis, 3:12-Philadelphia, 3:21-Laodicea).  These references in Revelation seem to allude to the words in Genesis, when Jacob acquired the name Israel.  Like Jacob, believers who overcome become part of the believing remnant of Israel, and “All Israel will be saved.”


--Scott

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