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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