ISRAEL 6 - BELIEVERS WHO RUSH IN WHERE ANGELS FEAR TO TREAD

ISRAEL 6 - BELIEVERS WHO RUSH IN WHERE ANGELS FEAR TO TREAD

OCTOBER 3, 1965

PASTOR HENRY F KULP

Romans 9: 6 - 12 Not as though the word of God hath taken none effect. For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel: Neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children: but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called.That is, They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed.For this is the word of promise, At this time will I come, and Sarah shall have a son. And not only this; but when Rebecca also had conceived by one, even by our father Isaac; (For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth;) It was said unto her, The elder shall serve the younger.

Romans 9: 4, 5 you have the eulogy of Israel.

Who are Israelites; to whom pertaineth 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 for ever. Amen.

Here you have two verses that could not be written of any other nation that has ever been on the face of the earth, except Israel. All the promises of God were given to them: God’s covenants, God’s blessings. But this nation fell; they had a lofty height… they had the advantages and privileges given to them, but they rejected the Lord Jesus Christ, and they fell, and they were set aside. Now this setting aside is just temporary. It is not permanent…God has not cast away His people forever, but He has only set them aside for a season. And now He is gathering of both Jew and Gentile, a Church which is the body of Christ. He is doing something He never did before.

1/ But now, the sixth verse says: Not as though the word of God hath taken none effect. For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel: 

Not as though the Word of God hath taken none effect….in other words, none effect means failed…not as though the Word of God had failed. 

Even though God made promises to Israel, and they haven’t come to pass as yet, and at the present this nation is set aside, it is not the failure of the Word of God. These promises will be fulfilled someday, but at the present they are not being fulfilled. And this is not because the Word of God has failed.

2/ Now, notice the seventh verse: Neither because they are the seed of Abraham are they all children, but in Isaac shall thy seed be called.

Now, the children of God are children of faith. Abraham had eight sons, but only one son was the son of faith. You remember, one of the eight sos was Ishmael. He was nota child of faith; he was a child of nature, and God never promised Ishmael a thing; He never promised the other six anything. When Abraham got to be 99 years of age, God told him He would give him a son, and he would name him Isaac. Abraham didn’t see how this could be, but he believed Him. Isaac was the child of promise; he was the child of faith. This is what God wants out of man…He wants faith.

3/ That was the only thing God asked of the children of Israel when they came out of Egypt.

Numbers 14:11 And the Lord said unto Moses, How long will this people provoke me? and how long will it be that they believe me, for all the signs which I have shewedamong them?

In the book of Numbers, you have the record of their being turned back into the wilderness. This is where they did not believe God, and God turned them back. Notice what God said in the eleventh verse: And the Lord said unto Moses, How long will this people provoke me, and how long will it be that they believe me? That is all that God asked, and they refused to give Him what He wanted. They were not children of faith.

4/ Matthew 13: 58 And he did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief.

Now, God cannot work where there is no faith…God wants faith; He wants children of faith. Here in this Scripture, you have Jesus Christ going to His hometown Nazareth, and there, it is said, He did not any mighty works because of their unbelief. He was a hometown boy, and they didn’t regard Him any more than they did any other boy. When He came back preaching as a young man, they said, “Why, we know Him…He is only a carpenter.” And, because of their unbelief, He couldn’t do a thing…He had to leave. God is looking for faith.

5/ Now, these promises that God made to the nation Israel will be fulfilled when there is a nation, but a nation of faith. Let me show you an example of what I mean:

John 1: 47 - 49 Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, and saith of him, Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile! Nathanael saith unto him, Whence knowest thou me? Jesus answered and said unto him, Before that Philip called thee, when thou wastunder the fig tree, I saw thee. Nathanael answered and saith unto him, Rabbi, thou art the Son of God; thou art the King of Israel.

Here, we are told that Jesus Christ saw Nathanael coming to Him. We don’t know much about him; he is not named up to this time, and he isn’t named again until after the resurrection. He was not one of the twelve. In the 47th verse, Jesus saw Nathanael coming to Him, and said unto him. Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no guile.” Now, notice that: Jesus Christ looked at Nathanael and said that this is an Israelite, an Israelite indeed…in other words “This man is a pure Israelite.” Now, see what He says in verse 48: Nathanael saith unto Him, Whence knowest Thou me? Jesus answered and said unto him, Before that Philip called thee when thou wast under the fig tree, I saw thee. And Nathanael answered and said unto Him, Rabbi, Thou art the Son of God; Thou art the King of Israel.

What did Jesus Christ say about him? He said, This man is an Israelite, a real Israelite. Why? Because of his confession He knew he was going to make. Now, the nation has to confess that, because of these two things, they crucified Jesus Christ. When He stood before the high priest, they said “Art Thou the Son of God?” And Jesus answered and said, “Emphatically,Yes.” And the high priest rent his clothes and said, “We have heard His blasphemy; He ought to die.” But this man, a true Israelite, said, “Thou art the King of Israel.” When they brought Jesus to Pilate, they said, “He calls Himself a King.” Pilate said, “Art Thou the King of the Jews?” He answered, the same thing, “Emphatically, Yes.” And it was written over His cross, “This is Jesus, the King of the Jews.” But this man, a true Israelite, said “Thou art the Son of God, Thou art the King of Israel.” The whole nation has to confess that.

6/ When they get through the Tribulation period, there will not be very many Jews left. From my study of the Bible, I am convinced there will not be many Jews left, except those who are crowded into Jerusalem, where the anti-Christ will bring his armies against Jerusalem. And that is what is called The Battle of Armageddon…they form at Armageddon, and march against the city, for all the Jews that are left are crowded into that city. Then the Heavens open, and Christ comes, and delivers them, and destroys the anti-Christ, with all his armies. Then the Jews will see that He is the Christ, and they will confess that He is the Son of God, and He is the King of Israel.That is what one has to do to be a true Israelite. He has to be a child of faith.

7/ Then God shows that Isaac was the son of faith, given to Abraham and Sarah. Then He comes down to the 10th verse, and He brings in two more sons…notice this, “and not only this, but when Rebekah also had conceived by one, even by our father Isaac, for the children being not yet born neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand…” Now, here we have the word “election”, and how many people stumble and fumble at this. They think God has elected certain people for salvation, and this is not true. God has never elected anyone for salvation. They don’t understand election, nor the Bible and what it teaches of election. Now, what happened and we had better understand it.

8/ Before Esau and Jacob were born, God made an announcement to Rebekah.

Genesis 25: 23 And the Lord said unto her, Two nations are in thy womb, and two manner of people shall be separated from thy bowels; and the one people shall be stronger than the other people; and the elder shall serve the younger.

God tells Rebekah she is to have two sons: they are to be twins, and the elder…notice…shall serve the younger. Now, notice what God said to Rebekah…whether she ever told Isaac, I do not know. God told her, “You are going to have twin boys, and the elder will serve the younger.”

9/ Remember, Jacob got the birthright. But he bought it—he purchased it. When Esau came back from hunting, Jacob was making something that he liked. He was making it for a worship service, that God had ordained. Esau should have been taking care of this matter, but he wasn’t interested in spiritual things. He had gone hunting instead, and so Jacob was taking care of it.

And when Easau came in and asked Jacob for some, he said, “All right, sell me your birthright.” And Esau thought so little of his birthright, that he sold it for a mess of pottage. God doesn’t want that kind of man. Jacob purchased it and it belonged to Jacob. Now there is something that goes with a birthright, and that is the blessing.

10/ Genesis 27: 1 And it came to pass that when Isaac was old, his eyes were dim so that he could not see, he called Esau, his elder son, and he called Esau and said to Esau, Now, you go out and get some venison, for he was a hunter, and he said, I will eat of that venison, and give you the blessing.

Now, to whom does the blessing belong? The blessing belongs to Jacob; he has the birthright and God said he was going to have it. Now, it may be that Isaac knew nothing about these two events that we have told you about. But, now, look at the fifth verse…”And Rebekah heard when Isaac spake to Esau, his son”…she may have been hiding behind the door, I don’t know…women have a habit of doing things that way but she said it and she said, “That’s wrong”. She was right. She said, “Esau is not to have the blessing…Jacob is to have the blessing.” For, remember, God said “the elder will serve the younger”, and then Jacob bought the birthright, and he bought it honestly… and he had it.

11/ So, she came to Jacob and said, “You will go and kill a kid of the goats for me, and bring the skin, and I shall put the skin over your hands and over your neck, and you will be a hairy man, like Esau. I want you to have the blessing.” Now, Jacob didn’t want to do it this way. Let’s look at the twelfth verse: “Jacob said, ‘My father peradventure will feel me, and I shall seem to him as a deceiver.’ He didn’t want to be a deceiver; he was not a deceiver he did things honestly.

12/ Now, when he went to his father, Isaac felt the skin on his arms and on his neck and said, “Art thou really Esau?” He felt there was something funny about it, I guess, and he said “Art thou really Esau?” Now, notice, verse 24…notice what Jacob said…” And he said, I am.” Now the word “am” doesn’t belong there…it was inserted. Look at it. The word “am” is in italics; words that are in italics don’t belong in the Bible. They are supplied by the translators, because they think they are necessary. What Jacob said was, “It is I.” This man Jacob was not a deceiver.

13/ Now turn to Genesis 28: 1 And Isaac called Jacob, and blessed him, and charged him, and said unto him, Thou shalt not take a wife of the daughters of Canaan.

Isaac called Jacob, whose mother was sending him away to get a wife…Isaac called Jacob and blessed him, and charged him, and said unto him, “thou shall not take a wife of the daughters of Canaan”…and then notice, at the end, and said not to take a daughter of any of the Gentiles, “…and God Almighty bless thee.” Now Isaac is speaking…Isaac didn’t say, “Jacob, you are a deceiver, you are wrong…you can’t have the blessing…No, Isaac could have changed the thing if he had seen it was wrong. If he had seen he had been deceived, he could have changed it. But notice, Isaac said, “God Almighty bless thee, and make thee fruitful, and multiply thee, that thou mayest be a multitude of people, and give thee the blessing of Abraham to thee.” Isaac and God never accused Jacob of deceiving.

14/ Now, back to our lesson. Notice Romans 9: 11 For the children, being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand.

Now, here is election, and sure enough, God chose Jacob instead of Esau. He did it before they were born. He said to the mother, “The elder shall serve the younger”… that’s election. But, beloved, that isn’t salvation. Election is for service. Election is to what God wants you to do, and what God wants you to be. Jesus Christ selected His twelve disciples, and He selected the seventy. But he offered salvation to the nation…to the whole nation.

15/ God has election for those he wants to use. He has salvation for anyone who wants to be saved. People get election all mixed up with the purposes of God, and with salvation. God offers salvation to anyone…Jesus Christ died for the sins of the world. He died for everyone. You can go to any man or woman on the face of the earth, and say, “Christ died for you.” Missionaries do it all the time. They go to a poor old leper, so filthy that they are scarcely free to tough them; they say to that poor old man, “Jesus Christ died for you, and you can be saved by believing on Him.” Praise the Lord, a lot of them get saved. But election is for service.

16/ Nowhere in the Bible is election connected with the salvation or the damnation of a human soul. Who are the elect? They are the saved people. Israel, in the Old Testament, is God’s elect.

Isaiah 45: 3, 4 And I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, that thou mayest know that I, the Lord, which call thee by thy name, am the God of Israel. For Jacob my servant's sake, and Israel mine elect, I have even called thee by thy name: I have surnamed thee, though thou hast not known me.

The nation is elect, not an individual as such. Then notice, the church which is His body, in the New Testament, is the elect group.

Romans 8: 33 Who shall lay anything to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth.

In the Tribulation, there are Jews who are the elect,144,000.

Matthew 24: 22 - 24 And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened. Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.

Election has to do with service, because the 144,000 will serve God as missionaries, and go and preach the gospel of the kingdom in all the world during the Tribulation.

AMEN

10/3/1965 / ISRAEL 6 - BELIEVERS WHO RUSH IN WHERE ANGELS FEAR TO TREAD / 08/29/2024