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Hoyte Nelson's Poems/ Reflections & Biblical Essays
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Essay A Hebrew of the Hebrews Hebrew
of the Hebrews “… Circumcised the eighth day, (said the Apostle
Paul), of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews…” (Philippians 3: 5) The story of God’s people is one story with many
chapters. A brief outline is as follows: Adam, (and Eve), tempted by Satan,
sinned, and because of their sin (disobedience), they were cast out of the
garden – separated form God forever apart from the promise given to them as
recorded in Genesis 3:15, renewed in the Abrahamic covenant (Genesis 12:3),
confirmed in the Davidic covenant (Acts 2: 29-36), and fulfilled in Jesus Christ
(Galatians 3:29). The truth is, salvation was then, as now, fulfilled in the
promise given to Abraham, fulfilled in Jesus Christ (Galatians 4:4). Adam and his wife Eve had two sons, Cain and Abel.
And as a result of sin, Cain killed Abel. [Sadly, all the suffering of this
world is a direct or indirect result of Adam’s sin]. As time passed on, men
became more and more sinful, and as a result, God brought His judgment upon the
world in what we know as “the Flood” (Genesis chapter 7). Here it is
recorded, “and the Lord said, ‘I will blot out man whom I have created…,
but Noah found GRACE in the eyes of the Lord.”(Genesis 6: 7,8). Grace is a
faith gift, for Noah believed the promise of God, and that’s what this story
is all about – “In the fullness of time” (John 1:16]. Yea, that is only the beginning of the story, but
through it all, God’s hand of mercy (or grace) was ever evidenced upon His
people. As we look at the story of a people called “Israel” (Hebrews by
inheritance), we will see that following Adam and Noah, the focus then centers
upon a single person called “Abram” or “Abraham,” who is said to be
“the father of all the faithful” (Romans 4: 16b). It was to Abraham that God
gave the promise (first given to Adam) of eternal significance: “that through
your seed (not seeds), “the families of the earth would be blessed”
(Galatians 3: 16). This promise was, in the fullness of time, fulfilled in the
person of Jesus Christ. (Ephesians 1: 10) In other words, the promise was not to
be fulfilled in and through the nation of Israel – [they were only the conduit
through which God used to fulfill his promise given to Abraham that was
fulfilled in the person of Jesus Christ: As it is written, “that in him, all
the people of the world would be blessed” (Genesis 12:3b). Abraham was of the
Hebrew race, and it was through this people that God also gave to us the
scriptures. [And, through the scriptures, eternal salvation by faith in the
promise fulfilled in Jesus Christ]. (Galatians 3: 29) (Read the seventh chapter
of the Book of Acts, and the book of “Hebrews” for and overview of the
Hebrew race) Not only was Abraham of the Hebrew race, but all of
his descendants were, including Jacob (Israel); Judah (Jews) were forever the
descendants of the Hebrews family. They were often referenced by either of these
names: (Hebrews, Israelites, or Jews, in order of their lineage. One of the sons
of Jacob was named Judah, the tribe through whom God chose to bring the Messiah
to the world. (Genesis 49: 10) Judah, after the nation of Israel was divided
into two separate nations (1 Kings, chapter 12), became a mighty kingdom;
whereas, Israel, after a time, was not only rejected by God, (2 Kings 17:18-23),
and is known as the lost tribes of Israel. A Review: Jacob, the grandson of Abraham, was subsequently called
“Israel,” meaning, “A Prince with God,” He became the father of twelve
sons who are also known in history as the “Twelve Patriarchs of Israel.”
From a small beginning, these twelve sons of Jacob with their subsequent
generations became known as the Nation of Israel. It was through their prophets,
God gave to us the Old Testament Scriptures. However, it is from Judah, one of
the twelve sons of Jacob that God chose to bring to us our Savior as prophesied
by Jacob while still in the land of Egypt. (Genesis 49: 10) As
we look back upon the beginning of this most important people, it must be
remembered how the hand of God was upon them, even in the midst of conflict.
From a human point of view, they looked hopeless, but from God’s perspective,
it was a perfect plan (Genesis 45:5-7). It
was Joseph who said to his brothers, “Now do not be grieved or angry with
yourselves, because you sold me here (to Egypt), for God sent me before you to
preserve life. “For the famine has been in
the land these two years, and there are still five years in which there will be
neither plowing nor harvesting. God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant in the earth, and to keep you alive by a great
deliverance” (Genesis 45: 5-7). It was because of the conflict that developed between
the sons of Jacob, that Egypt came into the picture. Joseph, the first-born by
Jacob’s favorite wife Rachel, was born in the latter years of Jacob’s life.
Because of the special favor bestowed upon Joseph by his father, is brothers
envied him and sold him into Egyptian slavery. Though he was a slave for a time,
yet because of his noble character, [and the divine purpose of God], the king of
Egypt bestowed special favors upon Joseph in that he became second in command of
all the Egyptians. It was because of this situation that Jacob and all
of his family, seventy in all, came to Egypt. This is where they (after
Joseph’s time), lived as servants to the Egyptians for four hundred years. It
was here that they multiplied into a great nation. (Genesis chapters 35-50)
Jacob (Israel), you remember, was chosen by God to fulfill His eternal purposes.
Four hundred years is a long time, but God did not forget. He raised up Moses
through whom He delivered His chosen people, not only to lead them out of
bondage through the wilderness for forty years, but through him God gave the Ten
Commandments. In time, God settled Israel in the Land that He had purposed from
the beginning (Joshua 21: 43-45). Moses,
the Hebrew, the deliverer of God’s people: The book of Exodus the story begins, and what a
story! It begins with the question that Moses asks of God: “But what if they
will not believe me…?” (Exodus 4: 1). Yet, forty years later, Moses walked
up Mt. Nebo, and climbed to the top
of Pisgah, [Deuteronomy 34] and looked across the Jordan into the Promised Land
where God, under the leadership of Joshua, Moses’ Commander, would bring them
into the promised land. “So the Lord gave all the land which He had sworn to
give to their fathers, and they possessed it, and lived in it…Not one of the
good promises which the Lord has made to the house of Israel failed (Joshua 21:
43 - 45), “all came to pass.” Then there came the time when they no longer thought
of themselves as the twelve tribes of Jacob, but the mighty Kingdom called,
“Israel!” Even so there came a time when they no longer served the God of
Abraham, but turned and served other gods that they had fashioned for
themselves. The day came when God withdrew His blessings from them, and the
kingdom became divided into two kingdoms: The Kingdom known as Israel, and the
Kingdom known as Judah. Because the northern ten tribes of Israel had drifted
into Apostasy, the gods (so called) of this world became their masters. As a
result, the Assyrians carried Israel away into captivity (exile). Sadly, they
lost forever their identity as a nation. So
it was that the LORD removed Israel out of his sight, as he had said by all his
servants the prophets. So was Israel carried away out of their own land to
Assyria unto this day. And the king
of Assyria brought men from Babylon,
and from Cuthah, and from Ava, and from Hamath, and from Sepharvaim, and placed them
in the cities of Samaria instead of the children of Israel: and they possessed
Samaria, and dwelt in the cities thereof” (2 Kings 17:23,24). The
Kingdom of Judah: As we continue this brief history of the Hebrew
family, we will see that Abraham, and the promise given to him, is the
centerpiece of it all. It was
through his heirs that Jacob was born. God changed Jacob’s Hebrew name, Jacob,
to “Israel,” meaning: “a prince with God.” And to Jacob (Israel), Judah
was born, and in Judah, as we will see later, God fulfilled the promise given to
Abraham. [That Promised was fulfilled in the person of Jesus Christ]. Galatians 3: 29 “And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s
descendants, heirs according to promise.” This is what was prophesied
by Jacob while he was still in Egypt: “The scepter shall not depart from
Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet,
until Shiloh comes” Genesis 49: 49: 10. [Shiloh means, “in the presence
of YAHWEH”] The Kingdom of Judah was not perfect by any means.
Time and time again God had to discipline them for their disobedience.
Nevertheless, they had some of the greatest Kings know to mankind; kings, who
loved and served their God, but too often they selected wicked kings. It was in
the time of the “Kingdom of Judah” that many of the great prophets
prophesied. Often warning Judah that as God had forsaken Israel, He would not
overlook their unfaithfulness. The
Lord said, “I will remove Judah
also from My sight, as I have removed Israel. And I will cast off Jerusalem,
this city which I have chosen, and the temple of which I said, ‘My name shall
be there.’ ” (2 Kings 23: 27). For example, Jeremiah the prophet
pleaded with Judah, even before their exile into Babylon, foretelling and
warning them of their judgment, but also with prophetic promises concerning
their eternal future that is now made up of the Jew and Gentile as one in
Christ. Nevertheless, Jeremiah watched as God’s people were carried away into
Babylon and prophesied of their return and of the rebuilding city, the Temple,
etc. [that’s what the book of Daniel is all about] Lamentations is a time of
weeping; Jeremiah weeping over the destruction of the city of Jerusalem in the
time of the Exile. Ezekiel prophesied in the time of Judah’s
Babylonian Exile, proclaiming judgment, amidst hope; yet encouraging the people,
and looking for the day of redemption when God would not only restore Judah in
the rebuilding of the city of Jerusalem and the restoration of the Temple, but
looking to the day when God would gather His people and the kingdom would be
established forever with David’s heir as their king. (Ezk. 38: 24-28)
This kingdom is fulfilled at the resurrection of Christ:
“Brethren, I may confidently say to you regarding the patriarch David that he
both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. “And so,
because he was a prophet and knew that God
had sworn to him with an oath to seat one of
his descendants on his throne, he looked ahead and spoke of the
resurrection of the Christ, that He was
neither abandoned to Hades, nor did
His flesh suffer decay.
“This Jesus God raised up again, to which we are all witnesses. “Therefore
having been exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the
Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He has poured forth this which you both
see and hear. “For it was not David who ascended into heaven, but he himself
says: ‘The Lord said to my Lord,“Sit
at My right hand, Until I make
Your enemies a footstool for Your feet.” ’ “Therefore let all the
house of Israel know for certain that God has made Him both Lord and
Christ—this Jesus whom you crucified.”
(Acts 2:29-36) It is
also referenced as the New heaven and the New earth where righteousness dwells
(2 Peter 3: 10-13; Rev. 21: 1; Isaiah 65: 17). “The Israel of God,” now complete in Christ: If
we consider the eternal promises given to the Israel, found in the Old
Testament, and the Old Covenant, now fulfilled in Christ Jesus; when He said, “A new covenant,
He has made the first obsolete. But whatever is becoming obsolete and growing
old is ready to disappear” (Hebrews 8: 13). And when we consider all
the New Covenant Scriptures concerning the Jews and the Gentiles as one body in
Christ, the mystery kept secret from the angels and the prophets of old.
(Ephesians 2: 13-16) Notice: “…And might reconcile them both (Jew and
Gentile) in one body to God through the cross.” Then we understand that as one
body in Christ, Israel will then be complete! (Romans 11: 26) That henceforth,
the only hope for the Jew or the Gentile is in Jesus Christ, and in this we
rejoice with great anticipation. The Apostle says, “Therefore remember that
formerly you, the Gentiles in the flesh, who are called “Uncircumcision” by
the so-called “Circumcision,” which is
performed in the flesh by human hands - remember
that you were at that time separate from Christ, excluded from the
commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no
hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were
far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For He Himself is our
peace, who made both groups into one
and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall” (Ephesians 2: 11-14). Jesus is coming again; when He comes, He will reward
his saints, judge the world in righteousness, and establish His eternal kingdom
in what is called, “the New Heaven(s) and the New Earth, where
“righteousness dwells”(2 Peter 3: 10; Revelation 21: 1: Isaiah 65: 17,25). “And
I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a
bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying,
“Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and
they shall be His people. And there will no longer be any
night; and they will not have need of neither the light of a lamp nor the
light of the sun, because the Lord God will illumine them; and
they will reign forever and ever” (Revelation 21: 1-5 and 22; 22: 1-5),
Amen! See my website: “The Hope of Israel.” |