Chapter 10

 

We have shown up to now the fact that God blinded Israel, except for the remnant of Grace. The pattern for the past 40 Jubilees of Church history (under Pentecost) was set many years earlier when Israel wandered in the wilderness under Moses. Moses himself acknowledged at the end of their 40 years that God had not yet given them ears to hear and eyes to see (Deuteronomy 29:4). Hence, we see that the same is true during the 40 Jubilees of the Church Age from 33 to 1993 AD.

Isaiah is the primary prophet who foretold and explained this blindness throughout his ministry, beginning with his call in Isaiah 6. In subsequent chapters he makes a distinction between the blindness upon the house of Israel and the blindness upon the city of Jerusalem and the house of Judah. Remember that Isaiah lived during the time when Israel was deported to Assyria. This was a major concern of his, and yet he escaped that deportation by going to Jerusalem, where he prophesied to king Hezekiah of Judah. (See Isaiah 36-39.)

Partial Blindness upon Israel

The blindness upon Israel is explained primarily in Isaiah 42:18-20; 43:8-12; and 44:18, but in each case, the blindness is discussed in an atmosphere of hope. It is not a total blindness, but what Paul calls “blindness in part.” The people are God's blind and deaf witnesses who will declare His salvation to the ends of the earth in spite of their condition as a proof of God's sovereignty. Isaiah 44 ends with hope for Israel in verses 21-23.

²¹ Remember thee, O Jacob and Israel; for thou art My servant; I have formed thee; thou art My servant; O Israel, thou shalt NOT be forgotten of Me.

²² I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy transgressions, and, as a cloud, thy sins. Return unto Me, for I have redeemed thee.

²³ Sing, O ye heavens; for the Lord hath done it; shout, ye lower parts of the earth; break forth into singing, ye mountains, O forest, and every tree therein; for the Lord hath redeemed Jacob, and glorified Himself in Israel.

Notice that God intends to redeem Israel and blot out their sins. Isaiah says that God will do this by the counsel of His own will—by His sovereign will. Isaiah's prophecy demonstrates this clearly, for he speaks of Cyrus, future king of Persia, as “mine anointed” (Heb. Messiah) and how Cyrus was also going to do everything God told him to do. Isaiah 44:28 speaks of Cyrus as a prime example of how God directs the paths of even a pagan king to do all that He tells him.

²⁸ That saith of Cyrus, He is My shepherd, and shall perform all My pleasure; even saying to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be built; and to the temple, Thy foundation shall be laid.

In Isaiah 45:13 we read of Cyrus again,

¹³ I have raised him up in righteousness, and I will direct all his ways; he shall build My city [Jerusalem], and he shall let go My captives, not for price nor reward, saith the Lord of hosts.

Isaiah shows how even a pagan king can be a type of Messiah (Christ), who overthrows Babylon and sets the captives free. The kings of this earth—even those of the beast empires of the Daniel and Revelation—are all in God's sovereign control. Even though the world rulers think they operate under their own will and can do as they please, they actually perform the will of God blindly. Isaiah shows that since God is sovereign even over the unbelieving world rulers, He is also sovereign enough to redeem the house of Israel even though they are partially blind and deaf to His purposes. This is a great truth which Christians need to know today.

A Deep Sleep upon Jerusalem

By that same sovereign character of God, He also has a purpose for the old Jerusalem and that tiny branch of the house of Judah. That purpose is quite different from what we read of Israel. In Isaiah 29 we read:

¹ Woe to Ariel, to Ariel, the city where David dwelt [old Jerusalem].

⁹ Stay yourselves and wonder; cry ye out and cry; they are drunken, but not with wine; they stagger, but not with strong drink.

¹⁰ For the Lord hath poured out upon you the spirit of deep sleep; and hath closed your eyes; the prophets and your rulers, the seers, hath he covered.

¹¹ And the vision of all is become unto you as the words of a book that is sealed . . .

In other words, God has made them drunk on Babylonian wine, which caused them to fall into a “deep sleep.” This goes beyond the mere blindness and deafness placed upon the house of Israel. Jerusalem's inhabitants were to be placed in a stupor, and unconscious state, where they cannot hear the voice of God at all, nor can their seers understand the Word of God. Knowing this difference tells us why Paul would tell us that Israel was only blind IN PART. The blindness was partial in comparison to the total blindness poured out upon Jerusalem.

¹² Wherefore the Lord saith, Forasmuch as this people draweth near Me with their mouth and with their lips do honour Me, but have removed their heart far from Me, and their fear toward Me is taught by the precept of men [or, the doctrines and traditions of men];

Isaiah emphasizes here the reason why God poured out such a deep sleep upon them. It is because they were hypocrites pretending to follow God in the temple of Jerusalem, but in reality their heart was far from Him. Jesus leveled the same charge against them in Matthew 15:7-9 and again in Matthew 23 just before they crucified Him. This indictment still holds true today in Judaism. While they have much religious zeal, and claim to love God and respect Him highly, it is all lip service, so long as they reject Jesus Christ, and God is not impressed at all.

¹³ Therefore, behold, I will proceed to do a marvelous work [Heb. pala, “beyond normal capability] among the people . . . and a wonder [Heb. pele]; for the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid.

¹⁵ Woe unto them that seek deep to hide their counsel from the Lord, and their works are in the dark, and they say, Who seeth us? And who knoweth us?

¹⁶ Surely your turning of things upside down [i.e., man is as a God, and God is as a man] shall be esteemed as the potter's clay; for shall the work say of Him that made it, “He made me not”? Or shall the thing framed say of Him that framed it, “He hath no understanding”?

In other words, do these people really think that they can hide their true motives from the all-seeing God? Can they really hold a secret meeting without God hearing what they say? Do they really think they can rule the world as God's chosen people without submitting to Jesus Christ? In 1 John 2:22 & 23 the apostle bluntly tells us,

²² Who is a liar, but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist that denieth the Father and the Son.

²³ Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father . . . .

God has no plan to make antichrists His chosen rulers over creation. This holds true not only for Jews who deny that Jesus is the Christ, but also for those who claim to be true Israelites after the flesh but who also reject Jesus Christ. Anyone who denies that Jesus is the Christ is antichrist. That is John's definition of the term, not mine. Yet God is going to do a marvelous work even with the inhabitants of Ariel (Jerusalem). It will be purely by His sovereignty. Isaiah says in 29:18,

¹⁸ And in that day shall the deaf hear the words of the book, and the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity, and out of darkness.

Even they will have their day, when their eyes will be opened. However, Isaiah is unclear as to precisely WHEN this day will be. I believe it will be some time AFTER the city of Jerusalem is destroyed (Jeremiah 19:11; Matthew 22:7), for if they were to repent prior to that time, God would spare the city. But Jesus' curse on the fig tree tells us that the nation will not bear fruit in this age. (The word translated “for ever” in Matthew 21:19 is aionian, “for the age.” It is an indefinite—but not infinite—period of time.)

Hence, God will yet turn their hearts, as He will turn the hearts of all nations in the restoration of all things. Meanwhile, though, in this present age they are enemies of Jesus Christ, even as the Scriptures clearly teach.

David's Prophecy of Jerusalem

Since Jerusalem was called the City of David in ancient times, it is only appropriate that we ask his opinion on the fate of Jerusalem. In fact, Paul quotes David in Romans 11:9 & 10 immediately after quoting Isaiah above.

⁹ And David saith, Let their table be made a snare, and a trap, and a stumblingblock, and a recompense unto them;

¹⁰ Let their eyes be darkened, that they may not see, and bow down their back alway.

Paul here is quoting from the Septuagint translation of Psalm 69:22 & 23. As usual, in order to understand what Paul is saying, we must go back to the Old Testament and read the context of his quotations.

Psalm 69 is a prophecy of David about Christ. Verse 4 says, “they that hate me without a cause” which prophesies how the Pharisees hated Jesus (John 15:25). Verse 9 says, “the zeal of Thine house hath eaten me up; and the reproaches of them that reproached Thee are fallen upon Me.” In John 2:17 this speaks of Jesus' zeal in cleansing the Temple, and the reproaches of the priests upon Jesus for doing so.

Psalm 69:21 says, “they gave me also gall for My meat; and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.” Obviously, this foretold the gall and vinegar they gave to Jesus upon the Cross (Matthew 27:34). This is the verse that introduces verses 22 and 23, which Paul quotes in Romans 11:9 & 10 (above).

And so we see from Psalm 69 that David's indictment upon the Messiah's enemies is based upon the fact that they rejected and crucified Him—primarily for His act of cleansing the temple and throwing out the moneychangers. This is verified in Mark 11:15-18. David's prophecy about his enemies spoke of a later time when Jesus, the Son of David, would also have enemies. These “enemies” were the Scribes, the Pharisees and Sadducees, and the chief priests.

Of course, these men would have denied being David's enemies, because they greatly honored David. But because of their opposition to David's Greater Son, David prays that their eyes would be darkened. He continues with the indictment in verse 24:

²⁴ Pour out Thine indignation upon them; and let Thy wrathful anger take hold of them.

²⁵ Let their habitation [Jerusalem] be desolate; and let none dwell in their tents.

Jesus wept over the city of Jerusalem, saying in Matthew 23:38, “Your house of left unto you desolate.” He was quoting David in Psalm 69:25 (above).

²⁶ For they persecute Him whom Thou hast smitten [on the Cross]; and they talk to the grief of those whom Thou hast wounded.

²⁷ Add iniquity unto their iniquity; and let them not come into Thy righteousness.

²⁸ Let them be blotted out of the book of the living [or, the Book of Life], and not be written with the righteous.

These are strong words. Any Christian today who would say such things would be roundly condemned as “anti-Semitic,” not only by the secular press, but also by many churches. But David said it, and it is Scripture, so we have opportunity either to say amen to God or to agree with the words and opinions of men.

Paul's Logic About This

In Romans 11 Paul was talking about how blindness was upon the whole house of Israel, except for the remnant of grace. Paul does not really explain the different types of blindness between the house of Israel and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, as we have done. But he does quote the key passages in Scripture that direct our attention to these things. Hence, when he quotes Isaiah and David in Romans 11:8-10 we see that he is quoting prophecy that relates specifically to Jerusalem.

Even so, keep in mind that Paul has already discussed the blindness upon the house of Israel as well. He leaves it to us to study the differences in blindness and learn that the blindness of Israel is partial, while that of Jerusalem is total. Historically, the nations of the house of Israel, who migrated from Assyria into Europe, came to accept Jesus Christ, while the Jews largely rejected Him.

Though the so-called Christian nations of Europe accepted Jesus as the Christ, they still remained in a state of partial blindness under the Roman Catholic system and even later under the denominations of Protestantism. Only the remnant of grace had any significant light in the Word of God, and even this light came in stages. To the rest of the people, the Bible was a closed book—especially during the middle ages when the priests were the only ones allowed to read the Bible, and even the church services were held in Latin.

But now finally we come to Paul's discussion of WHY God partially blinded Israel. The plan is so grand and glorious that even Paul ran out of words to describe it.

Why Did Israel Stumble?

Paul's explanation is not based upon the shortcomings of Israel, but upon the sovereignty of God. Paul does not talk about Israel stumbling due to idolatry, although this was certainly the case on the surface. Instead, Paul focuses upon the underlying purpose of God, or the overall purpose of a sovereign God.

In other words, Paul here is not focusing upon Israel's violation of God's will, which is His Law (Romans 2:18). He is focusing upon God's plan, which no man can resist (Romans 9:19). As you know from our book, Creation's Jubilee, pp. 144 & 145, Paul makes a distinction between God's will (Gr. thelema) and God's plan (Gr. boulema).

From the standpoint of God's will, Israel violated the divine law, and therefore they were cast off into Assyria. However, from the standpoint of God's overall plan, God did not cast them off f or an evil purpose, but for the salvation of the world. This is Paul's focus in Romans 11:11,

¹¹ I say then, Have they stumbled that they should fall? God forbid; but rather through their fall salvation is come unto the Gentiles [Gr. ethnos, “the nations”], for to provoke them to jealousy.

We have already seen how there are many applications to this principle of jealousy. God provokes Israel to jealousy by calling all the nations—including the cast-off nations of Israel, who have long been called “gentiles” ever since they lost their name in Assyria. He is also provoking true Israel to jealousy by using the Jews in the twentieth century. They took upon themselves the name of Israel in 1948, as if they were of the house of Joseph. God has used them to label everyone else a bunch of gentiles—including those of cast-off Israel. In the end this will provoke the true Israelites to jealousy and cause them to know who they are and why they had been cast off many years ago. What a day of rejoicing and awe this will be!

¹⁵ For if the casting away of them be the reconciling of the world (Gr. kosmos), what shall the receiving of them be but life from the dead?

Here it is very plain that God intends to save the world and not Israel only. In fact, the purpose of God in casting off the house of Israel was to save the world. But why would it be necessary to cast off Israel to save the world, seeing how God's salvation has always been extended to the world? The universal availability of salvation was made very plain in Solomon's prayer at the dedication of the temple in 1 Kings 8:41-43.

⁴¹ Moreover, concerning a stranger that is not of Thy people Israel, but cometh out of a far country for Thy name's sake.

⁴² (For they shall hear of Thy great name, and of Thy strong hand, and of Thy stretched out arm); when he shall come and pray toward this house,

⁴³ Hear Thou in heaven Thy dwelling place, and do according to all that the stranger calleth to Thee for; that ALL PEOPLE OF THE EARTH may know Thy name, to fear Thee, as do Thy people Israel; and that they may know that this house, which I have builded, is called by Thy name.

So again, the question is WHY was it in the overall plan of God to cast off Israel? For the answer, we must again refer to Hosea 2, where Israel was cast off as “Jezreel.” Jezreel was one of Hosea's sons, whose name prophesied the “scattering” and death of the house of Israel, even as seed dies when it is sown in the field. Jezreel means God scatters or God sows. (See Hosea 2:23.) God scattered and sowed the house of Israel in the field (the world) in order to reap a more abundant harvest. It was not merely to judge them for their sin. It was to increase their numbers as the sand of the sea, according to the promise to Abraham (Hosea 1:10).

In the New Testament Jesus told many parables about the Sower (God) who sows seed in the field. He says in Matt. 13:38 that “the field is the world.” Hence, God sowed the good seed—the house of Israel—into the world in order to bring forth a harvest of sons that was far greater than it ever was in the old land of Palestine. The manner in which it was done is revealed in the same chapter, where Jesus told the very revealing kingdom parable in verse 33.

⁴⁴ Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which, when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field.

We have quoted this a number of times already, so please bear with me as I emphasize the truth found in it. Israel was the “peculiar treasure” hidden in the field—the world. Israel was swallowed up by Assyria and “lost.” Jesus is the man who finds Israel, because He said, “I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel” (Matt. 15:24). Also, take note of Ezekiel 34:11, which Jesus Himself fulfilled in His coming:

¹¹ For thus saith the Lord God: Behold I, even I, will both search My sheep and seek them out.

¹⁶ I will seek that which was LOST . . .

This is a chapter which scolds the shepherds for not seeking to find the lost sheep of the house of Israel (34:6). “Therefore,” God says, “I will find them Myself.” Jesus is the God of the Old Testament as well as the New. Thus, Jesus came to seek the lost sheep of Israel. He came to find the buried treasure hidden in the field. But after selling all that He had—giving His life—He did not merely go after the treasure, but He bought the entire field in order to obtain the treasure.

This is how the casting away of Israel could be for the benefit of the whole world. Isaiah makes it plain in 56:6-8.

⁶ Also the sons of the stranger [foreigner] that join themselves to the Lord, to serve Him, and to love the name of the Lord, to be His servants, every one that keepth the sabbath from polluting it and taketh hold of My covenant;

⁷ Even them will I bring to My holy mountain [i.e., kingdom] and make them joyful in My house of prayer; their burnt offerings and their sacrifices shall be accepted upon Mine altar; for Mine house shall be called an house of prayer for ALL people.

⁸ The Lord God which gathereth the outcasts of Israel saith, Yet will I gather others to him, besides those that are gathered unto Him.

Here is a portrait of the overall purpose of God for the earth. He called Abraham to be a blessing to ALL families of the earth. He called Israel to be a priestly nation to ALL nations. He had Solomon build a temple to be a house of prayer for ALL people. Then He cast off Israel and hid them in the world, so that in regathering them, He would also gather into His kingdom ALL the nations of the earth.

Can anyone doubt that this is what Paul meant when he wrote Romans 11? As a missionary to “the gentiles,” he could break past the more limited vision of some of the other apostles, who tended to limit salvation to just Judah and the house of Israel. Let us be like Paul in this way and know Him not only as “the Holy One of Israel,” but as “the God of the whole earth” (Isaiah 54:5).