Chapter 2

 

In Chapter One we focused upon certain biblical keys that are necessary to unlock the mystery of the Israel question. The vast majority of evangelicals and fundamentalists teach that the Jews are Israel and that the nation that calls itself “Israel” today is the fulfillment of Bible prophecy regarding the regathering of the House of Israel. That teaching is entirely ignorant of the basic difference between Israel and Judah. Virtually none of them even know that the birthright went to Joseph, rather than Judah. And, of course, in not understanding or even reading the divine law, they are unaware of the two works of Christ that correspond to His Judah work (the Cross) and the Joseph work (the Crown).

We also showed from Isaiah 45:5 that God told us ahead of time that “another shall subscribe with his hand unto the Lord and surname himself by the name of Israel,” in the attempt to be God's witnesses in the earth. Yet God's true witness nation (true Israel—Isaiah 43:10) would be blind and deaf, fulfilling God's Word without their knowledge, almost totally ignorant of what they were doing. God said to true Israel, “I will pour My Spirit upon thy seed, and My blessing upon thine offspring,” telling us that they would be largely known as a Christian people, but at the same time they would be known “by another name” (Isaiah 65:15).

Putting these things together, it is apparent that Paul was correct in his statement that “blindness in part is happened to Israel until the fullness of the nations be come in” (Romans 11:25). The blindness centers around their knowledge of the plan of God for Israel. It does not mean they are blind as to who the Messiah is. They would receive His Spirit in the Pentecostal Age (33-1993 AD), but they would not remember who they were or why the Gospel would come to them first and take root in them before the other peoples of the earth.

The famous “Israel” chapters of Romans 9-11 are almost always applied to the Jews (or to Judah in Paul's day), but this is a misunderstanding based upon ignorance of plain history. Paul was speaking of Israel's rejection of God that had led to their dispersion in Assyria many years earlier in 745-721 BC. He was not talking (primarily) about Judah's rejection of Christ from 30-33 AD, nor about the Jewish dispersion in 70 AD, an event which had not yet occurred when he wrote his letter.

But before we deal with Roman 9-11, we must go back to the Old Testament to establish the foundation of Paul's teachings. We will have to limit our discussion, of course, since this is only a short bulletin. I find that the best short but complete passage is the book of Hosea.

Hosea, Gomer and Family

Hosea 1:1 starts out by identifying the two nations of Israel and Judah. His prophecy came during the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah—kings of Judah—and in the days of Jeroboam, king of Israel. It is apparent that Hosea was well acquainted with the simple historical fact that the nation had split into two nations and that prophecies were different for each nation. Prophecies about Judah would deal with that tribe's call regarding the first work of Christ, when Jesus came of the line of Judah to be eligible as the King. Prophecies about Israel would deal with the second work of Christ, having to do largely with birthright of Joseph and the theme of Sonship.

The story of Hosea begins with God's command to go marry a prostitute named Gomer, because she was a type of Israel. God had married Israel, but she had prostituted herself with other gods (husbands). Hosea was thus playing the part of God in this parable or allegory of God's marital problems. Hosea and Gomer had a few children, each of whom were named to signify prophetic themes. The first son was named Jezreel, “God scatters,” because God was going to bring judgment upon Israel and scatter them, “and will cause to cease the kingdom of the house of Israel.”

Next they had a daughter they named Lo-ruhamah, or “not pitied.” In Romans 9:25 it is rendered “not beloved.” In 1 Peter 2:10 it is rendered “not having obtained mercy.” In Hosea 1:6 we are told that the reason for her name is: “for I will no more have mercy upon the house of Israel; but I will utterly take them away.”

Then, to make sure we understand that this was NOT a prophecy applicable to Judah, Hosea immediately tells us in the next verse, “But I WILL have mercy upon the house of Judah.” Hence we see that in the days of Hezekiah, king of Judah, when the Assyrians deported Israel, they failed to conquer Jerusalem. God had mercy upon king Hezekiah and the nation of Judah, but did NOT have mercy upon the house of Israel. Lo-ruhamah meant that God was going to “utterly take them away” (Hosea 1:6). This is confirmed by the story of their deportation in 2 Kings 17:18-20,

¹⁸ Therefore the Lord was very angry with Israel, and removed them out of his sight; there was NONE LEFT but the tribe of Judah only . . .

²⁰ And the Lord rejected all the seed of Israel, and afflicted them, and delivered them into the hand of spoilers, until He had cast them out of His sight.

There were, of course, many individual Israelites who managed to escape the Assyrian deportations, and so some Bible teachers have used this as an excuse to insist that the Jews represent all the house of Israel as well as Judah. But in the sight of God, the TRIBES had been utterly taken away. The tribeship itself resided in the heads, or princes, of each tribal unit. Those princes were all deported, and thus the “tribes” were gone. Individuals do not constitute the tribes. When we continue studying the prophecy of Hosea (and all the other prophets), we see that the prophets always treat Israel and Judah as separate entities in need of reunification to repair the breach between them. The prophets all treat Israel as a separate entity with its own distinct set of prophecy to fulfill.

Hosea's third child was another son named Lo-ammi, “not my people, for ye are not My people, and I will not be your God” (Hosea 1:9). In other words, they were cut off from the old covenant, the marriage covenant God had made with them at Mount Sinai. Without this covenant, the house of Israel was no longer “chosen” in the legal sense of being God's wife. They no longer had the right to the birthright name of Israel—and this is why God stripped them of that name.

God Divorces Israel

At this point the disastrous judgment of God was complete. Israel was cut off as a nation (Jezreel), utterly taken away, or removed (Lo-ruhamah), and no longer God's people, or God's wife (Lo-ammi). This is confirmed in Hosea 2:2, where God says to the children of Gomer-Israel, “plead with your mother, plead; for she is not My wife, neither am I her husband.”

Likewise, Jeremiah 3:8 tells us that God gave Israel “a bill of divorce.” The law of divorce in Deut. 24:1-4 tells us that a man is not allowed to separate from (“put away”) his wife without first giving her a written bill of divorce. If he does so in the lawfully prescribed manner, this bill of divorce is proof that she is no longer married to her former husband and may then “go and be another man's wife” (Deuteronomy 24:2). The law also tells us that once she has become another man's wife, it is unlawful for her to be remarried to her former husband, “for t hat is abomination before the Lord” (Deuteronomy 24:4).

Thus we find Israel divorced from God. He gave her a bill of divorce before sending her out of the house (the deportation to Assyria). God did it all lawfully. God is a divorcee, and Israel is His ex-wife. The Church, of course, knows not the law, so it thinks that divorce itself is a sin, thus calling God a sinner for divorcing the house of Israel. But then, the Church also thinks that God remarried a “Gentile bride,” while insisting that remarriage, too, is a sin. When will the Church stop blaspheming the character of God? For a more complete study on this particular law and what Jesus and Paul said about it, see our booklet, The Bible Says: Divorce & Remarriage is NOT Adultery.

The Redemption of Gomer-Israel

One would think that at this point the situation would be absolutely hopeless for Israel. One would think that Israel would be lost forever. Once divorced, with Israel out in the world marrying false gods, the divine law stood as a strong barrier between God and these ex-Israelites, seemingly preventing Him from ever remarrying her. But Hosea says no such thing.

God would, of course, allow her to experience the oppression of those other gods (religions of men), until she said, “I will go and return to my first husband; for then was it better with me than now” (Hosea 2:7). Even so, God said He would not bring her back to the old land of Palestine. Instead, “I will allure her” to a new place called “the wilderness” (2:14), where He would court her again. In that new place, God says,

¹⁹ I will betroth thee unto Me in righteousness and in judgment, and in lovingkindness, and in mercies.

²⁰ I will even betroth thee unto Me in faithfulness; and thou shalt know the Lord.

Then in verse 23 we find the climax of the prophecy. We will quote the verse using some of the original Hebrew words and names in the text, so that the force of the verse is not lost in the translation. Keep in mind that God was using the names of his children as prophetic statements. Lo-ruhamah means “no mercy” and Lo-ammi means “not My people.” The word lo in Hebrew means “No,” or “Not.”

²³ And I will sow [zara, the root word of Jezreel, “to seed, scatter, or sow”] her unto Me in the earth; and I will have mercy on Lo-ruhamah; and I will say to Lo-ammi, Thou art Ammi; and they shall say, Elohim.

In other words, regarding Jezreel, the name means “to scatter” as seed in the field, and this is the meaning of the name in Hosea 1:3. But it has a double meaning. It also means “to sow.” One must scatter the seed to sow it and bring an increase of grain. Hence, God's judgment upon Israel was to scatter them like seed in the field. This is why Hosea 1:10 says of Israel,

¹⁰ Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured nor numbered; and it shall come to pass that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not My people [Lo-ammi], there it shall be said unto them, Ye are the sons of the living God.

One cannot escape the simple fact that God did not cast off Israel so that she might stumble and fall forever, but rather that she might be transferred to a new land called “the wilderness.” Israel was being sown in a larger field, where she might grow and multiply as seed sown in the field (the world). Why? So that she might fulfill the promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Genesis 32:12.

¹² And Thou saidst, I will surely do thee good, and make thy seed as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude.

This was the promise of the birthright, given to Joseph (“God will add”) and his son, Ephraim (“fruitfulness”). It was the promise of Sonship—many sons into glory. Such a promise could be fulfilled only partially, so long as Israel remained in the limited space of the old land. So God used Israel's sin as an occasion to divorce her and send her out of His house, NOT so that she would fall, but so that she would be sown in the field and multiplied like grain in a field. Paul says this 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 nations, for to provoke them to jealousy.

So while it is true that God did bring judgment upon the house of Israel and scattered them as the name Jezreel implies, He did so with the purpose of sowing them in the field (world) to multiply them and fulfill the Abrahamic promise. Paul understood Hosea's prophecy that God would again restore them. He understood the underlying purpose of Israel's scattering. It was so that all nations would be saved.

How? The simplest answer is found in the parable of Matthew 13:44, where Jesus tells us that God found a treasure (Israel—Exodus 19:6) in the field (world). He then hid it in the field (Israel was “lost” like Joseph in Egypt) until He had time to sell everything He had (including giving up His life on the Cross) to raise the money to buy the field (world).

His prime focus was to obtain the treasure (Israel); but in order to obtain the treasure lawfully, He had to buy the field in which it was hidden or buried. Thus, God purchased the entire world by His blood. So Paul tells us that the casting out of Israel was for the purpose of saving the whole world. God intended from the beginning to buy the entire world. Hence, He used Israel's judgment to fulfill two main purposes: to sow them in the field and multiply them to fulfill the Abrahamic covenant with Israel; and secondly, to purchase the whole world.

This is, therefore, good news for all men, whether of Israel or not. God was being exclusive when He chose Israel as His wife; but His overall purpose was inclusive. He is not only the God of Abraham, but also the God of the whole earth (Isaiah 54:5). All creation has a place in the plan of God and must come under His government.

The Restoration Prophesied

Next we see in Hosea 2:23 that the judgment of Lo-ruhamah (“no mercy”) is also to be reversed. “I will have mercy upon her that had not obtained mercy.” Here Hosea simply restates what had already been prophesied in 1:10. But most important of all, God is going to change Lo-ammi to Ammi, from “not My people” to “My people.” That means He will bring them back into a marriage covenant relationship with Himself. Hosea 1:10 says that they will be called “sons of the living God” in the same place where they are considered to be “not My people.” And so we see in history that the ex-Israelites moved into Europe, no longer known as Israel, with everyone saying they are “not My people,” and yet they became the Christian nations of the world and were called “sons of the living God.”

The prophetic story is astounding. They have fulfilled precisely the story of Joseph, who was lost in Egypt and thought to be dead, but God led him and taught him His ways. Through hardships of slavery and the anguish of being a castaway, Joseph was transformed into a true Son of the living God. God also multiplied him in that land with two sons. Manasseh (“forgetfulness”) indicated that he h ad forgotten all his father's house (that is, his identity as an Israelite); and Ephraim (“fruitful”) was prophetic of the Abrahamic promise to multiply his children as the sand of the sea and as the stars of heaven.

The Two Gomers

There are two biblical Gomers: the first is the oldest son of Japheth (Gen. 10:2); the second is Hosea's wife. The first is a man; the second a woman by the same name. In The Companion Bible, which includes notes from Dr. Bullinger, the notation for Genesis 10:2 reads:

Gomer. In Assyrian, Gimirri (the Kimmerians of Herodotus). Progenitor of the Celts.

This note would have been accurate if it had been placed in Bullinger's notes regarding Hosea's wife, Gomer instead of in Genesis 10. It is certainly true that Gomer is identifiable with the Gimirri, i.e., the Celtic peoples, who migrated from Assyria into Europe from 600 BC onwards. However, they were NOT the descendants of Gomer, son of Japheth, but were of Gomer, or Ghomri, the official Assyrian name for the house of Israel.

The Assyrians called the house of Israel “Beth-Ghomri,” or “Bit-Khumri” in all of their stone monuments and official records. All archeologists translate this name as “the house of Omri.” Omri was the father of king Ahab and was one of Israel's more prominent kings (1 Kings 16:23). In the old Hebrew language Omri's name was spelled Ghomri; but in later years the language evolved, and it came to be spelled either Omri or Khumri. (For further documentation, see Secrets of Time, Chapter 15, p. 168.)

When the Assyrians conquered the house of Israel in 721 BC, the king ruling Israel during the siege was named Hoshea (2 Kings 17:6). A king is said to be married to the nation. King Hoshea was thus married to Gomer, or Ghomri, as the Assyrians called Israel.

Hoshea is really the same name as Hosea. Hence, we find that Hosea's marriage to Gomer, and their children whose names prophesied Israel's destruction, foretold not only the events to come, but also the very names of the last king of Israel and the official Assyrian name for the house of Israel—Gomer, or Ghomri.

As we said before, Isaiah 62:2 prophesies that the house of Israel would be “called by a new name, which the mouth of the Lord shall name.” This is confirmed in Isaiah 65:15, where God says that His “servants” (defined in Isaiah 44:1 as Israel) would be called “by another name.” God's purpose in giving Israel a new name was to hide her identity during her wilderness wandering, so that she would remain lost to the shepherds who refused to search for her and find her (Ezekiel 34:4-6).

Furthermore, Isaiah 44:5 prophesied that “another shall call himself by the name of Jacob, and another shall subscribe with his hand unto the Lord, and surname himself by the name of Israel.” Thus, the true house of Israel would be certain to remain lost for as long as God purposed it.

Even as God called Israel by a new name, so also did Pharaoh call Joseph by a new name. Genesis 41:45 says, “And Pharaoh called Joseph's name Zaphnath-paaneah.” This name means “Abundance of Life.” Joseph's new name allowed him to remain unrecognized when his brothers came to buy grain. His descendants of the house of Israel today are also unrecognized—and for the same reason. It was all in the plan of God.

One further word about Gomer: Japheth's son, Gomer, had sons who settled from Greece to Asia Minor (now Turkey) and westward all the way to the land of the Medes. Genesis 10:2 gives us their names. Javan is the old name for Greece; Madai is the father of the Medes; Tiras is the father of the city of Tyre in Phoenicia. It is interesting, but perhaps a bit confusing that the house of Israel was placed in the cities of the Medes (2 Kings 17:6) and in other areas among the Gomerites of Japheth.

Hence, the Ghomri of Israel came to be associated with the people of Gomer, son of Japheth. This, too, was according to biblical prophecy. In Genesis 9:27, Noah blessed his son, Japheth, saying, “God shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem.”

This prophecy was fulfilled when Israel was cast out of the land of Palestine and placed in the territory where the Gomerites of Japheth were living. This enlarged the population of Japheth, while at the same time, the people of Japheth came into the tents of Shem (Israel). It was God's purpose to take the Japhethites and merge them with Israel, so that they might all be blessed together in “the tents of Shem.” Gomer-Japheth and Gomer-Israel essentially became one people throughout Europe. In fact, it served to multiply the house of Israel, and it prefigured God's plan to purchase the whole field in order to obtain the treasure in it. God hid Gomer-Israel in the field of Gomer-Japheth, giving them essentially the same name, so that men would lose the house of Israel as prophesied.

What a plan! Could any man write a novel as exciting as the one God wrote?

Some Jews Have Found the House of Israel

In recent years a number of Jewish scholars, including Christian Jews, have begun to recognize the plain history of lost Israel. For example, Yair Davidy, a resident of Kiryat-Arba (Hebron), has written a number of books on the subject, showing that many Caucasians are, in fact, descendants of the house of Israel.

His first book, The Tribes, actually identified various European nations with specific Israelite tribes. His latest is a 400-page book entitled, Lost Israelite Identity, with a subtitle: “The Hebrew Ancestry of Celtic Races.” On pages 7 and 8 of this book, it says,

“In other words, the ‘Lost Ten Tribes' exist, and must be somewhere, and logically most likely would have to be an important polity in order to fulfill the task laid upon them. Lost Israelite Identity brings proof that they migrated in several waves (and by varied paths) mainly to northwest Europe and the British Isles whence their descendants eventually colonised North America, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa.

“Lost Israelite Identity may not be the best-written book you have ever read, but the information contained herein is more valuable than anything you are likely to find in most other works. The particular truth that Lost Israelite Identity revels is probably the most important one that this present generation has received. By reading Lost Israelite Identity you have become involved with the revelation of history.

“Lost Israelite Identity concentrates on bringing straightforward evidence identifying many of the peoples of Northwest Europe and their overseas offshoots as being of Israelite origin from the Lost Ten Tribes of Israel. They themselves are on the whole unaware of their Lost Israelite Identity.”

Davidy's books are expensive ($30 apiece) and can also be somewhat cumbersome and disorganized, but they do set forth much of the same historical material that I have personally studied since I first came across the concept in 1971. Most of the material is not new, but these books are most valuable in that they come from a Jewish source. Hence, it is no longer easy to dismiss the abundant evidence by labeling it “anti-semitic propaganda.”

All his books come highly recommended by Rabbi Abraham Feld of the very prestigious Ma cabee Institute in Jerusalem. Amazing. They obviously do not understand that this undermines the legitimacy of their claim to be Israel and to hold the birthright of Joseph.

In America a Jewish-Christian organization has sprung up called “United Israel,” whose purpose is to issue the call to the true Israelites to unite with the true Judahites. This, they believe, is necessary in order to fulfill the prophecies of the true regathering of a united Israel and Judah. In other words, they do not believe that the present Israeli state can fulfill these prophecies, not only because it rejects Jesus Christ, but also because it has not taken into account the “lost” house of Israel.

I am in agreement with much of what these people are teaching, but I do have a few disagreements as well, which I mentioned in Secrets of Time, pp. 175 and 176. From their Jewish perspective, they feel that the Israelites need to join with the Jews, which they identify as true Judah. I believe that the tribeship of Judah is resident in the head of that tribe. It is in Jesus Christ, the King of Judah and of all Israel. Hence, those Israelites who are in Christ are already united with Judah (Romans 2:29), as are all men everywhere, whether they are descended from Israel or not. One does not need to become a Jew like many Christians today have done.

In other words, to become a Jew like Pat Boone and many others have done is to place one's self back under the old covenant, for that is the covenant under which today's Jews claim to be. The solution is for Jews to become Christians, not for Christians to become Jews. Nonetheless, I do appreciate the fact that a number of Jews today have examined the historical records and have found the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Our difference is how to deal with this historical fact.

It is my belief that the Israelis have now entered into a very dangerous time. The threat of war is not new to them, of course. But their 49 years—depending on our starting points—ended between November 29, 1996 and May 14, 1997. Furthermore, the Jubilee was to be declared on the Day of Atonement, September 23, 1996, and the Jubilee year itself ended October 1, 1997. (See Secrets of Time.) In other words, the great Jubilee from Adam coincided with the Israeli Jubilee cycle. We are now past the year of Jubilee, when inheritances must be returned to their original owners. The Jews laid claim to the name and inheritance of Israel in 1947-48, when God allowed them to receive Joseph's Birthright Name for a season. But they did not give it back to the tribes of Joseph before the deadline of October 1, 1997.

Up to that point God protected them, because Jacob (represented by Great Britain) gave them the birthright back in 1948—thus, the Jews could lawfully utilize the “property.” God not only recognized their right, but protected them against those who came against them. However, God's hand of protection is now lifting, and they do not realize it. They will find themselves severely judged, because they were given the birthright responsibility to bring forth the Kingdom of God, but they did not do so. In their blind confidence that God will always be on their side whether they bring forth the fruits of the kingdom or not, they will continue their march to utter disaster, as Jesus prophesied so often.

It is in their best interest to recognize the truth and comply with the law of God. This warning is not given in malice, but in hope that the true Christians among them will take heed and flee Jerusalem like the Christians did many years ago just before the city was destroyed in 70 AD. In those days the Christians remembered Jesus' words in Luke 19:41-44,

⁴¹ And when He was come near, He beheld the city [Jerusalem] and wept over it,

⁴² Saying, If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! But now they are hid from thine eyes.

⁴³ For the days shall come upon thee, that thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee round, and keep thee in on every side.

⁴⁴ And shall lay thee even with the ground, and thy children within thee; and they shall no leave in thee one stone upon another, because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation.

When the Christians saw the Roman armies compassing Jerusalem at the feast of Tabernacles in October of 66 AD, they knew the day of reckoning had come. In the early days of the war, Cestius Gallus, the Roman general, attacked Jerusalem and could have taken it with relatively few casualties. However, for some unknown reason, he retreated just before the city would have surrendered to him. Josephus writes in his Wars of the Jews, II, ix, 4-7,

“. . . Had he [Cestius] but at this very time attempted to get within the walls by force, he had won the city presently, and the war had been put an end to at once; but Tyrannius Priscus, the muster-master of the army, and a great number of the officers of the horse, had been corrupted by Florus, and diverted him from that his attempt; and that was the occasion that this war lasted so very long, and thereby the Jews were involved in such incurable calamities. . . .

“. . . It was, I suppose, owing to the aversion God had already at the city and the sanctuary, that he was hindered from putting an end to the war that very day. It then happened that Cestius was not conscious either how the besieged despaired of success, nor how courageous the people were for him; and so he recalled his soldiers from the place, and by despairing of any expectation of taking it, without having received any disgrace, he retired from the city, without any reason in the world.”

One can see the hand of God in this quite distinctly. God's purpose was to bring judgment to Jerusalem and to the temple, because of their sin in rejecting Jesus as the Christ and for not knowing the time of their visitation. So God blinded the eyes of Cestius in order to turn the war into utter calamity for Jerusalem. Then in 68 AD God caused Nero to commit suicide in order to delay the conquest of Jerusalem until 70 AD—40 years after Herod executed John the Baptist. The final battle was at Masada at Passover of 73 AD, precisely 40 years after the priests had crucified Jesus. This is confirmed by Eusebius, the fourth-century Church historian, who writes in his The History of the Church, ch. 7,

“After the Saviour's Passion, and the cries with which the Jewish mob clamoured for the reprieve of the bandit and murderer and begged that the Author of Life should be removed from them, disaster befell the entire nation. There is no need to add anything to the historical records. But it would be right to mention, too, certain facts which bring home the beneficence of all-gracious Providence, which for forty years after their crime against Christ delayed their destruction.”

Earthly events always take place according to God's calendar, and judgments are executed only after God's grace periods expire. This was very obvious to Eusebius and to all who took note of the 40-year grace period for Judah established by the prophet in Ezekiel 4:6.

Meanwhile, history tells us that the Christians escaped from Jerusalem in late 66 AD after Cestius retreated from his siege of Jerusalem. Josephus says in Wars of the Jews , II, xx, 1,

“After this calamity had befallen Cestius, many of the most eminent of the Jews swam away from the city, as from a ship when it was going to sink.”

Josephus does not mention the flight of the Christians from Jerusalem. However, we do find this mentioned by Eusebius in History of the Church, chapter 4:

“Furthermore, the members of the Jerusalem church, by means of an oracle given by revelation to acceptable persons there, were ordered to leave the City before the war began and settle in a town in Perea called Pella. To Pella those who believed in Christ migrated from Jerusalem; and as if holy men had utterly abandoned the royal metropolis of the Jews and the entire Jewish land, the judgment of God at last overtook them for their abominable crimes against Christ and His apostles, completely blotting out that wicked generation from among men.”

We are now at the time of the second cycle of judgment upon Jerusalem. I pray that God's people will again take heed and get out of harm's way. The situation in Jerusalem has not changed since 70 AD. Both the civil and the religious leaders in that city are still without repentance, still rejecting Jesus as the Christ. They still cling to the Mosaic covenant, not knowing that it is this very covenant and the words of Moses that will judge them for their sin. Their only salvation is to leave behind the old covenant under Moses and come into the New Covenant under Jesus the Christ, whereby they may receive grace and forgiveness of sins.

There is a bill pending in the Israeli parliament that will probably be signed into law soon, which essentially outlaws all Christian activity in the nation. Another bill pending would force all Jews to be Orthodox in order to be “real” Jews. This bill would not only affect the Conservative and Reform Jews, but also those who are trying to be Christian Jews. I view this as God way of forcing Christian Jews to choose between Judaism and Christianity. True Christians will not deny Christ, while the rest will convert back to Judaism. In this we will see John's words fulfilled when he wrote in 1 John 2:18-23,

¹⁸ Little children, it is the last time; and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time.

¹⁹ They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us; but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of 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 . . . .

John was talking primarily about those who had converted from Judaism to Christianity for a time, but had later reverted back to Judaism. They could not break the ties to the old temple or synagogue. Perhaps they could not take the family pressures. To them, it was better to be a Christian sympathizer but remain in Judaism under the Old Covenant.

Today, God is speaking through the Israeli parliament in order to force Jewish Christians to choose which covenant they want to be under. John says that God's purpose is “that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us [or, from us].”

The Law of Divorce and Remarriage

We wrote earlier that the law in Deuteronomy 24 forbade a man from remarrying his former spouse once she had become another man's wife. When God divorced the house of Israel (Jeremiah 3:8), it would seem impossible for God to ever remarry her lawfully. And yet Hosea and the other prophets make it clear that He would do so. Isaiah, too, speaks comfort to Israel saying in Isaiah 50:1 & 2,

¹ Where is the bill of your mother's divorcement, whom I have put away?

² Is My hand shortened at all, that it cannot redeem? Or have I no power to deliver?

The answer is found in verse 6, where God says,

⁶ I gave My back to the smiters, and My cheeks to them that plucked off the hair; I hid not My face from shame and spitting.

In other words, Jesus' death on the cross was the means by which God would redeem Israel. It was the way in which God was able to get around the bill of divorce that He had given Israel.

Jesus came to earth as God incarnate in order to die on the cross. Then when He was raised up in newness of life at the resurrection, Jesus was BY LAW a new creature, a different person. He was the same person by the spirit, but in the eyes of the law, He was a new man. Thus, He became eligible to remarry Israel. Paul unlocked the secret in 1 Corinthians 7:39 says,

³⁹ The wife is bound by the law as long as her husband liveth; but if her husband be dead, she is at liberty to be married to whom she will; only in the Lord.

As long as Israel's Husband was alive in heaven, He was her ex-husband, and the law stood opposed to Him remarrying her. But it was in God's plan to do the most inconceivable act in history—DIE. Hence, Jesus Christ was born on earth for the purpose of dying to redeem His people, Israel. After He died on the Cross, He was raised again as a new creature (2 Cor. 5:17).

In the eyes of the law, Jesus Christ was no longer the same man that He was before His death. Legally, He was a new man, different from before, and therefore eligible to marry Israel. His death made the difference. His death resolved the difficulty and satisfied the law. This was one of Isaiah's main themes. After foretelling the death of Jesus on the cross in Isaiah 53, the prophet immediately told us in chapter 54 the implications of Jesus' death and resurrection. Beginning in 54:4 He tells Israel,

⁴ Fear not; for thou shalt not be ashamed; neither be thou confounded; for thou shalt not be put to shame; for thou shalt forget the shame of thy youth and shalt not remember the reproach of THY WIDOWHOOD any more.

⁵ For thy Maker is thine Husband; the Lord of hosts is His name; and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel; The God of the whole earth shall He be called.

⁶ For the Lord hath called thee as a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit, and a wife of youth, when thou wast refused, saith thy God.

⁷ For a small moment have I forsaken thee; but with great mercies will I gather thee.

⁸ In a little wrath I hid My face from thee for a moment; but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee . . .

Isaiah tells us here that Israel was to be a WIDOW. Then he says that her Husband is her Maker, the God of the whole earth. In other words, God would have to die and make Israel a widow in order to redeem her and the whole world. This was certainly accomplished through the person of Jesus Christ. What an incredible love story this is! God again did the impossible—and did so without violating His law! The law against His remarria ge to Israel could be resolved only by His death and resurrection as a new creation.

However, there was still a work to be done in Israel's heart before He would actually marry her, for He has no intention of entering into another bad marriage. Israel as a corporate nation must first repent of its lawlessness (sin) before God will remarry her. In fact, Israel must divorce herself from all the other gods that she has worshipped (married). Until that happens, Israel is yet not eligible to marry Jesus Christ. Hence, the marriage supper of the Lamb did not take place on the corporate level, nor will it take place until that body is complete.

Meanwhile, however, on an individual level, you and I can enter into this new covenant and enjoy the marriage relationship with Him. And not only Israel, but all who seek Him may come to Him. As Isaiah tells us, our Redeemer is not only the God of Israel, but is the God of the whole earth. It was in the purpose of God for Israel to stumble, not that God desired her to fall, but rather that in redeeming her, He would also redeem the whole world.

Hosea's Remarriage

In Hosea 3 God told Hosea to go marry again (either Gomer or one who represents her in the latter days). Hosea redeemed her from bondage (3:3), but it appears that he did not actually marry her for some time. He tells her, “Many days shalt thou tarry for me . . . Moreover also I will tarry for thee” (Rotherham's Emphasized Bible). This prophesies of a long tarrying period between the redemption of Gomer and their actual remarriage. In short, Jesus redeemed Israel at the Cross; but the remarriage was not to be immediate.