Streams in my desert: Israel What Was, Is, and Is to Come - when Paul taught that Scripture is "breathed out by God," he was referring to the original manuscripts, not to a particular translation. A Bible translation is authoritative insofar as it reflects the original. The goal of a good translation is to communicate God's Word in a way that is readily grasped by its intended readers. As trustworthy as a translation might be, however, it cannot be considered "inspired." No translation is "breathed out by God"; it is a translation of what God has breathed. We should not let arguments over translations divide the Body of Christ. Our loyalty should be to the inspired, inerrant Word of God as originally written, not to any one English translation

Monday, March 3, 2025

Israel What Was, Is, and Is to Come - when Paul taught that Scripture is "breathed out by God," he was referring to the original manuscripts, not to a particular translation. A Bible translation is authoritative insofar as it reflects the original. The goal of a good translation is to communicate God's Word in a way that is readily grasped by its intended readers. As trustworthy as a translation might be, however, it cannot be considered "inspired." No translation is "breathed out by God"; it is a translation of what God has breathed. We should not let arguments over translations divide the Body of Christ. Our loyalty should be to the inspired, inerrant Word of God as originally written, not to any one English translation

The book of Judges is not a great compliment to the spiritual state of Israel.

Nehemiah wrote of this later, way later.

He said, “Therefore, You delivered them into the hands of their enemies who oppressed them, and in the time of their trouble, when they cried out to You, You heard from heaven and according to Your abundant mercies, You gave them deliverers who saved them from the hands of their enemies.

"But after they had rest, they again did evil before You.

"And therefore, You left them in the hand of their enemies so that they had dominion over them.

"But yet, when they returned and cried out to You, You heard from heaven.

"And many times, you delivered them according to Your mercies.”

It’s not according to their deeds - it’s according to His mercies.

We need to stop thinking that Israel has to be a perfect nation in order for God to fulfill His promises for them.

This thought is not biblical.

Now you’re probably going to say, “Yeah, but they have to believe in Jesus to get saved.”

Sure, they have to.

But the plan of God for Israel, until the moment all of Israel will be saved, is a plan that has been already determined and neither the Amorites nor the Amalekites or even Hamas or the Ayatollahs can ever put an end to it.

So, you have to choose who do you support?

On which side you want to be when you already know the end?

You know the result.

God’s Unstoppable Plan for Israel

The fact that Nehemiah wrote about the mercies and deliverance of God for Israel well over 600 years after the time of the Judges, and after the Babylonian captivity also, tells us that this great man of God understood that God’s plans for national Israel were not conditional on their behavior.

It is clear King David also had that same understanding after the time of the Judges when he wrote many of the Psalms, including:

Psalm 103:7-11

He made known His ways to Moses, His acts to the children of Israel. The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in mercy. He will not always strive with us, nor will He keep His anger forever. He has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor punished us according to our iniquities. For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is His mercy toward those who fear Him.

While many claim that Israel’s behaviors caused God to cast them aside and replace them with the church, they seem to forget that God, according to Malachi 3:6, doesn’t change.

If He doesn’t change, then that means He can cast off the church or individuals, too.

While Israel’s actions certainly aroused the Lord’s anger at times, He doesn’t stay angry forever and does not deal with them, or us, according to our sins and iniquities.

Instead, He covers us with His great mercy.

If we’re going to learn anything from Israel it should be that when we mess up, when we experience the consequences of messing up, God keeps His word and promises to His people.

The greatest proof in our day is that the Jews are back in their national homeland, as God said He would do, even after most of Israel rejected their Messiah and had Him nailed to a cross for blasphemy.

Lamentations 3:22-24

Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I hope in Him!”

Things were not good between the Lord and His chosen people at the time Jeremiah penned Lamentations.

Still, what do we find him writing about?

God’s mercies every morning, His compassion and great faithfulness.

This is true for us as well and should be the lesson learned from God’s interactions with Israel.

He will never leave or forsake us.

And when we mess up, even badly, great is His faithfulness!

Through His mercies we are not consumed, therefore our hope should be in Him!

Even so, come quickly Lord Jesus,