Israel – a Lush Vine
God has an act of choice based on love. He chose the people of Israel accordingly: they became his chosen ones under the Old Covenant. This selection did not lie in any special size, nature, or attraction. They were been chosen because of God’s love for them and His unconditional covenant with Abraham (Deuteronomy 7:7-8).
The history of Israel commences with God’s covenant with Abraham, “I will make you a great nation” (Genesis12:2).The name Israel literally means a prevailing prince with God. It comes from the new name God gave Abraham’s grandson Jacob; after Jacob withstood a spiritual contend at Jabbok. It is at this point that the descendents of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are often referred to as the children of Israel
They were also known by variety of names (epithet) coined by God almighty, to show their relationship with Him. One of such names is “the vine or the vineyard of God.”
“You have brought a vine out of Egypt; you have cast out the nations, and planted it.” (Psalm 80:8)
“For the vineyard of the LORD of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah his pleasant plant:” (Isaiah 5:7)
The ‘Real’ Israel of God
The children of Israel were the vine of God as a shadow, a dim preview of good things to come.
Of course, some would ask, ‘’who is an Israelite’’, ‘’who is a Jew?’’ The general dictionary meaning says a Jew is a member of the tribe of Judah, an Israelite or one whose religion is Judaism. In the Old Testament, the term “Jew” initially meant member of the tribe of Judah and Benjamin, who together comprise the southern kingdom of Judah. After a while, the term Jews and Israelite become fused.
In the New Testament, the gospel reveals the truth to us: It says regardless of nationality, race, colour or sex, a Jew or Israelite is a believer in the Lord God of Israel and His only begotten son, Jesus Christ. That is, the church is the spiritual Israel of God (Galatians 6:15-16)
‘For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh; but he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the Spirit, not in the letter; whose praise is not from men but from God.’ (Romans 2:28-29)
God’s Immutable Plan
God brought the children of Israel out of Egypt, and did plant them in their own land, that they might bring forth fruits for the nations. So that in them, all the world could be blessed. They however fell short of this plan; they regarded their privileges and blessings as being only for themselves, and turned away from their God to idols. Thus, the saying, ‘Israel is an empty vine, he brings forth fruit unto himself :’( Hosea10: 1)
The most dramatic passage about the lacking of the house of Israel is what is called the ‘Beautiful Song of the Vineyard’: “Now let me sing to my Well-beloved A song of my Beloved regarding His vineyard: My Well-beloved has a vineyard On a very fruitful hill. He dug it up and cleared out its stones, And planted it with the choicest vine. He built a tower in its midst, and made a winepress in it; so He expected it to bring forth good grapes, But it brought forth wild grapes.’’(Isaiah 5:1-2)
Afterwards, God prophesized about a way out – His salvation plan to them: ‘Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah’(Jeremiah31:31). However, this scripture about God’s plan: And now, please let Me tell you what I will do to My vineyard: I will take away its hedge, and it shall be burned; And break down its wall, and it shall be trampled down. (Isaiah 5:5), will have to come to pass concurrently. So what happened? God cuts away, just as he said.
Indeed, when you read Rom 11:20a, Paul said, well; because of unbelief, they were broken off. They could not walk in the faith of God. However, with God’s plan of salvation been endorsed, all would definitely work out. So how did God do these things? I will show it to you now.
A Shoot from David’s Line
“A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse, from his root a branch will bear fruit.” (Isaiah 11:1) NLT
A stump is the base of a tree left after the rest part has been cut down, while a shoot is a new growth from (a part of) a plant. Israel (the vine) was cut down from the entire plant; as a result, a stump was remaining. Then, out of that stump grew a shoot. This shoot speaks of Jesus.
Jesus got His body (physical) from this process, while His life came directly from God. For when you read Matthew. 1:18, it says, ‘Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: After His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit.’ So His life is divine.
“ concerning His Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who was born of the seed of David according to the flesh, and declared to be the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead. (Romans 1:3-4)
So why did he share in the physical nature? He did because if He had to die for us, as he did, then he had to be a partaker of Flesh and blood. (Hebrews 2:14).
A New Order
It is a new way: Jesus died and rose, not for the Jews (the people of Israel) only, but for the whole world. The word “Gentile or Greek” comes to place here. This is being used to describe or refer to a person, which is no Jewish. Apostle Paul said, “I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.”(Romans1:16).
The gospel of Christ is the message of God’s love extended to the whole world. God loves people, and the Bible reveals it: ‘For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.’ (John 3:16) (RSV).He loved everyone in the world, and thereby he gave a ransom for their lives. Anyone who believes the gospel is saved; possessing the life of God. This is an all-inclusive plan.
‘As indeed he says in Hosea, “Those who were not mypeopleI will call ‘my people,’ and her who was not beloved I will call ‘my beloved.’ (Romans 8:25) RSV
The non-Jews came-in by been grafted into the plant. To “graft in” is to cut from one plant and bound inside a cut in another, so that it grows there. As we read in Romans 11:17, “And if some of the branches be broken off and thou, being a wild olive tree was grafted in among them, and with them partake of the root and fatness of the olive tree;”
The Power of Salvation
For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ…it is the power of God unto salvation.” (Romans 1:16)
‘Salvation’ is the translation of the Greek word ‘Soteria”. It is an all-inclusive word of the gospel of Christ. Thus, more than salvation it means victory, health, power, joy, peace, and prosperity. It is a total life- the total package of all the goodies of life. As John, 10:10 puts it: Jesus said, “I have come that they might have life and have it to the full”. A life to the full means a super abundant, much more abundant life. This is the life He has given us: Jesus said I want to lay my life down so that you will have my life.
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