| |
ISRAEL’S TIME OF DISCIPLINE
I. THE PRINCIPLE
The 5 cycles of National discipline on Israel:
Also see OUTLINE: Israel's national discipline
1. The
nation of Israel was appointed by God as the evangelistic agency during the
age of Israel. Her job was to proclaim the Messianic promise until the time
that the Messiah actually arrives. Rom. 9:4-5; Isaiah 41:8-9; 43:7; 49:3; 7:6;
28:9-10; Psalm 118:1-4
Exodus
19:5-6
”Now
then, if you
will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be My own
possession among all the peoples, for all the earth is Mine; and you shall be
to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.' These are the words that you
shall speak to the sons of Israel."
Deuteronomy 4:5-6
”See, I have taught you statutes and judgments just as Yahweh my God commanded
me, that you should do thus in the land where you are entering to possess it.
So keep and do them, for that is your wisdom and your understanding in the
sight of the peoples who will hear all these statutes and say, ‘surely this
great nation is a wise and understanding people.’”
2.
Included in this appointment was BLESSING for
faithfulness and CURSING (discipline) for failure.
A.
Leviticus 25:55 - 26:46
B. Deuteronomy 28:1-68
C. Principle: The greater the responsibility, the greater the discipline for
failure.
D. Deuteronomy 30:15-20 (NASB)
15
"See, I have set
before you today life and prosperity, and death and adversity ;
16
in that I command you today to love the LORD your God, to walk in His ways and
to keep His commandments and His statutes and His judgments, that you may live
and multiply, and that the LORD your God may bless you in the land where you
are entering to possess it.
17
"But if your heart turns away and you will not obey, but are drawn away and
worship other gods and serve them,
18
I declare to you today that you shall surely perish. You will not prolong your
days in the land where you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess it.
19
"I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before
you life and death, THE
BLESSING AND THE CURSE.
So choose life in order that you may live, you and your descendants,
20
by loving the LORD your God, by obeying His voice, and by holding fast to Him;
for this is your life and the length of your days, that you may live in the
land which the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to
give them."
3.
Basically the discipline will come because of “their unfaithfulness which they
committed against Me, and also in their acting with hostility against Me.”
Leviticus 26:40.
Their “iniquity” was “because they rejected My ordinances and their soul
abhorred My statutes.” Leviticus 26:43.
4.
Outline of the five cycles of discipline. Leviticus 26:14-33
A. Cycle
#1: Leviticus 26:14-17
General identification: PLAGUE
Verses 14-15 - failure to follow the divine mandate for the nation.
Verses 16 - economic recession, health problems
Verses 17 - crime, war, border disputes, enemy invasion.
B. Cycle
#2: Leviticus 26:18-20
General identification: FAMINE
Verse 18 - intensification of discipline when failure continues.
1. "7
times" is idiomatic to communicate the principle of intensification.
2. Each cycle incorporates the characteristics of the previous cycle and adds
its own.
Verses
19-20 - failure of the economy; severe economic depression.
Uses terminology for an agricultural economy.
C. Cycle
#3: Lev. 26:21-22
General identification: ENVIRONMENT
Verse 21 - Intensification
Verse 22 - beasts of the field represents the encroachment of nature upon
society which causes hardship and death. Fear restricts travel.
There is
the possibility that "beasts of the field" could speak of society running amok
through the increase of crime.
D. Cycle
#4: Leviticus 26:23-26
General identification: FOREIGN OCCUPATION
Verses 23-24- Intensification
Verses 25-26- Military defeat with the plague and famine attendant.
(The function of evangelistic responsibility still continues during the first
four cycles of discipline.)
E. Cycle
#5: Leviticus 26:27-33
General identification: NATIONAL DESTRUCTION
Verses 27-28 - intensification
Verse 29, cannibalism that results from extreme famine conditions during
foreign invasion.
Verse 30 - destruction of worship heritage.
Verse 31 - destruction of cities
Verse 32 - Natural and material resources are desolated
Verse 33 - Population captured and scattered outside the land.
(During the 5th cycle, the evangelistic responsibility is removed.
Hosea 4:6a.
“My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.
Because you have rejected knowledge,
I also will reject you from being My priest.”)
5.
Administration of cycles 1, 2 and 3 during the time of the Judges. The periods
of servitude carry out national discipline on Israel for about 450 years. Acts
13:19-20.
(2573 A.H. – 3023 A.H.; 1570-1120 BCE)
Judges 2:6-23.
Verse 13-14, “So they forsook Yahweh and served Baal and the Ashtaroth. And
the anger of Yahweh burned against Israel, and He gave them into the hands of
plunderers who plundered them; and He sold them into the hands of their
enemies around them, so that they could not longer stand before their
enemies.”
Verse 20, “So the anger of Yahweh burned against Israel, and He said, ‘Because
this nation has transgressed My covenant which I commanded their fathers, and
has not listened to My vice, I also will not longer drive out before them any
of the nations which Joshua left when he died.’”
6.
During the time of the monarchy which began with King Saul in 3023 A.H. (c.
1120 BCE), the issue of blessing and cursing was announced to the people by
Samuel.
1 Samuel 12:6-25.
A. The very fact that they had asked for a king to govern them instead of
residing under the divine monarchy of Yahweh, constituted rebellion against God.
Verse 17 “Is it not the wheat harvest today? I will call to Yahweh,
that He may send thunder and rain. Then you will know and see that your wickedness
is great which you have done in the sight of Yahweh by asking for
yourselves a king.”
B. The issue of discipline was repeated. Verses 24-25.
“Only fear Yahweh and serve Him in truth with all your heart; for
consider what great things He has done for you. But if you still do wickedly, both
you and your king shall be swept away.”
C. However, from that time forward, the people AND the kings continued to
rebel
against God in many different ways so that the nation remained under
various expressions of the first 3 cycles of discipline. 2 Kings 21:15,
“Because they have done evil in My sight and have been provoking Me to anger, since
the day their fathers came from Egypt, even to this day.”
D.
And the same nations in Canaan continued to oppress Israel.
Judges 3:3, “the five lords of the Philistines and all the
Canaanites and the Sidonians and the Hivites.”
The failure of King Saul: 1 Samuel 15:10-11;
David’s polygamy: 2 Samuel 3:2-5; 5:13
David’s sin of Murder & 4 stages of
discipline (2 Sam 11-16);
The sin of the people in the Absalom
rebellion, 2 Sam 15:12;
And the Sheba rebellion (2 Samuel 20:1-2);
God’s anger against the people, 2 Sam 24:1 (1 Chron. 21:1);
Solomon’s sins, 1 Kings 3:3; 11:1-13
The sins of the PEOPLE: 1 Kings 11:33, “because THEY have forsaken Me,
and have worshipped Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, Chemosh the god
of Moab, and Milcom the god of the sons of Ammon; and THEY have not walked
in My ways, doing what is right in My sight and observing My statutes and
My
ordinances, as his father David did.”
7. The time of the Divided Kingdom (c. 982-586 BCE; 3143-3539 A.H.)
See Topic: Israel, the Divided Kindom
A. THE NORTHERN KINGDOM OF ISRAEL:
1. Jeroboam’s Potential: 1 Kings 11:38, “Then it will be, that if you
listen to all that I command you and walk in My ways, and do what is right in
My sight by observing My statutes and My commandments, as My servant David
did, then I will be with you and build you an enduring house as I built for
David, and I will give Israel to you.”
2. But the Northern kingdom remained under the first 3 cycles of
discipline because of Jeroboam’s failure and the sin of the people: 1 Kings
13:33-34
3. Then the 4th cycle of discipline was administered on the Northern
Kingdom of Israel during the period 736 to 719 BCE. 2 Kings 15:29
4. And in 719 BCE, the 5th cycle of discipline was
administered on the Northern kingdom. 2 Kings 17:5-24;18:9-12; Amos 4:6-11
B.
THE SOUTHERN KINGDOM OF JUDAH
1. Judah remained under the first 3 cycles of discipline until 608 BCE.
a. 2 Kings 21:15, “Because they have done evil in My sight and have
been provoking Me to anger, since the day their fathers came from
Egypt, even to this day.”
b. Even during Josiah’s righteous reign, the discipline continued.
2 Kings 23:26, “However, Yahweh did not turn from the
fierceness of His great wrath with which His anger burned against Judah, because
of all the provocations with which Manasseh had provoked Him.”
2. The administration of the 4th cycle on Judah from 608 BCE
until 605 BCE, by the kingdom of Egypt. 2 Kings 23:29-37; 2 Chron. 35:20-27
3. Administration of the 5th cycle of discipline on the Southern
Kingdom of Judah by Babylon for 70 years (605 to 536 BCE). 2 Kings 24:1-20;
25:1-12; 2 Chron. 36:1-21; Jer 29:10; 25:1-13
8.
Prophecies of the 5th cycle and restoration had a double import.
A. It
looked to the ultimate administration of the 5th cycle in 70 AD as a result of
the nation's rejection of their Messiah at His first coming.
B. It
looked to the ultimate restoration of the nation at Messiah's second coming
and the establishment of His earthly kingdom.
9. The
5th cycle of discipline results in removal of the nation's evangelistic
function.
A. In
722 BCE for the Northern kingdom: Hosea 4:6
“My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.
Because you have rejected knowledge,
I also will reject you from being My priest.
(It was never fulfilled by them anyway)
I also will forget your children.”
(This is total destruction of the Northern Kingdom. It will not be
restored until it is re-gathered TOGETHER with Judah at the second coming of the
Messiah.)
B. In
605 to 536 BCE for the Southern Kingdom: removal by cessation of priestly/evangelistic function for 70 years. Principle of Hosea 4:6
with 5:5, 10
C. In
Messiah's generation (30-70 AD): Removal by replacement.
A new evangelistic agency is temporarily established in the place of
Israel.
However, in God's perfect timing, He will again turn to Israel to
fulfill the promises given to Abraham.
Deut. 32:21; Is. 65:1-16; Ps. 118:22-24; Mat. 21:33-45; Luke 20:9-19.
Hosea 5:14-15, “For I will be like a lion to Ephraim,
And like a young lion to the house of Judah,
I even I, will tear to pieces and go away,
I will carry away, and there will be none to deliver.
I will go away and return to My place
Until they acknowledge their guilt and seek My face;
In their affliction they will earnestly seek Me.”
10. The
new evangelistic agent is built on the fulfillment of righteousness and
justice through the work of the Messiah. Isaiah 28:17a.
The baptism of the Holy Spirit is the actual mechanics of building a new
priestly body (the church) as the replacement evangelistic agency until after
the rapture.
Eph. 2:13-22; 1 Cor. 12:13; cf. Ex. 19:5-6 with 1 Pet. 2:9-10.
11. One of the purposes of the 70 weeks of Daniel
9:24-27 is to bring to an end the NATIONAL SIN of Israel.
A. Daniel 9:24, To finish the transgression
1. Finish: kalah = complete, bring to an end, fulfill.
2. The transgression: pesha + definite article (the); the verb means to
rebel or go beyond a "limit."
a. With "the"
= a specific transgression; THE REBELLION
b. Cf. "sins" and "iniquity" which have no definite article and
indicates a "general" idea.
c. This refers to a "specific" transgression which is common to the
whole nation as a "national" sin.
B. It
is THE sin of rejecting Divine policy for them as a representative of the Messiah which was demonstrated by the rejection of the Messiah when he
came to the nation.
Isaiah 53:1-4, 8; Hosea 5:14-15; 6:1-3; Matthew 23:33-39; Luke 19:41-44
C.
The failure of the Messiah generation simply perpetuated the NATIONAL sin of
the nation, and it is THAT generation that will assume the guilt of the
entire nation, as well as the first OVERT sin of the human race (the murder of
Abel).
During the time of discipline “those of you who are left will rot away
because of their iniquity in the land of your enemies; and also because of the
iniquity of their forefathers they will rot away with them.” Leviticus 26:39.
Jesus said of the nation, “fill up then the measure (of guilt) of your
forefathers . . . “So that on you may fall (the guilt) of all the righteous blood
shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel . . .” Matthew 23:32, 35.
D. So
the end of the 70 weeks will see the end of Israel's national rebellion and it will see the acceptance of Jesus as the promised Messiah.
Zechariah 12:10; Isaiah 59:20; Hosea 5:14-15
E. At that time she will have received “from Yahweh’s hand, double for all
her sins” as per Isaiah 40:3.
Revelation 10:7, "But in the voice of the seventh angel, when he is about to sound, then
the mystery of God is finished as He proclaimed to His servants the
prophets."
12. THE
TIMES OF THE GENTILES
A. Jesus told the disciples that, “Jerusalem will be trampled under foot by
the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.” Luke 21:24
At Revelation 11:2, the temple in Jerusalem “has been given to the
nations; and they will tread under foot the holy city for forty-two months.”
B. The “times of the Gentiles” extends from the Babylonian captivity of 605
BCE until removal of the abomination of desolation 30 days after the end
of the 70th week of Daniel. It has three stages.
1. The first stage is from the Babylonian captivity until 70 AD.
2. The second stage is from the destruction of the nation in 70 AD
until the start of the great tribulation.
3. The third stage is from the midpoint of the 70th week,
the start of the tribulation, until after the battle of Armageddon, 1290 days later.
C.
This 42-month period refers specifically to the time which will begin at the
midpoint of the 70th week. Shortly before that Satan will be
kicked out of heaven after being defeated by Michael. Rev. 12:7-12.
AT that time, Satan will empower the beast of Rev. 13:3-8, who will
begin the great tribulation of persecuting anyone who will not worship Satan and
the beast. Paul describes this to be when the man of lawlessness places
himself in the temple and proclaims himself to be God. 2
Thes. 2:3-4.
D. It is during this time of great distress, that Israel will be greatly
convicted through extensive evangelism.
1. The DRAWING invitation of God: Jeremiah 31:3
“I have loved you with an everlasting love
Therefore I have drawn you with grace kindness.”
2. Through the church: Daniel 11:33-35
a. V, 33 refers to the ministry of the church prior to 70 AD.
“And those who have insight among the people will give
understanding to the many, yet they will fall by sword an by flame, by captivity
and by plunder, for many days.” (the fall of Jerusalem in 70 AD, Dan.
9:26b).
b. V 34, the covenant of the 70th
wk of Daniel. Dan 9:27a.
c. Verse 35, the evangelist activity of the church prior to the
second coming of the Messiah. “And some of those who have insight will fall
(martyrdom), in order to refine, purge, and make them pure, until the end
time.”
3. Through the ministry of the two witnesses.
Rev. 11:1-13; Mal 4:4-6.
See Topic: THE TWO WITNESSES
4. Elijah’s message: “And he will restore the hearts of the fathers to
their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers.”
E. The result will be that during the tribulation, there will be a great
calling out to
God by the people of Israel. Hosea 5:15,
“I will go away and return to My place
Until they acknowledge their guilt and seek My face;
In their affliction they will earnestly seek Me.”
F. And as a result of that, both before and after the arrival of the Day of
the Lord, there will be many converts among the Jews.
1. BEFORE the rapture: Assumed based on the fact that evangelism
occurs.
2. AFTER the rapture: The conversion of the 144,000 Jews of
Rev. 7:1-8,
and many others as a result of the evangelism of
Revelation 14:1-7,
the proclamation of the everlasting gospel.
13. The
national discipline on Israel that began in 70 A.D. will not be concluded
until the END of the 70th week of Daniel. In fact, the full
restoration of the nation will not occur until 75 days later.
A. After the end of the week (42 months; 3 ½ years, a time; times and half
a
time; 1260 days) there will be an additional 30 days when God will pour
out His FINAL end-times wrath onto the unbelievers of the earth. Daniel 12:11.
“And from the time that the regular sacrifice is abolished and the
abomination of desolation is set up (midpoint of the week, Dan. 9:27b), there will
be 1290 days.”
It is during this 30-days that the 7 bowls of God’s final wrath will be
poured out. Revelation 11, 15-16.
B. Armageddon is the final judgment of God on the unbelievers at that time.
After Jesus destroys His enemies in that LOCAL battle in Palestine, the
rest of people of the earth will be evaluated. This takes place over the next
45 days, with the result being that those who are believers will enter into the
joy of the Messiah’s earthly kingdom. Daniel 12:12.
“How happy is he who keeps waiting and attains to the 1335 days!”
The separation of the unbelieving of Israel from the believing ones is
described at Ezekiel 34:17-22, the separation of the fat sheep (unbelievers) from
the lean sheep (the believers).
14. So
from the beginning of this period of discipline until the end of the 1335 days
of Daniel 12:12, Israel will be under God’s judgment and wrath. “For there
will be great calamity upon the land and wrath to this people . . . until the
times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.” Luke 21:23-24.
A. The “times of the Gentiles” extends from the Babylonian captivity of 605
B.C. until Gentile control over Palestine is COMPLETELY removed.
B. Since that time, the nation of Israel has been under divine discipline
in either the 4th or 5th stage.
C. When Israel was restored from the Babylonian captivity in 536 B.C., the
nation remained under Persian domination. This would still be the 4th
cycle of discipline, and the nation would still be functioning under its evangelistic
commission.
D. Subsequent to that, various kingdoms ruled over the nation, from Greece
to the Roman empire, and then to various nations and religions.
E. To this very day, the nation is still restricted by “Gentile” influence.
Even though Israel became an independent nation in 1948, they are not totally free
from Gentile domination.
1. They do not have full possession of the divine land grant given to
them by God. See Topic: ISRAEL’S LAND GRANT
2. The capital city, Jerusalem, is under religious restrictions due to
the presence of the Islamic mosque of Omar located on the temple mount.
3. The nation exists under constant threat of war and terrorism from
Islam.
4. And since Israel is currently under the 5th cycle of
discipline (since 70 AD), they are not functioning under their evangelistic commission, but
that commission has been temporarily given to a different group – the
church.
F. It will not be until Israel is restored to RELATIONSHIP with God that
all national discipline will be removed. Isaiah 40:1-3,
10-11.
This is the mystery of Romans 11:25-27 and Revelation 10:7.
Romans 11:25-27
"For I do not want you, brethren, to be uninformed of this mystery - so that
you will not be wise in your own estimation - that a partial hardening has
happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in;
26
and so all Israel will be saved; just as it is written, "THE DELIVERER WILL COME FROM ZION, HE WILL REMOVE UNGODLINESS FROM JACOB."
27
"THIS IS MY COVENANT WITH THEM, WHEN I TAKE AWAY THEIR SINS."
G. This
will BEGIN to happen during the time of the tribulation.
At that time Israel will be convicted and begin to return to God.
Hosea 5:15.
“Until they acknowledge their guilt and seek My face;
In their affliction they will earnestly seek Me.”
Jesus said at Matthew 23:39, “For I say to you, from now on you shall not see Me until you say, praised be Him who comes in the name of the Lord.”
Revelation 10:7, “But in the days of the seventh angel, when he is about to
sound, then the mystery of God is finished, as He proclaimed to His
servants the prophets.”
H. This full restoration will not occur until the start of the Messiah’s
earthly kingdom.
The outline of “the times of the Gentiles” is given at Daniel 2:36-44
through the statue that Nebuchadnezzar saw in his dream. The statue consists of 5
Gentile kingdoms (Babylon, Persia, Greece, Rome and Revived Rome) and a 6th
kingdom, which is the kingdom of the Messiah.
This period of Gentile dominion is given amplification in Daniel 7-8, but
it still revolves around the same 5 Gentile kingdoms.
15. That
means that the great tribulation of Matthew 24:9-22, will be not only a time
of persecution from Satan’s wrath, but it will be a continuation of God’s disciplinary wrath on the people of Israel.
A. The great tribulation of Matthew 24 is also “the time of distress” of
Daniel 12:1.
This refers to the specific SHORT period of time from the midpoint of
Daniel’s 70th week until the moment it will be cut short by the
second coming of Christ and the start of the Day of the Lord.
B.
Likewise, the time of Jacob’s distress of Jeremiah 30:4-11 refers to the same
period of time.
See Topic:
JACOB’S TROUBLE
C.
And at Obadiah 1:12-14, the “Edomites” are warned not to contribute to
Israel’s oppression “in the day of their DISTRESS.” If they do, then they be
will recipient’s of the judgment that will come at the Day of the Lord
mentioned in verse 15ff.
But they failed to heed the warning as indicated at Ezekiel 35:5.
“Because you have had everlasting enmity and have delivered the sons of
Israel to the power of the sword at the time of their calamity (āydh), at the
time of the punishment of the end.”
16.
After the Day of the Lord return of Jesus, the 5cd is removed from Israel and
her evangelistic responsibility is restored via the 144,000 "servants" who are
converted right after the rapture of the church. Revelation 7:1-8
But the NATION itself is still under the 4cd as Gentiles will remain in
control of the Palestinian Land Grant until after Armageddon. Thus, the
blessing of full restoration will not be realized until after the Messiah’s
victory at Armageddon. Isaiah 40:10-11.
|
|
