God’s Plan for Israel God’s plans for the earth and humanity are in motion. His purposes are clear and never coincidental. But to understand God’s heart for mankind, we must acknowledge the unique role God gave to His people Israel. Because His love knows no bounds and is never changing, the covenant-keeping God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob watches carefully over all the nations. A significant leg of His journey with mankind has been in the land of Israel. There, He walked with Abraham. He revealed His laws to Moses. And He sent His Son to this same geographical space in Jewish flesh. In the first verse of Isaiah 53 we see that Israel, for the most part, would reject the Messiah who came to die for her sins. Yet, a future salvation of Israel is promised by God. The day is coming when the eyes of the Jewish people will be opened to see in living color that Jesus of Nazareth is their only Messiah and Savior.
The Bible was written by forty different authors- Mentioning 146 times, the number 40 generally symbolizes a period of -testing, trial or *probation. During Moses' life he lived forty years in Egypt and forty years in the desert before GOD-selected- him to lead his people -out- of slavery. Moses was also on Mount Sinai for 40 days/nights, on two separate occasions (Exodus 24:18, 34:1 - 28), receiving God's laws. He also sent spies, for forty days, to investigate the land God promised the Israelites as an inheritance (Numbers 13:25, 14:34). The prophet Jonah powerfully warned ancient Nineveh, for forty days, that its -destruction- would come because of its many sins. The prophet Ezekiel laid on His right side for 40 days to symbolize Judah's sins (Ezekiel 4:6). Elijah went 40 days without food or water at Mount Horeb. Jesus was tempted by the devil not just three times, but many times during the 40 days and nights he fasted just before his #ministry began. He also #appeared to his disciples and others for 40 days after his resurrection from the dead. The number forty can also represent a generation of man. Because of their sins after leaving Egypt, God swore that the generation of Israelites who left Egyptian -bondage- would not enter their inheritance in Canaan (Deuteronomy 1). The children of Israel were punished by -wandering the wilderness- for 40 years before a new generation was allowed to possess the promised land. Jesus, just days before his crucifixion, #prophesied the -total destruction- of Jerusalem (Matthew 24:1 - 2, Mark 13:1 - 2). Forty years after his *crucifixion in 30 A.D., the mighty Roman Empire destroyed the city and burned its beloved *temple to the ground. The book of Exodus, with its 40 chapters and 1,213 verses, is the seventh longest book. The first three human kings over the children of Israel, Saul, David and Solomon, each ruled for forty years (1050 to 930 B.C.). Abraham tried to bargain with God to not -destroy Sodom and Gomorrah- if forty righteous people were found (Genesis 18:29). God -flooded- the earth by having it rain for forty days and nights (Genesis 7:12). The gestation of human -life- is 40 weeks in the #womb.
|
|