Tag Archives: Israel

JESUS IS THE TRUE VINE – ISRAEL

John 15:1-7 KJV:

“1I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. 2 Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every [branch] that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit. 3 Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. 4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. 5 I am the vine, ye [are] the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. 6 If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast [them] into the fire, and they are burned. 7 If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.”

For those who heard Him speak these words, the context was found in Isaiah 5:7:

Isa 5:7 KJV – 7 For the vineyard of the LORD of hosts [is] the house of Israel, and the men of Judah his pleasant plant: and he looked for judgment, but behold oppression; for righteousness, but behold a cry.

For more of the context read Isaiah chapter 5. Back in Isaiah’s time, Israel had become so corrupt that God was required to fulfill His covenant promises of dispersion and destruction.  For those who knew these Scriptures and the history of Israel, they knew that the prophesies of Isaiah 5 were fulfilled when the king of Assyria invaded and conquered the ten-tribe nation called ‘Israel’ in about 722-3 BC. Many were slain; many others taken captive and were settled in Assyria; while many of the Assyrians were transferred to the land previously occupied by the ten-tribe nation of ‘Israel,’ later known as ‘Samaria.’ This resulted in a mixture of the races which in New Testament times, the Jews called ‘Samaritans,’ not recognizing them as Israelites, but rather considering them gentile dogs.

Jesus was reminding His audience of what happened to the Israel of old when they turned away from God in flagrant disobedience when He said:

“If a man abide not in Me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them and cast them into the fire, and they are burned,” John 15:6.

 Tragically, multitudes of them refused to believe His warning and so men cast them into the fires of death, dispersion and destruction in 70 AD when Jerusalem was captured by the Roman armies. Millions were killed; almost another million were taken to Rome and sold as slaves, while millions more were dispersed throughout the world.

But for those who believed and heeded the words of Jesus; they were spared as a group and became the Church, the Body of Christ, the True Vine and went throughout the known world of that era, preaching and teaching the Kingdom of God in Christ.

Should Christians Support Israel?

If you are a Christian who supports “Israel,” you MUST read this:

The old Israel was destroyed, never to rise again:

Those calling themselves “Israel” today are NOT the Israel of the Bible. If you believe the Bible, you know that the 10-tribe nation ended in 723-22 B.C. “Never to raise again,” 2 Kings 17:18-23; Hosea 1:4, 6; 8:8; = Romans 9:25-29; Amos 5:2; 7:8; 8:2, 14. This was in fulfillment of the Covenant, Deuteronomy 31:19-30 and 32:1-43.

Regarding the end of the nation of Judah:  It was carried into Babylonian captivity for 70 years: Jeremiah chapters 25-29; only a Remnant returned.

Return of the “Remnant” from this captivity: Jeremiah chapters 30-44; 2 Kings 21= 2 Chronicles 33:11-19; 2 Kings 23:27: “And the Lord said, I will remove Judah also out of my sight, as I have removed Israel, and will cast off this city Jerusalem which I have chosen, and the house of which I said, My name shall be there.”

Jeremiah 24:3-4: “Surely at the commandment of the Lord came this upon Judah, to remove them out of his sight, for the sins of Manasseh, according to all that he did; And also for the innocent blood; which the Lord would not pardon.”

Daniel foretold the final end of the fleshly nation of Judah and gave the time that it would happen: Daniel 9:24-27; and chapter 12. This was fulfilled in 70 AD, according to the time foretold by Daniel. Judah ended as a fleshly nation almost 2000 years ago.

The Old Covenant having been violated and the curse fulfilled, God promised a New Covenant, Jeremiah chapter 31. This was fulfilled in Matthew 26:28; Mark 14:24; Luke 22:20; Galatians 3:16-29; Hebrews 8:6-13; 9:15-28.

Jesus is the Heir, the only Heir of all the promises of the Covenant: Hebrews 1:2-4. Jesus is Israel: Matthew 2:15 in fulfillment of Hosea 11:1. Christians should support the true Israel, Jesus Christ and His Body, the Church.

Those calling themselves “Israel” today are impostors. If we continue to support them, we become partakers of their evil deeds, II John, verse 11. 

The One True Israel

Are There Two Israels?

The presence of a nation calling itself “Israel” today makes us ask the question: “Are there two “Israels”? According to the Scriptures there is only one true Israel, but there is also a false “Israel,” a pseudo-Israel.

So what happened to the Old Testament ten-nation tribe called “Israel”? We have the prophetic and historical accounts of their demise in the Bible.

The Word of the Prophets

The word was given to the prophets Amos and Hosea:

Hear ye this word which I take up against you, even a lamentation, O house of Israel. The virgin of Israel is fallen; she shall no more rise: she is forsaken upon her land; there is none to raise her up,” Amos 2:1-2.

This was spoken by the prophet Amos in the years prior to 722 BC, the year that Assyria invaded and conquered the ten-tribe nation called “Israel.” For context read the entire book of Amos who further prophesied to that nation at that time, specifically Amos 5:2; 8:2, 14; 9:7-10.

This was also prophesied by Hosea who lived the allegory of God’s judgments against the unfaithful whoredoms of that nation called “Israel.” Read the book of Hosea for the context of the fall of Israel, specifically 1:4, 6, 9-10; 7:16; 8:8; 9:7, 17; 11:5; 13:9, 14, 16.

The historical record of this is found in 2Kings chapter 17. The reason for their fall was:

Because they obeyed not the voice of the Lord their God, but transgressed His Covenant, and all that Moses the servant of the Lord commanded, and would not hear them, nor do them,” 2Kings 18:12.

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,” 2Kings 17:18. Read chapters 17 and 18 of 2Kings.

We are warned in the Book of Revelation against those “who say they are Jews and are not“, (2:9; 3:9).  The laws in the pseudo “Israel” of today as well as their historical and daily practices are the religion of the Pharisees who were anti-Christ, “against-Christ.”  Romans 2:28-29 shows that only those in Christ are truly Jews.

There is now only one true Israel, the Israel of God, the Church, the Body of Christ.

Who Are Jesus’ Brethren?

Jesus promised great blessing to those who ministered to His “Brethren,” Matthew 25:40 and great judgment to those who refused to minister to them, verse 45. So who are His Brethren?

Matthew 12:46-50 KJV –

46 While he yet talked to the people, behold, [his] mother and his brethren stood without, desiring to speak with him. 47 Then one said unto him, Behold, thy mother and thy brethren stand without, desiring to speak with thee. 48 But he answered and said unto him that told him, Who is my mother? and who are my brethren? 49 And he stretched forth his hand toward his disciples, and said, ‘Behold my mother and my brethren. 50 For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother.’”

Here we see that Jesus is identifying Himself by His spiritual family and not his kindred after the flesh. He even would have included His mother in those He denied as His kindred, but she was certainly also one who did the will of His Father, God, and so was His mother both spiritually and physically. He denies kinship with all those who do not the will of God. Therefore, He only recognizes Christians as kindred.

Are those calling themselves “Israel” today really Jesus’ Brethren?

Many prominent ministers and theologians are declaring that those calling themselves “Israel” today are Jesus’ Brethren, and therefore in order to be blessed, we must support them with all necessary material means. This ignores the fact that their religion is anti-Christian, using the Talmud as their authority instead of the Bible, cursing Christ and blaspheming. The USA has provided and is continuing to provide finances, military protection, grants, and loans which become grants for the establishment and military protection of that wicked state since its inception, all under the guise of their supposed kinship to Jesus.

This is deceit at its worst.

Who Is A Jew? – The Purity (?) Of The Jewish Race

Revelation 2:9; 3:9:  “… them which say they are Jews and are not.”

Is there a promise of “eternal security” to all of the physical seed of Abraham? No.

Romans 11: 1 is so often quoted out of context, ignoring the following verses. The point here is that at that time the nation of Israel had been greatly reduced to a bare remnant. (See the many references to the “remnant” in the Old Testament prophets.) Many had been “cut off” and/or “blinded” because of sin and unbelief. The writer of Romans, Paul, compares it to the time of Elias when the remnant had become so small that Elias thought he was the only one left. But Paul says that, like it was in the time of Elias, there is “even so then at this present time,” a relatively small remnant. This remaining remnant is “the elect” according to the grace of God in Christ.

Only a Remnant returned from the Babylonian Captivity

In fact, after the Babylonian captivity, (500+ B.C.) only a remnant had returned to Palestine, Romans 9:27-29, quoting Isaiah 10:21-22; 1:9. Those returning to Palestine after the captivity considered themselves the purified remnant of Israel, whom God had redeemed from bondage and made heirs to the promises.*Those who remained in Babylon went into the false interpretations of Rabbinic Judaism which became known as the “Pharisees” of the New Testament era.

Jesus became the Heir of all things: Hebrews 1:2.

So are those who were “cut off” and “blinded” still Israel? No. Paul quotes from the Old Testament to show that their “cutting off” and “blindness” had been foretold, Deuteronomy chapters 29-32; Psalm 69:22; Isaiah 11:11, 12, 16; Jeremiah 11:16. But they may be grafted back in if they turn from their unbelief. If and when they are grafted back in to Christ, and also with the inflow of the Gentiles, then “all Israel will be saved as it is written,” and he quotes Isaiah 45:17, 25 and Jeremiah 31:31 where the New Covenant was promised. They can only be saved through Christ.

So what happens to those unbelievers who refuse to be grafted back in? Jesus answered that question in John 15:1-6; they will die and be burned. Christ is the only living Branch of the Old Vine. The Old Covenant passed away when there were none left to qualify under its terms. Only in the New Covenant is there opportunity to be born again to a new life.

Old Israel died.

When Old Israel refused Jesus as their Messiah Savior, it died. The doom on the Temple was pronounced in Daniel 9:26; Micah 3:12; Matthew 24:1-2; Mark 13:2; Luke 19:41-44. The curse upon the fig tree, Mark 11:13 was symbolic of the curse upon the nation that was not bringing forth fruit for God. The parable of the fig tree, Mark 12:1-12 was to show that the “vineyard,” Israel, was to be taken from the wicked rulers and given to those in Christ, the Christians.

The New Israel was constituted of those who were in His Body, Matthew 26:26-28; ICorinthians 10:16-17.

But the true “Temple” would be raised up again as promised, Amos 9:11; Matthew 26:61; Mark 14:58; John 2:19-21; that is the Temple of Christ’s Body, the Church, Ephesians 1:22-23.

The Promised Regathering of Israel

The regathering of Israel, as promised by the Prophets, came in the ingathering in Christ, Ephesians 1-10-11. Those who were “in Christ” were no longer strangers and foreigners, but had become Israelites in the true sense of the word, Ephesians 2:11-22. So far as the genetic blood from Abraham was concerned, the Jews were making proselytes in the New Testament era, Matthew 23:15; Acts 2:10; 6:5; 13:43. These proselytes need have no drop of genetic blood from Abraham, yet claimed to be “Jews”.

From the time of Christ on, forever, only those “in Christ” are truly Jews by the Biblical definition.

*(See also John Bright, A History of Israel, Westminster Press, 1959. Pp.379 and 431)

This lesson is an edited excerpt from my book, Revelation in Context, available locally at the Living Word Bookstore in Shawnee, Oklahoma or www.Amazon.com, or www.XulonPress.com.
Free downloads are also available at www.revelationincontext.sermon.net.