PART TWO
Over in Genesis Chapter 17. Genesis Chapter 17.
God made an everlasting covenant with the children of Abraham in the flesh. He made and everlasting covenant. Was Abraham a Jew ? No. Was Abraham’s son a Jew ? No. Was Abraham’s grandson a Jew ? Who was Abraham’s grandson ? Alright you have Abraham, Abraham’s son’s name was . . . Isaac. Isaac’s . . . Jacob. Jacob’s other name was . . . Israel. And from Israel came – how many tribes ? Twelve tribes. The first true Jew was Jacob, he was called Israel. Now what the “Replacement Theology” ultimately does is to say that this never entered into the picture, God made a covenant only to those who were going to follow Him and it didn’t matter whether they were Jew or Gentile. Well, we’ll see from the Bible how wrong they are in just a minute.
Genesis Chapter 17, let’s take a look at verse 6. God is speaking to Abraham and He says:
| And I will make thee exceeding fruitful, and I will make nations of thee, and kings shall come out of thee And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee. And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God. |
Now does it sound like He’s talking about some physical promises here ? He’s talking about a specific land isn’t He ? He’s talking about a specific people that would come out of the many nations that Abraham would be the father of. Out of the many nations. By the way who is the father of the Arab people ? Abraham. When you look at the many nations that came out of Abraham, God said “there is a seed that will come out of you, that I will bless and I’m going to give this land of Canaan to them.” Now that’s a specific promise to a specific people. And what kind of a covenant would this be ?
Verse 7. It says everlasting. Everlasting. How long is everlasting ? That’s forever. There’s no room for ‘replacement’ in the word ‘everlasting.’ There is no room for ‘replacement’ in ‘everlasting.’ Because if you take away the meaning of the word everlasting you take away the whole concept of eternal life, because the same word is applied. The EXACT same word is applied. So, let’s say the Lord says “I’m going to give you life everlasting.” And we say “Oh, what that means is until we sin. Only until we sin then it’s gone.” How many of you have sinned since you got saved ? Does that mean you lost everlasting life ? No. You see there is a covenant that God has. When He says this is everlasting, He means forever. He means forever. That is His agreement. God cannot lie.
In verse 13. Here He’s talking about the Seed that will come. In verse 13:
| He that is born in thy house, and he that is bought with thy money, must needs be circumcised: and my covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant. |
Everlasting Covenant. Go down to verse 18. And here He’s talking about Ishmael.
| And Abraham said unto God, O that Ishmael might live before thee! |
Now remember, Ishmael was the child that came between the physical union between Abraham and Hagar. Not Abraham and Sarah. Okay, now.
| And God said, Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed; and thou shalt call his name Isaac: and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his seed after him. |
So He’s saying “Okay, I’m going to make an everlasting covenant with Isaac and with his seed after him.” Which is Jacob, and all the tribes of Israel. And what kind of covenant is it going to be ? An everlasting covenant. An everlasting covenant. Not one that’s going to be there one minute until they sin and then God’s going to rip it away and say you can’t have it anymore.
1 Chronicles Chapter 16, verse 13.
| O ye seed of Israel his servant, ye children of Jacob, his chosen ones. He is the LORD our God; his judgments are in all the earth. Be ye mindful always of his covenant; the word which he commanded to a thousand generations; Even of the covenant which he made with Abraham, and of his oath unto Isaac; And hath confirmed the same to Jacob for a law, and to Israel for [What?] an everlasting covenant, |
And what was he going to do with that covenant ?
| Saying, Unto thee will I give the land of Canaan, the lot of your inheritance; |
Now that doesn’t say, that doesn’t give very much hope for the so called Palestinians over there right now. They are yet to be removed once again, but this is what was promised to Israel. It was promised to Israel – as an everlasting covenant.
Psalm 105, verse 10.
| And confirmed the same unto Jacob for a law, and to Israel for an everlasting covenant: |
‘For an everlasting covenant.’
Now there are just so many different areas of scripture that reinforce and basically confirm what we’ve been looking at so far. And that is, when God gives a promise it’s to a specific individual or a specific people. When He does that it doesn’t apply to everybody. He didn’t say that this promise applies to Ishmael, as a matter of fact He contradicted that.
Abraham wanted it to apply to Ishmael, and God says “No, this doesn’t apply to Ishmael, this applies to Israel. This applies to your son, Isaac. I’m going to give him an everlasting covenant.” He’s talking about a specific people, and this everlasting covenant was once again confirmed to Jacob, and to Isaac, and to the children of Israel. So we see the plan of God was that they would receive the land, they would receive the promises. And when they started having kings God started giving promises that there would be an undying lineage, there would be a lineage of David that would not die out.
You know today there is a lineage of David, still on this earth. It hasn’t died out, it’s still there. I know some people say “Oh, the Jewish people don’t know.” Yes they do. Yes they do. Not all of them. But do you realize that over in Israel there is an institute which has records that go back as far as you can imagine that has literally the lineage of people all the way back into Biblical times. And it’s from the present all the way back. This exists today, so that they know that there is a certain lineage coming from David.
Now I don’t want to get too far off on this but since they know that the king in Israel must be of the lineage of David, and they know what this lineage is, if they invite the – what we call the antichrist – to be their ruler, what lineage do you think he has ? He’s got to have David’s lineage doesn’t he ? And they will know what it is. So when people say “oh there’s no way of telling.” Yes, there is. Absolutely there is.
In Ezekiel 16:60
| Nevertheless I will remember my covenant with thee in the days of thy youth, and I will establish unto thee an everlasting covenant. |
Ezekiel 37:26
| Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them: and I will place them, and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in the midst of them for evermore. |
“I will set My sanctuary in the midst of them for evermore.” Now again I don’t want to go too far off on this, but let me just mention God says that He would place His presence in the temple. In that temple mount forever. This is one of the things He told Solomon, that He would never leave. Now you remember there was a time when the Spirit of God left the tabernacle. And do you remember what word was written above the door of the tabernacle ? Ichabod. Ichabod. But when it came to the Temple Mount, God said “I will never remove My Spirit.” 2 Chronicles 7:16
| 16 For now have I chosen and sanctified this house, that my name may be there for ever: and mine eyes and mine heart shall be there perpetually. 17 And as for thee, if thou wilt walk before me, as David thy father walked, and do according to all that I have commanded thee, and shalt observe my statutes and my judgments; 18 Then will I stablish the throne of thy kingdom, according as I have covenanted with David thy father, saying, There shall not fail thee a man to be ruler in Israel. 19 But if ye turn away, and forsake my statutes and my commandments, which I have set before you, and shall go and serve other gods, and worship them; 20 Then will I pluck them up by the roots out of my land which I have given them; and this house, which I have sanctified for my name, will I cast out of my sight, and will make it to be a proverb and a byword among all nations. |
There are punishments for breaking a covenant. God told Solomon that he had to obey the right way, of suffer the consequences. Israel as a whole had to do the same. BUT, God made it clear to Jacob and Isaac and Abraham, through covenants with them, that He would never cast the children of Israel aside, but would chasten them. They are His children, after all.
So, what do we do with our children when they go astray ? Do we deny that they are our children anymore ? No. And what if they decide to repent of their sins, and do what is right, should we remove them from their inheritance and all blessings of the family because of their past sins ? Of course not. Yet, this is exactly what the false theologies say God has done with Israel.