Israel And The Church–The Covenant Connection (Pt. 12) What is not believed by the Institutional Church and refuted soundly when God’s Word proves it to be true is the fact that in the end of the end times God will call all of Israel back to Himself because they were, are and will ever be His people. Even during the generations when they were “divorced” from God they never stopped being His people because of His unconditional promise to Abraham.

That Israel will be brought back to the Lord is referenced in numerous Scriptures. For example, in Isaiah 54:7,8 God reminds Israel that because of His wrath He forsook them and hid His face from them. He then assures them that because of His mercy and kindness He will gather them back to Himself and will have mercy on them. In Jeremiah 31:35-37 He says through the prophet that He will not call Israel back to Himself if His heavenly rhythm can be stopped, which it can’t. In Hosea 2:19-23 He says that those who “are not My people”–divorced/scattered/lost Israel–will one day “be My people” again. Some believe that those who “are not My people” refer to Gentiles.

For proof that God was referring to Israelites see Romans 9:25-29. Here God repeats what He said through Hosea about those who are not His people (Israel) one day being His people (again). In verse 27 Paul quotes Isaiah where the prophet ALSO states that though Israel will be as the sand of the sea, only a remnant–true spiritual Israelites/the very elect/His true church–will be saved (Isa. 10:22). In Isaiah 11:10,11 we are told that God will AGAIN recover (gather) the children of Israel. The first time being when He brought them out of Egypt and made them a nation under “one Law”–the Ten Commandments.

Micah 4:6,7 tells us that God will gather stricken Israel back to Himself, reign over them and save (a remnant of) them (Rom. 9:27). Isaiah 9:6,7 and Luke 1:32,33 states that Jesus will rule over the House of (spiritual Israel–His church) forever.

The most widely known passage relative to Israel is found in Ezekiel 37:16-23 where God says that, in the end, time, He will raise up His “two sticks”–the House of Israel and the House of Judah–and bind them together, making them “one stick.” This is the “ministry of reconciliation” (2 Cor. 5:18) in which the apostles were involved. They were to bring the two houses together and present them to their God. All will be called, God says, but only a few will be chosen because they answer His call (Mat. 7:13,14). The church preaches that the “Jews” referred to in the New Testament will be saved but will be left here on earth while God’s new chosen people–Gentile churchites–will be abiding with Him in heaven. Nothing found the preceding sentence is Biblical. L.J.