Friday, May 10, 2013

God Hides a Thing. We Must Find it. No. 2--Israel's Implacable & Historic Foe


As the story is recorded in the first book of the Bible, Genesis, after Adam and Eve sinned God gave a promise:  “And I (God) will put enmity (mutual hatred) between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head and you shall bruise His heel” (3:15).

This brief explanation “her Seed”, bespeaks a “virgin birth” and other “seed” refers to Satan, this is widely viewed as the first promise of a Messianic Redeemer.

This promise comes on the heels of the greatest power transfer in history, from Adam to Satan.  Prior to Adam’s “fall”, Satan had no authority on earth.  After Adam’s fall, Satan had all authority on earth.  This is confirmed in Luke 4:5, 6:  “Then the devil, taking Him (Jesus) up on a high mountain, showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.  And the devil said to Him, ‘All this authority I will give You, and their glory; for this has been delivered to me, and I give it to whomever I wish.’” While a synonym for Satan is  "Liar", not so in this case, else Jesus would have called him on it.

Next, God makes covenant with Abram (Abraham), “I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing.  I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed” (Genesis 12:2, 3).

That covenant flowed from Abraham to Isaac to Jacob and to the 12 sons of Jacob.  To one of the sons of Jacob, Judah, it was promised, “The scepter (authority to rule) shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh (Redeemer) comes; and to Him shall be the obedience of the people (Genesis 49:10). Beyond a "Redeemer", blessings were to flow from all the peoples of Israel, they were to be a light to the world.

Unquestionably, all the peoples of the earth have been blessed by the Jews (in the material realm all out of proportion to their numbers) and the closer we come to the end of the age their contributions will keep magnifying and reach an explosive point when “Shiloh” comes to execute judgment upon the earth.  Equally powerful in Israel’s blessing to the whole earth is ushering in the Redeemer.

The task of this installment is to attempt explanation of why the Jews have been so ruthlessly persecuted, particularly since the time of Christ.  Here’s the formulation.

Initially Satan was told (as quoted above in Genesis 3:15) he would bruise the heel of the Seed of the woman and the Seed would bruise his head.  That prophecy unfolded as an integral part of the covenant God made with Abraham.  Now apply simple logic.  Satan had power over every country on the earth—save for Israel, so long as she walked in obedience. That power remains intact so long as the “Seed of the Woman” is kept at bay—or, kept from coming.  A primary thing that keeps Him from coming (a 2nd time) is the fact Jews must be in Jerusalem prepared to proclaim, “Blessed is He Who comes in the name of the Lord”! (Matthew 23:39).

For 2,000 years Satan worked to keep them from returning to Jerusalem by “wiping them out” wherever they might be found.  If you will receive it, this is the foundational truth of why Jews have been hounded and persecuted from country to country.  Put as tersely as possible—Satan doesn’t want to relinquish power!  But this strategy hasn’t worked.  Jews are back in Palestine, Jerusalem, and possess a nation, Israel, since May 14, 1948. Satan has one last strategy to foil God’s plan but even now it is being undone.  That’s the subject of the next installment.

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