by pastor Wilson
Big idea:
God call Israel to be his kingdom people but they repeated fail to show loyalty
The ultimate purpose is to
restore the kingdom of God on earth
Genesis 12:1
Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go forth from your country, And from your relatives And from your father’s house, To the land which I will show you;
It was no easy task for Abraham to leave country and culture, forsake deities of family and follow God whom his family did not worship. Abram shifts his allegiance to God
Genesis 15:6
Then he believed in the Lord; and He reckoned it to him as righteousness.
God counted to Abram as righteousness solely by his believing loyalty to Yahweh
# Abram allegiance directed his life decisions and actions
Genesis 12:2
And I will make you a great nation, And I will bless you, And make your name great; And so you shall be a blessing;
Yahweh promised He will raise a nation and make his name great because abram and his decendants will become the primary representatives to the nations
Genesis 12:3
And I will bless those who bless you, And the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.”
Yahweh blessings on Abram was to be a representative and show the way back to God
# The passage has always been about God's desire to reclaim the nations for himself through the descendants of Abram
The context is Yahweh form Israel after God disinheriting the nations
This verse means in the ancient near east nations has their patron gods but Israel only have God as Yahweh. Those who bless and curse Israel will receive likewise
It was always about the God of Israel not about Israel
Galatians 3:8-9
The Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “All the nations will be blessed in you.” [9] So then those who are of faith are blessed with Abraham, the believer.
# The good news of the gospel was and still about God's plan to reclaim the nations and humanity for His kingdom through allegiance
Israel is constantly attracting international attention.
God is still using Israel to show the world who He is
What's the big deal to keep allegiance to Yahweh?
Exodus 19:4-6
‘You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings, and brought you to Myself. [5] Now then, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be My own possession among all the peoples, for all the earth is Mine; [6] and you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you shall speak to the sons of Israel.”
Role of priest is to be a mediator between God and men but the condition hinge on Israel obedience and loyalty to Yahweh. Israel could not fulfill her role as the kingdom of priest the moment she committed spiritual adultery with other gods in disobedience and losing allegiance to Yahweh.
2 Kings 17:6-20
In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria captured Samaria and carried Israel away into exile to Assyria, and settled them in Halah and Habor, on the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes. [7] Now this came about because the sons of Israel had sinned against the Lord their God, who had brought them up from the land of Egypt from under the hand of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and they had feared other gods [8] and walked in the customs of the nations whom the Lord had driven out before the sons of Israel, and in the customs of the kings of Israel which they had introduced. [9] The sons of Israel did things secretly which were not right against the Lord their God. Moreover, they built for themselves high places in all their towns, from watchtower to fortified city. [10] They set for themselves sacred pillars and Asherim on every high hill and under every green tree, [11] and there they burned incense on all the high places as the nations did which the Lord had carried away to exile before them; and they did evil things provoking the Lord. [12] They served idols, concerning which the Lord had said to them, “You shall not do this thing.” [13] Yet the Lord warned Israel and Judah through all His prophets and every seer, saying, “Turn from your evil ways and keep My commandments, My statutes according to all the law which I commanded your fathers, and which I sent to you through My servants the prophets.” [14] However, they did not listen, but stiffened their neck like their fathers, who did not believe in the Lord their God. [15] They rejected His statutes and His covenant which He made with their fathers and His warnings with which He warned them. And they followed vanity and became vain, and went after the nations which surrounded them, concerning which the Lord had commanded them not to do like them. [16] They forsook all the commandments of the Lord their God and made for themselves molten images, even two calves, and made an Asherah and worshiped all the host of heaven and served Baal. [17] Then they made their sons and their daughters pass through the fire, and practiced divination and enchantments, and sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the Lord, provoking Him. [18] So the Lord was very angry with Israel and removed them from His sight; none was left except the tribe of Judah. [19] Also Judah did not keep the commandments of the Lord their God, but walked in the customs which Israel had introduced. [20] The Lord rejected all the descendants of Israel and afflicted them and gave them into the hand of plunderers, until He had cast them out of His sight.
After Solomon's reign, Israel was split into two kingdoms:
Israel (10 tribes) - the Northern kingdom, conquered by the Assyrians in 722bc
Judah (2 tribes) - the Southern kingdom, conquered by the Babylonians in 586bc
Both failed to keep the tribes
Ancient Israel was God's chosen people and still is today
# When God blessed you, it is never just about you. But always about God's purpose through you.
Israel is to be a conduit of God to show blessing in propagating God's love to the unreach in Singapore and beyond and to reclaim nations for Yahweh
Dead sea salt content is 10 times more than normal sea water, rich in mineral necause it absorbs everything with no outlet, only water loss through evaporation and left only salt and mineral. May our lives not be like dead sea with no marine life
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