Open Heavens Devotional: WHICH ISRAEL IS IT? – Friday, July 27, 2012 By Pastor E.A. Adeboye

Memorise: For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh; Romans 2:28

Read: Romans 2:25-29

Bible in one year: 1 Kings 8-10

When it’s all been said and done, good will always have victory over evil. In Revelation 3:9, the Lord made a promise to the church in Philadelphia saying:

Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee.

This is a powerful promise but appears somewhat controversial. How can you tell the Jews that they are not regarded as Jews before God? Earlier, God specially chose to reveal Himself to the world through the children of Israel. This started right from the Old Testament. Even when Jesus came, He said He was not sent to the Gentiles but to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, hence He sent His disciples only to them (Matthew 10:5-6). But when they took for granted that they were Jews and children of Abraham and thought they could do whatever they liked, John the Baptist told them that God could replace them with children from stones (Luke 3:8). But they did not believe. At some point, when the Lord was done with reaching out to them, He left them desolate (Matthew 23:37-39).

Afterward the Lord created another entity which is His body, the Church of believers, comprised of believing Jews and Gentiles. These are the “Spiritual Jews” or the “Israel of God”. In this group there is no discrimination (Galatians 3:28-29; 6:15-16). All God’s dealings according to His covenant with Abraham are now realized through being a spiritual Israelites. All the promises of God to Abraham are now also appropriated through this body of believers. They are the bride of Jesus Christ. In Revelation 3:9, God promised that the enemies of His church will bow down and worship before the spiritual Jews. The physical Jews expect Isaiah 49:23 to be fulfilled but they failed to realise that a change has occurred. These promises have now been transferred to the Church. Any physical Jew who fails to accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour will together with other unbelievers bow to us Christians someday. Those who are persecuting the church today, will one day bow to us. Are you a part of the true Israel of God? If you are, do everything possible to keep it so.

KEY POINT:

To be relevant in God’s end time plan, everyone, including natural Jews, need to become a part of the Church – the spiritual Jews.