> On Dec 18, 8:00 am, Pastor Dave _gmail.com> wrote:
>
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>> Who Are God's Chosen People?

>

>> As you study this subject in light of this essay, you
>> may find that it contradicts what you have been taught.
>> If this is so, it is because you have been taught a
>> "system," not the scripture. What does the term "chosen
>> people" mean? Many think immediately of Israel. Is this
>> correct? What does the Bible say?

>

>> Who was Deuteronomy 7:6 (speaking of 'chosen people')
>> spoken to? Deuteronomy 6:3-4 reveals it was spoken to
>> Israel. At that time, Israel consisted of all those that
>> came out of Egypt with Moses (see Deuteronomy 7:8).
>> A very similar verse is Deuteronomy 14:2. In 1 Chronicles
>> 16:13, Israel is called "His chosen ones": David wrote
>> Psalm 33:12; 105:6, 43. And Isaiah records these words
>> from the Lord: Isaiah 41:8-9; 43:10,20; 44:1. In Isaiah
>> 48:12, the Lord refers to them as "My called." And Daniel
>> calls them "His chosen people" (Daniel 11:15).

>

>> From the above, it can be seen that the phrase,
>> "chosen people" definitely applied to Israel. But, what was
>> the composition of Old Testament Israel? According to
>> the Bible, Israel was made up of:

>

>> 1) The descendants of Jacob (Exodus 1:1; Joshua 13:6, etc.),

>

>> And...

>

>> 2) Those who joined Israel through circumcision and keeping
>> the law (Exodus 12:48ff).

>

>> Keeping the covenant was a requirement for all those who
>> wished to remain a part of Israel (Genesis 17:14, Exodus
>> 12:15,19; 30:32,38; 31:14; Leviticus 7:20-21, 25,27;
>> 17:4,9-10, 14; 18:29; 19:8; and Numbers 15:30-31).
>> These Scriptures, and many others, show that membership
>> in the nation of Israel was dependent on obedience to God's
>> commandments. To disobey God was to lose one's citizenship.

>

>> When most people think of Old Testament Israel, they
>> think exclusively in terms of Israel as a nation. Yet, this
>> is not the true Biblical meaning of "Israel". The name
>> "Israel" has always had a twofold significance: one
>> national, and the other religious. For example Exodus 19:6
>> and Amos 9:11-12 proclaims that the remnant of Israel
>> would be largely an entity of religious instead of national
>> destination. Isaiah says much the same thing (Isaiah
>> 56:7-8).

>

>> The primary meaning of "Israel" in the Old Testament
>> stands for the religious covenant community, the people who
>> worship God in truth and Spirit. Secondarily, it denotes a
>> distinct ethnic group or nation which is called to become
>> spiritual Israel. Decisive for the Old Testament prophets
>> and their prophecies is the theological quality of the
>> 'people of God,' not their ethnic and political
>> characteristics.

>

>> Contrary to the claims of Hal Lindsey, and other
>> dispensational authors (Charles Ryrie, etc.), the blessing
>> of Israel's election was not unconditional. When the
>> election service is withheld, the election loses its
>> meaning, and therefore fails. .If Israel ceased to
>> acknowledge God to be her Lord, then she declared that she
>> no longer wished to be His people. Her high calling to be
>> the 'Chosen People' was not the mark of Divine indulgence or
>> favoritism, but a summons to a task exacting and unceasing,
>> and election and task were so closely bound together that
>> she could not have one without the other."

>

>> Did Old Testament Israel lose her election? As Paul
>> would say, "God forbid!" The Old Testament prophesied in
>> many places that a "remnant" would be saved. The question
>> is: Of whom was this remnant to consist? According to
>> Jeremiah 31:31-34, the remnant would be made up of those who
>> "know the Lord," and whose sins would be forgiven completely
>> (unlike under the Old Covenant - Hebrews 10:1-4). This was
>> to be made possible through the initiation of a "new
>> covenant." This New Covenant (or "Testament" -KJV) was
>> ratified by Jesus at His crucifixion, shown to His disciples
>> in symbolic form in the Last Supper (Matthew 26:28, Mark
>> 14:24, Luke 22:20, 1 Corinthians 11:25).

>

>> Is New Testament Israel any different from Old Testament
>> Israel? The Israel of the New Covenant is made up of 1)
>> those descendants of Jacob who believed in the Messiah
>> (Matthew 10:6; 15:24; Acts 2:36-41; 21:20, etc.), and, 2)
>> those who joined Israel through spiritual circumcision and
>> the keeping of the new "law" (Romans 2:28-29; 13:10; 1
>> Timothy 1:5).

>

>> With the establishment of the New Covenant, physical
>> descent was no longer a determining factor for entrance into
>> Israel. Only those who believed in the Messiah could enter
>> or remain a part of Israel. Let us examine what the Bible
>> has to say on the subject in Jeremiah 11:16. Verse 17 says
>> this was directed to "the house of Israel, and the house of
>> Judah." Read what Hosea says of Israel in Hosea 14:6.

>

>> Paul picks up the olive tree motif in Romans 11:17-24.
>> He says those Jews who rejected the Messiah were themselves
>> rejected and "broken off" (or cut off, to use the Old
>> Testament term) from the "olive tree" of Israel (verse 20).
>> The apostle showed that the only possible way to remain a
>> citizen of Israel was to believe in Jesus as Messiah. This
>> citizenship was also offered to the Gentiles on the same
>> condition. If they would put their faith in the Messiah of
>> Israel, they would be made fellow citizens of Israel
>> (Ephesians 2:19). Christ created His church, not beside
>> Israel, but as the faithful remnant of Israel that inherits
>> the covenant promises and responsibilities. Christ's church
>> is not separated from the Israel of God, only from the
>> Christ-rejecting Jewish nation.

>

>> The identification of the church with Israel is explicit
>> in Peter's first epistle (1 Peter 2:9). Here, Peter
>> definitively states that those who "believe" in Christ Jesus
>> (1 Peter 2:7) were the "chosen race" and the "holy nation"
>> (1 Peter 2:9; compare Exodus 19:6; Deuteronomy 7:6; and
>> 14:2). Only in Christ could Israel as a nation have remained
>> the true covenant people of God. God's covenant people are
>> no longer distinguished by racial or territorial
>> characteristics, but exclusively by their faith in Christ.
>> And the land we have inherited is a spiritual one. The
>> spiritual blessings of citizenship in the Israel of God are
>> ours as servants of Christ, but what of the "unconditional"
>> land promises of the so-called "Palestinian Covenant"?

>

>> Is present Israel a fulfillment of prophesy?

>

>> One of the most common assertions of the premillennial
>> dispensationalist today is that the formation of the State
>> of Israel in 1948 is proof that the Jews are still "God's
>> Chosen People," and that He still has prophetic plans for
>> them. (This has been asserted more vigorously than ever due
>> to the recent hostilities in the Middle East). It is claimed
>> that God was at work bringing the Jews back to their
>> "ancient homeland," and that they have a Biblical right to
>> claim Palestine as their own. Are these claims correct? Was
>> the formation of the State of Israel evidence of God's
>> blessing? Of God's election?

>

>> Just what Scriptures do dispensationalists use to
>> support these claims? How do they come to their conclusions?
>> As you may know already, the dispensationalist uses what he
>> calls a "literal hermeneutic." That is, he claims to
>> interpret the words of the Bible at face value,
>> understanding them in their "normal," everyday usage and
>> meaning. This extremely literal hermeneutic is then used to
>> "interpret" the prophecies of the Old Testament that speak
>> of the return of God's people to the Holy Land. However,
>> this literalism is also used as an excuse to ignore the
>> plain reinterpretation by the New Testament writers of these
>> very same prophecies. Even when the inspired writers of the
>> New Testament give a meaning to the Old Testament.
>> prophecies other than a "literal" one, the dispensationalist
>> will say that this is not the complete meaning, and that
>> these prophecies "remain to be realized for Israel."

>

>> One of the Scriptures the dispensationalist claims was
>> fulfilled by the 1948 formation of the State of Israel is
>> found in Ezekiel 36-37. This prophecy was given to Ezekiel
>> during the Babylonian captivity (Ezekiel 1:1-2), and
>> foretold the eventual return of Israel to their land. Tied
>> in with this prophecy was the prediction of the coming
>> Messiah (Ezekiel 38), and the inauguration of the New
>> Covenant. As we know from both secular history and the New
>> Testament, the people did return to the land and the Messiah
>> did come and establish the New Covenant (Matthew 26:28).
>> Despite this, dispensationalists deny fulfillment of either
>> of these prophecies, saying they found only a "partial
>> fulfillment" in Israel's return and Christ's first advent.
>> They further allege that the re-gathering of Jews to form
>> the current State of Israel is part of the final
>> fulfillment. They say the blessings of the "Palestinian
>> Covenant" are only now coming into existence. The promises
>> of such passages as Deuteronomy 30 are touted as "Scriptural
>> basis" for Israel's re-gathering. How should we answer such
>> claims?

>

>> According to Deuteronomy 30:1-8, a necessary condition
>> for the re-gathering of Israel to Palestine was returning to
>> the Lord (verses 2-3). Based on this clear passage of
>> Scripture, it can be definitely concluded that the State of
>> Israel, which now exists, was not formed as a result of the
>> blessings of this covenant (the "Palestinian Covenant" of
>> the Scofield Bible).

>

>> The Jews of 1948 (except for maybe a few isolated
>> individuals) did not turn to the Lord. And, to base the
>> formation of Israel upon their alleged "faithfulness" to
>> Judaism is to betray a fundamental misunderstanding of what
>> Judaism is. Some think the Jew of today has a special
>> advantage, perhaps even salvation without Christ, because
>> they believe in the God of the Old Testament, and follow the
>> Old Testament religion. This overlooks the fact that the
>> religion of the Old Testament was based on making sacrifices
>> for sins (Leviticus 17:11). It also ignores the statements
>> of the New Testament that there is absolutely NO salvation
>> outside Christ (John 14:6; Acts 4:10-12), and that the Old
>> Testament religion was no longer efficacious (Hebrews 7-10).
>> The Lord of the New Testament is Jesus. This revelation
>> casts light on who the Lord of the Old Testament is. For
>> example, Peter quotes Joel 2:32 as being fulfilled in Jesus
>> (Acts 2:21).

>

>> What shall we answer when the dispensationalist claims
>> the existence of the State of Israel today is "proof" of
>> God's covenant blessing upon them? With the clear backing of
>> Scripture, we can say, "NO!" We can then point to
>> Deuteronomy 30:1-8 as proof that the Israel of today is
>> definitely not the Israel of the Bible! But, what about the
>> land promised to Abraham?

>

>> Paul, in citing the promise to Abraham, does not limit
>> the territory to Palestine: It was NOT through the law that
>> Abraham and his offspring received the promise that he would
>> be heir of the world, but through the righteousness that
>> comes by faith (Romans 4:13). This is an extension of the
>> statement of Jesus in Matthew 5:5, in which the meek shall
>> inherit not merely Palestine, but the earth. As you can see,
>> the inheritance is for Abraham and his offspring. The
>> dispensationalist believes Jewish people are entitled to the
>> inheritance based on their racial extraction or ethnic
>> heritage. But, Paul counters this idea in Galatians 3:7,29.
>> In case he hasn't made it clear enough, Paul reiterates for
>> those who expect some special privilege for physical
>> descendants of Abraham: "Now to Abraham's and his seed the
>> promises were made. He does not say, And to seeds' as of
>> many, but as of one, And to your seed, who is Christ"
>> (Galatians 3:16). The only way to inherit anything is in
>> Christ! The Jewish leaders who came to John the Baptist
>> thought the Kingdom was theirs automatically by virtue of
>> their heritage. (Matthew 3:9). The Apostle Paul states the
>> nature of true Jewishness in Romans 2:28,29; 9:6-8; 11:5-7.

>

>> The full scope of Israel's prophets was not
>> nationalistic, but universal, with an increasing cosmic
>> dimension which took in heaven and earth (Isaiah 65:17;
>> 24:21-23). The writer of Hebrews assures them Abraham was
>> not looking merely to Palestine for fulfillment of the
>> promises. He looked for "a better country," and a city
>> "whose builder and maker is God" (Hebrews 11:10,16). The
>> continuity of the Old Testament terms and Middle East images
>> in Hebrews assures the church that God's promise has neither
>> failed nor been postponed, but is experienced now in Christ
>> (Hebrews 6:5), And, the land promises made to Abraham are
>> fulfilled in the universal Kingdom of God.

>

>> In conclusion, we have studied the subject of who God's
>> Chosen People are, and have found that, according to the
>> Bible, Israel is now composed of all those who believe in
>> Jesus as Messiah. It is not correct, therefore, to state
>> that the church has REPLACED Israel. Rather, the church IS
>> the continuity of the Old Testament Israel of God; it has
>> only replaced the Jewish nation. There is no more "Jew" and
>> "Gentile" racial distinctions. All nations are now a part of
>> Spiritual Israel in Christ. Christ's kingdom is here now in
>> fullness. All (who were a part of the true spiritual) Israel
>> were saved and given the inheritance (Romans 11:26).

>

>> With the advent of the war in the Middle East, many
>> people are wondering what is taking place in a prophetic
>> sense. As preterists, we can say with assurance that the
>> events now taking place are NOT a fulfillment of prophecy.
>> We know that all prophecy was fulfilled in A.D. 70, at which
>> time the New Covenant was fully established, making the
>> Kingdom available to all who would believe in Jesus as
>> Savior (Messiah). Some emotionalism is understandable in
>> time of war. However, we need not fear the Great Tribulation
>> or being "left behind" in the Rapture. We know by the time
>> limitations recorded in the New Testament that these things
>> have already occurred, and we are living in the new
>> spiritual promised land.

>

>> Speaking of Jews, here is what the scripture says:

>

>> Isaiah 65:15, "And ye shall leave your name for a
>> curse unto my chosen: for the Lord GOD shall slay thee, and
>> call his servants by another name:"

>

>> Matthew 21:43, "Therefore say I unto you, The
>> kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a
>> nation bringing forth the fruits thereof."

>
> YES!!!
>

>> The above two verses were fulfilled in 70 AD, when the
>> Jews were slayed, the temple burned down, and the Kingdom of
>> God was taken from the Jews and given to all who believe in
>> Christ.

>
> Not so sure about this. Another "nation" sounds more specific than
> all those who believe in Christ.
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>

>> Other Proof that there is no Jewish Race Today

>

>> After the destruction of Jerusalem in 70AD, the nation
>> of Israel, after the flesh, was scattered throughout the
>> earth, and lost all tribal relations. This scattering was
>> made immutable due to the fact that all tribal genealogical
>> records were destroyed with the Temple in A.D. 70. The
>> simple fact is that there is no existing Jewish race. Not
>> only the Bible confirms this (as already revealed), but the
>> writings of worldly authorities, including Jewish resources
>> as well. Consider the following quotations:

>

>> The Encyclopedia Brittanica (1973): "The Jews As A Race:
>> The findings of physical anthropology show that, contrary to
>> the popular view, there is no Jewish race. Anthropocentric
>> measurements of Jewish groups in many parts of the world
>> indicate that they differ greatly from one another with
>> respect to all the important physical characteristics" (vol.
>> 12, page 1054).

>

>> Encyclopedia Judaica Jerusalem (1971): "It is a common
>> assumption, and one that sometimes seems ineradicable even
>> in the face of evidence to the contrary, that the Jews of
>> today constitute a race, a homogeneous entity easily
>> recognizable. From the preceding discussion of the origin
>> and early history of the Jews, it should be clear that in
>> the course of their formation as a people and a nation they
>> had already assimilated a variety of racial strains from
>> people moving into the general area they occupied. This had
>> taken place by interbreeding and then by conversion to
>> Judaism of a considerable number of communities. . . .

>

>> "Thus, the diversity of the racial and genetic
>> attributes of various Jewish colonies of today renders any
>> unified racial classification of them a contradiction in
>> terms. Despite this, many people readily accept the notion
>> that they are a distinct race. This is probably reinforced
>> by the fact that some Jews are recognizably different in
>> appearance from the surrounding population. That many can't
>> be easily identified is overlooked and the stereotype for
>> some is extended to all - a not uncommon phenomenon"
>> (Encyclopedia Judaica Jerusalem, 1971, vol. 3, p. 50).

>

>> Encyclopedia Americana (1986): "Racial and Ethnic
>> Considerations. Some theorists have considered the Jews a
>> distinct race, although this has no factual basis. In every
>> country in which the Jews lived for a considerable time,
>> their physical traits came to approximate those of the
>> indigenous people. Hence the Jews belong to several distinct
>> racial types, ranging, for example, from fair to dark. Among
>> the reasons for this phenomenon are voluntary or involuntary
>> miscegenation and the conversion of Gentiles to Judaism"
>> (Encyclopedia Americana, 1986, vol. 16, p. 71).

>

>> Collier's Encyclopedia (1977): "A common error and
>> persistent modern myth is the designation of the Jews as a
>> 'race! This is scientifically fallacious, from the
>> standpoint of both physical and historical tradition.
>> Investigations by anthropologists have shown that Jews are
>> by no means uniform in physical character and that they
>> nearly always reflect the physical and mental
>> characteristics of the people among whom they live"
>> (Collier's Encyclopedia, 1977, vol. 13, p. 573).

>

>> Funk and Wagnall's New Encyclopedia (1970): "In 1970 the
>> Israeli Knesset adopted legislation defining a Jew as one
>> born of a Jewish mother or a convert" (vol. 14, p. 214).

>

>> H.G. Wells: "There can be little doubt that the
>> scattered Phoenicians in Spain and Africa and throughout the
>> Mediterranean, speaking as they did a language closely akin
>> to Hebrew and being deprived of their authentic political
>> rights, became proselytes to Judaism. For phases of vigorous
>> proselytism alternated with phases of exclusive jealousy in
>> Jewish history. On one occasion the Idumeans, being
>> conquered, were all forcibly made Jews. There were Arab
>> tribes who were Jews in the time of Muhammad, and a Turkish
>> people who were mainly Jews in South Russia in the ninth
>> century. Judaism is indeed the reconstructed political ideal
>> of many shattered peoples - mainly Semitic.... The main part
>> of Jewry never was in Judea and had never come out of Judea"
>> (The Outline of History, p. 505).

>

>> John Bray: "Many Christians do not know that the vast
>> majority of so-called Jews in the world today are the
>> Ashkenazim Jews, while the remainder of them are the
>> Sephardim Jews. The Ashkenazim Jews have as their background
>> not the nation of Israel but a country called Khazaria,
>> which country at one time was the largest country in Europe.
>> The settlers of Khazaria were Turks and Huns. In A.D. 740
>> King Bulan of Khazaria decided to adopt the Judaistic
>> religion for his country. A number of Jews were already
>> living there. So he converted to Judaism, along with all his
>> officials, and whole nation ended up being known as a nation
>> of Jews. In 970, Russia came in and dominated the situation,
>> and the Khazars were scattered, many of them going down into
>> Poland and Lithuania. Where at the dawn of our modern
>> civilization the largest concentration of Jews were found.
>> Today, the largest percentage of so-called Jews in the world
>> have as their background this group of people" (This
>> information is fully documented in detail in John Bray's
>> book, Israel in Bible Prophecy).

>

>> Today, being a Jew simply means that one is of the
>> Judaistic religion or a convert to it, or else in a
>> "brotherhood" of those who are. Therefore, being a Jew has
>> nothing to do with race. We are familiar with a number of
>> notable figures, such as Sammy Davis, Jr., Elizabeth Taylor,
>> Madonna, and Tom Arnold, in fact, who became Jews by
>> conversion to the religion of Judaism.

>

>> Therefore, we can clearly and confidently assert that
>> there is no such thing as a Jewish race, nor ever can there
>> be. Since the fall of Jerusalem, and the scattering of the
>> nation of Israel in the first century, the nation calling
>> itself Israel has consisted of a collection of people from
>> nearly every nation in the world, with no relation to the
>> twelve tribes of the historical nation known as Israel. Any
>> attempts to state that there is, or will ever again be, a
>> race of Israelites are proven to be futile and of no force.
>> There is no Jewish race.

>

>> What should a follower of Christ think of Jews?

>

>> Romans 2:28-29, "For he is not a Jew, which is one
>> outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in
>> the flesh: But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and
>> circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in
>> the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God."

>

>> Followers of Christ ARE Jews! Followers of Christ have
>> not REPLACED Israel...the followers of Christ ARE Israel.
>> Spiritual Israel.

>
> I would see it more that Jerusalem represents the Christian faith,
> while Israel still represents the Jewish faith. One is the essence of
> the other.
>

>> Final Thoughts

>

>> Jews do not practice "Old Testament religion;" they are
>> not almost Christians, lacking only acceptance of the
>> Messiah and the New Testament. They do not worship the true
>> God, not even the "God of the Old Testament" Jesus was quite
>> adamant: If they had believed Moses, they would believe Him.
>> (John 5:46-47)

>
> These are curious verses. How did Moses speak of Jesus? One way
> would be my hypothesis that Jesus was Jehoshua JHVSA, the true name of
> the LORD whom Moses saw in the burning bush. I say the Father was the
> angel of the LORD, Mikhael, but He is a unique form that Mikhael, aka
> Krishna, took especially for the Incarnation of Jesus, as ABA, Aleph
> Beth Aleph, or Mahavatar Babaji. That would explain why the Jews had
> not seen the Father, although they had seen Mikhael.
>
>
>
>
>

>> They don't believe the Old Testament either.
>> The religion of Judaism is a Talmudic faith, not Biblical.
>> Those who support, as the majority of premillenialists do,
>> the secular nation of Israel at this time, simply because
>> they are so-called Jews, and claim the premillenial system
>> relies on Israel as a pivotal aspect of itself, give succor
>> to apostates and enemies of Christ, and actually encourage
>> them in their unbelief.

>

>>http://www.ecclesia.org/truth/chosen.html

>

>> --

>

>> "Most christians testify to the truth that their
>> own lives were a hell until they placed their lives
>> in the hands of the Creator. Heaven for them is
>> being in the presence of that Creator and now their
>> lives are filled with a love and peace that was not
>> there before. They feel they have found a door out
>> of the hell they were in and a responsibility to
>> show others where that door is. This often comes
>> across to the non-believer as "looking down" on
>> them, but as a wise man once said... 'We're just
>> beggars showing others where the bread is'.
>> - Eric Fisher

>
> Most Christians are hypocrites, and few of them are as clear about
> doctrine as you are.
>
> Here is something else to consider, especially 31:32:
>
> Jeremiah 31:27-37
> 27.Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will sow the house of
> Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man, and with the seed
> of beast.
> 28.And it shall come to pass, that like as I have watched over them,
> to pluck up, and to break down, and to throw down, and to destroy, and
> to afflict; so will I watch over them, to build, and to plant, saith
> the LORD.
> 29.In those days they shall say no more, The fathers have eaten a sour
> grape, and the children's teeth are set on edge.
> 30.But every one shall die for his own iniquity: every man that eateth
> the sour grape, his teeth shall be set on edge.
> 31.Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new
> covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah:
> 32.Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the
> day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of
> Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto
> them, saith the LORD:
> 33.But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of
> Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their
> inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and
> they shall be my people.
> 34.And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man
> his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from
> the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I
> will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.
> 35.Thus saith the LORD, which giveth the sun for a light by day, and
> the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night,
> which divideth the sea when the waves thereof roar; The LORD of hosts
> is his name:
> 36.If those ordinances depart from before me, saith the LORD, then the
> seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before me for
> ever.
> 37.Thus saith the LORD; If heaven above can be measured, and the
> foundations of the earth searched out beneath, I will also cast off
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