Discovery #11: Missing the forest because of the trees

The image of a pier extending out to a brilliant sunrise epitomizes the hope we have in God who is always there for us.          

 Estimated reading time: 7 minutes

My Overall Purpose in Writing this Blog

My mission in conducting this 2x/month blog is to help the reader’s understanding of the Bible. I want to open up some new possibilities on how you see and experience God. To accomplish that lofty goal, I’ve tried to re-emphasize a few facts about God we may not have thought about in some time. Namely,

• MIRACLES: Sometimes, we just can’t explain an event using science as our crutch. Sometimes, the only explanation is that God did something via a true miracle! The “Ark and the Darkness” proved that concept in a big way! As Christians, we either believe that God is omnipotent or not. If He is, then He is most certainly capable of miracles. Unfortunately, humanity tends to accept only that which they can explain. By definition, miracles defy all explanations.
• IMAGES: Despite all His attempts at showing, explaining, and documenting Himself, God is just too complex for any of us to fully understand. That’s what makes Him God! At best, we see Him “in a mirror dimly.” And, more often than not, God only reveals one part of Himself to us that (at the time) helps us to believe in Him and trust Him. Thus, like three blind men trying to describe an elephant, each one of us “sees” something different in God – and we’re all right (That is, assuming the animal we all have our hands on is an elephant)! In life, there are many ideas that claim to be from God. Our challenge is to not be fooled by the imposters.
• COMMITMENT: The one great truth in life is to discover that God passionately loves us, and only we have the power to reject that love. Yet, even if we reject Him, He will work to save us until we take our last breath. Love compels Him to do that as any good parent would.
• HIS CHOSEN PEOPLE: God has an extra factor that motivates Him with respect to the Jews—He made a sacred promise to “never abandon them nor forsake them.” So, God’s promise compels Him to never abandon “His Chosen People.”

The Conundrum of the Jews

Let’s begin by addressing “the elephant in the room.” The Gospel message, as presented by Jesus, clearly states that “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. The only way to the Father is through me.” (John 14:6 NCV) Any true Christian accepts this and believes this, yet Judaism has rejected this message. So, as a Christian, must I conclude that all Jews are unsaved and condemned to hell? This is the conundrum I have been dealing with. The Old Testament has too many places where God declares that He will “never abandon nor forsake” His people. So, have I missed something in the Bible where God shows how He will make good on His promise to the Jews? This is dangerous ground. If God has any “loopholes” under which someone (or, in this case, a group of someone’s) could bypass Jesus and still get to heaven, how could such a loophole not diminish the power and role of Jesus? May it never be! But, if you agree with me, it presents a bit of a puzzle as to how (or if) God will make good on His promises. Fundamentally, the question I’m trying to answer is this:

How can God keep His promise to the Jews when they reject God’s Messiah?

So, before we try and wade through that question, let’s look at some empirical evidence suggesting God has figured this whole puzzle out.

• JESUS: Jesus is at the heart of this conundrum! I could go on at great lengths about how Jesus confirms the prophesies that God will use Him to save His people, but I don’t have the space in this blog. You’ll just have to read my book. Here’s just a sampling:
  • Jesus was referred to as “The King of the Jews” three times in scripture:
    1. At His birth by the wise men (Matthew 2:2),
    2. At His crucifixion by Pilate (Matthew 27:11), and
    3. By the soldiers who crucified Him (Matthew 27:37).
  • God referred to all Jews as “my firstborn son.” (Jeremiah 31:9b and Exodus 4:22b). This makes Jesus both “the Son of God” and God’s “firstborn son.”
  • According to the Apostle Paul, Jesus’ primary mission was “to the Jews first” (Romans 1:16). Why? Because the Law had (for generations) bound the Jews under an impossible goal – To “be Holy because I am Holy.” (Leviticus 11:44). The Jews could not keep that challenge, but Jesus did. He symbolically nailed the Law to His cross and freed His people from the Law forever.
  • Jesus recruited 12 disciples (who were all Jews) and initially instructed them to bring His message only to their fellow Jews, “the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” (Matthew 10: 5-6) Only after His death did the Holy Spirit instruct the Apostles to bring the Gospel message to the Gentiles.
• HEAVEN: Perhaps the most compelling evidence that God will keep His promise to the Jews appears in Revelation 21:10-14 where the angel gives the Apostle John a glimpse of the New heaven, where there are:
  • 12 Gates – each named after a Tribe of Israel (also mentioned in Ezekiel 48), and;
  • 12 Foundation Stones – each named after one of the 12 Apostles.

The Goal is a United Family

This image suggests that, in the New Heaven, both the Jews and the Gentiles will finally come together in unity.

• TRIBULATION VICTORY: At the end of the Tribulation, in Revelation 15, “those who have the victory over the beast, over his image and over his mark and over the number of his name, standing on the sea of glass, having harps of God. ³ They sing the song of Moses, the servant of God.” Who but the Jews would sing this song? Who but the Jews would know it? And why would the Jews be singing this song of Moses (which was last sung after their victory over Pharoah) unless the Jews had something to do with the victory?
• PROPHESY: In Daniel 9, Daniel pleads for the salvation of his people (the Jews): “¹⁹ Lord, listen! Lord, forgive! Lord, hear us and do something! For your sake, don’t wait, because your city and your people are called by your name.” This is just one of many passages where either a prophet pleads with God or God confirms that He will be faithful to the Jews. It is one of the foundational truths of the Old Testament.

Yet, despite all this overwhelming evidence, many Christians have abandoned the lessons of the Old Testament and ignored the promises God made to His people. They prefer to condemn any non-believing Jew to hell instead of questioning how God will save them. Does that sound right to you?

Conclusion

If, like me, you have any friends who are Jewish and are as committed to their faith as you are to yours, this conclusion can be very troubling. Fortunately, I’m not the only one to be concerned about this issue. A Christian author by the name of Dr. Christopher J.H. Wright was so bothered by how the message of the Old Testament has been lost, confused, or (frankly) discounted that he wrote three books to address the problem:

1. “Knowing Jesus through the Old Testament.”
2. “Knowing God the Father through the Old Testament.”
3. “Knowing the Holy Spirit through the Old Testament.”

I strongly recommend reading all three – in the order listed. It will change your life and open your mind to a much bigger God — one who has an amazing plan to save as much of His creation as possible. Stay tuned if you want to learn how (I think) God intends to accomplish this. 

Movie Review:  I saw “The Ark and the Darkness” this week. It’s a movie promoting some very compelling arguments for why the Flood was a real, historical event! Much of what they shared was new information to me. For example, did you know that archeologists have found fossils of a T-Rex along with a duck – both dated to the same period? They’ve also found a box turtle fossilized with a brontosaurus. The point is that dinosaurs are not as old as we’ve been led to believe.  This is substantiated by the discovery of collagen, muscle fiber, and DNA found in some fossilized remains. If the dinosaurs were really millions of years old, no such part of them would have survived. All in all, the movie was very thought-provoking if not just a little bit long.

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