(Audio Version)
Prayer
In
light of the events around the world, I wanted to offer a prayer to those who
have to endure so much during this time:
“Heavenly
Father I want to pray for peace for those places in the world ravaged by strife
and war. I especially want to lift of Israel and our brothers and sisters in
Christ who are being threatened by evil daily from all sides. If peace is not
possible then please watch over them and protect them if it is your will that
they must endure this time of persecution. We acknowledge that you are
sovereign over all your creation. Please help us pray that your will be done
and please bring the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ to all of Israel and to
all Jewish and Christian persecutors. I pray these things in the name of our
great King, Jesus Christ. Amen.”
Introduction
Like
many other Christians, my daily devotions include Scripture reading. It usually
takes me a little more than a year to read through the entire Bible. I’ve been
doing it for years and I’ve lost track of how many times I’ve read through the
Bible as part of my devotional practice and my theological training. If you
think I read the Bible incessantly because I have to as a Christian or as a
pastor, you’d be wrong. There are plenty of Christians who rarely pick up a
Bible let alone read one and there are many pastors who open their Bibles
merely as part of their ministerial duties. I read it incessantly because no
matter how many times I read it, I always find a part that makes me say, ‘I
don’t remember reading that the last time.’ I also read it because I see myself
in the words on the pages and live out my relationship with God through those
words. I don’t always see how everything applies to me specifically but I know
I’m part of the story and I want to be in a relationship with the Author that
wrote me into His story. Of course, this is part of my personal devotional
exercise. Theologically, God’s story is a calling of a people to Himself. It is
the story of salvation past, salvation present, and salvation future. The
theological key is understanding how the salvation story fits together.
One of the things
that can be difficult to understand is how the Old Testament and the New
Testament form a continuing narrative. Many understand the Old Testament as one
narrative and the New Testament as another with only a few faint threads in
common. However, I contend that the Old Testament is part of the New Testament
and together they form A Divine Tapestry. God is the divine
Weaver of the tapestry that has as its central elements Israel, Christians and
the Messiah Savior of both. Why is this important? Because some Christians have
joined the foolish voices of unbelievers screaming to abandon Israel in the
never-ending struggle against their neighbors who are tireless in their efforts
to destroy Israel as a nation and the Jews as a people. Behind the opposition
to Israel on the part of unbelievers is an irrational yet unmitigated hatred
for Israel dating back thousands of years. Behind the opposition to Israel on
the part of Christians is old fashion biblical ignorance. However, anytime
there is any behavior on the part of humanity that is unbiblical (unbiblical
being defined as any behavior that contravenes God’s will and instructions as
provided to us through the Scriptures), we find Satan skulking about
influencing and working through unbelievers and at the same time deceiving
believers so they will, through their biblical ignorance, unwitting join his
efforts of constantly opposing God’s will and plan for the salvation of
humanity. The purpose of this lesson is to follow the thread through the
biblical narrative beginning in the Book of Genesis and ending with the Book of
Revelation with the hope that at the end you will be able to see how God,
throughout the Scriptures, weaves together Israel, the Christians and Jesus
into A Divine Tapestry.
Subject Texts
Genesis 3:1-24
1Now
the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made.
He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in
the garden’?” 2The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from
the trees in the garden, 3but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit
from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it,
or you will die.’” 4“You will not surely die,” the serpent said to
the woman. 5“For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be
opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 6When the
woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye,
and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave
some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. 7Then
the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for
themselves. 8Then the man and his wife heard the
sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the
cool of the day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees
of the garden. 9But the LORD God called to the man, “Where are you?” 10He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was
afraid because I was naked; so I hid.” 11And
he said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from
the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?” 12The
man said, “The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit
from the tree, and I ate it.” 13Then the LORD God said to the woman,
“What is this you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.” 14So the LORD God said to the serpent,
“Because you have done this, cursed are you above all the
livestock and all the wild animals! You will crawl on your belly and you will
eat dust all the days of your life. 15And I will put
enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.”
16To the woman he said, “I will greatly increase your pains in
childbearing; with pain you will give birth to children. Your
desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.” 17To
Adam he said, “Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about
which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat of it,’ cursed is
the ground because of you; through painful toil you
will eat of it all the days of your life. 18It will
produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants
of the field. 19By the sweat of your brow
you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since
from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return.” 20Adam named his wife Eve,
because she would become the mother of all the living. 21The LORD
God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them.
22And the LORD God said, “The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his
hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live
forever.” 23So the LORD God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken. 24After
he drove the man out, he placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing
back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life.
Genesis 12:1-3
1The
LORD had said to Abram, “Leave your country, your people and your father’s
household and go to the land I will show you. 2I will make you into a great nation and I
will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a
blessing. 3I will bless those who bless you, and
whoever curses you I will curse; and all
peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”
Genesis
28:10-17
10Jacob
left Beersheba and set out for Haran. 11When he reached a certain
place, he stopped for the night because the sun had set. Taking one of the
stones there, he put it under his head and lay down to sleep. 12He had a dream in which he saw a stairway resting on the earth,
with its top reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and
descending on it. 13There above it stood the LORD, and he
said: “I am the LORD, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I
will give you and your descendants the land on which you are lying. 14Your
descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the
west and to the east, to the north and to the south. All peoples on earth will
be blessed through you and your offspring. 15I am with you
and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this
land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”
16When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he thought, “Surely the LORD is
in this place, and I was not aware of it.” 17He was afraid and said,
“How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God; this is
the gate of heaven.”
Genesis
35:10
10God
said to him, “Your name is Jacob, but you will no longer be
called Jacob; your name will be Israel.” So he named him Israel.
Genesis 35:22b-26
22bJacob
had twelve sons: 23The sons of Leah: Reuben the firstborn of Jacob, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar and Zebulun. 24The sons of Rachel: Joseph and Benjamin. 25The sons of Rachel’s maidservant Bilhah:
Dan and Naphtali. 26The sons of Leah’s maidservant Zilpah:
Gad and Asher. These were the sons of Jacob, who were born to him in Paddan Aram.
Malachi 3:1-5
1“See,
I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way
before me. Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his
temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come,” says the
LORD Almighty. 2But who can endure the day
of his coming? Who can stand when he appears? For he will be like a
refiner’s fire or a launderer’s soap. 3He will sit as a refiner and
purifier of silver; he will purify the Levites and refine them like gold and
silver. Then the LORD will have men who will bring offerings in righteousness, 4and
the offerings of Judah and Jerusalem will be acceptable to the LORD, as in days
gone by, as in former years. 5“So I will come near to you for
judgment. I will be quick to testify against sorcerers,
adulterers and perjurers, against those who defraud laborers of their wages,
who oppress the widows and the fatherless, and deprive aliens of justice,
but do not fear me,” says the LORD Almighty.
Malachi 4:5
5“See,
I will send you the prophet Elijah before that great
and dreadful day of the LORD comes.”
John 1:23
23John
[the Baptist] replied in the words of Isaiah the prophet, “I am the voice
of one calling in the desert, ‘Make straight the way for the Lord.’”
John 1:35-51
35The
next day John was there again with two of his disciples. 36When
he saw Jesus passing by, he said, “Look, the Lamb of God!” 37When
the two disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus. 38Turning
around, Jesus saw them following and asked, “What do you want?” They said,
“Rabbi” (which means Teacher), “where are you staying?” 39“Come,” he
replied, “and you will see.” So they went and saw where he was staying, and
spent that day with him. It was about the tenth hour. 40Andrew,
Simon Peter’s brother, was one of the two who heard what John had said and who
had followed Jesus. 41The first thing Andrew did was to find his
brother Simon and tell him, “We have found the Messiah” (that is, the Christ). 42And
he brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon son of
John. You will be called Cephas” (which, when translated, is Peter).
43The next day Jesus decided to leave for Galilee. Finding Philip,
he said to him, “Follow me.” 44Philip, like Andrew and Peter, was
from the town of Bethsaida. 45Philip found Nathanael and told him, “We
have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets
also wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” 46“Nazareth! Can
anything good come from there?” Nathanael asked. “Come and see,”
said Philip. 47When Jesus saw Nathanael approaching, he said of him,
“Here is a true Israelite, in whom there is nothing false.” 48“How do you know me?” Nathanael asked. Jesus
answered, “I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip
called you.” 49Then Nathanael declared, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of
Israel.” 50Jesus said, “You believe because I told you I saw you under the fig tree. You shall see
greater things than that.” 51He then added, “I tell you the
truth, you shall see heaven open,
and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”
Luke 24:19b-35
“About
Jesus of Nazareth,” they replied. “He was a prophet, powerful in word and deed
before God and all the people. 20The chief priests and our rulers handed
him over to be sentenced to death, and they crucified him; 21but we
had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel. And what is more,
it is the third day since all this took place. 22In addition, some
of our women amazed us. They went to the tomb early this morning 23but
didn't find his body. They came and told us that they had seen a vision of
angels, who said he was alive. 24Then some of our companions went to
the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but him they did not see.” 25He
said to them, “How foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that
the prophets have spoken! 26Did not the Christ have to suffer these
things and then enter his glory?” 27And beginning with
Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the
Scriptures concerning himself. 28As they approached the
village to which they were going, Jesus acted as if he were going farther. 29But
they urged him strongly, “Stay with us, for it is nearly evening; the day is
almost over.” So he went in to stay with them. 30When he was at the
table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to
them. 31Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he
disappeared from their sight. 32They asked each other, “Were not our
hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the
Scriptures to us?” 33They got up and returned at once to Jerusalem.
There they found the Eleven and those with them, assembled together 34and
saying, “It is true! The Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon.” 35Then
the two told what had happened on the way, and how Jesus was recognized by them
when he broke the bread.
Acts 1:13b-26
13bThose
present were Peter, John,
James and Andrew;
Philip and Thomas,
Bartholomew and Matthew;
James son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of
James. 14They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with
the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers. 15In
those days Peter stood up among the believers (a group numbering about a
hundred and twenty) 16and said, “Brothers, the Scripture had to be
fulfilled which the Holy Spirit spoke long ago through the mouth of David
concerning Judas, who served as guide for those who arrested Jesus—17he
was one of our number and shared in this ministry.” 18(With the
reward he got for his wickedness, Judas bought a field; there he fell headlong,
his body burst open and all his intestines spilled out. 19Everyone
in Jerusalem heard about this, so they called that field in their language Akeldama, that is, Field of Blood.) 20“For,”
said Peter, “it is written in the book of Psalms, ‘May his place be deserted;
let there be no one to dwell in it,’ and, ‘May another take his place of
leadership.’ 21Therefore it is necessary to choose one of the men
who have been with us the whole time the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, 22beginning
from John’s baptism to the time when Jesus was taken up from us. For one of
these must become a witness with us of his resurrection.” 23So they
proposed two men: Joseph called Barsabbas (also known as Justus) and Matthias. 24Then
they prayed, “Lord, you know everyone’s heart. Show us which of these two you
have chosen 25to take over this apostolic ministry, which Judas left
to go where he belongs.” 26Then they cast lots, and the lot fell to Matthias; so he was added to the eleven apostles.
Acts
11:19-30
19Now
those who had been scattered by the persecution in connection with Stephen traveled
as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus and Antioch, telling the message only to Jews. 20Some
of them, however, men from Cyprus and Cyrene, went to Antioch and began to
speak to Greeks also, telling them the good news about the Lord Jesus. 21The
Lord’s hand was with them, and a great number of people believed and turned to
the Lord. 22News of this reached the ears of the church at
Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch. 23When he arrived and
saw the evidence of the grace of God, he was glad and encouraged them all to
remain true to the Lord with all their hearts. 24He was a good man,
full of the Holy Spirit and faith, and a great number of people were brought to
the Lord. 25Then Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul, 26and
when he found him, he brought him to Antioch. So for a whole year Barnabas and
Saul met with the church and taught great numbers of people. The disciples were
called Christians first
at Antioch. 27During this time some prophets came down from
Jerusalem to Antioch. 28One of them, named Agabus, stood up and
through the Spirit predicted that a severe famine would spread over the entire
Roman world. (This happened during the reign of Claudius.) 29The
disciples, each according to his ability, decided to provide help for the
brothers living in Judea. 30This they did, sending their gift to the
elders by Barnabas and Saul.
Romans
11:1-32
1I ask then: Did God reject his people? By no means! I am an Israelite
myself, a descendant of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin. 2God
did not reject his people, whom he foreknew. Don’t you know what the Scripture
says in the passage about Elijah—how he appealed to God against Israel: 3“Lord,
they have killed your prophets and torn down your altars; I am the only one
left, and they are trying to kill me”? 4And what was God’s answer to
him? “I have reserved for myself seven thousand who have not bowed the knee to
Baal.” 5So too, at the present time there is a remnant chosen by
grace. 6And if by grace, then it is no longer by works; if it were,
grace would no longer be grace. 7What then? What Israel sought so
earnestly it did not obtain, but the elect did. The others were hardened, 8as
it is written: “God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes so that they could not
see and ears so that they could not hear, to this very day.” 9And
David says: “May their table become a snare and a trap, a stumbling block and a
retribution for them. 10May their eyes be darkened so they cannot
see, and their backs be bent forever.” 11Again I ask: Did they stumble so as to fall beyond recovery? Not at all! Rather,
because of their transgression, salvation has come to the Gentiles to make
Israel envious. 12But if their transgression means riches for the
world, and their loss means riches for the Gentiles, how much greater riches
will their fullness bring! 13I am talking to you
Gentiles. Inasmuch as I am the apostle to the Gentiles, I make much of my
ministry 14in the hope that I may somehow arouse my own people to
envy and save some of them. 15For if their rejection is the
reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the
dead? 16If the part of the dough offered as first fruits is holy, then
the whole batch is holy; if the root is holy, so are the branches. 17If
some of the branches have been broken off, and you, though a wild olive shoot,
have been grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing sap from
the olive root, 18do not boast over those branches. If you do,
consider this: You do not support the root, but the root supports you. 19You
will say then, “Branches were broken off so that I could be grafted in.” 20Granted.
But they were broken off because of unbelief,
and you stand by faith. Do not be arrogant, but be afraid. 21For if
God did not spare the natural branches, he will not spare you either. 22Consider
therefore the kindness and sternness of God: sternness to those who fell, but
kindness to you, provided that you continue in his kindness. Otherwise,
you also will be cut off. 23And if they do not persist in
unbelief, they will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again.
24After all, if you were cut out of an olive tree that is wild by
nature, and contrary to nature were grafted into a cultivated olive tree, how
much more readily will these, the natural branches, be grafted into their own
olive tree! 25I do not want
you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers, so that you may not be
conceited: Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of
the Gentiles has come in. 26And so all Israel will be saved, as it
is written: “The deliverer will come from Zion; he will turn godlessness away
from Jacob. 27And this is my covenant with them when I
take away their sins.” 28As far as the gospel is
concerned, they are enemies on your account; but as far as election is
concerned, they are loved on account of the patriarchs, 29for God’s
gifts and his call are irrevocable. 30Just
as you who were at one time disobedient to God have now received
mercy as a result of their disobedience, 31so they too have now
become disobedient in order that they too may now receive mercy
as a result of God’s mercy to you. 32For God has bound all men over to disobedience so
that he may have mercy on them all.
Romans
16:20a
20aThe
God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet.
Revelation 21:9-21
9One
of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came
and said to me, “Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.” 10And
he carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high, and showed me
the Holy City, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God. 11It
shone with the glory of God, and its brilliance was like that of a very
precious jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal. 12It had a great, high wall with twelve gates, and with twelve
angels at the gates. On the gates were written the names of the twelve tribes
of Israel. 13There were three gates on the east, three on
the north, three on the south and three on the west. 14The wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the names
of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. 15The angel who talked
with me had a measuring rod of gold to measure the city, its gates and its
walls. 16The city was laid out like a square, as long as it was
wide. He measured the city with the rod and found it to be 12,000 stadia in
length, and as wide and high as it is long. 17He measured its wall
and it was 144 cubits thick, by man’s measurement, which the angel was using. 18The
wall was made of jasper, and the city of pure gold, as pure as glass. 19The
foundations of the city walls were decorated with every kind of precious stone.
The first foundation was jasper, the second sapphire, the third chalcedony, the
fourth emerald, 20the fifth sardonyx, the sixth carnelian, the
seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase,
the eleventh jacinth, and the twelfth amethyst. 21The twelve
gates were twelve pearls, each gate made of a single pearl. The great
street of the city was of pure gold, like transparent glass.
Revelation
22:1-5
1Then
the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from
the throne of God and of the Lamb 2down the middle of the great
street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of
life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month.
And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of
the nations. 3No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of
the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him. 4They
will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. 5There
will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of
the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign forever and
ever.
Weaving The
Tapestry
Creation
was cursed because of the sin first committed by Adam and Eve. Nevertheless,
God called Abraham through whom a nation would be born. Abraham’s son, Isaac,
had a son name Jacob who had twelve sons that formed that nation. God would
change Jacob’s name to Israel and the nation of twelve sons would be known as
the twelve tribes of Israel. Through the lineage of one of those tribes, the
tribe of Judah, God would provide the One to deal with humanity’s sin and
reverse creation’s curse. Israel would live in anticipation of the One, the
Messiah, that was written about by Moses in Law and by their prophets. There
would be signs leading up to the Messiah Israel was expecting and those signs
would point directly at Jesus. Jesus would, in fact, prove to be the Messiah
Israel was anticipating for so many years. Unfortunately, most of Israel, led
by the religious leaders, refused to accept Jesus as that Messiah and put Him
to death. However, it was precisely through Jesus’ death that God provided the means
for humanity to be absolved of its sin and His resurrection from the dead
signaled the reversal of creation’s curse inaugurated by the original sin of
Adam and Eve. Before Jesus’ death and resurrection, He assembled a group of
twelve men that would take the salvation message of Jesus’ death and
resurrection to the rest of the world. These twelve men would come to be known
as the Apostles of Christ. By their witness, and those who believed them,
another nation would be born—a nation known as Christians. Christians are not a
nation intended to replace the nation of Israel as some may have you believe.
Instead, the Christian nation will be instrumental in leading Israel to faith
in the Messiah the Jews have so long been waiting for—faith in Jesus Christ. At
the end of time, there will be a new beginning; a new creation; a new heaven
and a new earth; a new Holy City; a new Jerusalem. The gates of the new
Jerusalem will be memorialized by the names of the twelve tribes of Israel. The
twelve foundations upon which the new Jerusalem will be built will bear the
names of the twelve apostles. And finally, the temple that occupied the center
of the old city will be replaced in the new Jerusalem by God Himself where all
believers of Jesus, Jews and Gentiles, will worship together.
If you ever wonder why Christians should prize the existence
of Israel as a nation or the Jews as a people, remember that the Jews are one
of the threads, along with Christians, being woven by God into a beautiful
tapestry of God’s love relationship with humanity and His creation—A Divine Tapestry.
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