Israel - Me

What’s more, I am with you, and I will protect you wherever you go. One day I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have finished giving you everything I have promised you.” [Genesis 28.15]

This is what God told Jacob when Jacob dreamed about the stairway to heaven and named the place Bethel.

Clearly, in the preceding verse, God was revealing plans for the Messiah:

Your descendants will be as numerous as the dust of the earth! They will spread out in all directions—to the west and the east, to the north and the south. And all the families of the earth will be blessed through you and your descendants. [Genesis 28.14]

So, here is my thought today (and it will remain on my mind this entire year as I read through the Bible again): in Genesis 28.15 God told Jacob (Israel) that He (God) would not leave Jacob UNTIL He (God) finished giving him everything He had promised.

At first, I thought maybe the blessings on Israel stopped once Jesus the Messiah came to earth. But in further consideration, it occurred to me that Jesus is not the end of God's Promise, but the Firstborn of many children!

Look at what the Apostle Paul said:

For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son, so that his Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. [Romans 8.29]

The "nation" of Israel served it's purpose in pointing to Jesus. However, God has not finished with His promise because He promised "descendants ...as numerous as the dust of the earth." The promise was genetically exclusive (through Israel) up until Jesus at which point faith in Him (Jesus) made the promise available to "all the families of the earth."

All references to Israel prior to the Messiah concerned a genetic lineage. All references to Israel starting at Jesus concern Jesus' family of faith.

The Church needs to quit its superstitious idea about the political nation of Israel and instead understand that believers in Christ are now the spiritual nation of Israel that remains under the blessing given to Jacob at Bethel!

Romans 4 in the New Testament elaborates on what I have pointed out here. It is worth reading.

Father, I am reminded today that every promise You made to Israel is a promise to me.