A s the G entiles comprise the first group of three peoples in whom God’s eternal and prophetic truth is revealed we come to the second which is Israel. It is interesting to note that God’s .ancient people are popularly known to us by three terms. There is the word Hebrew which may have come from Heber, one of the forebear ers of Abraham. The second is the word “Jews.” This is no doubt an abbreviation of the tribe of Judah, the royal tribe of David. This was the human household from which our Lord Jesus Christ derived His lineage after the flesh. The third word is “Israel.” We have a modem term today known as Israeli, which signifies the land of Palestine. In the Old Testament Jacob is given this new name by the Lord which means, “Prince with God.” Now, why did God choose a special people; a nation? Was it because of their race? Scripture gives us the clear answer, and it is a great prophetic truth. “Now the Lord said unto Abra ham, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy fa ther’s house, unto a land that I will show thee: And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee,
and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse them that curseth thee: and in thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed.” Abraham was to leave his kindred' and his home country. It is interesting to find that when God introduces a pro phetic truth He invariably does it in outline. Later on, in subsequent chap ters, He fills in the outline so that by the time the Old Testament is complet ed we have the full details. Think 0f the fact that the Jews were to be a great nation. This has literally come true. How many Jews in the world today bear the name of their father Abraham? Whenever the Jewish na tion has been ill-treated, misfortune has come to that oppressive nation. Whenever nations have been thought ful and kind to Israel, God has attend ed His blessing as He promised. If it were not for Israel we would not have the Holy Bible. God chose His prophets of old from the Jewish nation to be His human agents. We who are believers today, who have come from Gentile stock, can be su premely thankful to the nation of Israel (continued on next page) 11
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