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T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
April, 1938
of Israel By LOU IS S. B A UM A N * Long Beach, California
• Increased unity appears in Palestine as tens of thou sands of refugees from Germany and other Central and Eastern European lands throw their energies into the de velopment of "the land" as the great Jewish National Home. Guiding the machine above is a young German Jewish refugee, who with other youths between the ages of fifteen and seventeen has been receiving agricultural training to fit him to share in the work of Palestine's farms. The marching band of sailors pictured are students in a Jewish Nautical School where they have been learn ing to become expert seamen in preparation1for a Jewish merchant marine that will come from Palestine in the near future. Photographs on these two pages are used through the courtesy of the United Palestine Appeal, and are copyrighted.
and made immortal. And, as Easter approaches, believers will stand once again beside that empty tomb and rejoice greatly in the hope that it brings. “ For
of them be, but life from the dead?" (v. 15). “Life from the dead”— that is resurrec tion! So, when “ the fulness of the Gentiles be come in” (v. 25), the resurrection of “the house of Jacob” will take place; “ and so all Israel shall be saved” (v. 26). Ezekiel's Vision of the Resurrection of Jacob's "Hou se " But this revelation to Paul was no new revelation. A marvelous vision of this event was afforded the prophet Ezekiel (chapter 37). The prophet was led by the Holy Spirit into “ the midst of the valley which was full of bones” (v. 1). The bones were “very dry” (v. 2), that is, utterly lifeless— long dead. Let him now tell the story: “ So I prophesied as I was com manded : and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold a shaking, and the bones came together, bone to his bone. And when I beheld, lo, the sinews and the flesh came up upon them, and the skin covered them above: but there was no breath in them. Then said he unto me, Prophesy unto the wind, prophesy, son of man, and say to the wind, Thus saith the Lord G od ; Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live. So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army” (Ezek. 37:7-10). What was the meaning of this strange vision? Let the Lord God of heaven, who alone doeth wondrous things, give ahswer: “Then he said unto me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of
T WO “ resurrections” set forth in the Scriptures have an intimate connec tion that is sometimes overlooked. W e refer to the “ house” of God that was builded in the womb of Mary, and the “ house of God” that was builded in the wombs of Leah, Rachel, Bilhah and Zilpah. W e use the word “ house” in the sense in which the Spirit of God used it as He moved holy men o f old. The body which was formed in, and came forth from the womb of the virgin, housed “ Immanuel”— “W on derful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace” (Isa. 7:14; 9:6). The Lord Himself referred to that body as a “ temple” (John 2:19-21), and in Jesus Christ “ dwelleth all the fulness o f the Godhead bodily” (Col. 2:9). In many places in the revelation of God, the body is set forth as a “ temple,” a “tabernacle,” a “ building,” a “ house.” Within the compass of a single verse, we find three of these expressions: “For we know that, if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dis solved, we have a building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens” (2 Cor. 5:1). Now, it was while “tabernacled” in this “ earthly house” that our Lord Jesus Christ suffered and died for our sins; and, it was in this “ house” that He was buried, and on the third day was raised up, glorified,
if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him” (1 Thess. 4:14). The resurrection and glorification of Jesus Christ is the assurance of the resurrection and glorification of all who have fallen asleep in Jesus. Blessed hope! The Resurrection of the "Hou se " Which Jacob Builded But there is another “tabernacle,” another “ house” of God, wherein God once dwelt, and will dwell again. For centuries, God has not dwelt within this body, and the body without its Occupant is dead. But res urrection and glorification await this “ house” also. W e speak of the body that is referred to hundreds of times by the Holy Spirit as the “ house of Israel,” the “ house of Jacob,” the “ house of Judah,” and the “ house of David.” Reference in Scripture is made many times to this “house” as the “ house of the Lord" (Micah 4:1), and as “ the house of the God of Jacob” (Isa. 2:3). In the greatest bit of revelation dealing with the Jew that was ever vouchsafed to the Apostle Paul—-Romans 11— Israel is set forth as “the natural branches” (v. 24) of an “olive tree” (Christ), branches that have been broken off and cast aside— and are therefore dead. But the apostle beheld a day when God would “ graff them in again” (v. 23). And of this ingraftment Paul signifi cantly remarks: “What shall the receiving
*Pastor, First Brethren Church.
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