Which Israel?

 

 

This may be a puzzle

But it need not be, my friend,

An explicit reading, I dare say,

Should bring it to an end.

 

Go to Romans chapter 9

And you will see what I mean,

As I read it for myself

I see two different scenes.

 

I see Israel number 1

And I see Israel number 2,

Since not all Israel are of Israel

Is clear to me and you.

 

 

Yes, there are two “Israels”

Read it in Romans 9:

One of the flesh and one of promise,

Lock this in your mind.

 

This is explicitly stated

In not all Israel are of Israel,

Israel number 2 you should see

Are an assorted people.

 

Not all children

Because they are Abraham’s seed

But the children of the promise

Are counted for seed.

 

Predestined to be so

In God’s redemptive plan

That all the nations of the world

Will be blessed in Abraham.

 

 

“At this time will I come

And Sarah shall have a son,”

It was not Ishmael as some may opine,

 Isaac was her promised one.

 

 

Yes, Ishmael was older

But Isaac was the promised son,

Very similar to Esau and Jacob

But Jacob was the chosen one.

 

 

It was said to Sarah

The elder shall serve the younger,

As it is written, Jacob have I loved

But Esau have I hated.

 

Of course, love and hate here

Must be put into context

Never mind Jacob did some things

That really made Esau vexed.

 

After all, Jacob was a trickster

And by trickery he made his way

But in all of his dealing and scheming,

God held absolute sway.

 

Do not be side tracked

By the quality of men God chose,

The reason why He chose these men,

Only God knows.

 

Here He chose a trickster

Whose seed crucified the Christ

Arguing they were Abraham’s seed

And Christ did not suffice.

 

Not only of the Jews

Did all-wise all-knowing God call

But He also chose of the Gentiles;

Jews were not them all.

 

Not all of Israel are of Israel

Has a double meaning,

Follow me closely as I proceed

And see what I am gleaning.

 

Not all of Israel

Meaning not every Israelite,

To say that they all will be saved

Is just not right.

 

Thank God there were Jews

That did come to Christ,

Not all of them rejected the Saviour

Losing out on eternal life.

 

Not all of Israel

Are of Abraham’s flesh,

But in Abraham’s seed, of course,

The Christ, all will be blessed.

 

So that Israel number 2

Comprise both Jew and Gentile,

Both being endued by the Spirit;

The flesh being defiled.

 

For in the flesh, it states

Dwelleth no good thing,

Paul makes this clear in chapter 7

In what he’s offering.

 

‘Tis God’s sovereign choice

To choose as He did choose

But it is an act of man’s free will

Whether he win or lose.

 

 

Israel number 2 is the elect

The chosen of Almighty God,

These are they that came by faith

When they heard Him call.

 

“Whosoever will may come”

Is the invitation to one and all,

“Elect according to God’s foreknowledge”

Them that heed His call.

 

Neither Jew nor Gentile

But all are one in Jesus Christ

Who gave his life a ransom for many:

A once for all sacrifice.

 

Romans 9:30-33

 

What shall we say then?

That the Gentiles, which followed not after righteousness,

Have attained to righteousness,

Even the righteousness which is of faith.

 

But Israel,

Which followed after the law of righteousness,

Hath not attained to the law of righteousness.

 

Wherefore?

Because they sought it not by faith,

But as it were by the works of the law.

For they stumbled at that stumblingstone;

 

As it is written,

Behold, I lay in Sion a stumblingstone and rock of offence:

And whosoever believeth on him

Shall not be ashamed.

 

 

 

Be sure to say which Israel

For not all Israel are of Israel,

The one of faith is not ethnic Israel

But the New Covenanted Israel.

 

Stewart Russell © March 20, 2024

 

An Act of the Will

 

There is much conflict

Between Armenians and Calvinists

And there is clearly a major point

That both of them miss.

 

That point being, of course,

God’s ways are past finding out

And that man’s enormous deficit

Is surely without doubt.

 

For every one who is saved

It was an act of the will,

Concerning what Calvinists hold

This is the bitter pill.

 

The elect chooses to be saved

By a definite act of the will,

Thus, the “whosoever will” may come

We hear the invitation still.

 

There is clearly no doubt

That choice is a factor,

Those who come will not be denied

Who don’t, is another matter.

 

 

 

God is God

And He is definitely in charge,

He was and is and always will be

Though often disparaged.

 

His sovereignty is intact

Despite giving man a choice,

That is to accept His invitation

Or ignore His voice.

 

In the acceptance of grace

Neither is compromised:

God’s sovereignty and our choice

Work side by side.

 

On this wise we ought to pray

Even when I don’t understand

Lord, let me never wander away

From your sovereign hand.

 

 

The elect is the elect

Because they’re chosen of God,

Is it any wonder, therefore,

They answered His call.

 

They were given to Christ

As is outlined in the Word

And to think Satan can snatch them

Is to be absurd.

 

Having said yes to His call

They are held by His hand

And nothing can pluck them out:

No creature or no man.

 

For by an act of their will

They show they are the elect

And seeing the footsteps of Jesus

They fell in step.

 

Prevenient grace or total depravity

Is not the critical issue

But having heard Christ call,

What will you do?

 

 

Christians argue technicalities

While sinners are lost and undone,

It is for such sinners the Saviour died

And now he bids them come.

 

A simple act of the will

Expressed in an act of faith,

God’s sovereignty and our free will

Meeting in wonderful grace.

 

Stewart Russell © March 21, 2024

 

The Biblical Paradox

  

A day is but a thousand years

A thousand years but a day

God reckons not like we do

To make His plan come true

Out of nothing came the world

On nothing it hangs and twirls

Six days it took the Creator

Just a word no manual labour

Exaltation through humility

Impossible becomes possibility

Strength through inability

Life straight out of mortality

Receiving through giving

Dying resulting in living

Gaining through losing

Healing through His bruising

We triumph through defeat

And gain strength when weak

We reign by serving

And conquer by yielding

In bondage we are free

Though slaves we have liberty

Made great by becoming small

From a small seed proceeds the tall

Robes washed in blood become white

Hundreds less than a widow’s mite

More blessed to give than receive

Having not seen yet some believe

Was dead yet alive forever more

Little food fed thousands galore

King though a servant to the fore

A lamb yet a shepherd and the door

The way to up is the direction down

Lose your life so it may be found

Gain the world but lose your soul

Jesus, Savior, the door to the fold

  

Created water yet said, “I thirst.”

He was the last but also the first

Was a son though existing before

Abraham, King David and many more

Foolish things to confound the wise

Before weak things the mighty lies

An ear of corn falls to the ground and dies

There in the darkness death it defies

Jesus, born of a virgin’s womb

And destined for a virgin tomb

Creator, ruler of the universe

Died to rid us of sin’s curse

Becoming poor to make us rich

Sold for silver Judas’ sales pitch

Emptied himself to make us full

Rescued us from the devil’s pull

Extending from earth to heaven

A wooden bridge was given

Hands outstretched to every man

Christ unveiled redemption’s plan

 

Died on the cross to give us life

Formed the church to be his wife

He the groom the church his bride

For all eternity ever by his side

Having risen from the dead

And now waiting to be wed

The sheep the shepherd led

Will become his bride instead

A man who dies can live again

Once reborn in Jesus’ name

And he who lives will never die

So says the One who lives on high

God’s sovereignty is complete

Man’s free will need not compete

And while I am unable to explain

I choose to believe it all the same

It’s like the conflicting paradox

Like one key and so many locks

One of those locks must fit that key

Yet many will try and never see

Can these two truths fit?

Although apparently opposite?

Yes, for while in part we understand

God’s whole is the perfect plan

It’s very interesting to observe

How the pieces of a puzzle curve

Yet they fit precisely together

To form a most attractive picture

God’s word is often like a puzzle

In our minds an evident muddle

But the Spirit brings us comfort

When to His reasoning we resort

Stewart Russell © 2013