Two Israels
- THE KEY
POINT OF THIS CHAPTER: If there are two different Israels, then it
is important to know which one is the Israel of end time prophecy.
- What does the Bible say?
First, let’s look at the beginning history
of the name, Israel. Was the name Israel first given to a nation or an
individual? If given to an individual, was Israel his or her birth
name?
Abram was a man of faith that lived about
4,000 years ago. Abram loved the Lord, believed in Him, and was
obedient in all that the Lord asked him to do. The Lord made a covenant
with him promising that he would be the father of many nations. Notice
that this covenant was conditional, “walk before me, and be thou perfect
and I will make my covenant between me and thee.” If Abram walked before
God and was perfect then God would multiply his children exceedingly,
making him the father of many nations. In the following texts I have
supplied the if and the then which are understood. One will see later,
in this study, that this understanding is clearly supported by other
scripture.
- Genesis 17:
- 1 AND when Abram was ninety
years old and nine, the Lord appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am
the Almighty God; (if you) walk before me, and be thou perfect.
- 2 And (then) I will make my covenant between
me and thee, and will multiply thee exceedingly.
- 3 And Abram fell on his face: and God talked
with him, saying,
- 4 As for me, behold, my
covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many nations.
- 5 Neither shall thy name any more be called
Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for a father of many nations have
I made thee.
Abram’s name was changed by God to Abraham
because of the covenant to make him the father of many nations. Abraham
was chosen because God knew that he would walk in the ways of the
Lord.
- Genesis 18:
- 19 For I know him, that he
will command his children and his household after him, and they shall
keep the way of the Lord, to do justice and judgment; that the Lord may
bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him.
Notice in the following texts that, even in
the old testament, salvation was by faith. Abraham believed and had
faith in the Lord and this was counted as righteousness.
- Genesis 15:
- 6 And he believed in the
Lord; and he counted it to him for righteousness.
- Hebrews 11:
- 8 By faith Abraham, when he
was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an
inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went.
Abraham had a son called Isaac.
- Genesis 17:
- 19 And God said, Sarah thy
wife shall bear thee a son indeed; and thou shalt call his name Isaac:
and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant,
and with his seed after him.
God tested Abraham’s faith by asking him to sacrifice Isaac as a
burnt offering on an altar.
- Genesis 22:
- 1 AND it came to pass after
these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham:
and he said, Behold, here I am.
- 2 And he
said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get
thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering
upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.
- 9 And they came to the place which God had
told him of; and Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in
order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood.
- 10 And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and
took the knife to slay his son.
- 11 And the
angel of the Lord called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham,
Abraham: and he said, Here am I.
- 12 And he
said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto
him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld
thy son, thine only son from me.
Abraham’s willingness to obey clearly
illustrated his great faith. Think about this for a moment. God
promised Abraham that He would make him the father of many nations.
Don’t forget that Abraham was at the old age of 100 and Sarah was 90
when God told them that Sarah was finally going to be blessed with a
son. Sarah was beyond the age of physically being able to get pregnant
(see Genesis 17:17 and 18:11,12). It must have required great faith on
the part of Abraham to trust God so much that he would be willing to
sacrifice his only son. It would have been natural for Abraham to
think, “No son, no heirs, no nations.” He had to have had great faith
that God would still, somehow, keep His promise of many nations.
Abraham’s faith was illustrated by what he did. From the heart came the
actions. Notice the next verses.
- James 2:
- 21 Was not Abraham our father
justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar?
- 22 Seest thou how faith wrought with his
works, and by works was faith made perfect?
- 23 And the scripture was fulfilled which
saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for
righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God.
Genesis 15:6 is the scripture that was
fulfilled when Abraham offered Isaac. Abraham’s faith in God was
demonstrated by his obedience to God. Abraham’s works (actions) made his
faith perfect for they illustrated what was in his heart.
- 24 Ye see then how that by works a man is
justified, and not by faith only.
Isaac grew up; married Rebekah; and had two
sons, Esau and Jacob. Events of Jacob’s life eventually brought him to
a wrestling match with an angel. As a results of that wrestling match
the angel changed Jacob’s name to “Israel.” To understand the deep
meaning of this event and what it means to us, today, let’s look at the
history leading up to this encounter.
Isaac prayed for the Lord to bless his wife
with children and she was blessed with twins. The Lord told Rebekah
that the oldest twin was going to serve the younger one.
- Genesis 25:
- 23 And the Lord said unto
her, Two nations are in thy womb, and two manner of people shall be
separated from thy bowels; and the one people shall be stronger than the
other people; and the elder shall serve the younger.
In time Jacob, the younger, talked Esau, the older, into selling
him the birthright.
- 31 And Jacob said, Sell me this day thy birthright.
- 33 And Jacob said, Swear to me this day; and
he sware unto him: and he sold his birthright unto Jacob.
When Isaac was old he decided that it was
time to bless Esau, his first born son, who was to inherit the
birthright.
- Genesis 27:
- 1 AND it came to pass, that
when Isaac was old, and his eyes were dim, so that he could not see, he
called Esau his eldest son, and said unto him, My son: and he said unto
him, Behold, here am I.
- 2 And he said,
Behold now, I am old, I know not the day of my death:
- 3 Now therefore take, I pray thee, thy
weapons, thy quiver and thy bow, and go out to the field, and take me
some venison;
- 4 And make me savoury meat,
such as I love, and bring it to me, that I may eat; that my soul may
bless thee before I die.
Rebekah overheard Isaac preparing to give
the birthright to Esau and decided to take matters into her own hands.
It will be seen that Rebekah would have suffered a lot less grief if she
had trusted in her Lord to work things out His way and in His own
time.
- 5 And Rebekah heard when Isaac spake to Esau
his son. And Esau went to the field to hunt for venison, and to bring
it.
- 6 And Rebekah spake unto Jacob her son,
saying, Behold, I heard thy father speak unto Esau thy brother, saying,
- 7 Bring me venison, and make me savoury
meat, that I may eat, and bless thee before the Lord before my death.
- 8 Now therefore, my son, obey my voice
according to that which I command thee.
- 10
And thou shalt bring it to thy father, that he may eat, and that he may
bless thee before his death.
Now Esau was very harry but Jacob was smooth
so Rebekah prepared Jacob so he could deceive his father into believing
that he was Esau. This was done so he could steal the birthright.
- 11 And Jacob said to Rebekah his mother,
Behold, Esau my brother is a hairy man, and I am a smooth man:
- 12 My father peradventure will feel me, and
I shall seem to him as a deceiver; and I shall bring a curse upon me,
and not a blessing.
- 13 And his mother said
unto him, Upon me be thy curse, my son: only obey my voice, and go fetch
me them.
- 14 And he went, and fetched, and
brought them to his mother: and his mother made savoury meat, such as
his father loved.
- 15 And Rebekah took goodly
raiment of her eldest son Esau, which were with her in the house, and
put them upon Jacob her younger son:
- 16 And
she put the skins of the kids of the goats upon his hands, and upon the
smooth of his neck:
Jacob went to his father and lied to make
him believe he was Esau. Notice that one lie led to another lie and
then another.
- 18 And he came unto his father, and said, My
father: and he said, Here am I; who art thou, my son?
- 19 And Jacob said unto his father, I am Esau
thy firstborn; I have done according as thou badest me: arise, I pray
thee, sit and eat of my venison, that thy soul may bless me.
- 20 And Isaac said unto his son, How is it
that thou hast found it so quickly, my son? And he said, Because the
Lord thy God brought it to me.
Jacob succeeded in deceiving his father and stole the birthright
from his brother.
- 21 And Isaac said unto Jacob, Come near, I
pray thee, that I may feel thee, my son, whether thou be my very son
Esau or not.
- 22 And Jacob went near unto
Isaac his father; and he felt him, and said, The voice is Jacobs voice,
but the hands are the hands of Esau.
- 23 And
he discerned him not, because his hands were hairy, as his brother
Esau’s hands: so he blessed him.
- 24 And he
said, Art thou my very son Esau? And he said, I am.
- 27 And he came near, and kissed him: and he
smelled the smell of his raiment, and blessed him, and said, See, the
smell of my son is as the smell of a field which the Lord hath blessed:
- 29 Let people serve thee, and nations bow
down to thee: be lord over thy brethren, and let thy mothers sons bow
down to thee: cursed be every one that curseth thee, and blessed be he
that blesseth thee.
Needless to say, when Esau found out what
Jacob had done he was very angry and decided in his heart to kill his
younger brother.
- 34 And when Esau heard the words of his
father, he cried with a great and exceeding bitter cry, and said unto
his father, Bless me, even me also, O my father.
- 38 And Esau said unto his father, Hast thou
but one blessing, my father? bless me, even me also, O my father. And
Esau lifted up his voice, and wept.
- 41 And
Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing wherewith his father blessed
him: and Esau said in his heart, The days of mourning for my father are
at hand; then will I slay my brother Jacob.
Rebekah found out about Esau’s decision to
kill Jacob so she had to send him away in fear. Her request that the
curse be on her came true because she would die without seeing her dear,
beloved son again.
- 42 And these words of Esau her elder son
were told to Rebekah: and she sent and called Jacob her younger son, and
said unto him, Behold, thy brother Esau, as touching thee, doth comfort
himself, purposing to kill thee.
- 43 Now
therefore, my son, obey my voice; and arise, flee thou to Laban my
brother to Haran;
After many years the Lord instructed Jacob to return to the land of
his father.
- Genesis 31:
- 3 And the Lord said unto
Jacob, Return unto the land of thy fathers, and to thy kindred; and I
will be with thee.
Jacob sent messengers ahead to let his
brother know that he was coming. He received word back that Esau was
coming with four hundred men and Jacob was very afraid.
- Genesis 32:
- 3 And Jacob sent messengers
before him to Esau his brother unto the land of Seir, the country of
Edom.
- 4 And he commanded them, saying, Thus
shall ye speak unto my lord Esau; Thy servant Jacob saith thus, I have
sojourned with Laban, and stayed there until now:
- 5 And I have oxen, and asses, flocks, and
menservants, and womenservants: and I have sent to tell my lord, that I
may find grace in thy sight.
- 6 And the
messengers returned to Jacob, saying, We came to thy brother Esau, and
also he cometh to meet thee, and four hundred men with him.
- 7 Then Jacob was greatly afraid and
distressed: and he divided the people that was with him, and the flocks,
and herds, and the camels, into two bands;
During the twenty years that Jacob had been
away, it was evident that he had walked with the Lord, as seen by the
way he had been blessed. All those years of attending the flocks had a
humbling affect on Jacob. Notice in Verse 4 above, that Jacob now calls
his brother "my lord" and refers to himself as "thy servant." Jacob had
grown spiritually to the point of being repentant for what he had done
to Esau and sends many gifts, ahead, to try to convince his brother that
he is now worthy of his forgiveness. Jacob decides to send his family
across the brook and remain alone, probably to plead with the Lord for
forgiveness and protection. He suddenly found himself wrestling with a
stranger.
- 23 And he took them, and sent them over the brook, and sent over
that he had.
- 24 And Jacob was left alone;
and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day.
- 25 And when he saw that he prevailed not
against him, he touched the hollow of his thigh; and the hollow of
Jacobs thigh was out of joint, as he wrestled with him.
- 26 And he said, Let me go, for the day
breaketh. And he said, I will not let thee go, except thou bless me.
- 27 And he said unto him, What is thy name? And he said, Jacob.
- 28 And he said, Thy name shall be called no
more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and
with men, and hast prevailed.
According to the following text, Jacob was wrestling with an
angel.
- Hosea 12:
- 2 The Lord hath also a
controversy with Judah, and will punish Jacob according to his ways;
according to his doings will he recompense him.
- 3 He took his brother by the heel in the
womb, and by his strength he had power with God:
- 4 Yea, he had power over the angel, and
prevailed: he wept, and made supplication unto him: he found him in
Bethel, and there he spake with us;
When the angel touched Jacobs thigh and put
it out of joint he realized that he was wrestling with more than just a
man. Jocob was determined to hang on to the angel until he was
blessed.
Back in Bible times a person’s name had much
more meaning than today. Names often represented the character of the
person. Jacob’s name literally meant "Deceiver" or "Crook" and Esau,
when he found out what Jacob had done, alludes to this when he says to
Isaac, "Is he not rightly named Jacob?" Genesis 27:36. The angel draws
out Jacob’s confession by asking him, "What is thy name?" When he said
my name is Jacob, it was like saying, "I am a Deceiver." Jacob, that
night, gained the victory over his sin of deceitfulness and the Angel
gave him a new name to represent his new character. The name "Israel"
had the literal meaning of "prince of God" and thus Israel was a
spiritual name. This is the first place in the Bible that the word
Israel is found.
Israel (Jacob) had 12 sons that went with him into Egypt.
- Exodus 1:
- 1 NOW these are the names of
the children of Israel, which came into Egypt; every man and his
household came with Jacob.
- 2 Reuben, Simeon,
Levi, and Judah,
- 3 Issachar, Zebulun, and
Benjamin,
- 4 Dan, and Naphtali, Gad, and
Asher.
- 5 And all the souls that came out of
the loins of Jacob were seventy souls: for Joseph was in Egypt
already.
True to God’s covenant the children of
Israel were greatly blessed and multiplied in Egypt until the Egyptians
felt threatened by their great numbers. They were by then the size of a
nation. The Egyptians forced them into slavery as a means of
controlling them.
- Exodus 1:
- 7 And the children of Israel
were fruitful, and increased abundantly, and multiplied, and waxed
exceeding mighty; and the land was filled with them.
- 8 Now there arose up a new king over Egypt,
which knew not Joseph.
- 9 And he said unto
his people, Behold, the people of the children of Israel are more and
mightier than we:
- 10 Come on, let us deal
wisely with them; lest they multiply, and it come to pass, that, when
there falleth out any war, they join also unto our enemies, and fight
against us, and so get them up out of the land.
- 11 Therefore they did set over them
taskmasters to afflict them with their burdens. And they built for
Pharaoh treasure cities, Pithom and Raamses.
Eventually God sent Moses to deliver them.
By this time Israel (Jacob) has been dead for awhile, but notice that
God now refers to the whole nation as "Israel." God also refers to the
whole nation as "my son ... my firstborn."
- Exodus 4:
- 22 And thou shalt say unto
Pharaoh, Thus saith the Lord, Israel is my son, even my firstborn:
- 23 And I say unto thee, Let my son go, that
he may serve me: and if thou refuse to let him go, behold, I will slay
thy son, even thy firstborn.
Keeping this history in mind let’s now look
at some very interesting developments. This was the story of the very
first Israel, but could there possibly be another? Could there be two
different Israels?
Notice in the following texts that the New
Testament refers to an "Israel after the flesh" and "the Israel of
God."
- Israel After The Flesh
- 1 Corinthians 10:
- 18 Behold Israel after
the flesh: are not they which eat of the sacrifices partakers of the
altar?
In the following texts Paul sorrowfully
writes that he wishes that He could choose to be lost if it would save
his kinsmen (Israel of the flesh).
- Romans 9:
- 2 That I have great heaviness
and continual sorrow in my heart.
- 3 For I
could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my
kinsmen according to the flesh:
- 4 Who are
Israelites; to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the
covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the
promises;
Dwight Waterhouse is the compiler of this information.
Please feel free to send your comments and questions. David Waterhouse
is the Webmaster. You can reach both of us at the same E mail
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