In 1 Samuel 15, we witness well-established principles of the Torah being fleshed out
This is exciting to see because it is nothing less than the real-life application of God’s Word.
Unfortunately, these principles will fly above the heads of most Christians because they don’t know or care to study the Torah since their core doctrines teach that the “Old” Testament holds little if any relevance to their lives.
So let’s revisit a key and foundational principle.
It is that God has divided the world into two distinct people groups: the Gentiles and the Hebrews.
One group is chosen and redeemed by God, the other isn’t.
This division occurred once the Lord elected and separated Abraham and a portion of his descendants to be a special people unto Himself.
Of course, we know the people who were set apart to serve God as the Hebrews or Israel, and everyone else is Gentiles.
Israel’s mission was to trust and serve God, establish His Kingdom on earth, bring His divine laws and commands into this Kingdom, and produce the Messiah.
On the other hand, the Gentiles represent the complete opposite of God’s purpose for the world.
They do not trust nor want to serve God.
They are against God’s Kingdom being established on this planet, and the last thing they want to do is adopt God’s laws and commands as their own.
That’s why Gentiles see no need for a savior or a Messiah.
Now here’s another point you should embed firmly in your cranium or you’ll fall prey to that dangerous Christian tendency that says God has replaced Israel with the church because Israel broke God’s covenant with them.
First, when someone tells you God has discarded Israel because they’ve broken His covenant ask “Which covenant?“
The Abrahamic Covenant or the Mosaic Covenant?
These two covenants are quite different even though they complement and build upon each other.
The Abrahamic Covenant affirms three things:
First, Canaan (now Israel) would be established as a special piece of real estate that would serve as God’s Kingdom on this earth.
Second, this land inheritance would be given ONLY to a special group of people known as the Hebrews.
Third, these descendants of Abraham were to be a blessing to all the families of the world.
Today, we know this is true because the Messiah was born from the lineage of Israel, specifically from the tribe of Judah.
Now, here’s the thing.
The Abrahamic Covenant was an unconditional promise from the Lord.
It was NOT dependent on Abraham’s actions.
There were no “if, then” conditions applied to God’s promises to Abraham.
It was a promise of blessings and a future lineage, establishing Abraham as the father of a great nation (Israel) and, through the Messiah, as a spiritual father for believers.
Circumcision was the physical sign of this covenant.
Again, since God’s promise to Abraham was unconditional this is an everlasting covenant.
And its fulfillment was established in the lineage of Israel.
On the other hand, the Mosaic Covenant was all about outlining Israel’s obligations to God in terms of moral, civil, and ceremonial laws.
It also promised blessings for obedience and curses for disobedience.
This covenant was conditional, based on the obedience of the Israelites to God’s laws.
It was intended to govern the lives of the Israelites, defining their relationship with God and each other.
But it had nothing to do with Israel being eternally cut off as some folks in Christian land like to imply.
The prophet Jeremiah says…
“This is what the Lord says,
he who appoints the sun
to shine by day,
who decrees the moon
and stars to shine by night,
who stirs up the sea
so that its waves roar—
the Lord Almighty is his name:
‘Only if these decrees vanish from my sight,’
declares the Lord, ‘will Israel ever cease
being a nation before me.‘
This is what the Lord says:
‘Only if the heavens
above can be measured
and the foundations
of the earth below
be searched out will I
reject all the descendants
of Israel because of all they have done,’
declares the Lord.”
-Jeremiah 31:35-37
A couple of chapters later, Jeremiah continues…
“This is what the Lord says:
‘If I have not established my
covenant with day and night
and the fixed laws of heaven
and earth, then I will reject
the descendants of Jacob and
David my servant and will
not choose one of his sons to
rule over the descendants of
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
For I will restore their fortunes
and have compassion on them.'”
-Jeremiah 33:25-26
The prophet Isaiah says…
“Can a mother forget the
baby at her breast and
have no compassion on
the child she has borne?
Though she may forget,
I will not forget you!
See, I have engraved you
on the palms of my hands;
your walls are ever before me.”
-Isaiah 49:15-16
In the book of Malachi, the God of Israel says…
“I the Lord do not change.
So you, the descendants
of Jacob, are not destroyed.”
-Malachi 3:6
The bottom line is God’s commitment to Israel is enduring.
He will not forsake His chosen people, even in the face of their shortcomings or challenges.
We already have evidence of this in the fact that Israel was reborn as a nation in 1948 and still exists as a people group today.
I mean when was the last time you had a conversation with a Hittite, Girgashite, Amorite, Canaanite, Perizzite, Hivite, or Jebusite?
Those nations have vanished with the winds of time, but not Israel baby!
If you’re a Gentile believer who has been grafted into the commonwealth of Israel through your faith in the Jewish Messiah, this should make you happy.
Because if God can so easily discard Israel for their disobedience, what makes you think He won’t do the same to you when you disobey?
The Apostle Paul even said that God can and will restore the broken branches of Israel to the Olive Tree.
Ya feeling me here?
CONNECTING THIS TEACHING TO THE NEW TESTAMENT
“I ask then:
Did God reject his people?
By no means!
I am an Israelite myself,
a descendant of Abraham,
from the tribe of Benjamin.
God did not reject his people,
whom he foreknew.“
-Romans 11:1-2
“If some of the branches
have been broken off,
and you, though a wild olive shoot,
have been grafted in among the others
and now share in the nourishing
sap from the olive root,
do not consider yourself to be superior
to those other branches.
If you do, consider this:
You do not support the root,
but the root supports you.
You will say then,
‘Branches were broken off
so that I could be grafted in.’
Granted. But they were broken
off because of unbelief,
and you stand by faith.
Do not be arrogant, but tremble.
For if God did not spare
the natural branches,
he will not spare you either.
Consider therefore the kindness
and sternness of God:
sternness to those who fell,
but kindness to you,
provided that you continue
in his kindness. Otherwise,
you also will be cut off.
And if they do not persist in
unbelief, they will be grafted in,
for God is able to graft them in again.
After all, if you were cut out of an
olive tree that is wild by nature,
and contrary to nature were grafted
into a cultivated olive tree,
how much more readily will these,
the natural branches,
be grafted into their own olive tree!“
-Romans 11:17-24
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