D30-5: Why The Word ‘Nations’ In Scripture Can NEVER Be Applied To Israel

In my last post I talked about how God raises up nations to punish Israel for their disobedience and then turns around and punishes those same nations for their acts of cruelty towards Israel (even though God ordained those acts of cruelty).

Let’s talk about the Hebrew word for “nations” for a second.

It’s the word GOYIM.

GOYIM can mean nations but it can also mean gentiles.

Here’s the thing.

The word GOYIM can NEVER be applied to Israel.

Why?

Because GOYIM are all people on earth EXCEPT Israel.

Therefore, whenever we encounter the word “nations” in the Scriptures, it would be good to make a mental note that it’s really referring to gentile nations here.

By definition, it is ALWAYS the gentiles who come against Israel.

As I already mentioned, the Lord uses gentiles as a weapon of divine judgement against Israel so they will return to Him and be saved.

And as a result, it is God who is always punishing the gentiles for their wickedness against His people.

In fact, this very thing is happening today folks.

Check out these verses from the Book of Romans.

“For, brothers,
I want you to understand this truth
which God formerly concealed
but has now revealed,
so that you won’t imagine you
know more than you actually do.
It is that stoniness, to a degree,
has come upon Israel, until the
Gentile world enters in its fullness;
and that it is in this way that all
Israel will be saved.
As the Tanakh says,
“Out of Tziyon will come the Redeemer;
he will turn away ungodliness
from Ya’akov.”
-Romans 11:25-26

That’s right.

Just as He did throughout all of “Old” Testament history, the Lord today is using a carrot and stick to save His People so they will return to Him.

What do I mean by that?

In other words, in this analogy, what would the “carrot” be and what would the “stick” be?

The carrot is the Good News of salvation in Yeshua.

According to Paul…

…”deliverance has come to the Gentiles, in order to provoke them to jealousy.”

Unfortunately, it is only until recently that the Gospel has been brought to the Jewish people in a loving manner.

Now what would the stick be?

The stick is all the anti-Semitism the Jews have suffered from the gentile nations.

The NT has been misinterpreted and used as a cruel weapon against the Jewish people to accuse them of deicide (the murder of God) and being “children of Satan”.

In fact, in our day and age, anti-Semitism has become so bad the Jewish people are literally being forced to return back to their Promised Land, Israel in droves from every corner of the world.

The “stick” part of the equation could also be most Muslim nations who want to destroy Israel.

The pattern established in Torah has not changed.

Everything the Lord is doing is for the benefit of salvation and ONLY His People which is Israel.

This point is very clear.

Remember the New Covenant is ONLY for Israel.

“For this is the covenant
I will make with the house of Israel
after those days,” says Adonai:
“I will put my Torah within them
and write it on their hearts;
I will be their God,
and they will be my people.”
-Jeremiah 31:32

The Messiah confirmed this.

“Yeshua left that place and
went off to the region of Tzor and Tzidon.
A woman from Kena‘an who was living
there came to him, pleading,
“Sir, have pity on me. Son of David!
My daughter is cruelly held under
the power of demons!”
But Yeshua did not say a word to her.
Then his talmidim came to him and urged him,
“Send her away, because she is following us
and keeps pestering us with her crying.”
He said, ‘I was sent only to the
lost sheep of the house of Israel.'”
-Matthew 15:21-24

Paul’s revelations also reiterated this point when he tells the Romans not to be arrogant because of their salvation and think they know more than they actually do.

^“Just as you yourselves were disobedient to God before but have received mercy now because of Israel’s disobedience;  so also Israel has been disobedient now, so that by your showing them the same mercy that God has shown you, they too may now receive God’s mercy. For God has shut up all mankind together in disobedience, in order that he might show mercy to all.”-Romans 11:30-32

I’m done.