…It makes God to be a liar, not true to His word, not one who does not ever change his mind!  The character of God is acknowledged in Numbers 23:19, where He declares, “For God is not a man that He should lie, nor a son of man that He should repent.  Has He said and will He not do [it], or has He spoken and will He not make it good?”  Now before you charge me with taking this verse out of context, let me ask this question about the verse:  What is ever contextually limiting to the eternal character and nature of God?

Starting from that basic realization, let’s look at the promises that some folks are saying were conditional and have been cancelled, as to the Jew.  In this article I want to connect the dots to what I believe has allowed that conclusion to have been reached and propagated by an increasing number of Bible teachers.

The promise and the curse as to Abraham and his descendants:

Genesis 12:2-3: “I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

Here God makes two promises that are unconditional—one, a blessing and one, a curse; that is, they are not dependent on how Abraham or his descendants perform. And then, a third promise that reaches out to the whole world and is fulfilled in the coming of Christ and His subsequent sacrifice on the cross for the sins of mankind. This one certainly is not dependent on the performance of mankind! It’s worth noting, I think, that the possibility of the promise of a curse to those who “curse Abraham” might well apply to those who have chosen to reject the Jewish race, denying their legitimate existence and relegating them to the ash-heap of history—in spite of the obvious realities of current events. (Just a troubling thought, eh?)

The promise of God to Abraham and his descendants as to the land:

Genesis 13:14-18: “And the LORD said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him: ‘Lift your eyes now and look from the place where you are—northward, southward, eastward, and westward; for all the land which you see I give to you and your descendants forever. And I will make your descendants as the dust of the earth; so that if a man could number the dust of the earth, then your descendants also could be numbered. Arise, walk in the land through its length and its width, for I give it to you.’”

Note carefully that here God tells Abraham that He gives this land in its totality to him and his descendants FOREVER! It is interesting that God compares Abraham’s descendants as immeasurable as the dust of the earth or the stars of the night sky (later), so that day or night, Abraham would be reminded of His promise. And here, too, we can see no evidence of it being a conditional promise, just forever!

One might point to the time during their wilderness trek when it appears that God got so fed up with the rebellion of the Hebrew people that He offered to destroy the whole nation and start over with Moses (Exodus 32:1-14).  Verse 13 reads like this, as Moses responded to Jehovah: “Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, Your servants, to whom You swore by Your own self, and said to them, I will multiply your seed as the stars of the heavens, and all this land that I have spoken of will I give to your seed, and they shall inherit it forever.” FOREVER!

(There’s that word, forever, again!) To get this into perspective, look at the statement James made of God’s foreknowledge at the conference in Jerusalem many years later: “All His works are known  to God from eternity” (Acts 15:18). So, why did God make this totally human-like offer to Moses? Given that the record shows that God is eternal and knows all things, he must have been testing Moses that his resolve to lead this people to the land of promise might be open and firmly committed before himself and Jehovah. There can be no conclusion that the God of the universe can be overwhelmed and defeated in respect to His plan that was formed before time began. There can be no conclusion that God would fall to the level of the man He created and now was exhibiting total depravity.

We might also recall that later on in that trek Israel upset Moses with their complaints that he disobeyed God and struck the rock without His blessing. For that, Moses was denied the privilege of leading Israel into the land of promise. The God of truth and justice, then, does not have two sets of motivating qualities, one for Himself and one for mankind.  God was not struggling with the possibility of changing His mind about Israel; He was testing Moses, that Moses was personally committed to leading the people, no matter what they would do.

If this is a hard concept to embrace, that God was testing Moses’ level of commitment, consider what God’s motive might have been when He commanded Abraham to take his son of faith, Isaac, up to Mount Moriah and sacrifice him as an offering to God (Genesis 22).

But let’s go on to God’s stated position on whether or not He has rejected the Jews, based on their rejection of Christ, the Messiah, as is the reigning contention of this faction today.  The fact that God scattered the Jewish people around the world for their rejection of His lordship was decided long before their Messiah was rejected. Look at what Ezekiel wrote in Ezekiel36:18-19:

“Therefore I poured out My fury on them for the blood they had shed on the land, and for their idols with which they had defiled it. So I scattered them among the nations, and they were dispersed throughout the countries; I judged them according to their ways and their deeds.”  God scattered them over the world for profaning His holy name before the heathen and living lives of such total depravity.

Recall now what He promised Abraham in Genesis 13:15, “…For all the land which you see I give to you and your descendants forever.” Now, see why He is bringing them back to the land: “Therefore say to the house of Israel, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: ‘I do not do this for your sake, O house of Israel, but for My holy name’s sake, which you have profaned among the nations wherever you went’” (Ezekiel 36:22).

So, where is the conditional promise, that Israel must be obedient or God will cancel His commitment? In that strange and eerie  encounter with God, recorded in Genesis 15, God says this:  “In the same day Jehovah made a covenant with Abram, saying, I have given this land to your seed, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates….”

In the time of Jesus’ ministry the land of Israel was controlled by Rome, and it had not been in their control for years. It would not be controlled by Israel until some future date. That very last question the disciples asked Jesus was, “Lord, will you restore the kingdom to Israel at this time?” Jesus answered with this:  “It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father has put in His own authority” (Acts 1:7). And He directed them to their engagement in the Great Commission, to declare the gospel around the whole world.

Here Jesus introduced the age of grace, when God would “take out of the Gentiles a people for His name” (Acts 15:14 and Romans 11:25), “And Jerusalem shall be trodden down by the nations until the times of thenations is fulfilled.”

When Israel was declared a sovereign state by the United Nations on May 14, 1948,  it seems to me that God was answering the disciples’ question and fulfilling that open-ended prophecy that Jesus offered. With hardly any delay, Israel’s enemies began their enraged offensive to destroy them from the face of the earth.  Yet, against all odds, Israel has survived and even taken hold of more territory that God has said is theirs forever, including a vital presence in Jerusalem.

To the nay-sayers, to the haters of Israel, to the embracers of the doctrine of replacement of Israel by the Church in His promises, I merely want to ask this question: Who brought the Jews back to their land from around the world? Would God deny them His promises and yet bring them back to the land? Could it possibly be a work of the devil? (Oh, I forgot—you contend he has been put in the bottomless pit until your idea of a millennium runs its course!)

So, who else is left to have brought this very evident reality to pass? There is no one else. God has proven Himself to be no liar. His statutes and His promises stand firm forever!  It is a scary thing to label God a liar, either directly or indirectly. By saying He changed His mind about His promise to Israel, when His promise is forever, makes Him identified as a liar in the reality of that doctrine. If one believes God is not true to His Word, Satan has you right where he wants you, just like it was in his first encounter in the Garden with Eve: “Did God really say….” And that believer falls prey to every wind of doctrine that comes down the trail, as we can see in their scramble to try to fit the truths of God’s Word into a meaningful flow that would support their erroneous doctrine.

Consistent with God’s faithful promise to Israel is Zechariah’s prophecy of the coming recognition by the Jews of Christ, their true Messiah that gives us the true perspective on the issue: “And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn” (Zechariah 12:10).

The heavy, overriding and fearful result of this replacement doctrine is, if you can believe that God would change His mind about Israel because of their sinful disobedience and rejection of Him, what would keep you from believing He could turn from the Church because of its apostasy? That would shipwreck your faith. If we must rely on our performance, where would any of us be? I endorse the Apostle Paul’s declaration:  “I do not frustrate the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain” (Galatians 2:21).

Proponents of Replacement Theology, think on these things as you plan your next gathering in Bethlehem, or elsewhere, to show your support for the enemies of Israel. God’s curse surely rests upon you.

With this final part of an analysis of the Beatitudes, we are at the place in the picture of a growing spiritual life where “the rubber meets the road,” so to speak. This section deals with dedication, commitment, discipleship. Jesus tests the measure of our loyalty with these words:  “…If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me” (Luke 9:23).

This last section of the Beatitudes opens up with this one: “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God” (Matthew 5:9). It points the spiritual warrior into service, into that multitude of earth dwellers who are lost in sin and degradation and have no peace in themselves and in relation to others.

The beginning place for a real peacemaker is to have peace in himself and that can only come from having peace with God. Romans 5:1 tells how that can be obtained: “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ….”

By declaring that the peacemakers shall be called sons of God, does this mean that real peacemakers are only sons of God, that is His servants? There is much talk of peace in the Middle East these days, and Nobel Peace Prizes have been given freely, seemingly on the basis of a hope for peace more than for its accomplishment.

The 2009 prize was awarded to President Barack Obama, yet the world was and remains in turmoil and there is no peace foreseen. In the world’s diplomatic jungles, where seeking God’s favor is not a notable action, could this declaration in Isaiah 48:22 be as descriptive of the situation as is necessary: “There is no peace,” says the Lord, “for the wicked.”

The task of a peacemaker is to objectively bring two opposing factions together in harmony under mutually acceptable terms of agreement. In Philippians 3:20 Paul writes, “For our citizenship is in heaven….,” and in 2 Corinthians 5:20 he says, “Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God.” So here we are, in the world of earth dwellers, having been fully authenticated as peacemakers between God and man. Our message is clear:

“But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation, having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thusmaking peace, and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity. And He came and preached peace to you who were afar off and to those who were near. For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father” (Ephesians 2:13-18).

There may be other peacemakers, secular in nature, but this one is the kind in which God is truly interested, and to whom He gives His blessing.

Why Is There Persecution For Doing Good?

This eighth Beatitude highlights an issue that no doubt catches a new believer by surprise, should he be of the mind that people in his circle would be glad to see him become a better person. It reads like this: Blessedare those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:10).

This Beatitude ends with the same phrase as does the first one—“for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Why? In the first one, we are blessed because we realize our spiritual emptiness, and in this one, because we are filled with His righteousness. Both find their fulfillment in the reality of Colossians 2:9-10: “For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power.” And theirs is the kingdom of heaven!

Being “persecuted for righteousness’ sake” is the common experience for anyone who “takes up his cross” and follows the Lord. The sower of seed may have encountered that very thing when “some fell on stony ground, where it did not have much earth; and immediately it sprang up because it had no depth of earth. But when the sun was up it was scorched, and because it had no root it withered away. And some seed fell among thorns; and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no crop” (Mark 4:5-7).

The sudden entry into a full-scale spiritual warfare by a new believer often is too abrupt and harsh for him, even as it has been in our American culture. However, it was not so simple as that in the early days of Christianity. One speaker once described it like your baptismal certificate in those days included an appointment to the arena of lions! That reality of deadly consequence is happening in certain cultures at this moment.

Peter writes of suffering for righteousness sake in 1 Peter 3:13-17:

“And who is he who will harm you if you become followers of what is good? But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you areblessed. “And do not be afraid of their threats, nor be troubled.” But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear; having a good conscience, that when they defame you as evildoers, those who revile your good conduct in Christ may be ashamed. For it is better, if it is the will of God, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil.”

It is a strange but historical fact that the persecuted church is the growing church…in true spiritual depth and vitality.

The Price for Identifying With Jesus

It must be one thing to be known as a Christian—that gets you some persecution, but to be identified with Christ, well then, you have really crossed the line! This final Beatitude brings the focus solidly on the issue: “Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake” (Matthew 5:11).

One of my friends back in the 1960s observed that it seemed to be popular to be a Christian then, but there were few disciples. Now, however, the tide has turned and is turning. Classroom experiences of rejection of anything Christian are rampant. The drive to remove the Bible or any references to Christ from the public arena has made much progress here in “Christian” America under the guise of the “separation of church and state.”

Much of it has to do with the claim or claims relating the rights of those embracing an alternate sexual orientation. Yet, it seems to create a paradox where those who claim to have God’s favor on their choice of lifestyle, do not want any imposing references of Him in their daily lives.

In certain foreign lands identifying with Christ in the face of certain death is a common lot for believers. One Christian radio program reports that the underground church in China, now numbering 20 million, has launched a million of their fellowship with the gospel westward along the trade routes into Muslim countries. They claim they know what suffering for Christ is all about, even dying for Him. In another account, young people cross the border into North Korea with a backpack filled with Bibles and no other provisions, knowing that it is likely they will not survive beyond a few days because of their commitment to Christ.

And here in the west we fuss over the color of the church carpet, or the pastor’s sermons, or any other trivial matter that arouses our discomfort. When dependence on the Lord becomes vital to our survival, that relationship seems to take on new meaning. I once heard a message by Dr. Eugene Nida, then president of the American Bible Society, in which he outlined the levels of dependency on the Lord and it occurred to me  how it matches the levels of classes of society. When basic needs of life—food, drink, clothing, shelter, security—are seen to be a direct provision of God, that relationship becomes one of great intimacy. No doubt the hunger for spiritual food runs high on the list, too.

However, as economic well-being factors in and needs seem to become clouded as to their source, that sense of dependency on God begins to fade. People, even believers, seeing something they fancy they should have (remember that lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes and the pride of life trio?), they just charge it on a credit card and take it home.

As the trend progresses, the issues at the church turn to such things as stained glass windows, more comfortable pews and similar things. Remember that sower in Mark 4? One of his castings landed among thorns, and “they are the ones who hear the word, and the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things entering in choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful” (Mark 4:18-19).

Perhaps one of the most bewildering statements ever made by Jesus, that One who gave us a new commandment to love one another as He loves us (John 13:34), was that recorded in Matthew 10:34-36:  “Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword, for I have come to ‘set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law’; and ‘a man’s enemieswill be those of his own household.’”

This seemingly contradictory statement of the Lord Jesus makes real sense when laid down beside that first and great commandment, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind” (Matthew 22:37). God is the source of all life; if He is not in first place in our lives, then all else is teetering on complete shambles!

So we have this series of nine Blessed Attitudes that can be outlined under the headings of Salvation, Sanctification and Service, showing the play-out of a person’s spiritual life in submission and obedience to God. He ends it with this tag: “Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you” (Matthew 5:12).

And He reminds us in John 16:33, “…In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer,  I have overcome the world.”