Biblical Israel was chosen to be the mediator between God and the nations. People were supposed to know God through the nation of Israel. But this could not be because Israel was apostate. Now people only know God through Jesus.
“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.” (Genesis 12:2-3).
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In all this, God is the doer of the work.
But His promise to Israel was conditional:
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“If you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people; for all the earth is Mine. And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” (Exodus 19:5-6).
If God makes a promise, and the fulfilment is conditional upon the action of a man or nation, it means the promise cannot be fulfilled. Only God can fulfil God’s promises. Jesus says: “Without Me, you can do nothing.” (John 15:5).
The Israelites were natural men. But:
“The natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.” (1 Corinthians 2:14).
The Israelites could not fulfil the law. But Jesus fulfilled it. He satisfied all the requirements of the law. He did everything the Israelites could never do. He did this because Jesus is the true Israel of God.
Failure of Israel
It is not surprising, therefore, that biblical Israel failed to meet any of the conditions God set in His covenant. The Lord said to Jeremiah:
“A conspiracy has been found among the men of Judah and among the inhabitants of Jerusalem. They have turned back to the iniquities of their forefathers who refused to hear My words, and they have gone after other gods to serve them; the house of Israel and the house of Judah have broken My covenant which I made with their fathers.” (Jeremiah 11:9-10).
God promised a new covenant to replace this broken covenant. But this new one would not be conditional. It would not depend on man for its fulfilment. It would be completely the work of God.
Its requirements would no longer be written on tablets of stone abstracted from us, which Moses can smash into pieces. It would now be written on the tables (not tablets) of our hearts by the Spirit of Jesus.
“Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them, says the Lord. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. No more shall every man teach his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.” (Jeremiah 31:31-34).
Jesus ratified this covenant with His blood on the way to Calvary:
“As they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said, ‘Take, eat; this is My body.’ Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, ‘Drink from it, all of you. For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.” (Matthew 26:26-28).
Kingdom of Priests
Biblical Israel could not be a kingdom of priests. Its priests were sinful and diabolical.
“As bands of robbers lie in wait for a man, so the company of priests murder on the way to Shechem.” (Hosea 6:9).
God indicted them directly:
“To you priests who despise My name. Yet you say, ‘In what way have we despised Your name?’ ‘You offer defiled food on My altar, but say, ‘In what way have we defiled You?’ By saying, ‘The table of the Lord is contemptible.’ And when you offer the blind as a sacrifice, is it not evil? And when you offer the lame and sick, is it not evil?” (Malachi 1:6-8).
Jesus replaced the sinful priests of Israel as our sinless High Priest.
“Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathise with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.” (Hebrews 4:14-15).
Light of the World
Israel was called to be a light to the world:
“Indeed you are called a Jew, and rest on the law, and make your boast in God, and know His will, and approve the things that are excellent, being instructed out of the law, and are confident that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of babes, having the form of knowledge and truth in the law.” (Romans 2:17-20).
But Israel failed to enlighten the world.
“You, therefore, who teach another, do you not teach yourself? You who preach that a man should not steal, do you steal? You who say, “Do not commit adultery,” do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? You who make your boast in the law, do you dishonour God through breaking the law? For “the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you,” as it is written.” (Romans 2:21-24).
But Jesus is the true light of the world:
“Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, ‘I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.’” (John 8:12).
“Leaving Nazareth, He came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is by the sea, in the regions of Zebulun and Naphtali, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying: ‘The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, by the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles: The people who sat in darkness have seen a great light, and upon those who sat in the region and shadow of death light has dawned.’” (Matthew 4:13-16).
Mediator Between God and Men
Biblical Israel was chosen to be the mediator between God and the nations. People were supposed to know God through the nation of Israel. But this could not be because Israel was apostate. Now people only know God through Jesus.
“There is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself a ransom for all.” (1 Timothy 2:5-6).
“Jesus said to him, ‘Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, ‘Show us the Father?’ Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I speak to you, I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works. Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me, or else believe Me for the sake of the works themselves.” (John 14:9-11). CONTINUED.
