Introduction: In our third part of the names used by the Lord to describe His people, we are going to see 6 names or descriptions of Israel as they grew as a nation before Him.
Proposition: The first 4 names show the other side of the coin being the rebellious nature of Israel at different stages of its history as they walked before their God. The New Testament believers have been no different in their development. Up and down, doubting, worrying and some even backsliding in their development from being a believer, then a saint, scholar and a soldier of faith (forsaking all I trust Him).
Teaching:
13) A Stiff-Necked People.
Exodus 32:9. And the Lord said to Moses, “I have seen this people, and indeed it is a stiff-necked people!”
Impatience was the start of the rebellion accommodated by Aaron to pacify the people. They grew impatient as Moses stayed on the mountain with the Lord and doubt settled in, this turned into self-will and stubbornness of heart. They demanded Aaron fashion statutes to represent gods to go before them! They had been leavened by being in Egypt for so long, they were used to seeing idols.
The term having a stiff neck comes from the act of a dog, or horse etcetera that stiffens its neck at not wanting to go where its master is guiding it. (Cf. Isaiah 48:4). Being stubborn is not the way to progress in our walk as the Lord leads us. It ends in time being wasted and hard lessons learnt that God is Lord and Master, we have been bought at a great price, we are not our own, in Him we live and move and have our being. It is good to show determination but not to kick against the goads! We need to learn endurance and to persevere to accomplish what God has for us. Israel would pay a heavy price when Moses returned, many died before the Lord and the sin of idolatry followed Israel throughout its history as some looked to other gods, and the Church has fallen into ecumenical errors. We have to fight the good fight of faith, looking to the Scriptures for guidance and instruction in His ways not the ways of others!
14) Sodom and Gomorrah.
Isaiah 1:9-11. Unless the Lord of hosts had left to us a very small remnant, we would have become like Sodom, we would have been made like Gomorrah. Hear the word of the Lord, you rulers of Sodom; give ear to the law of our God, you people of Gomorrah; “To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices to Me?” Says the Lord. “I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams and the fat of fed cattle. I do not delight in the blood of bulls, or of lambs or goats.”
The prophet Isaiah doesn’t mince his words nor the Word of the Lord given to him. Leaders and the people needed to turn around from going their own way! The Lord was pointing out through His prophet just how sinful their actions were before Him. Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed by the Lord and yet their sinful sexual practices are still practiced to this day. These two cities are a type of many cities within the world who still continue to rebel against God’s Laws and so judgment will fall once again in the years ahead.
When we look to another prophet, Ezekiel points out Sodom’s other sins of arrogance through materialism, pride of position, idleness, selfishness, ignoring the poor and needy. (Ezekiel 16:49-50).
Sha’ul/Paul writes of the remnant of Israel being saved, however large or small that is wherever God’s Covenant people are today. As it was so it has become again, God is paid little attention by many of the Covenant who go their own way. Paul warns the Church about the sinful nature in Galatians 5:16-21. Verses 22-26 give us the fruit of the Spirit.
15) A People of Unclean Lips.
Isaiah 6:5. So I said; “Woe is me, for I am undone! Because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips, for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.”
After the prophets cleansing in verses 6-7, he hears the voice of the Lord asking in verse 8a. “Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?” (cf. Genesis 1:26).
Isaiah replies, “Here am I! Send me.” Verse 8b. We can read of the judgment of the Lord that Isaiah is to proclaim to a people of unclean lips in verses 9-13. The rest is history and yet Israel is back in the Land because God is a covenant keeping God, showing mercy, love and grace to those who will listen.
16) A Rebellious Nation.
Ezekiel 2:3. And He said to me: “Son of man I am sending you to the children of Israel, to a rebellious nation that has rebelled against Me; they and their fathers have transgressed against Me to this very day.”
(This was the verse the Lord gave us in 1991 that led to SYMF starting in 1992)
For the better part Rabbinic Judaism has to date refused to accept Yeshua as Mashiach but a remnant will in the years ahead, many Jews will come through Jacob’s Time of Trouble in the end times scenario detailed in the Book of Revelation. Some 82% of prophecies have come true to date and so the other 18% will also be fulfilled to the letter!
17) My Afflicted Ones.
Isaiah 49:13. Sing, O heavens! Be joyful, O earth! And break out in singing O mountains! For the Lord has comforted His people, and will have mercy on His afflicted.
Within the scriptures we can see that suffering and comfort go hand in hand. Because we have a gracious God who knows the end from the beginning, He will see us through the Valley of Baca (tears) and lead us through the valley of the shadow of death, for distress, despair, deceit, discouragement will not last. We have a Lord who upholds those who are called in His righteous right hand. The Lord described Himself to Moses as, “merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth” in Exodus 34:6 but He also spoke of Himself as “by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children’s children to the third and the fourth generation.” Verse 7. There are two sides to the scales of justice! We also have to acknowledge that some of the pains of life are down to our own actions or choices. Suffering moulds our character, the Apostle Paul tells us that “we must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God.” See Acts 14:22.
18) This is Zion; no one seeks her.
Jeremiah 30:17. “For I will restore health to you and will heal you of your wounds”, says the Lord. Because they called you an outcast saying: “This is Zion; no one seeks her.”
This promise of God is to be fully found and fulfilled in one person, Yeshua HaMashiach, the Anointed One of God. As Lord Yeshua will see the healing of Israel as a nation made up of all who look to the ‘One’ they pierced.
The nation’s privileges and duties are throughout the Millennium are wonderful to read of. The prophet Ezekiel goes into great depth re their service as a priesthood, but other Prophets notably Isaiah, Zechariah and some of the so termed minor prophets recorded the tremendous promises of God towards His Covenant People.
Within the Church per se there will be no more replacement theology and within the nations anti-Semitism will be a thing of the past. The Lord Yeshua will rule with a rod of iron over the nations, wars will cease, peace will ensue until the end of the 1,000 years of Peace, spiritual prosperity, physical provision and protection will be the Lord God Almighty’s blessing on His creation. No more tooth and claw, no more famines, earthquakes, the seas roaring, paradise will be restored. No wonder the Jews cry out next year in Yerushalayim when their and our Messiah returns. The Feasts will be restored especially Succot –
Tabernacles when God will tabernacle with mankind. Come soon Lord. Amen.
19) My Servants.
Leviticus 25:55. “For the children of Israel are servants to Me; they are My servants whom I brought out of the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.”
The Brit HaDashah (The New Testament) gives us the same picture again as we see that Jews and Gentiles the One New Man are referred to as servants by our Lord in Luke 17:10. “So likewise you, when you have done all those things which you are commanded, say, ‘We are unprofitable servants. We have done what was our duty to do.’” See also Matthew 25:21 where Yeshua teaches the Parable of the Talents. We have been bought at a price and so it is an honour to serve our risen Lord with the giftings He gives to us for the Kingdom work.
20) The House of Israel.
Ruth 4:11. And all the people who were at the gate, and the elders, said.
“We are witnesses. The Lord make the woman who is coming to your house like Rachel and Leah, the two who built the house of Israel; and may you prosper in Ephrathah and be famous in Bethlehem.”
The House of Israel will be blessed every time a Jew receives Jesus and the remnant when He returns will be blessed through His glorious Millennium Rule of peace, provision and prosperity – spiritually and physically. Amen and amen.
21) The Sheep of My Pasture.
Jeremiah 23:1. “Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of My pasture!” says the Lord.
Not just in Jeremiah’s day were there worthless shepherds. We can look at how the Lord through the prophet Malachi berates the priests for their lack of concern for His sheep, the people of Israel. The people were plagued with corrupt priests who should have shepherded the Lord’s flock. The Levites were failing to teach the Law of the Lord to the people – Malachi 2:7. “For the lips of a priest should keep knowledge and people should seek the law from his mouth; for he is the messenger of the Lord of Hosts.
This saw the people cast off restraint and the fear of the Lord. The sins of hypocrisy and arrogance, infidelity, mixed marriages, divorce and even false worship were seen all over. So sinful had the nation become that the Word of the Lord had no impact on the people.
For four hundred years after Malachi’s ringing condemnations in the Lord no prophetic word was given.
Only with the coming of John the Baptist (Yochanan HaMatbiel) would there once again be a communication from the Lord through one of His prophets.
This brings us to the end of this study on the names of Israel.
We now await Yeshua’s return as Prophet, Priest, Lord and King over all.
Amen