Israel's Triumph
continued
Jacob
"And God spake unto Israel in the visions of the night, and said, Jacob, Jacob. And he said, Here am I. And he said, I am God, the God of thy father: fear not to go down into Egypt; for I will there make of thee a great nation: I will go down with thee into Egypt; and I will also surely bring thee up again: and Joseph shall put his hand upon thine eyes" (Genesis 46:2-4). God spoke to Israel, but He called his name "Jacob." This seems strange because it was the Lord Himself Who had said: "Thy name shall be called no more Jacob but Israel." So why did God call him "Jacob?" Here God reveals the condition as well as the position of the man called Israel: Jacob. He still was in the flesh; Jacob was still the deceiver, the loser, the poor man, the dying man. He had to travel to a foreign country in order to survive. Where was this man "Israel" who had power with God and man? In practical terms, we could say that Jacob was there, but totally insignificant. His descendants were foreigners in a foreign country. Even worse, they became slaves. But that was only the condition of Jacob and his descendants. That was only looking at the things that had transpired objectively; however, their position never changed because that had been determined by God Himself.
Jacob still had power with God and man from a spiritual perspective. God told Jacob to "fear not." "I will make thee a great nation." Even His presence was guaranteed: "I will go down with thee." Israel's return from slavery was also guaranteed: "I will also surely bring thee up again."
As believers in Jesus, we can rejoice when we examine Jacob's life: "For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory" (2nd Corinthians 4:17). Paul continues: "For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven" (2nd Corinthians 5:1-2).
Let's go back to Genesis 35:10-12: "And God said unto him, Thy name is Jacob: thy name shall not be called any more Jacob, but Israel shall be thy name: and he called his name Israel. And God said unto him, I am God Almighty: be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall be of thee, and kings shall come out of thy loins; And the land which I gave Abraham and Isaac, to thee I will give it, and to thy seed after thee will I give the land." What a glorious promise! This is the Word of God which remains forever. This is the foundation of Israel's triumph!
The Little Church
As we have already seen, Jacob demonstrates man's powerlessness and God's unlimited power. Jacob experienced what John the Baptist later confessed: "I must decrease but he must increase." In Luke 12:32, Jesus said: "Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom." This is not a popular message today because the Church wants power and prestige. We don't want to be despised and rejected. We become offended when someone pokes fun at us. We are actually brainwashed into a positive confession movement, and most of us believe it. They say we are the triumphant, glorious Church; we have achieved great things. We have our own colleges and universities, schools and churches, publishing houses and television production studios. The evangelical Church is a power to be reckoned with. It has great political clout and a multi-billion dollar market potential. Collectively, I believe we can identify with the Church of Laodicea, which confessed: "I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing..." (Revelation 3:17).
While all these things are not sinful in and of themselves, we must never confuse them with the blessings of the Lord. Success originates with men, but blessings come from God.
Israel is given to us as an example. Scripture explains that God didn't choose Israel because they were mighty or great. The Bible says that they were few in number. In other words, they were powerless.
What does the Bible say about our calling? Paul wrote these inspired words to the Corinthians: "For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called" (1st Corinthians 1:26). He did not write "none" of the wise, mighty and noble, but "not many." Therefore, the majority of believers in Christ fit the category he describes in the next two verses: "But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; And base things of the world and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are" (verses 27-28).
Israel Chosen
The wonderful promise God made to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob did not completely come to pass. As a matter of fact, it has not yet been fulfilled to its fullest extent.
Israel, the chosen nation, had to become nothing! They were slaves in a foreign land. Their task of making bricks out of mud and straw was the most primitive job anyone could do. Why weren't they architects, engineers, designers or craftsmen? Because they had to be separated from the people of Egypt. God's intention has always been for Israel to be separated from all the nations of the world.
Incidentally, this, too, is our calling. We ought to be separated from the things of the world. We are in the world but not of the world.
Some scholars have speculated that Israel participated in the building of the great pyramids. But there is no archaeological evidence of their involvement in the development of the culture or greatness of Egypt.
Of course, we immediately recognize God's sovereign hand of protection over His people from becoming assimilated with the Egyptians. If Israel had participated in the building of Egypt's nation and culture, they wouldn't have desired liberation and moved through the desert to take possession of the Promised Land.
Chosen By Separation
When God pronounced the fourth plague to come upon Egypt, He made a very specific statement concerning the separation between Egypt and Israel: "And I will sever in that day the land of Goshen, in which my people dwell, that no swarms of flies shall be there; to the end thou mayest know that I am the LORD in the midst of the earth. And I will put a division between my people and thy people: to morrow shall this sign be" (Exodus 8:22-23).
Therefore, Israel's triumph is not based on it's achievements or greatness, but on God's promises exclusively.
Moses recognized this when he exalted the Lord in Exodus 15:1-3: "...I will sing unto the LORD, for he hath triumphed gloriously...The LORD is my strength and song, and he is become my salvation...The LORD is a man of war: the LORD is his name." Moses, the leader of the Israelites, was giving honor, glory and triumph to the Lord. Not one word was mentioned about himself, his great leadership or his people.
Only Moses Recognizes God
Moses gave glory to God because he was the only one who recognized God's plan and intention for His people. Psalm 103:7 says: "He made known his ways unto Moses, his acts unto the children of Israel." The Israelites saw the great miracles He performed, but only Moses knew His ways. Psalm 106:7 says: "Our fathers understood not thy wonders in Egypt." Therefore, despite the greatness of the Israelites, who were liberated from slavery through the strong hand of God and who experienced the amazing miracles God did in their midst, we see that only one man fully understood God's plan for His people. In other words, Moses not only understood Israel's condition, but also Israel's position, based on God's calling.
Balaam Against Israel
The story of Balaam, the Gentile prophet who was asked by Balak, king of Moab, to curse the people of Israel for him, is found in Numbers 22-24. This event took place opposite of Jericho on the east side of Jordan: "And the children of Israel set forward, and pitched in the plains of Moab on this side Jordan by Jericho. And Balak the son of Zippor saw all that Israel had done to the Amorites. And Moab was sore afraid of the people, because they were many: and Moab was distressed because of the children of Israel" (Numbers 22:1-3). Quite obvious is that all the people with whom Israel came in contact were extremely scared. No doubt, the fear of God came over them so they could not stand before the children of Israel.
The prophet Balaam answered Balak: "...I cannot go beyond the word of the LORD my God, to do less or more" (verse 18). But after a prolonged debate, Balaam followed his desire to curse Israel. In spite of his evil intentions, he was forced to say some amazing things about Israel: "And he took up his parable, and said, Balak the king of Moab hath brought me from Aram, out of the mountains of the east, saying, Come, curse me Jacob, and come, defy Israel. How shall I curse, whom God hath not cursed? or how shall I defy, whom the LORD hath not defied? For from the top of the rocks I see him, and from the hills I behold him: lo, the people shall dwell alone, and shall not be reckoned among the nations" (Numbers 23:7-9). What a profound prophecy! Israel shall dwell alone and shall not be reckoned, or counted with the nations. This admonition identified Israel as a unique people, incomparable to any other.
King Balak was understandably upset. He insisted that the prophet Balaam cast a curse upon the people of Israel, but again, we read: "Behold, I have received commandment to bless: and he hath blessed; and I cannot reverse it. He hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob, neither hath he seen perverseness in Israel: the LORD his God is with him, and the shout of a king is among them. God brought them out of Egypt; he hath as it were the strength of a unicorn. Surely there is no enchantment against Jacob, neither is there any divination against Israel: according to this time it shall be said of Jacob and of Israel, What hath God wrought!" (Numbers 23:20-23). When we read these Scriptures, we are somewhat surprised because there was plenty of iniquity, stubbornness, disobedience and rebellion in the camp of Israel. There seems to be ample evidence in Scripture that the Israel described by Balaam is not the same Israel we have read about in the Bible. So the question is: Why wasn't Israel's failure mentioned in Balaam's pronouncement? Because it was a family matter — between God and His people. It is not subject of discussion for the outside world — in this case, the Gentiles, Moab and Balaam the prophet.
From the outside, there was no power of enchantment or divination against Israel. They were a holy people, segregated unto the Lord, separated from the things of the nations. They were untouchable, sanctified unto God.
But their condition was quite different, as we can read in the Old Testament books of Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. Israel's calling was cemented in God's action: "What has God wrought?" That is Israel's triumph, that is their glorious future.
Israel's Eternal Triumph
In Deuteronomy 7, Moses exclaimed: "For thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God: the LORD thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth. The LORD did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people; for ye were the fewest of all people. But because the LORD loved you, and because he would keep the oath which he had sworn unto your fathers, hath the LORD brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you out of the house of bondmen, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt" (verses 6-8). No other people on earth are special and "above all people that are upon the face of the earth" but Israel.
Deuteronomy 14:2 says: "For thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God, and the LORD hath chosen thee to be a peculiar people unto himself, above all the nations that are upon the earth."
And chapter 15:6 says: "For the LORD thy God blesseth thee, as he promised thee: and thou shalt lend unto many nations, but thou shalt not borrow; and thou shalt reign over many nations, but they shall not reign over thee." The devil knows Israel's future because he knows the prophetic Word. He has done everything in his power, beginning with the execution of the baby boys in Egypt, until this day, to destroy Israel. Look at Israel's neighbor; they publicly and openly proclaim their intention to eradicate the Jewish people from Israeli soil. Their actions are based on an ignorance of God's Word and their belief in the darkness of lies.
At the end of his life, Moses made this prophetic pronouncement of the people of Israel: "Israel then shall dwell in safety alone: the fountain of Jacob shall be upon a land of corn and wine; also his heavens shall drop down dew. Happy art thou, O Israel; who is like unto thee, O people saved by the LORD, the shield of thy help, and who is the sword of thy excellency! and thine enemies shall be found liars unto thee; and thou shalt tread upon their high places" (Deuteronomy 33:28-29). That is Israel's triumph!
When will Israel's triumph become visible to all the nations? When Jesus returns in great power and glory. When His feet stand upon the Mount of Olives, a spirit of grace and supplication will be poured out upon Israel and they will weep and wail and repent. From that point on, Israel will have reached its final destiny on earth to be above all nations and to be the glory and the light to the world. That is Israel's future triumph!
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