The Minor Prophets
When reading the twelve Minor Prophets, we notice that specific promises of restoration are given to the nation of Israel. Here are a few examples: 

“I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely: for mine anger is turned away from him” (Hosea 14:4).

“For I will cleanse their blood that I have not cleansed: for the LORD dwelleth in Zion” (Joel 3:21).

“And I will plant them upon their land, and they shall no more be pulled up out of their land which I have given them, saith the LORD thy God” (Amos 9:15).

“And saviours shall come up on mount Zion to judge the mount of Esau; and the kingdom shall be the LORD’S” (Obadiah 1:21).

Jonah is concerned with the Gentiles, and it is quite significant that no future and no hope is given. 

“Thou wilt perform the truth to Jacob, and the mercy to Abraham, which thou hast sworn unto our fathers from the days of old” (Micah 7:20). 

Nahum also addresses the Gentiles; thus, no healing, no restoration and no salvation.

Habakkuk 3:18-19, “Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation. The LORD God is my strength, and he will make my feet like hinds’ feet, and he will make me to walk upon mine high places. To the chief singer on my stringed instruments.”

Zephaniah 3:20, “At that time will I bring you again, even in the time that I gather you: for I will make you a name and a praise among all people of the earth, when I turn back your captivity before your eyes, saith the LORD.” 

Haggai 2:23, “In that day, saith the LORD of hosts, will

I take thee, O Zerubbabel, my servant, the son of Shealtiel, saith the LORD, and will make thee as a signet: for I have chosen thee, saith the LORD of hosts.” 

Zechariah 14:21, “Yea, every pot in Jerusalem and in Judah shall be holiness unto the LORD of hosts: and all they that sacrifice shall come and take of them, and seethe therein: and in that day there shall be no more the Canaanite in the house of the LORD of hosts.”  

Malachi 4:6, “And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.”

These Scriptures are crystal clear. There is judgment and salvation, there is dispersion and regathering. There will be destruction, but also restoration. This is addressed to the Jews, and that makes us immediately think of the words Jesus spoke to the Samaritan woman, “Salvation is of the Jews.” 

What happens to the Jews is a message to the Church, “Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come” (1 Corinthians 10:11).

What Did the Psalms Write About Jesus?
First of all, they wrote about the rejection of the Messiah, “The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed…” (Psalm 2:2). This prophecy is not limited to the crucifixion of Jesus or the battle of Armageddon, but it comprises all of the 6,000 years of human history. 

Partial New Testament Fulfillment
We read of the partial fulfillment in Acts 4:26-27, “The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord, and against his Christ. For of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered together.” Here the apostle is quoting Psalm 2, identifying all the people on earth, “the heathen…the people…kings and rulers.” 

This may be misunderstood. After all, no one really knew about Jesus being crucified except the people in Jerusalem. Those who were residing a few kilometers away, such as in the Galilee, probably did not know anything about it. Yet the Bible clearly documents that “the kings of the earth stood up…with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel.” That simply means all the world was and is responsible for the crucifixion of Jesus Christ our Lord.

There is no exception. Why? Because all have sinned, and he who sins is of the devil; thus, Jesus had to be sacrificed, not for the people in Jerusalem alone or the Jews, but the whole world. 

The Psalmist’s Testimony of Jesus
Indeed, the Psalms testify about Jesus. As a matter of fact, the Psalms are quoted more often in the New Testament than any other Old Testament Scriptures.

Here are a few:

Psalm 22: The Suffering Servant

Psalm 23: The Good Shepherd

Psalm 40: Doing the perfect will of God

Psalm 47: All nations subject to Him

Psalm 69: Rejected by His physical brethren

Psalm 89: Stilling the storm and the sea

Psalm 118: The rejected Cornerstone

What Is the Purpose of It All?
We may answer with one word: rebirth! The law revealed in the Old Testament makes it crystal clear that the sinner must die. God is not in the repairing business; He does not try to touch up some imperfection in man, but He creates a new man. That is what Jesus said to Nicodemus the Pharisee, who came to Him by night, “Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3).

A new person must be born within the old nature. That is the only way anyone can becomes perfect, sinless. This is clearly documented in 1 John 3:8-9, “He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil. Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.”

Covering Sin and the Rebirth
The Old Testament provided a covering for the sins of the people, the blood of animals. The people had to continually make sacrifices for their sins. The New Testament confirms that it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sin. That could only be accomplished through the perfect, sinless and eternal blood of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. 

Restoration Promised
The rebirth includes the animal world, as evidenced in Isaiah 65:25, “The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like the bullock: and dust shall be the serpent’s meat. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, saith the LORD.”

This, incidentally, devastates the teaching of the Preterists, who believe that all prophecies were fulfilled in “this generation,” that is, 70 A.D. when the temple was destroyed in Jerusalem.  

Until this day, the wolf will not feed together with the lamb; he will eat the lamb. And the lion will not eat straw;  he wants meat. Those changes are yet to come.

Serpent Shall Eat Dust
Quite interesting is the issue with the serpent, “dust shall be the serpent’s meat.” That actually was the curse placed upon the serpent in the Garden of Eden, “Dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life.” But as we all know, the serpent did not eat dust. The serpent has continued for 6,000 years to eat all kinds of things, fish and frogs, mice and rats, rabbits and birds, even larger prey for larger serpents. But a change will take place, a rebirth, and the animal world will become totally new.  This prophecy is confirmed in Romans 8:19-22, “For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope, Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.”

Israel’s Coming Rebirth
Israel, too, will experience this change, “For then will I turn to the people a pure language, that they may all call upon the name of the LORD, to serve him with one consent” (Zephaniah 3:9). This can only be accomplished by the rebirth. They will finally in unison serve the Lord God of Israel.

That will be the fulfillment of the words Jeremiah wrote, “Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah” (Jeremiah 31:31). 

Then the prophet shows how it works: “But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more” (Jeremiah 31:33-34).

No longer will Israel be required to keep the many laws in order to please God, but the opposite will take place. God will be pleased with them because of the New Covenant; they will “Know the Lord.”

How Can I Be Part of This Renewal Process?
I must be born again. I cannot be restored. I cannot be repaired. Something totally new must take place in my life. The Spirit from above must enter my spirit. At that moment, something remarkable will happen, the fulfillment of 2 Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” 

That, however, does not concern the physical person; I am still the same in my appearance, desires and my physical deficiencies. I still will grow old, get sick, and finally succumb to one thing or another and die, unless the Rapture takes place first. But the person inside me, the new nature is eternal.

Must My Sins Be Forgiven First?
The answer is definitely NO. We see this with the man suffering from palsy; Jesus said, “Thy sins be forgiven thee.” Was he reborn? No. 

The same is true of the sinful woman recorded in Luke 7:48, “Thy sins are forgiven.” Did that statement constitute the rebirth? No. Why not? Because the Holy Spirit had not been poured out; subsequently, the rebirth was not available. 

However, all those who believed in the Scripture, who were looking for the coming of the Messiah during Old Testament times, recognized that truth when Jesus proclaimed His victory to those who had passed away. 

After Jesus died on Calvary’s Cross and was buried, He went to the place where the dead are, “By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison” (1 Peter 3:19); that is the place of the dead. Furthermore: “For for this cause was the gospel preached also to them that are dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit” (1 Peter 4:6). What was the end result? “Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men” (Ephesians 4:8).

Sin Cannot Be Forgiven
If God were to forgive sin unconditionally, He would be an unrighteous God. The Bible clearly states, the sinner must die. That is why every unbeliever and believer as well will experience Hebrews 9:27, “And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment.”

I must realize that I am sin, totally lost; that it is impossible to change, repair or restore myself; but when I come in faith to Jesus, accepting His death on the Cross for myself, then Jesus does answer with the rebirth. Paul’s testimony was, “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh

I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2:20). That is the only possibility to escape eternal damnation and enter into the glorious presence of unspeakable joy from eternity to eternity.

“All things must be fulfilled” are the true words of Jesus, but the question is: has it been fulfilled in your life? Has 2 Corinthians 5:17, which says, “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”

(451)

(This 2-part message is available in audio format on a single CD, ITEM #3234.)