Participants: Steve Wohlberg
Series Code: HVT
Program Code: HVT000022A
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00:12 What is the New Testament Truth about Israel and Jesus Christ?
00:17 The answer will shock you on His Voice Today. 00:24 Welcome to another His Voice Today 00:26 with Steve Wohlberg. 00:32 We are continuing a special series 00:34 dealing with controversial Israel issues. 00:37 I'm Steve Wohlberg, 00:39 the Speaker/Director of White Horse Media, 00:41 as I had mentioned before, I'm Jewish 00:43 and we are going to tackle issues 00:46 in the New Testament concerning Israel... 00:48 concerning the Nation of Israel 00:50 and today our topic is called, "Israel and Jesus Christ" 00:54 This is going to be an amazing Bible Study. 00:58 I'd like to start with the book of Luke chapter 24 01:03 at the end of the gospel of Luke, 01:05 after the resurrection of Jesus, 01:07 Jesus met with His disciples and He gave them a Bible Study 01:11 and in Verse 27, the Scripture says that, 01:24 So, Jesus... in His 01:26 post-resurrection appearance to His disciples... 01:29 He gave them a Bible Study 01:31 from the prophets and from all the Scriptures 01:34 showing how these Scriptures pointed to Himself, 01:38 how He was really the center of Bible prophecy. 01:43 In verse 44 continuing... 02:04 So, again, Jesus went back to Moses, 02:08 He went back to the prophets, He went to the Psalms, 02:12 and He showed how everything in these books 02:15 really pointed forward, in all the Scriptures, to Him. 02:20 He is the center of everything 02:21 and then in verse 45, the Bible says, 02:34 Jesus put a little key into their heads and turned the key 02:39 and He opened a lock inside their minds, 02:41 and then, they were able to understand the Scriptures 02:45 that Moses, the prophets, and the Psalms... 02:48 ultimately pointed forward to Him. 02:52 Jesus is the great center of the whole Bible. 02:56 He wants to be the center of your life, 02:58 He wants to be the center of my life, 03:00 and the only way that we're going to get ready for 03:03 His return, is if we are centered in Him. 03:07 Now, we're going to go back to the Old Testament, 03:09 we're going to do a study on Israel 03:11 and then we're going to go to the New Testament, 03:13 and we're going to talk about Jesus, 03:14 and we're going to put some amazing pieces together 03:18 that are extremely eye-opening just like Jesus says, 03:22 "He opened their minds, 03:23 so they could understand Scriptures. " 03:26 Going all the way back to the book of Genesis, 03:30 the first book of the Bible, 03:31 let's talk about the word, "Israel. " 03:34 The very first time the word "Israel" is ever used 03:39 is in Genesis chapter 32 verse 28. 03:45 The great British Statesman, Winston Churchill, once said, 03:50 "The farther backward we look, 03:52 the farther forward we can see. " 03:55 And it's certainly true in Genesis 03:58 that if we go back to Genesis and try to really understand 04:02 what it's saying, 04:03 it will help us to understand the future 04:06 and the big issues in the days ahead. 04:10 Genesis chapter 32 verses 24 to 28, 04:15 describes a wrestling match between a man named Jacob 04:20 with an angel, 04:22 verse 24 says: 04:39 And then the man said, this was an angel of God... 04:43 the man said, 'Let me go, for the day is breaking. ' 04:46 and Jacob said, 'I will not let you go except you bless me. ' 04:52 And the man said to Jacob, 'What is your name?' 04:55 And he said to Him, 'My name is Jacob. '" 04:57 Now, the name Jacob actually means deceiver or crook. 05:02 And Jacob had been a deceiver, 05:05 he had deceived his father, Isaac, 05:06 he had pretended to be Esau, 05:08 and that got him into a lot of trouble, 05:10 he had to leave his family, and go spend years with Laban, 05:13 and then he got married, he had two wives now 05:16 and lots and lots of children 05:17 and they were on their way back 05:19 he got word that Esau was coming to meet him with 400 men 05:23 and there was probably a battle ahead of him 05:26 and Esau was angry 05:27 and he was probably going to try to kill him, 05:29 so Jacob realized that it was his own sin 05:31 that had gotten himself into this mess, 05:33 that's why Esau was so upset with him 05:35 and so that night under the stars he prayed 05:38 and then... a man wrestled with him, 05:40 he thought the man was probably Esau 05:42 but it wasn't, it was God's messenger, 05:45 God's holy messenger... 05:46 and they wrestled all night 05:47 and finally the messenger touched Jacob's thigh, 05:51 knocked it out of joint 05:53 and that put Jacob down on his knees 05:55 as a broken man, 05:57 needing all the help that God could give him 06:00 and he said, "Let me go," 06:01 and then Jacob said, "No, I will not let you go 06:03 until you bless me, you've got to bless me 06:05 and then he said, "What's your name?" 06:07 And Jacob acknowledged, "My name is Jacob... 06:09 I'm the deceiver, I'm the crook" 06:11 and that basically was Jacob's acknowledgement 06:15 of himself and of his sin and then as a broken man, 06:19 down on his knees, realizing that his own life 06:22 and his family's life was at stake from Esau 06:25 Jacob held on for dear life 06:27 and then the messenger looked at him 06:29 and he said, something amazing, he said in verse 28 06:49 God changed Jacob's name because he was now a humbled man 06:54 he was a broken man, he was a trusting man, 06:56 he was a repentant man, and God changed his name 07:00 and gave him a new name and the new name was "Israel. " 07:03 And the word "Israel" literally means: Prince of God, 07:07 and so the messenger said, 07:09 "You're name is, now, Israel for as a prince 07:12 you have had power with God 07:14 and with man and have prevailed. " 07:16 Now, here's my point, it's very important to recognize 07:19 that the very first time 07:20 the word "Israel" is used in the Bible, 07:22 it was a deeply spiritual name given by a messenger of God 07:26 to a broken man 07:27 and who was now trusting the Lord with his whole heart 07:29 and it meant that he was now a "Prince of God. " 07:33 He was now fully God's man who was on God's side 07:38 and whose life had been changed. 07:40 So the word "Israel... " first time in the Bible... 07:43 Genesis 32:28 right here... originally... 07:47 the first time it applied... not to a people 07:50 but to one particular person... 07:53 to Jacob whose name was now Israel. 07:58 Now, when you go on in Biblical history, 08:01 we discover that, as I mentioned, 08:03 Jacob had kids, he had a lot of kids 08:06 and these became known as 08:08 "the children of Israel" his new name. 08:10 When you go to Exodus chapter 1, farther on in Biblical history 08:15 it talks about the names of the children of Israel 08:18 who were the children of Jacob, who came into Egypt 08:22 and it lists their names and then it says in verse 5 08:26 that Joseph was already in Egypt. 08:28 Now, remember this, Joseph is mentioned here. 08:30 Joseph was the man who had dreams 08:32 that were fulfilled in Egypt that God gave him, 08:35 I'm going to come back to that point. 08:37 So, Israel and his children go to Egypt 08:40 and they begin to multiply 08:42 and they eventually run into trouble with Pharaoh 08:45 and God raises up Moses, sends him to Pharaoh, 08:48 with a message and in Exodus 4:22 in the name of God, 08:57 Moses addresses Pharaoh and he says, 09:00 in verse 22, "Thus shall you say to Pharaoh," 09:03 God said to Moses, "Thus says the Lord: 09:07 'Israel is my son, even my firstborn and I say to you: 09:11 Let my son go, that he may serve me in the wilderness. '" 09:15 Now, here, through Moses, God is telling Pharaoh, 09:19 "Israel is his son. " 09:20 So, first of all Israel was one man 09:23 but when they got into Egypt and multiplied, 09:26 then God looked at the whole nation 09:28 and He called them Israel. 09:30 So you've got Israel as a man, and Israel as a nation 09:34 and also, it's significant that God called Israel His "Son. " 09:39 As we keep reading 09:42 Old Testament History 09:44 of course, lot of things happened 09:45 and you can read your Bible, and you can discover 09:47 what the history is, of the Nation of Israel, 09:50 but I want to bring out a number of Scriptures 09:53 that clearly talk about Israel and we'll draw some parallels 09:58 when we get to the life of Jesus. 10:00 In Psalm 80 verse 8, 10:04 Psalm 80 verse 8 it's clearly talking about the Exodus, 10:08 and about Israel coming out of Egypt, 10:12 and in verse 8... Psalm 80 verse 8, 10:16 David wrote in his prayer, he said, 10:25 So when God brought Israel out of Egypt, 10:27 and then brought Israel into the land... 10:29 the "Promised Land," David referred to Israel 10:32 as a vine, 10:33 so, Israel was God's son, and Israel was a vine. 10:36 When we look at Isaiah 41 verse 8 10:42 and these may seem like 10:44 insignificant texts 10:46 but they're going to have a lot of meaning 10:47 in just a little bit, so stick with me, 10:49 in Isaiah 41 verse 8... this is what the Bible says, 10:58 God refers to Israel, 11:08 So Israel is called "God's servant" 11:12 and Israel is the seed of Abraham. 11:17 Very clear... 11:18 Israel was God's son... Exodus 4:22, 11:21 Israel was God's vine... Psalm 80 verse 8, 11:24 and Israel is also called the seed of Abraham. 11:28 Now, when we go to Hosea 11:1, there is an amazing statement 11:36 and actually will become amazing 11:39 when we look at it in the New Testament 11:42 but Hosea 11:1, in its historical context 11:46 it's a statement about Israelite history. 11:49 Verse 1, Hosea 11:1 says, 11:56 and this is in reference to the exodus... 11:59 Israel was God's son, 12:01 as we already saw, in Exodus 4:22, 12:03 God called Israel His son, he told that to Pharaoh, 12:07 and this verse says, "When Israel was a child, 12:09 I loved him, and I called my son out of Egypt. " 12:11 God brought His son, Israel, 12:13 out of Egypt in the time of Moses. 12:16 Now, are you ready for this? 12:19 Here we go... when we go to the New Testament, 12:24 the very first sentence of the New Testament, 12:28 Matthew chapter 1 verse 1 says, 12:30 "This is the book of the generation of Jesus Christ," 12:32 this book is about Jesus Christ, Jesus is the center of prophecy, 12:36 He's the center of everything. 12:38 In chapter 2, verse 1 says, 12:40 "When Jesus was born in Bethlehem... 12:42 in the days of Herod the king," 12:44 somebody once said, "The hinge of history 12:46 is a door to a Bethlehem stable. " 12:49 When Jesus was born in Bethlehem in the days of Herod the king, 12:54 quite a bit happened in this chapter, 12:58 Herod was threatened when he got the news 13:02 from the wise men about the birth of this child, 13:04 and when the wise men did not come back 13:08 to tell him where the baby had been born, 13:11 he sent his soldiers to Bethlehem 13:15 to kill all the male baby boys under two years' old. 13:17 Now, God was watching out for His Son 13:20 watching out for Jesus, 13:22 and it talks about how 13:25 Jesus' earthly dad... 13:28 his name was Joseph, and verse 12 says that 13:32 he was warned of God in a dream... 13:35 actually, I'm sorry, 13:38 verse 12 talks about the wise men 13:40 being warned of God in a dream, 13:42 verse 13 says that when the wise men departed 13:46 the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, 13:49 so here's Joseph having a dream and He said, 13:51 "Arise, take the young child and his mother 13:53 and flee to Egypt" go to Egypt... 13:55 "because Herod is going to try to destroy this child. " 13:57 And so Joseph, who had... he was having dreams himself, 14:00 he took Jesus to Egypt and the Bible says 14:04 that they were there... 14:05 verse 15... they were there until the death of Herod. 14:08 Now, listen to this... Matthew 2:15 14:10 "He was there until the death of Herod: 14:24 This is amazing... first book in the New Testament 14:29 Matthew chapter 2 verse 15, Jesus goes down into Egypt 14:34 and then Jesus comes out of Egypt, 14:37 and Matthew... under inspiration of the Holy Spirit, 14:40 said that when Jesus came out of Egypt, 14:44 this was fulfilling the Scripture which said 14:49 "Out of Egypt I have called my son" 14:53 which is a quote from from Hosea chapter 11:1 14:57 that applied to the Nation of Israel 14:59 which Matthew in chapter 2 verse 15 15:02 is now applying as fulfilled in Jesus Christ. 15:07 Now, this is just the beginning 15:09 of a whole host of amazing parallels 15:14 that I would like to share with you for your consideration. 15:19 Think about these parallels. 15:22 In the Old Testament, 15:24 Israel is mentioned in the book of Genesis... the first time. 15:29 Israel was a man and then Israel was a people... 15:33 "The Nation of Israel" 15:35 and Israel went down into Egypt and there was a man named Joseph 15:39 who was one of the children of Israel, 15:41 and he was already there in Egypt, 15:43 and he had had many dreams. 15:45 In the New Testament, 15:47 first book of the New Testament, 15:48 we have in the book of Matthew, 15:49 we have another Joseph who was the earthly father of Jesus, 15:52 and he is also having dreams. 15:54 In the Old Testament, Israel goes down into Egypt, 15:57 in the New Testament, Jesus goes down into Egypt. 16:00 In the Old Testament, 16:02 God's son, Israel, comes out of Egypt, 16:05 and in Matthew chapter 2, 16:08 Jesus Christ, God's Son, comes out of Egypt, 16:11 fulfilling Hosea chapter 11 verse 1. 16:14 In the Old Testament, 16:16 when Israel came out of Egypt they went through the sea, 16:18 they promptly went through the Red Sea, 16:20 the water opened up... 16:21 and in the New Testament, 16:23 in Matthew chapter 3 verses 18 and 19, 16:28 what happens is... I'm sorry verses 13 to 15, 16:32 Jesus Christ is baptized 16:34 and Jesus told John the Baptist when He went into the water, 16:38 that we must do this 16:40 because we must fulfill all righteousness. 16:43 It's also interesting that in 1st Corinthians chapter 10 16:48 when Paul talked about Israel coming out of Egypt 16:51 and going through the Red Sea, 16:53 he said that Israel was baptized 16:55 unto Moses and in the cloud and in the sea, 16:59 so Paul referred to Israel going through the water 17:02 as a baptism and in Matthew chapter 3 17:06 Jesus Christ, God's Son, was baptized 17:09 and Jesus said, 17:11 "I'm doing this to fulfill all righteousness. " 17:14 In the Old Testament, when Israel came out of Egypt 17:18 and they went through the water, 17:20 then they wandered in the wilderness for how many years? 17:23 For 40 years... 17:25 in the New Testament, after in Matthew 3, 17:28 Jesus goes through the water and He's baptized 17:32 in the very next chapter, in chapter 4, Matthew 4, 17:35 the Bible says that Jesus was 17:39 led up of the Spirit in the wilderness 17:41 to be tempted by the devil and He fasted... 17:45 and how many days did He fast? 40 days and 40 nights 17:49 and then He was hungry, 17:50 so Israel was in the wilderness for 40 years, 17:53 and Jesus, after His baptism was in the wilderness for 40 days. 17:59 Forty... forty... now, why was that? 18:03 Now, why wasn't it 50 or 30, well, there's a reason, 18:06 specific reason and I'll build this case as we continue on, 18:10 that Jesus was fulfilling the history of ancient Israel. 18:14 When Israel was in the wilderness, 18:16 it says in Deuteronomy, 18:18 the Scripture there says in chapter 8, 18:21 that Israel was to learn through their history in the wilderness 18:25 that man does not live by bread alone but by every word 18:27 that proceeds from the mouth of God 18:29 and in Matthew chapter 4 during the 40 days 18:32 Jesus was tempted three times by the devil 18:35 there were three temptations, 18:36 and every time Jesus was tempted by Satan, 18:39 He answered with a Scripture, He said, "It is written... " 18:42 "it is written... " "it is written... " three times, 18:43 where were those Scriptures from 18:46 that Jesus Christ quoted in Matthew chapter 4? 18:49 Believe it or not, every single one of those verses 18:53 is from the book of Deuteronomy 18:56 which was the book that God gave Israel 18:58 when Israel was in the wilderness. 19:00 Same texts... when Israel came out of Egypt, 19:04 they also went to Mount Sinai, and God made a covenant 19:08 with the Nation of Israel and that's where He gave them 19:11 the Ten Commandments to the 12 tribes 19:13 in the New Testament, 19:15 at the end of Jesus' life, 19:17 He met with His 12 disciples 19:19 and He made a new covenant with them in Matthew chapter 26, 19:22 we've already read that Israel was called "God's vine" 19:27 in Psalm 80 verse 8, 19:29 and in John chapter 15, verse 1, 19:32 Jesus said, "I am the true vine, 19:35 and my father is the husbandman. " 19:38 So Jesus implied the "vine" to Himself. 19:40 In Isaiah 41 verse 8, 19:42 we read that Israel is the seed of Abraham 19:45 and in Galatians chapter 3 verse 16, 19:49 we have an amazing statement from Paul, 19:52 Galatians chapter 3 verse 16, 19:57 about the seed of Abraham, Galatians 3:16, 20:01 Paul wrote, 20:03 "Now to Abraham and his seed" 20:05 in the Old Testament "were the promises made. 20:08 He does not say, 'seeds,'" there's an "s" on there, 20:14 "... as of many, but as of one," 20:19 and then he quotes the Scripture that says, 'And to your seed,' 20:23 the promises were made to Abraham and his seed, 20:26 in the Old Testament, not "seeds" Paul says but "seed" 20:29 and then Paul gives us the punch line, 20:32 but he drops a bomb, a "spiritual bomb" 20:36 "... 'And to your seed,' which is Christ. " 20:39 Which is Christ... which is Christ... 20:41 So Paul says, God made promises to Abraham 20:44 and his seed... he does not say "seeds" 20:47 but he says "seed" and that "seed" is Jesus Christ, 20:52 Jesus Christ Himself. 20:54 He is the seed, "the seed" 20:56 the seed of Abraham. 20:59 In the Old Testament Israel started out as a man, 21:04 and then it was a people, 21:05 Paul said the "seed" is Christ 21:08 but going on in Galatians 3:29, 21:11 he said, verse 29 says, 21:14 and to Gentiles Paul wrote, "And if you be Christ's, 21:16 then are you Abraham's seed, 21:19 and you are heirs according to the promise. " 21:22 Just like it was a man and a people, 21:23 so in the New Testament, it's the seed... is Christ... 21:27 and then it's those who belong to Christ, 21:29 those who are in Christ, whether it's Jews or Gentiles, 21:32 they are in Christ and they become part 21:36 of the seed of Abraham. 21:38 So, just to summarize this history, 21:40 in the Old Testament there was a Joseph, 21:41 in the New Testament, there's a Joseph, 21:42 in the Old Testament he had dreams, 21:44 in the New Testament there were dreams, 21:45 in the Old Testament, Israel went to Egypt, 21:47 in the New Testament, Jesus went to Egypt, 21:49 then in the Old Testament, Israel came out of Egypt, 21:52 in the New Testament, Jesus came out of Egypt, 21:55 in the Old Testament, 21:56 Israel was baptized in the water 21:58 in the New Testament, Jesus Christ 22:00 was baptized in the water 22:01 in the Old Testament, Israel was in the wilderness 22:03 for 40 years, in the New Testament, 22:05 Jesus was in the wilderness for 40 days, 22:07 using the same text that Israel got in Deuteronomy, 22:11 12 tribes in the Old Testament, 12 apostles in the New... 22:14 God's vine in the Old Testament, Jesus is God's vine in the New.. 22:18 the seed of Abraham is Israel in the Old Testament, 22:21 Jesus Christ is the "seed" in the New Testament 22:24 and just like Israel was one man and then a people, 22:28 so, in the book of Galatians, the "seed... " 22:34 the primary seed is Jesus Christ 22:36 but it's not just Christ, it's those that are in Christ 22:39 whether Jews or Gentiles 22:41 who are brought in who become part of God's seed. 22:46 Galatians 6:16 then puts it all together, 22:52 Galatians 6:16 talks about the Israel of God, 22:57 it's not circumcision, 23:00 it's not uncircumcision, 23:01 Paul said, it's a new creature and then he said, 23:04 "mercy and peace be upon those who follow this rule, 23:08 and upon the Israel... the I S R A E L of God. " 23:12 The word Israel means "Prince of God. " 23:15 Jacob was a broken man God changed his name... 23:18 gave him a spiritual name, "Israel" 23:22 meaning... he had become a Prince of God. 23:24 In the New Testament, Jesus Christ is the primary 23:28 "Prince of God" He is the Prince of Peace 23:30 according to the book of Isaiah. 23:32 He is the center of everything. 23:34 Jesus, when He was resurrected 23:35 opened the minds of His disciples 23:37 gave them a Bible Study and showed them 23:38 how all the Scriptures ultimately point forward to Him. 23:42 Jesus is the center of everything, 23:46 the whole book points forward to Him, 23:50 the whole Bible, from Genesis to Revelation, 23:53 points forward to Him. 23:55 According to the book of Galatians, 23:57 Jesus is the seed and those who are in Him, 24:02 are part of the seed. 24:04 Jesus Christ is the "Prince of God" 24:08 and that is the meaning of the word Israel. 24:12 Israel means "Prince of God. " 24:15 Now, let's... as we near the conclusion of this amazing study 24:21 let's go to the book of Revelation, 24:24 the last book of the Bible Revelation chapter 16 verse 16 24:30 describes the final war... a final conflict, 24:33 verse 16:16 says: 24:39 Armageddon is the last great battle... 24:41 it's the great battle between God and the forces of the devil, 24:45 now, I strongly believe 24:48 that Israel is going to be at the center of this war. 24:52 But this is the big question 24:55 and we talked about this in the last program, 24:56 we'll have a further Bible Study in the future program 24:59 as we deal with Israel, Babylon and Armageddon, 25:02 but this is the big issue, 25:03 when the Battle of Armageddon hits, 25:05 who is at the center of this battle, 25:07 who are the good guys and who are the bad guys 25:10 and I will build my case very clearly 25:14 that the center of this battle 25:17 is Israel and that Israel is the Prince of God. 25:21 It's in the "primary Israel... " Jesus Christ, 25:24 and it is also those who are in Christ, 25:28 Jews and Gentiles together 25:32 who believe in Jesus Christ as Messiah. 25:35 Revelation 17 verse 14 talks about the beast 25:39 and all of its world forces, and verse 14 says, 25:59 The Lamb is the center of the book of Revelation. 26:02 Jesus wants to put a key in our heads 26:04 and open the doors of our minds 26:07 so we can understand 26:09 that all the Scripture is centered in Him. 26:12 Jesus, the Lamb of God, is the center of the storm 26:16 and those that are in Christ, 26:18 those that are faithful to Christ, 26:20 those that follow Christ, those that believe in Christ, 26:22 that believe in the message of the Old Testament, 26:24 the message of the New Testament, 26:25 that put both Testaments together, 26:28 and see everything as centered in the Lord Jesus Christ. 26:34 We'll continue this, we've got more to come, 26:36 I hope you'll stick with me 26:37 for the next program of His Voice Today. 26:42 God bless you. 26:43 We hope you've enjoyed this timely message 26:46 from Pastor Steve Wohlberg and we want you to know 26:49 that White Horse Media is deeply committed 26:51 to bringing you many more simple messages 26:54 straight from the Bible designed to educate the mind, 26:57 inspire the heart, and help bring our Viewers 26:59 and their families... closer to God. 27:01 To learn more about White Horse Media, 27:03 or to watch more of Pastor Steve's 27:05 television programs online, 27:07 including his powerful new series of two-minute talks 27:10 visit hisvoicetoday. com 27:12 Will Christians soon disappear... 27:14 raptured before seven years of tribulation 27:17 when the Antichrist makes war against the Jews? 27:19 Jesus Christ gave this special warning about the last days. 27:23 "Take heed that no one deceives you!" Matthew 24:4. 27:26 Find out the truth about these end-time prophecies 27:29 by ordering Steve's popular book, 27:31 "End Time Delusions" for $13.95. 27:33 To order, call 1-800-78-BIBLE or write to White Horse Media 27:37 P.O. Box 1139 Newport, WA 99156. 27:42 If you've been blessed 27:44 by today's Program, and would like to help 27:46 White Horse Media with your financial support, 27:49 you can call our toll-free number listed on the screen 27:52 or donate online at whitehorsemedia. com 27:54 We solicit your prayers for our ministry, 27:58 and we thank you for any gift large or small 28:01 to help us reach people with the gospel. |
Revised 2015-09-09