The Lord spoke to the exiles in Babylon through a letter, written by Jeremiah the prophet, promising that He will protect them, punishing any and all that come against them in order to defend His promise and His name.
16 “‘Therefore all those who devour you shall be devoured;
And all your adversaries, every one of them, shall go into captivity;
Those who plunder you shall become plunder,
And all who prey upon you I will make a prey. Jeremiah 30:16 (NKJV)
God promised this form of protection to Israel from His very first call to them, through Abram, whom He later renamed Abraham:
2 I will make you a great nation;
I will bless you
And make your name great;
And you shall be a blessing.
3 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 (NKJV)
Every nation that has come against God’s people might have prevailed for a season, but in the end, has also come under God’s curse and faced a wrath of destruction. This happened with the Philistines, the Assyrian, Babylonian, and Roman Empires, and most recently, with Nazi Germany. All who plundered God’s people would in the end be plundered themselves, and all who preyed upon them would become the hunted prey.
Israel’s primary blessing to the world has come through the line of David in the person of Jesus Christ. They were the keepers of the royal line and of God’s temple in Jerusalem, which has twice been destroyed, once by Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, and a second time by Titus of Rome, in 70 AD.
In the future Millennium, after the return of Christ, Israel will become a blessing to the world in a new way – they will serve as a kingdom of priests, hosting and assisting visitors from every nation who will come there to worship the Lord. This will fulfill the promise the God first spoke to the Israelites through Moses, and later through Isaiah the prophet.
5 Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, 6 you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words you are to speak to the Israelites.” Exodus 19:5-6 (NIV)
The prophets tell us that this assignment for Israel will be fulfilled after a great tribulation in the last days, when the Lord will put down a global attack upon Israel. God’s kingdom will then be established over the whole earth, ending over 5,000 years of rule by Gentile empires and nations. The Lord Jesus Christ will then reign as King from the New Jerusalem, reinstating the throne of David. He may also choose to place His delegate, a risen King David, on the throne there, as well.
The reason it took so long for Israel to fulfill God’s promise was the conditional part – “if you obey me fully”. Unfortunately, neither they, nor we, have been able to do anything like that. All of us have sinned and fallen well short of the glory of God. We would all be disqualified from serving in His presence without the cleansing forgiveness that is available to us through Christ’s sacrificial death on the cross. If we approach Him in faith, He will forgive us for all of our sins and shortcomings, and restore us to a fitness for service.
23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 6:23 (NIV)
As Gentile believers in Christ, we have been grafted onto the holy root of Abraham’s calling. Through faith, we receive all the blessings of Abraham through the shed blood of Christ, rather than by the “blood” of human genealogy. While it is a special, additional blessing to be born of such chosen blood, it is only the atoning sacrifice of Christ’s death that makes any of us holy and fit for service, and it is His resurrection from the dead which allows us to join Him in His eternal kingdom. It is by God’s grace that He defends us, protects us, and grants us so many blessings and mercies we do not deserve. He is so very good to each one of us.
May the Lord make us fit for service, placing us where we we can do the most good for His kingdom, and keeping us moving forward in the faith until our holy mission on earth is complete.
Reflection
When we look around with the eyes of faith, we recognize the many good things that the Lord has done for us. His grace and mercy have been poured out upon us without limit. It is all given in love, not because of any merit on our part. Grace is totally undeserved, and its riches come because of God’s remarkable, holy nature and the sacrifice of Jesus Christ for us. May we savor and enjoy His many good blessings today!
Father, thank You for your unending love and care for me. I surrender to Your grace and lean upon You and all your generous gifts of life, love, joy, and peace. Help me to reflect the loving image of Christ to others today. In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.
Have a blessed and beautiful day in the Lord’s service today.
Daily Meditations from the Genealogy of Jesus 