Drew, look at the last word of
verse 20, and that's the title of this message. El, el, oh,
he, Israel. God, the God of Israel. Now, Esau and Jacob, as we saw
last week, were reconciled. I love it when they fall on each
other's neck and embrace and kiss. They're reconciled. Esau has forgiven Jacob of his
crime against him, and they're reconciled. And they go their
separate ways, and Jacob journeyed to Sukkoth in the land of Canaan,
and he settled there. Now, God said to return to Bethel,
and He didn't. He settled in this land of Sukkoth,
and as we will see next week, He will live to regret that decision.
because some horrible things happened in Genesis chapter 34
that I suppose wouldn't have taken place had he not settled
down there. But it's all a part of God's
providence and God's purpose. And thank God, God always brings
good out of evil. But here he comes to this land,
buys a parcel of ground. And the scripture says in verse
20 that he erected there an altar. What's an altar for? Sacrifice. Sacrifice. This altar would point
to the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ. And he called that
altar, L-L-O-H-E, Israel, God, the God of Israel. Now you remember
when God changed his name from Jacob to Israel, turn back to
Genesis 32, And he said unto him, verse 27,
and he, the angel of the Lord, the Lord Jesus Christ, said unto
him, what's thy name? And he said, Jacob. And he said,
thy name should be called no more Jacob, but Israel. For as a prince hast thou power
with God and with men and hast prevailed. Now, Israel erects
this altar unto the Lord, and he calls that place El Elohi
Israel, meaning God, the God of Israel. Now, in the Lord's
province, when I was on vacation last month, I had a long cab
ride with a Muslim. And I was trying to make conversation
with him. And I said, well, where are you
from? He said, I'm from Palestine.
And I said, can you explain to me what is the issue in Palestine? Why is there always struggling
and fighting at that time? And here was his answer. He said,
Israel has tried to kick us out and they think that that land
is inherently their land because they think they're God's chosen
people. And he said that with somewhat
of malice and was very resentful over the fact that Israel had
fought them over what they believed their land to be, and Israel
thinks they're God's chosen people. And that opened up a door for
me to talk about who God's chosen people are. And I said, Israel
only typifies God's chosen people. And we had quite a conversation.
I felt like I was enabled to preach the gospel with him. It
was a blessing. And among other things, I said, does your God
forgive sin? And he said, yes. I said, how? He says, well, you
have to repent of it. And I said, what do you mean
by that? He said, well, you need to be
real sorry, and you need to be real sincere. And God can see. He can see whether you're truly
sorry and whether you're truly sincere. And if you repent of
your sin, then He will forgive you of your sin. What's the difference
between that and any free willer? That's pretty much the same thing.
I thought there's no difference between the Muslims and the average
Baptist or Presbyterian or Methodist or whatever. It's pretty much
the same thing. Another thing I said to him, I said, the difference
between my God and your God is my God's holy, your God's not
holy. And he kind of, he thought his God was really holy. And
I said, no, he's not. And here's the example I gave.
I said, if you commit a really bad sin, and I use that language. I thought maybe that would mean
something to him. If you commit a really bad sin, like murder,
will your God forgive you? He said, yes, if you repent and
if you're very sorry over that sin. And I said, what if you
commit it again? Does that mean he'll forgive
you again? Once again, if you repent and you're real sorry. I said, if someone killed, we
talked, he had grandchildren. I said, if someone killed one
of your grandchildren and said before the judge, I'm really
sorry I did that. I repent. I wish I hadn't have
done it. What we do with a judge is say,
OK, you're forgiven. You're set free. No punishment
for you. That would be an unjust judge. And that's the way your God is.
He's unjust. My God does forgive sin, but
only with His justice being satisfied through the death of Christ.
We have a sacrifice, you have no sacrifice. And he thought
about it, thought about it, and I've thought about him several
times since then, praying maybe the Lord would do something for
him in that and thinking about it. But at any rate, the issue
that he had with Israel is they think they are God's chosen people. What does that mean? Now, notice Jacob prepares and
erects an altar. And there's only one purpose
for an altar. blood sacrifice. There is no other reason for
an altar. I realize they have, you're supposed to come down
from the front of the church and kneel at the altar. No, there's
nothing in the Bible about some altar you come down to the church
and kneel on. The altar is for blood sacrifice. That's all it's
for. And this altar points to the
sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ. And Jacob understood his only
way of acceptance before God was through the sacrifice of
Christ. And you know what, I understand that too. I understand the only
way God can have anything to do with me is if Jesus Christ
was offered up as a sacrifice for me and put away my sin. I have no other hope. One of
the reasons why I despise, and I can't say that strong enough,
I despise that teaching that says Jesus Christ can shed blood
for somebody and they wind up in hell anyway. You know what
that does to me? That takes away the only hope
I have of being saved. Because if Jesus Christ can die
for me, and I can wind up in hell anyway, I know where I'll
end up. And I know the same thing is true of you. Our only hope
is the successful sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ. And this
sacrifice tells us who God is. the glory and the beauty of the
cross, the altar, the sacrifice. Christ is the priest. He is the
sacrifice. He is the altar. He's all those
things. And in the sacrifice of the Lord
Jesus Christ, in the cross, we see the very purpose of God.
The reason he made the universe was for his son to come and put
away sin on the cross. We see his purpose, we see his
wisdom. I love what Charles Spurgeon said. Charles Spurgeon said this,
he said, if you ask the highest archangel how God could be just
and justify the ungodly, they'd still be scratching their head.
They couldn't come up with the answer. But in the cross, we
see how God can be just, absolutely just, righteous, and punish sin,
and yet justify a sinful individual. Oh, the beauty of the cross. We see God's hatred of sin. When he sees sin on his son,
what does he do? He kills him. God is the one
that bruised him. God is the one that crushed him.
We see God's amazing love for sinners, that he would give his
son for sinners. Every attribute of God is displayed
His power to actually make my sin not to be Where I have no
sin to make me holy all because of the cross of the Lord Jesus
Christ God is known in the cross and that's what Jacob Israel
erects at that time an altar portraying the sacrifice of the
Lord Jesus Christ and then he declares, L-L-O-H-E, Israel,
God, the God of Israel. Not everybody's God. God, the
God of Israel. You see, in God being the God of Israel,
tells us he's not God to everybody. Not in the saving sense. Now,
he's everybody's God as their creator and as their sovereign
ruler, but he's not everybody's God in the saving sense of the
word. We read in scripture in Psalm
14, seven of the salvation of Israel. And we read in Romans
11, 26, all Israel shall be saved. And that's not talking about
national Israel. That's talking about spiritual Israel. What
national Israel typifies spiritual Israel. All Israel shall be saved. And it's only Israel who should
be saved. Now on the day of atonement,
when the high priest went into the Holy of Holies, whose names
did he have on his breastplate? The 12 sons of Israel. He didn't
come for everybody. He didn't represent everybody.
He represented the 12 sons of Israel, which lets us know that
God is the God of true Israel. Turn with me to Exodus chapter
11. This is such powerful language. Exodus chapter 11. Verse six,
and there shall be a great cry throughout all the land of Egypt.
such as there was none like it, nor shall like it, nor shall
be like it anymore. But against any of the children
of Israel shall not a dog move his tongue, against man or beast,
that you may know how that the Lord doth put a difference between
the Egyptians and Israel." Now, how many different ways are there
to take that? The Lord put that difference between the Egyptians
and Israel. And if someone is inclined to
say, how can that be fair? Quit thinking that way. Fair
as hell. If God sends me to hell, He's
righteous. He's fair. I can't say, and if
he saves you and passes me by, all that means is he's gracious.
It doesn't mean he's unfair. It means he's gracious. It means
he's merciful. Do I have any reason to complain
against him showing somebody mercy? And if he passes me by,
I can tell you this with regard to everybody he passes by. Everybody
he passes by, they didn't want a salvation anyway. Is it unfair
for Him to not give them what they don't want in the first
place? They don't. Now, this is just the truth.
God made this difference, and He points this out in His Word.
The Lord doth put a difference between the Egyptians and Israel.
And Paul quotes this in 1 Corinthians 4, verse 7, when he says, who
maketh thee to differ from another? What do you have that you didn't
receive? I tell you, if you do differ,
and believers do differ, if you do differ, God the Father made
you to differ in an eternal election when he chose you to be saved
before time began. If you differ, it's because God
the Son bore your sin and put them away. He made you to differ.
Justified you by what he did if you differ. It's because God
the Holy Spirit gave you life He birthed you into his kingdom.
You have something that the natural man does not have you have a
new heart You've been born again. You've been born from above Turn
with me for a moment to Hebrews chapter 8 Verse 10 For this is the covenant, Hebrews
chapter eight, verse 10. For this is the covenant that
I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith
the Lord. I will put my laws into their
mind and write them in their hearts. Now, before we go on
reading, I will put my laws into their mind. and write them in
their hearts. What's he talking about? Is he
talking about the Ten Commandments? Now, I love the Ten Commandments,
but Romans chapter two, verse 16 speaks of the work of the
law written on the heart of every man. Every man is born into this
world with the work of the law written in their heart. Everybody
knows it's wrong to lie. Everybody knows it's wrong to
murder somebody. Everybody knows it's wrong to steal. All of those
commandments are written in the heart of every natural man. That's
why people say, you need to teach
people how to live in this life. You already know how to live
in this life. Don't you know you're supposed to pay your bills?
Don't you know it's stealing if you don't? Don't you know
you're not supposed to lie? You're not supposed to cheat
in your income tax? On and on. Everybody's got the
law written in their heart. They know that. This is not talking
about the Ten Commandments being written in the heart. That's
written in the heart of everybody that's ever born into this world.
This is talking about the laws of the new nature. In the New
Testament, we read of six laws. We read of the law of sin which
is in my members in Romans chapter 7. It's a law. And you know,
it takes a holy nature to see that. The reason an unsafe person
can't understand that is because they don't have a holy nature.
If you have a holy nature, you know something about the law
of sin written in your members. We read of the law of righteousness
where a believer cannot be satisfied with anything but the perfect
righteousness of Christ. That's all they can be satisfied
with. They can't find any comfort, any rest anywhere else. We read
of the law of faith in Romans 14. You know, I cannot not believe. I always cry, I believe, help
out my unbelief, but I cannot not believe. I can't hear the
gospel and say, I don't believe that. I do, I do. It's the law
of faith. It's the nature of a believer
to believe the gospel. We read of the law of love. In
James, it's my nature to love God, the new nature. I love him
as he is. I love him as he's revealed in
the word. I wouldn't change him if I could. You know, there isn't
a human being in all the world. If you got to know me, I've said
this before, somebody says, I wouldn't change you. If you live with
me, you would. And if I lived with you, I'd change you too.
I'd see all kinds of things. Change it! But with regard to
the living God, I wouldn't change anything about Him. He's perfect. He's holy. I love Him. I love His people. That's the
law of love that belongs, that is in every believer. He that
loveth not knoweth not God, for God is love. And then we read
the law of liberty in James as well. I can't handle anything that
doesn't completely free me. I've got to have liberty. If
you give me something I've got to do in order to be saved, I
lose all freedom. I'm miserable. I don't have any
freedom. There's no liberty there. A believer's
got something in his nature. There's a law of liberty, and
there's the law of Christ, Galatians 6. Brethren, if a man be overtaken
in a fault, you which are spirituals, restore such a one in the spirit
of meekness, considering yourself, lest you also be tempted. Bear
ye one another's burdens. You know what that means as much
as anything else? Put up with one another. Oh,
I wish I'd learned this. Put up with one another. That
person that you're getting mad at, you're worse than they are.
Bury ye one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ."
Now, that's what he's talking about when he says, I'll write
my laws in their mind and in their heart. Let's go on reading.
This is the covenant that I'll make with the house of Israel
after those days, saith the Lord. I'll put my laws in their minds,
write them in their hearts, and I will be to them a God. I'll be their God. If God be
for us, who can be against us? and they shall be to me a people. And they shall not teach every
man his neighbor and every man his brother, saying, Know the
Lord, for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest,
for I will be propitious." That's the word. I will be a sin-removing
victim, a sacrifice. I will be propitious to their
unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember
no more. Now, that's what he does for
Israel. Let me say this as plainly as
I can. The physical nation of Israel
is nothing more than a figure of God's elect. That's it. There's nothing, you
know, when people talk about going to the Holy Land, well,
I'd like to visit Israel, but it's a pile of dirt like right
here on Todd's Road. It's not a holy land. As a matter of fact,
it's a wicked land, just like this land is. God's people are the Israel of
God. The Lord said, I came not but
for the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Those are the Lord's
words. Israel figures, typifies God's
chosen people, the people Christ died for. The teaching of the
New Testament is this. They are not all Israel, which
are of Israel. Neither because they are the
seed of Abraham are they all children, but in Isaac shall
thy seed be called. That is CHILDREN OF THE FLESH. THESE ARE NOT THE CHILDREN OF
GOD, BUT THE CHILDREN OF THE PROMISE ARE COUNTED FOR THE SEED. ISRAEL IS EVERY BELIEVER. I'M AN ISRAEL. I'M A TRUE JEW. I'M A HEBREW. THAT'S TRUE OF
EVERY SINGLE ONE OF GOD'S PEOPLE. HE SHALL REDEEM ISRAEL OUT OF
ALL HIS INIQUITY. PSALM 130, VERSE 7. NOW, LET
ME REMIND YOU OF THIS. THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT. And once
again, I've been asking myself this afternoon, trying to think
about why am I saying this? Well, it's because it's what
the scripture teaches. I better have that as my reason for everything
I say. It's what the Bible teaches. But it's also because I find
my only hope right here in a successful savior, a successful redemption.
Now, if God loves all men the same, If God wills the salvation of
all men the same, Judas and Peter, if Jesus Christ shed his precious
blood for all men the same, if God the Holy Spirit is striving
with all men the same, that means the will of God, that means the
love of God, that means the blood of Christ, that means the work
of the Holy Spirit, do not save. It's what you do. That, my dear
friends, is salvation by works. That is why this is so important. My only hope is that God did
something for me. Now let me show you some scriptures. Turn to Romans nine, I've already
quoted this, but I want you to see these with your own eyes.
Romans chapter nine. Verse 6, it's not as though the
Word of God has taken none effect, for they are not all Israel,
which are of Israel, neither because they are the seed of
Abraham are they all children, but in Isaac shall thy seed be
called. That is, they which are the children
of the flesh, natural, national Israelites, these are not the
children of God, but the children of the promise are counted for
the seed. Now, who are these children of
promise? For this is the word of promise, at this time will
I come and Sarah shall have a son, and not only this, but when Rebecca
also had conceived by one, even by her father Isaac, for the
children being not yet born, neither having done any good
or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might
stand, not of works, but of him that calleth. Now, the children
of Israel are the elect of God. Romans 11, 26. And so, all Israel shall be saved. Now, if he's talking about all
of national Israel, scriptures are wrong. This is talking about
spiritual Israel. Every believer. Turn to Romans
chapter two. Verse 28, for he is not a Jew, which is
one outwardly. Does that answer that question?
He's not a Jew, which is one outwardly. Now, if you would have looked
at an Israelite, a Jew, and a Perizzite
or a Jebusite or a Hittite in the land of Canaan, What would
the difference be? Could you physically look upon
them and say, well, that one was a Jew. The rest of them,
you know, that's a Canaanite. No, you couldn't tell the difference. What was the difference? Circumcision. That was the difference. Now,
let's see what circumcision means. Verse 28, for he is not a Jew
which is one outwardly, neither is that circumcision which is
outward in the flesh. Now there you go. I've been circumcised. That ain't circumcision. That's
what the scripture says. That's not circumcision. But he is a Jew which is one
inwardly. And circumcision is that of the
heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter, whose praise is
not of men, but of God. In Acts chapter 5, verse 31,
New Testament preaching, the book of Acts, we read where Peter
says regarding the Lord Jesus Christ, Him hath God exalted
for to give Israel repentance. and the remission of sins. Not all men, Israel. Every true Israelite. Look in Philippians chapter three. Philippians chapter three. Verse three. For we are the circumcision. That ought to catch our attention.
We are the circumcision. Male, female, if you're a female
believer, you've been circumcised in this sense. We are the circumcision
which worship God in the spirit. Now the only way anybody can
worship God is by the Spirit of God. This is not talking about
the spirituality of your worship. We have a spiritual worship service.
We don't have all the candles and the choirs and the organ
playing softly. We have just a plain box and
we don't, you know, our worship is totally spiritual. That's
not what that's talking about. We worship only by the Spirit
of God. And I know this, I can't worship
God without the Holy Spirit. And I've said this many times
before, I never say to somebody, come worship with us. I say,
come hear the gospel. But the only way anybody can
worship is if God, the Holy Spirit, enables them, gives them the
heart to worship. We are the circumcision which worship God
for who he is, by the Spirit of God. Well, what does that
look like? We rejoice in Christ Jesus. And
that word rejoice is glory. It's the same word that Paul
used in Galatians 6, 14, when he said, God forbid that I should
glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. All I have
confidence in is the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. Well,
what's that look like? Look at the third thing he says,
and have no confidence in the flesh. None at all. Not my flesh, not your flesh. That is the true circumcision. Now the notion that God has two
plans, one for national Israel and another one for Christians
is just not taught in the scripture. It's called dispensationalism
and it's just wrong. Turn with me to Exodus chapter
two. God is the God of Israel, and
that is not national Israel. Exodus chapter two, verse 25. And God looked upon the children
of Israel, and God had respect unto them. My marginal reading says he knew
them. He knew them. Look in Exodus
chapter four, verse 22. And thou shalt say unto Pharaoh,
thus saith the Lord, Israel is my sons. No, Israel is my son. even my firstborn, and I say
unto thee, let my son go." That's Israel. That's all of God's people. Let my son go. God, the God of Israel, he's
even called the Holy One of Israel. And we read in Isaiah chapter
45 verse 17 that Israel shall be saved with an everlasting
salvation. Now, don't miss that. Everlasting
means it never had a beginning, there was never a point in time
when it began to be, and it will never have an end. It's eternal. Here's what that looks like.
Whom He did foreknow, them He also did predestinate, to be
conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn
among many brethren. Moreover, whom He did predestinate,
them He also called. Whom He called, them He also
justified. Whom He justified, them He also
glorified. What should we say to these things?
If God be for us, who can be against us? God is the God of
Israel. If it had not been for the Lord
who was on our side, now may Israel say, if it had not been
for the Lord who was on our side, when men rose up against us,
they would have swallowed us up quick. Turn to Isaiah 41. I want to show you a couple of
other scriptures. Isaiah 41. You know, it's interesting,
particularly in the book of Isaiah, in the very same verse, he calls
them Jacob and Israel. I'm still a Jacob in my old man,
and I'm an Israel in my new man, but when I'm in glory, I won't
have Jacob anymore. I'll just be Israel. But look
at this scripture in Isaiah, chapter 41, verse eight. But
thou, Israel, art my servant, Jacob, whom I've chosen. The seed of Abraham, my friend. Here's a threefold description
of every Jacob, of every Israel. God calls them my servant, my chosen, and my friend. Every believer, my servant, my
chosen, And my friend, what a friend. Look at Isaiah 43 for a moment. Verse one. But now thus saith
the Lord that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel,
Fear not, for I have redeemed thee. I've called thee by thy
name. Thou art mine. When thou passest
through the waters, I will be with thee. And through the rivers,
they shall not overflow thee. When thou walkest through the
fire, thou shalt not be burned. Neither shall the flame kindle
upon thee, for I am the Lord thy God, the Holy One of Israel,
thy Savior. I gave Egypt for thy ransom and
the Ethiopian Seba for thee. Here's the particularity of God's
grace. Since thou was precious in my
sight, thou has been honorable and I have loved thee. Therefore
I'll give men for thee and people for thy life. Fear not. For I
am with thee. I'll bring thy seed from the
east and gather thee from the west. I will say to the north,
give up, and to the south, keep not back. Bring my sons from
far and my daughters from the ends of the earth, even everyone
that is called by my name. For I have created him for my
glory. I formed him, yea, I have made
him. Psalm 121, verse four, behold,
he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep. In Psalm 73, verse one, we read
truly God is good to Israel, even such as are of a clean heart. And that's that new heart that
every believer possesses. Remember when the Lord said,
blessed are the pure in heart. Pure means pure. And every believer
is given this new heart. Jeremiah 2.3 says, Israel is
holiness to the Lord. And Jeremiah 23.6, he's the Lord
our righteousness to Israel. Now, truly, God is the God of
Israel. Am I an Israelite? Am I a true
Jew? If I believe and trust Jesus
Christ as my all in salvation, and I don't look anywhere else
but Him, guess what? I'm a Jew. I'm an Israelite. And He is the God, God, the God
of Israel. Let's pray. Our God, the Father of our Lord
Jesus Christ, the God of Israel, We ask in Christ's name that
we will be enabled to worship you in the spirit, rejoice in
Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh. May we, like Nathaniel, be Israelites
indeed. Bless this message for Christ's
sake, in His name we pray, amen.