But the blessing of being given the cookie is not necessarily lost to the child forever. If the child changes his mind and cleans his room like his father told him to do, he can still be rewarded the cookie.
In the same way, the Israelites have not lost out on the earthly blessings that they were promised as a reward of faithfulness and devotion to God, yet those promises did not cease with the Old Covenant. They simply will meet their fulfillment in the New Covenant as a testimony of God’s faithfulness in keeping His promises even when we are not always faithful to Him.
If the agreement between the the father and child remained the same (if child cleans room, father gives a cookie), then I would agree with you.
But as we see with Israel, God found fault with them as they could not keep their end of the agreement and so through Jeremiah, He prophesied of a new covenant (hebrews 8:7-8).
And so if the child does not clean his room, the father does not need to give the child a cookie. The child then continues in disobedience and will not clean the room, so the father ends this agreement and promises a new agreement. IF the child cleans the room, the father will give his child a new video game system.
Now when the child listens and cleans the room under the new promise, does the child receive a video game system or a cookie?
But now those blessings are given upon acceptance of the New Covenant instead of the Old.
the materialistic blessings of the old covenant are bestowed upon the Jews who come to Christ?
That doesn't make sense if the old covenant was made obsolete and taken away (Hebrews 8:13, Hebrews 10:9).
The promises that God has made under the New Covenant do not cancel out those promises made beforehand. Instead, the Jews receive a double portion in that along with their earthly blessings receive also the blessings that everyone else in Christ receives as well.
Scripture is very clear the new covenant is NOT LIKE the old covenant (hebrews 8:9). Scripture is very clear the new covenant has better promises (hebrews 8:6). Scripture is very clear the old covenant was made obsolete (Hebrews 8:13).
However, your argument that the old covenant promises are still in effect means the new covenant is like the old covenant. Your argument that the old covenant promises are still in effect means they co exist with better promises and are thus worse promises. Your argument that the old covenant promises are still in effect means the old covenant is till in effect, which goes against scripture.
The Church is not a nation in the same sense that Israel is in that the Church is made part of an eternal Kingdom into which the earthly nation of Israel is destined to be made part of as well.
The body of Christ is Israel. It consists of Jews and grafted in gentiles who were made one under Christ. Anyone who is in Christ is Abraham's offspring.
The prophecies of Ezekiel and Hosea are not entirely about the same things in that Ezekiel focuses specifically on the nation of Israel. Hosea, while focused mainly on Israel, invites the Gentiles to be reconciled with their Maker as well. Hosea is not the only set of Old Testament scriptures that expresses God’s desire for all people, Jew and Gentile, to know Him and experience His love and mercy.
I disgaree. Both Hosea and Ezekiel mention the house of Israel and Judah coming together under one leader.
But what other nation, other than Israel, has been displaced, scattered, and then again restored?
Greece.
You forget that not all the returning Jews had yet set their hearts to seek the Lord as is also mentioned in the book of Nehemiah and even more notably so, the prophets Zechariah and Malachi.
Let's try not to forget that not all Israel is Israel, thus the remnant of Israel is all of Jacob.
Micah 2:12 I will surely assemble all of you, O Jacob; I will gather the remnant of Israel;
Romans 9:6 It is not as though God’s word has failed. For not all who are descended from Israel are Israel.
None of the Israelites were ousted from the Covenant. They left the Covenant. If the northern kingdom had been divorced of God, it is because they divorced themselves from Him first. Nevertheless, He has left the door open for they and the rest of the Jews to be reconciled to Him.
They never became as Gentiles. They still retained their identity.
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I disagree.
It was prophesied that Ephraim (another name for the house of Israel) would become a multitude of gentiles
Genesis 48:19 But his father refused. “I know, my son, I know!” he said. “He too shall become a people, and he too shall be great; nevertheless, his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his offspring shall become a multitude of gentiles”
We can see it was God who sent the northern kingdom away with a decree of divorce.
Jeremiah 3:8 She saw that for all the adulteries of that faithless one, Israel, I had sent her away with a decree of divorce.
It was the northern kingdom that would no longer be God's people and God no longer their God
Hosea 1:6-9 Gomer again conceived and gave birth to a daughter, and the LORD said to Hosea, “Name her Lo-ruhamah,
cfor I will no longer have compassion on the house of Israel, that I should ever forgive them. Yet I will have compassion on the house of Judah, and I will deliver them—not by bow or sword or war, not by horses and cavalry, but by the LORD their God.” After she had weaned Lo-ruhamah, Gomer conceived and gave birth to a son. And the LORD said, “Name him Lo-ammi,
d for you are not My people, and I am not your God.
e
It is the northern kingdom that mixes with the nations.
Hosea 7:8 Ephraim mixes with the nations; Ephraim is an unturned cake.
Thus by God divorcing the northern kingdom, he scattered them and mixed them with nations. and therefore descendants of the northern kingdom became a multitude of gentiles by the time of the 1st advent of Christ (700 years post Assyrian exile).
THis is substantiated by Paul quoting hosea 1:10 and 2:23 as being fulfilled with the inclusion of the GENTILES with the jews in the vessels of mercy (romans 9:24-26).
I would not call the first century the generation in which the hearts of the Jews had undergone a spiritual circumcision. Most of the people of Israel ended up rejecting their Messiah and remained uncircumcised in their hearts.
So you believe true Israel are those who reject Christ?
I do not because Israel was punished for their own sins and not for the sins of anyone else. Christ on the other hand suffered for the sins of all mankind and yet Himself was sinless which He had to be in order to be that perfect sacrifice required for the forgiveness of the sins of those who place their trust in the sacrifice made by Christ on their behalf in order that they might be saved from damnation and reconciled with their Maker.
Again, shadow. Christ became sin, who knew no sin, for us. He became a curse for us.
Christ redeemed Israel from the curses of the law by becoming a curse (Galatians 3:13). As dueteronomy states, it is after the curses were poured out that Israel would repent and return to the Lord and thus God would restore them from captivity (deuteronomy 30:1-5). That is the shadow.
After Christ became the curse and thus redeemed Israel from the curses of the law (Galatians 3:13), Israel began to repent (acts 2:41), and were set free (Galatians 5:1).
That is the reality.
Applied as it may be in that sense, Ezekiel’s prophecy was written in a way meant to be taken literally.
All scripture points to Christ and all promises of God find their yes in Christ. Ezekiel 37 prophesies that the house of Israel and the house of Judah would be gathered together in their land and would become one nation under one king.
This literally is fulfilled. Israel (descendants of both houses) did return to the land following the Babylonian exile (1 chronicles 9:1-3). God was manifested in the flesh through Christ following the return from exile. Through the ministry, death, resurrection and ascension of Christ to the Father, Israel and the gentiles began to be gathered as one people under one head/shepherd who is Christ (John 11:52, ephesians 2:15).
But the promised blessings were not canceled alongside the Old Covenant. If that were the case, God would be breaking promises that He has made which is why, in order to show Himself faithful in keeping His promises, (Heb. 10:23) He must fulfill all promises and all declarations He has made exactly as He has said.
The old covenant was a conditional agreement. If Israel obeyed, God would bless. We cannot separate the promises from the covenant. If the covenant is obsolete so are the conditional promises.
And why do you think that is? Should that in and of itself not serve as evidence of God’s promise that He would not make a full end of His people or the nation of Israel?
W
ho are God's people? Those obedient to the son or those that reject the son?
Romans 2:28-29 A man is not a Jew because he is one outwardly, nor is circumcision only outward and physical. No, a man is a Jew because he is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code. Such a man’s praise does not come from men, but from God.”
You have misquoted Paul in your statement. Paul did say that a man can be a Jew outwardly, but that does not make him one spiritually.
I did not misquote. Paul literally states a man IS NOT A JEW BECAUSE HE IS ONE OUTWARDLY. Paul clearly states a man is a jew because HE IS ONE INWARDLY.
There are passages in Ezekiel chapters 40-47 that at least indicate that this is the case as far as the forth coming millennial reign is concerned. The New Testament does not have as much to say about the Millennial Reign as the Old Testament does. The most we read about the Millennial Reign is in Revelation chapter 20.
If we want to find out what the Millennial Reign under Christ will be like, that requires not only looking at New Testament scriptures, but also Old Testament scriptures as well. In other words, we have to look at the full counsel of scripture on the matter from beginning to end.
1.) Both the New Jerusalem and the Body of Christ are the Bride of the lamb
Revelation 20:9-10 Then came one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues and spoke to me, saying, “Come, I will show you the Bride, the wife of the Lamb.” And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great, high mountain, and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God,
Ephesians 5:31-32 Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church.
2.)Both the New Jerusalem and the Body of Christ are built on the foundations of the prophets
Revelation 21:14 And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.
Ephesians 2:20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone
3.) Both the New Jerusalem and the Body of Christ are where God dwells with his people.
Revelation 21:3 Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God
Ephesians 2:21 In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.
2 Corinthians 6:16 What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said, “I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
4.) Both the New Jerusalem and the Ezekiel temple having water flowing from them
Revelation 22:1-2 Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city.
Ezekiel 47:1-2 Then he brought me back to the door of the temple, and behold, water was issuing from below the threshold of the temple toward the east (for the temple faced east). The water was flowing down from below the south end of the threshold of the temple, south of the altar
5.) Both the New Jerusalem and the Ezekiel temple have trees growing on either side of the river producing fruit every month and have leaves for healing
Ezekiel 47:12 And on the banks, on both sides of the river, there will grow all kinds of trees for food. Their leaves will not wither, nor their fruit fail, but they will bear fresh fruit every month, because the water for them flows from the sanctuary. Their fruit will be for food, and their leaves for healing.”
Revelation 22:2 On either side of the river stood a tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit and yielding a fresh crop for each month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.
6.) Both the New Jerusalem and the Ezekiel temple are where God's throne is
Revelation 22:3 No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be within the city, and His servants will worship Him
Ezekiel 43:6-7 While the man was standing beside me, I heard someone speaking to me from inside the temple, and He said to me, “Son of man, this is the place of My throne and the place for the soles of My feet, where I will dwell among the Israelites forever.
7.) Both the New Jerusalem and the Jerusalem of the Ezekiel temple have 12 gates (3 on each side) with the names of the 12 tribes of Israel.
Revelation 21:12-13 The city had a great and high wall with twelve gates inscribed with the names of the twelve tribes of Israel, and twelve angels at the gates. There were three gates on the east, three on the north, three on the south, and three on the west.
Ezekiel 48:33-35 These will be the exits of the city: Beginning on the north side, which measures 4,500 cubits long, the gates of the city will be named after the tribes of Israel. On the north side there will be three gates: the gate of Reuben, the gate of Judah, and the gate of Levi.
On the east side, which will be 4,500 cubits long, there will be three gates: the gate of Joseph, the gate of Benjamin, and the gate of Dan. On the south side, which will be 4,500 cubits long, there will be three gates: the gate of Simeon, the gate of Issachar, and the gate of Zebulun. And on the west side, which will be 4,500 cubits long, there will be three gates: the gate of Gad, the gate of Asher, and the gate of Naphtali. The perimeter of the city will be 18,000 cubits
h , and the name of the city from that day on will be: THE LORD IS THERE.”
I believe the Body of Christ = New Jerusalem = Ezekiel temple.
Ezekiel 43:7 and He said to me, “Son of man, this is the place of My throne and the place for the soles of My feet, where I will dwell among the Israelites forever.
Isaiah 66:1 Thus says the Lord: “Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool;
2 Corinthians 5:1 For we know that if the tent that is
our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands,
eternal in the heavens.