There is a strange, perverse desire within mankind to seek out our own blessing instead of the blessing of the Lord. This is seen as early as the Garden of Eden when Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit so that their eyes would be opened. They were attempting to manipulate a blessing for themselves rather than receive what the Lord would have for them in His timing and in His way.
As I look at the news and see the anti-Semitic riots and protests around the world, sometimes under the guise of being against the war in Gaza but sometimes blatantly chanting such things as "kill the Jews", or when I hear of things such as the BBC poll that found Israel to be the fourth most hated nation in the world, I am astounded by mankind's continuing desire to distance themselves from the Lord's blessing. In Genesis 12:3 God promises to the descendants of Abraham (the Jews) the following: "I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who treats you with contempt. All the families of the earth will be blessed through you."
Was this statement fulfilled in Messiah? Matthew 5:17 tells us that Yeshua came to fulfill the Torah and the Prophets. The roll of Abraham's descendants to be a blessing to the world was fulfilled in Messiah, and we see that happening now because people all over the world worship the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob through faith in Yeshua, the quintessential descendant of Abraham and the perfect servant of the Lord (Isaiah 42, 49, 52:13).
However, has Genesis 12:3 been brought to its absolute fullness? Jeremiah 31:34 says this of the New Covenant (which was instituted through Yeshua - see Matthew 26:26ff): "They will no longer each teach his neighbor, and every man teach his brother, saying, 'Know the LORD;' for they will all know me, from their least to their greatest,' says the LORD." Since not all families of the earth have been blessed through Abraham's descendant, and since we are still needing to talk to our neighbors and brothers about the LORD for not all know Him, then the New Covenant, which is the blessing of Abraham's descendant upon the earth, has not reached its zenith.
This is not news to us. We are all expecting the coming fullness of the Kingdom of God. What may be new to us, however, is the understanding that just as the Jewish people were used by God for the first coming of Messiah, so does Scripture seem to indicate that they will be used by God for His return. In Matthew 23:39 Yeshua is speaking to Jerusalem and says: "For I tell you, you will not see me from now on, until you say, 'Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!'" Therefore, Scripture seems to indicate when the Jewish people proclaim Yeshua as King and welcome Him to His rightful throne that the New Covenant will be brought to its fullness. Paul says it this way in Romans 11:15 - "For if the rejection of them (Israel) is the reconciling of the world, what would their acceptance be, but life from the dead?" In other words, Israel faced a time of rejection (the Greek probably means that Israel rejected Messiah for a time, not that God rejected Israel - see Romans 11:1). This time of rejection meant that the gospel could be taken to the Gentiles which helped reconcile the world to God. If it is true that the world was blessed because Israel in large part missed the Messiah, what an even greater revival will take place for the world when Israel receives the Messiah!
However, the world does not seem to want this blessing. Anti-Semitism's history is too dark, too deep, and too long to explain it away by sociological arguments. There is something spiritual going on, and I think it's the same self-aggrandizing drive that Satan feeds into that caused Adam and Eve to disobey God's command - we want to try to attain a blessing apart from Him. We all know what happened; instead of the blessings that the deceiver promised, Adam and Eve inherited curses. The world needs to humbly seek the blessing of God through Messiah, and they need to understand that Israel (and the Church, though that's for a different message) plays a large part in the blessing of Messiah reaching its zenith in the world. Just like Israel was instrumental in Messiah's first coming, so will they be instrumental in the end-time revival which leads to His return. We need to not only understand this, but help see it happen in our day by praying and working for Israel's blessing and salvation in Yeshua. We bless Israel so that God's plan through Israel can take place for the world.
Whether on a personal level or a universal level, we all need to learn the art of submitting to God and receiving His blessings in His timing and in His way. To demand things our own way will lead us to the same situation that Adam and Eve inherited…a fistful of curses instead of a life full of blessings. I pray for the world, that they will learn to bless and not curse Israel so that the true blessings of God may flow to us through Yeshua. Likewise, I pray for you and I, that we be submitted every day to His way of blessing us rather than chasing our own blessings only to find ourselves empty and frustrated.
As I look at the news and see the anti-Semitic riots and protests around the world, sometimes under the guise of being against the war in Gaza but sometimes blatantly chanting such things as "kill the Jews", or when I hear of things such as the BBC poll that found Israel to be the fourth most hated nation in the world, I am astounded by mankind's continuing desire to distance themselves from the Lord's blessing. In Genesis 12:3 God promises to the descendants of Abraham (the Jews) the following: "I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who treats you with contempt. All the families of the earth will be blessed through you."
Was this statement fulfilled in Messiah? Matthew 5:17 tells us that Yeshua came to fulfill the Torah and the Prophets. The roll of Abraham's descendants to be a blessing to the world was fulfilled in Messiah, and we see that happening now because people all over the world worship the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob through faith in Yeshua, the quintessential descendant of Abraham and the perfect servant of the Lord (Isaiah 42, 49, 52:13).
However, has Genesis 12:3 been brought to its absolute fullness? Jeremiah 31:34 says this of the New Covenant (which was instituted through Yeshua - see Matthew 26:26ff): "They will no longer each teach his neighbor, and every man teach his brother, saying, 'Know the LORD;' for they will all know me, from their least to their greatest,' says the LORD." Since not all families of the earth have been blessed through Abraham's descendant, and since we are still needing to talk to our neighbors and brothers about the LORD for not all know Him, then the New Covenant, which is the blessing of Abraham's descendant upon the earth, has not reached its zenith.
This is not news to us. We are all expecting the coming fullness of the Kingdom of God. What may be new to us, however, is the understanding that just as the Jewish people were used by God for the first coming of Messiah, so does Scripture seem to indicate that they will be used by God for His return. In Matthew 23:39 Yeshua is speaking to Jerusalem and says: "For I tell you, you will not see me from now on, until you say, 'Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!'" Therefore, Scripture seems to indicate when the Jewish people proclaim Yeshua as King and welcome Him to His rightful throne that the New Covenant will be brought to its fullness. Paul says it this way in Romans 11:15 - "For if the rejection of them (Israel) is the reconciling of the world, what would their acceptance be, but life from the dead?" In other words, Israel faced a time of rejection (the Greek probably means that Israel rejected Messiah for a time, not that God rejected Israel - see Romans 11:1). This time of rejection meant that the gospel could be taken to the Gentiles which helped reconcile the world to God. If it is true that the world was blessed because Israel in large part missed the Messiah, what an even greater revival will take place for the world when Israel receives the Messiah!
However, the world does not seem to want this blessing. Anti-Semitism's history is too dark, too deep, and too long to explain it away by sociological arguments. There is something spiritual going on, and I think it's the same self-aggrandizing drive that Satan feeds into that caused Adam and Eve to disobey God's command - we want to try to attain a blessing apart from Him. We all know what happened; instead of the blessings that the deceiver promised, Adam and Eve inherited curses. The world needs to humbly seek the blessing of God through Messiah, and they need to understand that Israel (and the Church, though that's for a different message) plays a large part in the blessing of Messiah reaching its zenith in the world. Just like Israel was instrumental in Messiah's first coming, so will they be instrumental in the end-time revival which leads to His return. We need to not only understand this, but help see it happen in our day by praying and working for Israel's blessing and salvation in Yeshua. We bless Israel so that God's plan through Israel can take place for the world.
Whether on a personal level or a universal level, we all need to learn the art of submitting to God and receiving His blessings in His timing and in His way. To demand things our own way will lead us to the same situation that Adam and Eve inherited…a fistful of curses instead of a life full of blessings. I pray for the world, that they will learn to bless and not curse Israel so that the true blessings of God may flow to us through Yeshua. Likewise, I pray for you and I, that we be submitted every day to His way of blessing us rather than chasing our own blessings only to find ourselves empty and frustrated.