
Jeremiah 3:8
8 Then I saw that for all the causes for which
backsliding Israel had committed adultery, I had put her away and
given her a certificate of divorce; yet her treacherous sister Judah
did not fear, but went and played the harlot also. We're told in Jeremiah 3:8 that God
would indeed divorce Israel including Judah. God divorced Israel and
destroyed her unbelieving people. This took place in the 70 AD
Jewish Roman war. Isaiah 1:2
The Wickedness
of Judah
2 Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth! For
the Lord has spoken: "I have nourished and brought up children,
And they have rebelled against Me; The heavens and earth in Bible
prophecy represented the old covenant people, old covenant law and
the Temple system. Until heaven and the earth pass away not one jot
or tittle will pass from the law until all be fulfilled. In Matthew 21:43, Jesus was speaking
to the Jews of Israel in 30-33AD. He basically said to physical
Israel, He didn't want to be married to them anymore because of
their unfaithfulness. Matthew 21:43 tells us He would take away the
kingdom of God the physical Temple and destroy it. He then would
make another (not built with hands) and give it to His new bride,
his church of believers the New Jerusalem. The question here is would this happen
again in the future? No and I'll tell you why. First off there is no
physical kingdom of God on earth, Second it's the body of Christ
that makes up His Church. In addition to an eschatological view
point, There is another example about divorce. Usually people look
down on other people that have gone through a divorce or divorces.
But when you think about how God divorced physical Israel it was
fair and right, leaving us, NOT TO JUDGE. Rev. 21:1-3 "Then I saw a new
heaven and a new earth, (covenant, people, city)" a for the
first heaven (covenant) and the first earth (people, city) had
passed away, (unbelieving Jews, old covenant, literal city of
Jerusalem passed) and there was no longer any sea. (The sea
represents people in the bible and this sea is referring to the Jews
who died in 70 AD) 2I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming
down out of heaven from God (The new Jerusalem city represents the
church they came out of the old covenant heaven), prepared as a
bride beautifully dressed for her husband (The New Jerusalem city
which was the church was the bride who was marrying her husband
Christ Jesus ). 3And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying,
"Look! God's dwelling place is now among the people, and he
will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will
be with them and be their God." Revelation 21:4 Tells us the first
things (old order of things/former things) have passed away. This is
clearly speaking of the end of the old covenant. In Revelation
21:1-7 we see that The dwelling place of God is with man. He will
dwell with them, and they will be his people. So, again, this about
the new covenant relationship with God's people, not a literal city
or building. Nor is it about heaven, as some people think. The church no longer needs a temple
because Christ brings the presence of God to his people. Christ
replaced the temple (Revelation 21:22). No longer could anyone claim
that salvation was in the temple rituals. Salvation rests only in
Christ. Hebrews 8:13 In that He says, "A
new covenant," He has made the first obsolete. Now what is
becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away. Most
people miss the entire point, it's heaven and earth passing away. Hebrews 9:26-28 He then would have had
to suffer often since the foundation of the world; but now, once at
the end of the ages, He has appeared to put away sin by the
sacrifice of Himself. 27 And as it is appointed for men to die once,
but after this the judgment, 28 so Christ was offered once to bear
the sins of many. To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a
second time, apart from sin, for salvation. In verse 26 Jesus had appeared "once"
to put away sin by sacrificing himself. The Greek word translated
once is "hapax" and normally means "once for all
time" (see Jude 3, I Peter 3:18). The writer then says Jesus
"shall appear the second time unto salvation," vs. 28. The
force of the word "second" as used here is the same as
"once;" Christ would not appear again and again. In other
words, "second" carries the same distinctive nature as
does "once" indicating the singularity of the event. Hebrews 9:28 says Jesus would appear a
second time, not many times, unto salvation. Jesus said he was going
to return at the destruction of Jerusalem, and this would be the
redemption [salvation] of his Body. He said it would be in that
generation. Therefore, Jesus' return in the destruction of
Jerusalem, for the purpose of redemption, is the return of Hebrews
9:28.
Since Christ's coming in 70 was the coming for
redemption, and since he was to return only once for salvation per
Hebrews 9:28, then Christ's return in 70 was the final (second)
coming of Christ. In Daniel 12:1-7 Daniel's people are
the Jews of Israel. The people were not to be shattered. It was the
power that was to be shattered. The power was the covenant. When the
power was shattered that is when the Lord divorced Israel. The only
power Israel ever had was a covenant relationship with the Lord. It was Israel that persecuted the
early church in Rev. 17. It was Israel that was guilty of all the
righteous blood shed on the earth Matt. 23:35. The mother of all
harlots was drunk with a blood of the saints she persecuted the
church. The New Jerusalem is the bride
(Revelation 21:2), which means the bride of Christ (Matthew 22:1-14;
John 3:29; 2 Corinthians 11:2; Ephesians 5:22-32; Revelation
19:7-8). Israel was a harlot (Revelation 17:1, 5, 15; 19:2). Israel
was the original bride of the LORD (Jeremiah 2:1). But, throughout
the Bible, whenever Israel is unfaithful, she is characterized as a
"harlot" and an "adulterer." See: Deuteronomy
31:16-18; Isaiah 1:21; Jeremiah 2:20; 3:6-9; Ezekiel 16:15, 26, 28;
Hosea 9:1.For her marital unfaithfulness, she received divorce and
punishment. Then we see the new bride-the church (The Kingdom),
coming to take her place. Old Covenant Jerusalem is destroyed and
replaced by the New Jerusalem of which first-century Christians were
citizens.
By Dan Maines
Did God Divorce Israel?
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