I don't see how people can say God will never restore Israel. I don't see how people can say they'll never have a place in his final plan. God says here, it'll be as if I never cast them off, for I'm the Lord their God, and I will hear them. They'll be restored to the place of blessing. They'll be given the power that I intended for them from the beginning.
Welcome to Grace to You, the Bible teaching ministry of John MacArthur. I'm your host, Phil Johnson. A survey not long ago on the religious life of Jews in Israel found that 67% identify as secular.
So, two-thirds of the Jewish population of Israel doesn't follow the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Yet, the Bible says that one day all Israel will be saved. Why the change? And why does God choose to save an entire nation? For that matter, how does knowing God's future plans help you right now?
John MacArthur considers those questions today as he continues his current study, The Return and Reign of Jesus Christ. And here's John with today's lesson.
Now when Israel is saved. What happens? What all is involved in their redemption? That is the theme of chapter 10. Just exactly what occurs.
What are the constituent benefits of salvation? Feature number one: the first thing Israel will receive is a divine redeemer. the Divine Redeemer. Verse 4. Number two.
Divine Rain Verse 1.
So what is Israel going to get in the kingdom? A divine redeemer and divine reign. Thirdly. Is going to come divine recompense, divine recompense. Verse two.
For the idols have spoken vanity. And the diviners have seen a lie and have told false dreams. They comfort in vain, therefore they went their way like a flock. They were troubled because there was no Shepherd.
Now here is the picture painted of Israel's dilemma. They've been obeying idols in their past. By the way, this is a reference to Israel's life before the captivity. This is in the past. Because after the captivity they had not entered idolatry.
But they worshipped idols and they followed diviners, the occult, fortune tellers, witchcraft, soothsayers. All of that. They were into that, just like our society today. They had their idols and their diviners, and their idols spoke in vain, and their diviners told lies, and gave them false dreams, and comforted them in vain. They went therefore out like a flock, and they were troubled because they were a flock without what?
Not a shepherd. And they were looking out for all these phony shepherds and none of them ever gave them the truth. They were fake. Their past experience with idols and their past experience with the occult was a disaster. The word idols there is teraphim.
And the Hebrew word teraphim is a most interesting word that demands a tremendous amount of study, really. But simply reducing it, it has to do primarily with household gods. The people actually did not only go to temples and worship, but they developed these little self-styled household gods. And a demon would impersonate the god that they had made in their little household, and then the demon would hold them to this false system. Here they were, and this was not unusual in Israel.
Read Genesis 31, 1 Samuel 15, 2 Kings 23, and you'll find in all of those chapters this problem. And here they were worshiping these things absolutely forbidden by God, these things who were utterly wicked, speaking vanity and uselessness. They were like a sheep without a shepherd. They were being misled by these phonies. Ezekiel talks about this.
And how tragic it was in Israel's history to be without a shepherd. It says in Ezekiel 34 and verse 6, My sheep wandered through all the mountains, and upon every high hill. Yea, my flock was scattered upon all the face of the earth, and none did search or seek them. Therefore, ye shepherds, hear the word of the Lord. As I live, saith the Lord God, surely because my flock became a prey and my flock became food to every beast of the field, because there was no shepherd, and he's indicting the priests and the prophets here.
Neither did my shepherds search for my flock, but the shepherds fed themselves and fed not my flock. Therefore, O ye shepherds, hear the word of the Lord. Thus saith the Lord God: Behold, I am against the shepherds. I will require my flock at their hand and cause them to cease from feeding the flock. Neither shall the shepherds feed themselves anymore, for I will deliver my flock from their mouth, that they may not be food for them.
He says, You in your selfishness and in your self-centeredness have used the flock to feed yourself. You used them to make your money and to provide your food by all the offerings they bring, and you've never fed them at all. And I'm against you because you've left them to wander without a shepherd. But such a shepherd would come. Further in the chapter in verse 23, Ezekiel says, Verse 22 is starting, Therefore will I save my flock.
I will set up one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them, even my servant David. And of course, he has in mind ultimately greater than David. He shall feed them, and he shall be their shepherd. And I, the Lord, will be their God. And then he closes by saying, I, the Lord, have spoken it.
There was a time when they didn't have a shepherd. This is what he's saying in verse 2. There was no shepherd. And then in verse 3, he says exactly what Ezekiel said: Mine anger was kindled against the shepherds, and I punished the goats. And that's literally he-goats, and it's a term used in the Old Testament to refer to leaders.
Sometimes it refers to the chiefs. It is used as a synonym for the chiefs in Israel in other passages. I will punish the shepherds, and I will punish the chiefs. For the Lord of hosts has visited his flock, the house of Judah, and made them as his majestic horse in the battle.
Now you say, wait a minute, what's going on?
Now watch. Implied here Is that what occurred in Israel's past, now watch this. What occurred in Israel's past? Idolatry and the occult. For which God brought judgment on those shepherds.
will occur again. And I think there is a latent prophecy here. That the prophet sees in the future another idolatry in Israel, another involvement in the occult in Israel. Because of the false leaders and the false teachers that will rise up in the future. And God will come again and he will punish them in visiting his flock.
He will literally turn his flock into a battle horse to act in judgment against these false teachers. You say you mean that's actually going to happen in the future? I believe it is. You mean you believe that Israel is going to turn to worshiping idols and Satan and the occult? Yes.
In fact, let me give you one illustration that'll remind you that you probably believe that too. With whom does Israel make a pact in the tribulation? Antichrist. What does Antichrist immediately do? He sets up in the midst of Jerusalem what?
An image to himself. and requires all of the humanity to bow to that image. The people, no question, will be trapped in this. The image it says will even speak. And so there will be occultism and there will be demonism.
Believe me, when the tribulation says that the doors of hell are open and the demons are all let loose, there will be demons in the world like never before, and the occult will reign supreme. And no question about it in my mind that Israel will get engulfed in this kind of idolatry. They will make a pact with the Antichrist according to Daniel 9:27. They will get engulfed in that system before they're pulled out of it. And that is really what Zachariah is saying.
But then, in the end, God will look with mercy on his people and he will take that very nation which has been victimized by these phony leaders and he will turn that flock of helpless sheep into a battle horse that will do war against those very shepherds and destroy them. And Jesus Christ Himself will ride, as it were, on the back of the battle horse which is itself Israel. Another passage that indicates this to us: that Israel will indeed be. Brought into a belief in idols and so forth is in Matthew 24, because repeatedly in Matthew 24 it warns them along these lines. For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ, and shall deceive many.
Many false prophets, many false shepherds are going to come. Verse 11. Many false prophets shall rise and shall deceive many. Same statement. Verse 23, then if any man shall say, Lo, here is Christ and there, believe it not.
For there shall arise false Christ, false prophets showing signs and wonders, insomuch if it were possible that they would deceive the very elect. You see, Matthew says they're going to come, all the phony shepherds are going to come, and they're going to deceive many people. Paul, in writing to the Thessalonians in chapter 2 of 2 Thessalonians, points up the fact that the Thessalonians need to be aware that Christ has not yet come because the apostasy hasn't yet come, but when the apostasy does come, there will come lying, signs, and wonders deceiving many.
So there's coming a day. Once God's people are going to experience a delusion, a deception that's incredible. And believe me, God is even going to allow it because He's going to allow, as it were, all hell to break loose right up to its limits. And when it's blown its last gasket, He's going to destroy it all. We know this is all the allowance of God because Isaiah 66:4 says.
I also, watch this, talking about the end times. I also will choose their delusions, and I will bring their fears on them, because when I called, none did answer. When I spoke, they didn't hear, but they did evil before my eyes and chose that in which I delighted not. I will choose their delusions, says God. I'll bring them on.
And so, God is going to allow the world to come into a delusion, and Israel will be engulfed in it somehow. And God, in His wonderful grace, will come in the midst of that delusion with a true shepherd to offer to them. The true shepherd, as it were, will get on their backs as they are transformed into the battle horse, and they'll go out to conquer the ungodly. Verse 3. Tells us essentially.
The same thing. That we find in Isaiah. And Ezekiel and the book of Revelation. Christ is going to come. In judgment, Using the nation Israel.
As his war horse. In Zechariah chapter 12, we'll see this in detail. As we go from verses one to nine, we won't take the time to read it right now. But in verse 9 it says, it'll come to pass in that day I'll seek to destroy all the nations. The Trump against Israel.
So God is going to use Israel as part of the force. To destroy the nations. Chapter 14 of Zachariah tells us the very same thing: how he's going to come and fight. Against The enemy. A great principle here.
The Lord is going to come. And bring divine recompense and judge all oppressors. The end of verse 4 of chapter 10: all oppressors will be thrown out.
So, the divine redeemer is part of Israel's redemption, the divine reign, wonderful blessing, both physical and spiritual, and divine recompense as God judges. the ungodly and the false teachers. Fourth, divine restoration. Divine restoration, verse 5. This is very simple.
We'll look at it just briefly. And here the Holy Spirit promises them marvelous power. Look at verse 5. And they shall be like mighty men who tread down their enemies in the mire of the streets in the battle. And they shall fight because the Lord is with them, and the riders on horses shall be confounded.
And I will strengthen the house of Judah, and I will save the house of Joseph. Those are just names for Israel. And I will bring them again to place them in their land, for I have mercy on them, and they shall be as though I had not cast them off. For I am the Lord their God, and will hear them. And they of Ephraim shall be like a mighty man.
Now I want to just pull that one thought out of there. A tremendous restoration is going to come. They will be literally transformed into the power of God. You know, if you study Israel's history, The only time they ever won a battle was when the Lord was in it, right? The only time they ever won.
Israel never did win unless the Lord was with them, and that'll be the case at the end. They literally trample their enemies in the mire of the streets. Because verse 5, the Lord is with them. And verse 6, he is the one who will strengthen them. And the riders on the horses, that is the enemy, will be confounded.
And the Hebrew word means they will be confused or they will be ashamed. It can mean either thing. And it probably means both. In their confusion, they will be ashamed of their inability to withstand and to be defeated. The world is going to go into a state of shock.
And the day when the king of kings comes with his mighty people from Israel to win the great and final battle. before the kingdom. By the way. Jeremiah 32:37 prophesies this very same thing.
So this also appears. in the former prophets. There's one interesting note. In verse 6, the house of Judah refers to the southern kingdom, and the house of Joseph to the northern. And the beautiful thought is here that God is going to restore the whole nation, north and south, one nation with one destiny.
That's God's plan. And he'll bring them, I like this. to place them. After it's all over, he'll place them. Boy, what a great message it is to the wandering Jew, isn't it?
who has been wandering for so many years all over the world. And I love this, they shall be as though I had never cast them off. It'll be just like it was meant to be. I don't see how people can say God will never restore Israel. I don't see how people can say they'll never have a place in his final plan.
God says here, it'll be as if I never cast them off, for I'm the Lord their God, and I will hear them. And they of Ephraim, another name for Israel, shall be like a mighty man. They'll be restored to the place of blessing. They'll be given the power that I intended for them from the beginning. I will place them.
God is merciful.
So why is God going to do this? I'll tell you why. He says in verse 6: Because I am the Lord their God. That's why. In other words, I am Jehovah, and Jehovah is my covenant-keeping name, and I made a promise, and if I make a promise, what?
I keep it. I'm going to do it because I promise to do it and I make a covenant only to keep it. No longer will I be related to them, Lo Ruhama, or Lo Ami, the periods of Israel's history when they were separated. But from now on it will be, you are my people and I am your God. And no longer will Ichabod be written.
This great restoration Brings What I've chosen to call divine rejoicing. The end of verse 7. This is what it says. And their heart shall rejoice as through wine. That's kind of good, isn't it?
They're going to get happy like they've had just a little too much. Yea, their children shall see it and be glad. Their heart shall rejoice In the Lord. What a wonderful truth. Their heart shall rejoice In the Lord.
Naturally. When God does all these things, when the Redeemer comes and everything begins to rain blessing and justice is meted against the enemy and restoration is brought to the nation, the natural response is joy. The joy here is intense. It's as if they had just had a little. Too much to drink.
And the children are going to see it, and they're going to chime in, and everybody's going to be happy. and rejoicing in the Lord. You know Isaiah predicted joy in the kingdom. You know, when you think about it for Israel, this would be pretty great. They've been through a lot of sorrow.
Listen to what Isaiah said would happen in the kingdom. Rejoice with Jerusalem. Be glad with her, Isaiah 66, 10. All ye that love her, rejoice for joy with her, all ye that mourn, that ye may nurse and be satisfied with the breasts of her consolation, that you may drink deeply and be delighted with the abundance of her glory. For thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river and the glory of the nations like a flowing stream.
Then shall you be nursed. You shall be born upon her sides and be dandled on her knees. In other words, Jerusalem is going to be the mother and she will be the rich and she will be the full and everybody else will just kind of bounce on her knee and the joy that she has will be transferred to us. As one whom his mother comforts, so will I comfort you, and you shall be comforted in Jerusalem. And when you see this, your heart will rejoice, and your bones will flourish like an herb, and the hand of the Lord shall be known toward his servants.
That's what's promised. Great. Great joy. The whole world bouncing as it were on the knee of Jerusalem.
So What does God promise Israel in the redemption? Divine redeemer, divine reign, divine recompense, divine restoration, divine rejoicing, and how about another one? Divine regathering? They're all going to be together again.
Now, watch closely. I'm going to go through this quick. This is so good. Verse 8: your version may say, I will hiss for them. The Hebrew says, I'll whistle for them.
God is going to step on the edge of his kingdom someday in heaven, and he's going to go.
However, you do that. And they're all going to come. It's a great uh And I'm going to gather them because I've redeemed them, he says. I'll whistle for him. Check out Isaiah 526 and you'll find it.
Another reference to that whistling of God. Why? Because I redeemed them. It's my plan, folks. It's all my plan.
I did it. I'm going to bring them back. I'm going to gather them. And then he says, And they're going to increase as they have increased. What do you mean by that?
Well, they've been growing. Ever since they went into Egypt, you remember in Exodus chapter 1, when they went into Egypt, they increased like mad? They really increased. Phenomenally. And he says, as they have increased in the past, and at this time there were many Jews, as they have increased in the past, they will increase perhaps commonly to what happened in Egypt, the phenomenal increase there.
They're going to flourish in the kingdom, they're going to go like mad, they're going to populate. You see, now watch this. When Jesus comes at the end of the tribulation. Those Jews that are redeemed will not die. They'll go into the kingdom in physical bodies.
And they will occupy the earthly kingdom in their physical form, and they will have children, and they will live a long time. In fact, if someone dies at 100 years, they die a baby.
So, as long as they're living after the age when you can begin to reproduce, they will be having children. And the earth will literally proliferate with children. In fact, in Zechariah 2.4, it says, Jerusalem will be inhabited like a town without a wall because of the multitude of men in it.
Now before that happens, verse 9 says God has another plan. I first will sow them among the peoples. He's done that, hasn't he? From 70 AD they were dissatered and dispersed all over the world. He says, I'll sell them among the peoples.
and they'll remember me in far countries. And they'll return. Again, not alone. with their children. And I'll bring them again out of the land of Egypt.
And gather them from Assyria, and those are just. Symbols of all the countries where they're scattered, and I'll bring them into the land of Gilead and Lebanon, and place shall not be found for them. There's going to be so many, they're going to be crowded all over the place. That's not just Zachariah's thoughts. Isaiah writes about that too, I think it is.
Isaiah 54, 1, Sing, O Baron, thou who didst not bear, break forth into singing and cry aloud, thou who didst not travail the child, for more are the children of the desolate than the children of the married wife, says the Lord. Enlarge the place of your tent.
Now he's talking about the kingdom. He says, when you get in the kingdom, you better get a bigger tent. Even if you've never had a baby. You better widen the curtains and lengthen the cords and strengthen the stakes. Gonna be some population coming to that tent.
Some child. Bearing. In Isaiah 49, 20, The children whom thou shalt have, after thou hast lost the other, shall say again in thine ear, The place is too narrow for me. Give me a place that I may dwell. Then thou shalt say in thine heart, Who hath begotten me these, seeing I have lost my children and am desolate, a captive, and moving to and fro?
And who hath brought up these? Behold, I was left alone. These, where had they been? In other words, all of a sudden, the barren will flourish, and they'll say, How did this happen? I never could do this before.
And thus says the Lord God, Behold, I will lift up mine hand to the nations, and set up my standard to the peoples, and they shall bring thy sons in their arms, and thy daughters shall be carried upon their shoulders. And kings shall be thy nursing fathers, and their queens, thy nursing mothers. And he moves into his second area and says that not only will you be having children, but the whole world is going to be moving in, and you're going to have to make room for them.
Now, in order to gather all these people when God whistles, and in order to To make sure they all come and running, God's going to have to remove some obstacles. And so, in verse 11, He tells about that. And he says he shall pass through the sea of affliction. And smite the waves and the sea. And all the deeps of the river shall dry up.
The pride of Assyria shall be brought down, and the scepter of Egypt shall depart. In other words, if he has to, the sea of affliction reminds us of the Red Sea when it was divided. The deeps of the river refer no doubt to the Nile. Which was is commonly designated by Commentators in this context. And it would remind us of when the Jordan was divided.
As God moves to bring him, if he has to, he'll dry up a sea. If he has to, he'll dry up a river. He'll smash the pride of a belligerent nation like he did of Assyria. He'll remove any kind of dominance that Egypt might want to hold or any other nation. And again, Assyria and Egypt were traditional enemies of Israel that speak of any nation that would try to withhold God from fulfilling his will.
And so he comes in 11 to say, I'll wipe out any obstacle to get my people back. That's what he'll do.
So what does God promise? All these wonderful things. And then finally and lastly, A divine renovation. I will strengthen them in the Lord. and they shall walk up and down in his name.
Saith the LORD, That verse simply says there will be a total and complete spiritual revival. Maybe you'd rather call it divine revival. They shall walk up and down in his name, says the Lord.
Well beloved, that's what's going to happen for Israel. That's the future. That's where history's going. It's great to know it, isn't it? and how infinitely greater it is to be a part of it.
And we who know Christ will be there. To experience it all. Father, thank you for our time. It's just been so good to enrich ourselves. The time has gone by so fast.
Don't even realize. Because of the joy we share. in knowing your truth. Thank you for what everyone means to you and to each other. Thank you for this fellowship we have here.
Father, I am so grateful. That there are folks like this who faithfully, week after week, Come to search the scriptures and to throw their hearts open to the searchlight of the Word of God, to be convicted. to be challenged, to be encouraged. Thank you for that openness and that desire on their parts. And thank you, Father, for the privilege you've given me to teach.
Somehow, Father, help me to be faithful. Help me to get past my own inadequacies and failures. Be useful to you. To meet the needs of these people who are so faithful. Make us ever faithful, Father.
to reach out to Israel. to assure them of this wonderful truth, but to also assure them that Once a man dies, Judgment is appointed, and then it's too late. There are many people alive right now who won't be alive, perhaps when Jesus comes to do all this, and for them it'll be too late. Give us a heart for Israel. Give us a heart for all those who will never be a part of your kingdom because they don't know you.
And may we take Christ to them. And the way we live. May we speak? Thank you again in Jesus' name. Amen.
You're listening to Grace to You, the Bible teaching ministry of John MacArthur. John's current study from the book of Zechariah is called The Return and Reign of Jesus Christ.
Now, friend, if studying along with John's Bible teaching has strengthened you and your walk with Christ, would you let us know? Your letters are a great encouragement to our staff, so send us a note when you contact us today. You can email your story to letters at gty.org. Or write to us at Grace2U, Box 4000, Panorama City, California, 91412. And if you'd like to listen to today's lesson again or review any of the messages from John's series called The Return and Reign of Jesus Christ, you can get them on eight MP3 downloads at gty.org.
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Now for the entire Grace TU staff, I'm Phil Johnson. Thanks for starting your week with us and be back tomorrow as we continue John MacArthur's compelling look at Zechariah's prophecy. Titled The Return and Reign of Jesus Christ. It's another 30 minutes of Unleashing God's Truth one verse at a time. On grace to you.
