@Oceanic
God is talking about how He created day and night, the light of the day and the darkness of the night.
Verse 6 says,
"That they may know from the rising of the sun to its setting That there is none besides Me. I am the Lord, and there is no other."
This goes hand in hand with the creation story in
Genesis 1:3-5 which says,
"Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. So the evening and the morning were the first day." Indeed God is great and there is none like Him because only He can create and did create the earth and all that is in it.
God is not the author of evil nor is there any evil in His heart.
I'm a Bible based Christian and only interested in what God's Word says because it is the truth. The Jews in the Old Covenant were descendants of Abraham, most of them anyway. In the New Covenant the Bible made it clear that Gentiles (those who are not Jews genetically) can join Israel/the church and become Jews if they accept Jesus as their personal Saviour, submit and follow Him. In other words, all true Christians (regardless of race or nation) are now God’s spiritual Israel. They are a chosen people by choice.
The real Israel of God is
"remnant according to the election of grace" (
Romans 11:5). In
Romans 11:17-24, Paul speaks of the olive tree that represents Israel. The branches (Jews) were broken off because of unbelief and the wild olive shoots (Gentiles) were grafted in to share in the nourishment of the tree. The natural branches could be grafted back into the tree if they accepted the conditions. God is no respecter of nations or individuals. All who turn to Him will be accepted
Paul plainly shows that God’s inclusion of Gentiles in His special people does not mean He favours Gentiles over Israelites.
“For if you were cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and were grafted contrary to nature into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these, who are natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree?” (
Romans 11:24).
God plays no favourites. Even those who are Israelites by physical descent have to be grafted into the tree—having been cut off due to disobedience. Thankfully, there is a way to be grafted back in—and that way is the same way available to Gentiles.
Jew and Gentile alike enjoy access to God’s promises
through Christ: “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (
Galatians 3:28). We are all one In Christ Jesus. This is plain to understand.
The special and holy people of God, like Abraham, are obedient people—selected from all nations—who have chosen not to live by bread alone,
“but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God” (
Matthew 4:4). Their trust in God comes from the heart and is demonstrated by their obedient actions. God’s Spirit works in them to produce faith and obedience, making them special to God.
This is from my thread
True Israel.
So those who do not accept Jesus and submit to Him are Gentiles and that includes genetic Jews or descendants of Abraham too. Spiritually they are Gentiles. They are not part of the Israel of God, the true Church.
Yes Israelites are God's chosen people and the New Testament as I've shown you above tells us who is a true Israelite. In the New Covenant being a physical descendant of Abraham does not give one an advantage. They were not chosen because they were more special than other people. God chose them for a purpose which they mainly failed at. God does not favour Jews above other people. They have to come to Christ like we all have to. Whether one is a Jew or not is not the issue. The issue is whether their hearts are circumcised and they have faith in Christ.
All the scripture you quoted whether its the Old or New Testament shows that Israel according the New Covenant inherits God’s covenant promises that were made to genetic Jews in the Old Covenant. Those who have accepted Christ become the chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God (
1 Peter 2:9-10 and
Exodus 19:5-6).
Paul wrote,
"Therefore know that only those who are of faith are sons of Abraham" (
Galatians 3:7).
Galatians 3:14, "that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith."
A real Jew in the sight of God is anybody, Jew or Gentile who has personal faith in Jesus Christ!
You still don't get it do you? Yes God chose Israel
BUT He chose them for a purpose. He didn't just choose them willy nilly. He chose them to spread the gospel, to evangelise to the whole world which they failed at mostly. Had Israel done that which they were meant to do, Israel would be a very big nation made up of both Israelites and Gentiles. Even in the Old Covenant there were non Jews who joined Israel and God told them,
“And when a stranger dwells with you and wants to keep the Passover to the LORD, let all his males be circumcised, and then let him come near and keep it; and he shall be as a native of the land. For no uncircumcised person shall eat it” (
Exodus 12:48). Showing fairness for all, God continued,
“One law shall be for the native-born and for the stranger who dwells among you” (
verse 49). Later, God added:
“You shall neither mistreat a stranger nor oppress him, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt” (
Exodus 22:21).
A good example of God’s acceptance of non-Israelites in the Old Testament is found in the life of Ruth. Though a Moabite by birth (
Ruth 1:1-4), she came to respect and follow God. As Ruth told Naomi, her Israelite mother-in-law, after the premature death of her husband:
“Your people shall be my people, and your God, my God” (
verse 16). Ruth then married an Israelite man named Boaz and became part of the family lineage God selected for Jesus (
Matthew 1:5).
Other examples of Gentiles accepted into Israel are female non-Jewish ancestors of Christ, Tamar and Rahab who are mentioned in
Matthew 1:3,5,6.
When Jesus came to earth the first time, He clashed with the Jews because they misunderstood Him, they misunderstood the commandments and they rejected Him as Messiah. So He told them,
"Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof. And whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken: but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder" (
Matthew 21:43-44). Not long after Jesus' death, the truth spread like wild fire to the Gentile nations. That was no coincidence. There are no coincidences with God.
God wants all of us to be saved and everything He did was for that very reason which culminated with His death on the cross for all of us not just for the Israelites.
How am I in denial when I am telling you the truth of God? We are all chosen ones if we choose Christ and follow Him regardless of race or nation.
Romans 10:12, "For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him."
Galatians 3:26, "For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus."
You are wrong about this and I've shown you so much scripture from the Bible for you to ignore. Don't reject the truth of God that wants all mankind to be saved and not just the Israelites/Jews.
Only if you pick and choose scripture. When we study the Bible on a specific subject, we have to read everything it has to say on the subject so we can understand the message God is giving us. We also need to pray for God to show us the truth of His Word through the Holy spirit.
Pharaoh was disobedient and rejected God so his heart hardened. If we don't let God in, our hearts harden and if we continually reject Him like Pharaoh did then God lives us to the choices we made. The Holy spirit stops pleading with us to do the right thing.
I did not prove any point of yours and you know that.
You missed the main point again. We are created to serve God. Angels too were all created to serve God and if we CHOOSE to do so we will be the most happy, contended beings. You completely ignored the point of they have freedom of choice. The angels made a choice to continue with what they were created for. Satan (who was a highly ranked angel) and his angels rejected what they were created for and chose another path and we can all see the consequences of that in this world. We too can opt out of what we are supposed to do and go do our own thing and many people do. Its all up to us because we have free will.
God asks us to choose. Jesus said to the rich young ruler,
"come, take up the cross, and follow Me” (
Mark 10:21).
So according to you accomplishing God's purpose is the same as God putting anger into the world leaders? This is prophecy and it will be fulfilled. However just like pharaoh these world leaders hardened their hearts and God will leave them to their choices.
God's foreknowledge does not take away our free will. Just because someone knows something doesn't mean that they're forcing people to make choices. He may know what we're going to do, but that doesn't mean He's making it happen.
Well you are wrong. Satan made his own choice (because he as free will) and he will pay for those choices. Evil came from him not God.
John 8:44, "You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it."
1 John 3:8. “The devil has sinned from the beginning.”
Revelation 12:9, “That serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan.”
This world was created for all mankind and nowhere does the Bible say it was created for only the Israelites/Jews. Why do other people live on earth if it was created only for the "chosen ones"? And no, every other nation was not created to punish Israel nor is this found in the Bible either. Don't add words to God's Word.
Yes God still chooses Israel which includes both Jews and Gentiles who have the faith of Christ. There will be new a new earth (which will be inhabited by the saints from every nation on earth who chose Christ as King in their hearts) but it will happen after the 1000 years where the saints/Israel will be in heaven with Christ.
Revelation 20:4 says,
"And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was committed to them. Then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years." Christ reigns or rules with the saved and then in
Revelation 21:2 we see them coming down to earth from heaven with God in the New Jerusalem, the Holy City,
"Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband."
In your imagination because its definitely not from the Bible is it now?
Not in God's Word and He is author of the Bible. Don't take my word for it, here are some Bible passages that say so:
John 3:36, "He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.”
Mark 16:16, "He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned."
Acts 4:12, "Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”
Romans 10:9-10, "that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation."
Revelation 3:20, "Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me."
There are so many passages about salvation in the Bible and none of them say its only for the Jews. It is clear salvation is for anyone who accepts Jesus and follows Him no matter what race or nation they come from.
You are making up things that are not in the Bible again. When the Bible says the world, it means the whole world that God created. By the way I am a black African and have my natural last name and I speak my native language. There are millions of us you know! You do know that Africa was not left empty when slaves were taken out of it. Jews like all other peoples around the world will be chosen if they accept Christ as the Messiah and follow Him, otherwise they are not part of Israel, they are Gentiles.
We choose to be chosen. God shows us His truth through His Word and the Holy Spirit then we choose if we accept Christ and His precepts and if we continue to walk with Christ to the end, then we'll go to heaven and be with Him forever. This is the truth of the Bible.
God will have to be evil to create people to suffer for thousands of years, evil people revel in seeing others suffer don't they? How does it exonerate your made up god that he created billions of people to discipline the "chosen ones."
This is a lie and is not from the Bible. Can you please stop making up what the Bible said and stick to the truth of the Bible?!
These same words are used in
Exodus 19:5-6 and in
1 Peter 2:9-10 in the New Testament. Peter quoted the Old Testament. These words now apply to Israel in the New Covenant which has both Jews and Gentiles who chose to follow Christ and have faith in Him. Here is what it says in 1 Peter,
"But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy." Isn't God great? Anyone in this world can belong to a royal priesthood, a holy nation and be God's special person. Praise Him!
I already explained
Isaiah 45:7 above. He was talking about the light of the day and darkness of the night that He created. God has never created evil and never will nor does His Word say so. You've misunderstood the Bible so much.
But according to you the suffering is supposed to build up only God's people. As for the rest who are the majority, it doesn't matter if they learn nor is any of their suffering going to build them up and even if it did it doesn't matter because they are going to be destroyed because only the "chosen ones" are going to be saved. According to your logic, God created most people for nothing. He created them to be lost.
The god you're talking about is
NOT the God of the Bible I'm afraid. He is pure evil and not the kind, loving, forgiving, gracious, self sacrificing God that I love and worship.
You have gravely misunderstood God and made him out to be so evil. Please get to know the true God of the Bible and you will see that He is nothing like what you think He is. He wants to save us all. The Bible teaches that God is not willing that any should perish.
1 Timothy 2:3-6, "For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time."
2 Peter 3:9, "The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance."
Titus 2:11, "For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men."