BRITISH-ISRAEL

Southland Times, Issue 22728, 2 November 1935, Page 11

BRITISH-ISRAEL

(By “

“Briton.”)

My last issue was devoted to a consideration of those foundational truths of the Bible known as the Covenants of God. It was shown that there are eight outstanding covenants or pacts made with man by the Almighty, the greater number of them having tor their objective the restoration of fallen humanity. The Bible teaches that man fell from a state and condition of life which may be regarded as heavenly _ when compared with the one to which he was degraded as a consequence of disobedience. . Adam’s continuance in . the condition and environment in which he was placed was conditioned upon obedience to the law “Those shalt not.” Here we have the first covenant or pact mentioned in Scripture. This covenant was forced upon man. “And the Lord commanded the man, saying, of evep' - tree in the garden thou mayest freely eat; but of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it. for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” (Gen. 2 v. 16-17). The way of disobedience and infringement of this law was made easy by the Devil inspired query “Yea, hath God said?” (Gen. 3v. 1). These words of unfaith are on the lips of Adam’s posterity to-day forming the great barrier to their rehabilitation. Strange as it may seem this stultifying query “Yea, hath God said’ ’with respect to prophecy, has been the point at issue all along the ages, as it is to-day the stumbling block to the realization of God’s overruling in national affairs. The covenants made by God with man, will in their ultimate and cumulative effect, banish for ever this query and the state of mind tegotten of it. Because in the process of Their unfolding and fulfilment they present irrefutable proof that God hath indeed said. It only remains for those testifying fulfilments which are manifest in the past and current history of Israel and Judah to be singled out and recognized as in keeping with the provisions and ‘commitments of the covenants themselves. This recognition will bring in the era when “the knowledge of the Lord will cover the world, as the waters cover the sea.”. Israel and Judah are God’s chosen witnesses, as such they reveal the historic fulfilment of the covenants in their national life, present condition and character.

The breaking of the First. Covenant was disastrous; it was the initial move in a conflict which has raged ever since. The defection of Adam. from the God appointed way was a victory to the forces of evil and was countered by a declaration of war against them, with the promise of the ultimate victory of man under Divine leadership. The Bible regards the Serpent as symbolizing in form and character, the forces of evil. Consequently at the institution of the Second Covenant we have these words—“ And the Lord God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, cursed art thou above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life: and I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; and it shall bruise thy head, and Thou shalt bruise his heel” (Gen. 3 v. 14-15). These and the succeeding verses show that though the Second Covenant was retributive in character, it held the germ of hope in the promise of a coming Saviour who would restore all things to their original perfection. It may be said that through the weakness of Adam, the forces of evil obtained a footing on the material or earth plane. This intrusion was a challenge which was not ignored. The process of man’s restoration was entered upon immediately. The initial movement in the ensuing conflict was the choice of a Godly seed or race of men, which, when it had arrived at a stage of numerical development, should under the guidance and control was the “One Seed” Jesus Chist, and in collaboration with Him, work for the accomplishment of this great purpose. Thus we have the alliance of God with man having for its objective the defeat of the forces of evil and the. ultimate rectification of world conditions. This alliance was imperilled in its early stages by the disobedience of this Godly seed in respect bf the law of racial purity and exclusiveness, as a consequence; the Flood. But the plan and purpose of the Almighty and its continuance was assured in the preservation of Noah and his family. The Third Covenant was made with Noah, the details of which may be read in Gen. 9 v. 1-17: “The distinctive characteristic of this covenant is that man was made responsible to rule the earth, and capital punishment, the strongest form which human government can take, was given Divine authority. We have the promise that the world would not again be destroyed by a flood, and we have the assurance of the continuance of the Godly race in Shem. A study of these three covenants with their related facts is necessary for the understanding of the Bible. Ignore or deny their teaching and the Bible becomes unintelligible. The fourth Covenant was made with Abraham who was a descendant of Shem. It was renewed with Isaac and Jacob, and then passed on to Ephraim. It was not given to Judah. This Covenant is the most important of all; in it we have the plan of all that follows in the teaching of the Bible, it outlines briefly the purpose of God, giving assurance of the advent of the “one seed,” Jesus Christ and also His second advent; if also speaks of the development of the seed of Abraham into a great host forming the nucleus of God’s Kingdom on earth. The Rev. R. G. F. Waddington, M.A., writes: “Have you ever thought of this fact, or given it due consideration? That Abraham is the father and founder of all the monotheistic religions that the world knows? There are only three monotheistic religions—The Mosaic, the Christian, the Moslem—and all may be traced back to Abraham; all look to him as ‘Father.’ With the call of Abraham there began a new era in the history of mankind and to him must be given the credit, under God, for the persistence of faith in one God. “This covenant tells of the blessing that was to come, and is still increasingly to come, through the chosen people Israel. There is a word used frequently in both Old and New Testiments, the word ‘elect’ or sometimes ‘election.’ ‘For Jacob my servant’s sake, and Israel mine elect.’ “It is a word that is much abused and much misunderstood, and fierce controversies have raged round it. Yet the word is undoubtedly used in the Bible, and it is used exclusively in the Old Testament, and almost exclusively in the New, to denote Israel the seed of Abraham. In the covenant made with Abraham you find the clearly' taught, definite doctrine of God’s predestination and election. How then has the controversy arisen? “It has arisen entirely because men have failed to observe that there are two parts to the covenant made with Abraham; there are two ‘elections’ distinguished in God’s promises. First there is the election of Grace; second, there is the election of Israel. “The election of Grace, forshadowing the ‘one seed,’ Christ, deals with the salvation of man’s soul and with the questions of eternal life. This election is a conditional one, and the condition laid down is ‘Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.’ It is in reference to this election that John observes, ‘Say not to yourselves, We have Abraham to our Father.’ In regard to individual salvation God is not a respector of persons. i

“Let us remember, then, that this election of grace is dependent always upon our faith; it is now necessarily an eternal election. That is why we are adjured to do our diligence to make our calling and election sure. But with the other election of this covenant, the election of Israel, there is something quite different. This election, which is of race, is not conditional. It is permanent, and cannot be broken. When God make this covenant with Abraham, He laid down no condition whatever. It was made because Abraham already believed. “It followed faith, and so quite obviously was not dependent upon faith. The blessings were net of reward, nor of merit, but of covenant. ‘I will perform the oath which I sware unto Abraham.’ If, then, any professing Christian declares or teaches that this covenant has lapsed or failed so far as Israel is concerned, because of Israel’s sin, he is not merely showing his ignorance both of scripture and history, but he is declaring God’s oath to be null and void.

“The election of Grace is open to all men—‘men of every tribe and nation.’ The election of race, on the other hand, is limited and narrow; it applies to one people and t» one people only, to Israel, the seed of Abraham through Isaac and Jacob.”