A Nation Set Apart?

Israel, oh Israel, have you forgotten who your true Father is? For though you consider yourselves to still be My ‘chosen people’, your heart is far from Me. Thus are you no different than those pagan nations you revile, as you, too, worship at the altar of false gods, and thus do you stand in rebellion. For even you have denied My Son, Jesus, as the Savior.  

So while you may identify as a nation set apart, and even observe some of the religious traditions as did those children I led out of Egypt, neither of those facts make you fit for Heaven.  For without the blood of the true Passover Lamb spread over the threshold of your hearts, then you, Oh Israel, shall also not escape death. For there is not a single person, people, or nation that has been given a special exemption from knowing that final judgment, as all must bear the mark of His atoning blood. 

Yet are you still firmly holding on to what has passed. For even now do you believe yourselves to be favored above all other nations because of your earthly heritage, and thus do you count yourselves as the literal recipients of that covenant I made with Abraham of old. However, you have misconstrued the meaning of My promise to him as being natural and not spiritual in nature, and so are you still found looking for the Messiah, though He has already come. 

Then in blindness do you stand. For you, Israel, have intentionally shut your eyes to the Truth, as just like the Judaizers spoken of in the Scriptures, you, too, refuse to consider your own religious constructs to be in error, and therefore, have rejected out of hand even the notion that Jesus is actually the Messiah. For your own pride has kept you from comprehending this reality as true. Thus are you rigidly positioned in unbelief, and so do you cling to the practices of your religious heritage thinking it is your works that shall save you. 

Ah but no amount of good deeds or ritualistic prayers shall atone for your sins. For if, as you say, that even today are you, Israel, under that covenant from ancient days, then strict adherence to the Law would still pertain, and as such, forgiveness of sins can only be attained through the sacrifice of blood, as that stipulation then, remains unchanged. Yet do you overlook this substitutionary requirement, thinking its practice to be no longer applicable since there exists no temple altar upon which this form of sacrifice can be offered. Thus have you twisted the Scriptures in an effort to validate that claim, and, in so doing, have sought to establish another route to forgiveness, though only one shall ever exist.

Woe, then, to you, Israel, for surely are you even now covered in the stench of your transgressions. For though you have tried to wash away your sins with virtuous acts, no amount of good deeds can eliminate that foul smelling stench, and as such are you repugnant to Me. For indeed do your sins remain uncleansed, and thus is the reason you shall have no part in My Kingdom. For without the imputed righteousness of Christ, not a single person can enter that eternal habitation of My Presence. 

Israel, Oh Israel, how I long for you to repent and turn from your wickedness. Yet, sadly, have I seen in your hearts lies an unwillingness to amend your ways, and thus do you stubbornly remain chained to that which is dead. And so like a prisoner who refuses liberation from his captivity, do you deny My offer of freedom, as you have grown much too accustomed to those shackles of religious bondage to which you are bound. 

And so shall it be that the river of living water that was meant to course through your lands shall again be stifled. For that same pharisaical spirit which opposed My Son in centuries past has yet to be driven out of your land, and thus holds much sway over the direction you, as a nation, are headed. Which is why you, Israel, are still found in a state of spiritual stagnation, much like a dry riverbed that only has a very narrow stream of water running through it. 

So though I have previously stated that a worldwide revival is even now unfolding across the earth, however, because a thick wall of religiosity encompasses the boundaries of your nation, as that ground swell of spiritual awakening washes in towards your shores, its force shall be inhibited and in turn, limit its spread. For some who refer to Me as “Adonai” shall reject out of hand this move of My Spirit; so deeply entrenched are these in the beliefs and practices of modern day Judaism that their hearts shall be closed to the Truth when it is spoken. 

Then just as it was with your namesake, so shall it be with you. For they, too, were a stiff necked people who chose to walk in disobedience, and so, like them, shall you also suffer the repercussions of that decision. Therefore, do not think that you, Israel, shall avoid My judgment when it is poured out upon the earth. For indeed in My sight are you no different than all the other people groups and nations of the world. Then, just as with them, your sins have piled up in a heap before Me, and thus shall you, too, be reproved by My hand. For if I did not spare your namesake from knowing the penalty of their rebellion, surely shall I not spare you. 

Hear Me then, Israel, “Did you think I would simply look the other way while you continued on in your sin? For surely have you followed after the ways of man, and even allowed the defilement of your lands. And since you remain unrepentant for your acts of rebellion, then you, Israel, shall know the weight of My judgment against you”.

Then to those who would say, “Israel is still God’s ‘chosen people’”, let it be made clear: it was a spiritual Israel to which I was referring concerning Abraham’s descendants, and which would know fulfillment through the coming of My Son. Therefore, it is no longer a single nation that is My ‘chosen people’, but all those who have accepted Him, Jesus Christ, as their Lord and Savior.

So though among the Israeli people dwell some who are My true sons and daughters, by and large, most are not, and thus shall be judged according to their sins just like the rest of humanity. For did My Son not say of Himself, “No one comes to the Father except through Me”? Then it is only those found in Him that shall be given entrance into My Kingdom.