From Jerusalem to The Nations and Back Romans 11

We're all different heights, I think. It's very quickly, and then we'll pray and we'll get into the Word. So again, my name is Trevor Rubenstein. I was born and raised in a Jewish home in northern Minnesota and came to believe in Jesus at about 18 years old when I lived in Denver, Colorado.

I always struggled. I was a troubled youth. And the Lord really changed my life. He saved my life. I mean that in a literal sense as well as in an eternal one. And so really my goal and my focus has been to help reach the Jewish people with the gospel of Jesus.

Of course, I work amongst many people outside of the Jewish community and have historically. But really, this is the thing that the Lord had put on my heart and I'm so blessed to be able to do. And we minister to the Jewish people in Minnesota and actually in Wisconsin, Iowa, the Dakotas.

I cover a large area for an organization called Chosen People Ministries, which is the oldest Jewish outreach organization in America. The reason I cover such a large area is there's not a large Jewish population outside of the Twin Cities to garner a full-time missionary.

And so we're really blessed. We're seeing many Jewish people come to faith. And I'll actually even address that in this section of scripture and possibly what that means to us. And so thank you guys again for allowing me to come.

It's always nice to get out of Minneapolis. And so it's a blessing to be here with you all this morning.

So let's pray.

Abba, Father, Lord, God, we thank you and we praise your holy name. Lord, we are so honored that you allow us to enter into such a great salvation, God. Father, we thank you for your grace, your mercy, your love, God, which is above all understanding, Father.

And Lord, today, God, Lord, we ask that you draw us closer to you, Father, that you encourage our faith. You help strengthen us, Father. And Father, that you empower us to do your will, God. Father, be here.

Be present with us. Speak to our hearts, God. Father, give us a greater appreciation of your love and of your ways. We love you so much. And we praise you in the name of Jesus. B'shem Yeshua.

Amen. Amen.

Romans 11 and God's Rejection of Israel

So again, we're going to be in Romans chapter 11 today. And in Romans chapter 11, starting in verse 1, Paul answers one of my favorite questions. Paul is writing predominantly to a Gentile audience. How do we know that?

Because Paul says that he is an apostle to the Gentiles, even in this very section that we're reading today. So as he's writing to the Gentiles, there is a question that comes up. Because the church, while its beginnings are exclusively Jewish, all of the people who believed were Jews.

All of the apostles, Jesus himself, of course, and everybody that was present during the time of Pentecost were Jewish. And then to their surprise, the Lord was bringing in people that were not Jewish into the faith in Jesus.

And as time went on, the faith amongst the non-Jews, the Gentiles, exploded, while the Jewish people had a much smaller place. And so there were questions that were arising. Is God done with these people?

Has he moved on in their stubbornness? Believe me, there's many times I wish I could move on in their stubbornness to reach another people group. But by the grace of God, he answers this question as we enter into this section of Scripture, starting in verse 1.

Paul says, I ask then, has God rejected his people by no means? For I myself am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, a member of the tribe of Benjamin. God has not rejected his people who he foreknew.

Do you not know that the Scripture says of Elijah how he appeals to God against Israel? Lord, they have killed your prophets, they have demolished your altars, and I am alone left, and they seek my life.

But what is God's reply to him? I have kept for myself 7 ,000 men who have not bowed in need to all. So too, at this present time, there is a remnant chosen by grace. But if it is by grace, it's no longer on the basis of works.

Otherwise, grace is no longer grace.

What then?

Israel failed to obtain what it was seeking. The elect obtained it, but the rest were hardened as it is written. God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes that they should not see and ears that they should not hear.

Down to this very day, and David says, let their table become a snare, a trap, a stumbling block, and a retribution to them. So in this section of Scripture, we see a continuation. You see, God made a promise in this new covenant promise as Pastor Seth had read earlier today.

And this promise that He made of a new covenant, of a greater covenant. And by greater, what is meant by this is not that the Mosaic Covenant was bad, but that it did not fulfill ultimately eternal life in anybody.

It never created a sense or a place for the people to be able to dwell in eternity with the Lord forever and ever. It pointed to these things, of course, in a deep way, but it in itself was not able to accomplish it.

So He created a much greater covenant. And this covenant that He created is specifically, as it states in the beginning, a covenant that He shall make with Israel and with Judah. And so we have this covenant that was specifically given to them.

And something that is stated at the end of that new covenant is just like the Lord had created ordinances, that there's a sun and moon and stars in the sky, and that the waves of the sea continue to roar.

He says that as assuredly as these things continue, Israel will continue to be a nation before Him. This is actually a component to the new covenant, the new covenant that then Jesus comes and institutes, the covenant in which He dies for our sins and then is raised again so that those of us that trust in Him, though we die too, will have eternal life in Him and will also be resurrected.

This covenant of forgiveness of sins and eternal life, the Spirit coming to dwell in us, as reiterated within that, was not just initially given to Israel, but also contains promises that God will not cease to work within His people.

But you see, God always works within a remnant, a small group within. If you ever feel like a stranger in a strange land, like you as being a Christian don't seem to fit in with everything else that's happening in the world around you, this is always how it's been.

You see, because the Lord does not necessarily allow for dual citizenship. We give up our citizenship of this world to embrace our citizenship of the kingdom of heaven. We're aliens here. We're different than so much around us, but He's always worked through a remnant, through a small group within.

In Exodus 23, verse 2, Moses writes that the majority will do what is wicked. And of course, we understand this from the New Testament Scriptures where we are told that wide is the way that leads to destruction, but narrow is the way that would lead to our Lord.

And so, it's always been through a remnant. We see this throughout history. At the time of Noah, God chose Noah out of a lost world to be able to preserve and to be able to continue the faith in the one true God.

I was going to say God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, but they didn't exist yet. He chose Abraham out of the pagan world as the one man who was going to trust in the one true God. He chose Joseph out of his brothers, out of his 12 brothers to be able to maintain the promises of God.

He chose Moses at a time to where the people of Israel were lost in their captivity to be able to lead them out again an individual in the presence of masses. He chose the Levites at a time to where the people of Israel were rebelling and worshiping a golden calf, but yet there was a remnant, a small group within that was willing to serve the one true God.

He chose David, a very unlikely individual, even in the midst of the rebellion of the people of Israel of demanding a king. God has always worked through a remnant and we become part of that remnant. I love this section of Scripture in particular because this section of Scripture is talking about Jewish people who God has preserved even at a time to where much of Israel rejects the Gospel.

This is very personal to me. I read this and I say, oh my Lord, you've included me in your Scriptures. What a beautiful, amazing thing. And we understand that God's choosing is based upon grace, not based on any form of merit.

I love how Paul speaks of this in chapter 11 here, verse 6. He says, but if it is by grace, it's no longer on the basis of works, otherwise grace would no longer be grace. It's a mathematical statement really, fascinating statement.

It says grace plus anything is no longer grace. Isn't that interesting? You add something to grace and then it's something different. So simply, he's showing that God is choosing His people simply by the graciousness of His heart, of His compassion for others.

We see this beautiful promise given in this very section of Scripture. And of course, Paul writes that we are saved by grace through faith and not of works so that no one can boast. I look at myself in the situation.

I'm the first person in my family's history to come to know Jesus. Really, their history forever. And what a fascinating thing, because I also was coming out of probably being the most depraved, most horrible person in my family that I could ever have conceived of.

My brothers are brilliant and very successful and obedient to their parents. I was such the opposite of that. And yet, the Lord allowed me to come into His kingdom by His grace, not by my works, so that I can have nothing prideful to hold on to.

See, when the Lord made covenants with Israel, He actually gave them two primary land covenants. He gave them the Mosaic Covenant. The Mosaic Covenant came down from Mount Sinai with Moses. And the Mosaic Covenant said, if you obey these things, you'll be blessed.

But if you disobey these things, you will be cursed. Part of the reason of receiving the Mosaic Covenant is to recognize our own shortcomings and our own inability to live up to the holiness of God. But yet, He also gave the people of Israel the Abrahamic Covenant, in which had no condition upon it other than simply the Lord was going to offer grace to a specific people group because of the promises to their ancestors.

And it's important for us to understand later in the text as he quotes out of the book of Isaiah as we read in verse 8 and out of the Psalms in verse 9, that the Lord has blinded His people. And when we go on to this next section, you'll see why He blinded His people.

And again, it just expands our understanding of the grace of God. And this continues when we look into verse 11. Actually, I didn't read verse 10 which specifically talks about His blindness,.

Which says,.

"...let their eyes be darkened so that they cannot see, and bend their backs forever.". So we come into verse 11 and it makes this statement, "...so I ask then, did they," speaking of Israel, "...stumble in order that they might fall?

By no means. Rather, through their trespass, salvation has come to the Gentiles. So as to make Israel jealous. Now, if their trespass means riches for the world and their failure means riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their full inclusion mean?

Now, I am speaking to you Gentiles, inasmuch as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry in order somehow to make my fellow Jews jealous and thus save some of them. For if their rejection means the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance mean but life from the dead?".

And so we see now the reasoning as God starts to explain why He blinded Israel. Well, because who was the new covenant for? It was for Israel and Judah. And I don't know how many of you grew up with siblings, but I have a brother that's very close to me in age and we were very jealous of one another.

If I received something that he didn't, he got upset. If he received something that I didn't, I got upset. But if something was promised to him and he didn't want it, then I could have it. I got a lot of hand-me-downs.

He was older than I was. But this is also very similar to how the new covenant worked because it's intended for Israel and for Judah. And as they reject this gift, then it can be offered to others. This is spoken of in the Song of Moses very early in scriptures in Deuteronomy 32, verse 21.

In Deuteronomy 32, verse 21, God talks to Moses and has him write this down as to how his interaction with the people of Israel will go and then what his reply to that will be. It says this, they have made me jealous with what is not no God.

They have provoked me to anger with their idols. So make them jealous with those who are no people. It will provoke them to anger by a foolish nation. So in essence, what the Lord is prophesying is as you go to other gods, I'm going to go to other people.

And so you will see that this great gift that I have for you will be bestowed upon others. We also see this in the scriptures in Matthew chapter 15. There's a very well-known story where there's a Canaanite woman who comes to Jesus and asks him to heal her daughter.

Jesus says to her that he was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Again, the new covenant was to be given to Israel. She replies with great wisdom. And she said, yes, Lord, but even the dogs get the crumbs off the master's table.

And with that, he healed her daughter. This is exactly how the Lord has worked. As Israel rejects the gospel, salvation comes to the nations. And so every single person here who is not of Jewish ancestry, your salvation is a result of Israel's rejection.

So instead of being haughty and looking down upon them, we should be thankful and gracious to the Lord for allowing us to come into this greatest salvation and broken for the people of Israel in recognizing that their condemnation has resulted in our salvation.

This is our Lord. This is how He's worked. We see this illustrated so clearly within the text. And as it goes on and it talks about and really broke down how this works, it said that salvation comes to them because of Israel's rejection.

But in verse 12, He makes this fascinating statement. He says, now, if their trespasses, so as Israel rejects the gospel, that that means that it's going to be riches for the world or for the nations.

If their failure means riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their full inclusion mean? Think about this, okay? Just think about this. This is a massive statement. This is what Paul's saying. That if Israel's rejection of the gospel means that it has an opportunity to spread throughout all the nations of the world, people from every tribe, language, and tongue will have opportunities to come to know Jesus as their Lord and Savior, entering into this promise of forgiveness of sins and eternal life.

He says that if that happens, when Israel rejects, He says it's going to be greater than that when they accept. Greater than that. Fascinating statement. Greater than that. What's greater than that? Well, He tells us.

Verse 15, He says, for if their rejection means the reconciling of the world, what will their acceptance mean? But life from the dead. You see, I don't think that this is simply talking about... We're not simply making a statement about being resurrected as individuals because we've believed in Jesus, although of course that is a truth.

This is a much larger topic because it's talking about national Israel's rejection means the nations of the world come to believe in Jesus. So we're talking big picture items. And it says, what will their acceptance mean?

But life from the dead. I believe he's referring to somehow correlating with the return of our Lord. We see this spoken of in multiple instances throughout scripture. In Zechariah chapter 12, starting in verse 10, it makes this very important prophetic statement.

Understanding that this section of scripture is written hundreds of years before the birth of Jesus. And listen to the description that's given here. Understanding that as we're reading this, this is God speaking hundreds of years before Jesus is born.

And I will pour out, and it's an instance, let me explain the scenario. Israel is surrounded by, Jerusalem in particular, surrounded by foreign armies about to get wiped out. And this is what it states.

And I will pour on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, a spirit of grace and pleas of mercy, so that when they look on him whom they have pierced, they will mourn for him. And actually, that's a poor translation.

I'll correct that in a second. As one mourns for his only child and weep bitterly over him as one weeps for his firstborn. It actually states, it's not him. It's actually me. When they look upon me whom they pierced.

This is what God states. And then they will mourn for him, it states. So this individual is both referred to by God as me and him, the God who's pierced. Then it goes on and states this in verse 11. And on that day, the mourning in Jerusalem will be great as the mourning of Hadad Ramon in the plain of Megiddo.

The land shall mourn each family by itself, the family of the house of David by itself and their wives by themselves, the family of the house of Nathan by itself and their wives by themselves, the family of the house of Levi by itself and their wives by themselves, the family of the house of the Shemites by itself and their wives by themselves.

All the families that are left, each by itself and their wives by themselves, these are all Jewish families, descendants of Israel. And they are repenting when they look upon God whom they pierced. This is the depiction that we see prophetically in Scripture.

So, if their rejection means your salvation, their acceptance somehow correlates with Jesus' return. This is the promise given to Israel. Sometimes people will ask the question, they'll ask, well, why do you say that Israel is the chosen people?

They've rejected the Gospel. They're looking at it incorrectly, chosen for what purpose? Chosen for what purpose? Because Israel is chosen for multiple things. They preserved the Hebrew Scriptures. They brought in the covenants, the gifts, and they biologically brought in the Messiah.

And maybe even, according to what the text looks like, is they are also chosen to basically be the welcome wagon to usher in His return. Let's continue in verses 16 -24 of Romans 11. And it makes this statement, if the dough offered as firstfruits is holy, so the whole lump.

And if the root is holy, so are the branches. But if some of the branches were broken off and you, although a wild olive shoot, were grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing root of the olive tree, do not be arrogant towards the branches.

If you are, remember it's not you who support the root, but the root who supports you. And you will say, branches were broken off so that I may be grafted in. That is true. They were broken off because of their unbelief, but you stand fast through faith.

Do not become proud, but fear, for if God did not spare the natural branches, neither will He spare you. Note then the kindness and the severity of God. Severity towards those who have fallen, but God's kindness to you, provided you continue His kindness, otherwise you too will be cut off.

And as it continues, excuse me, within the text in verse 23, and even they, if they do not continue in their unbelief, will be grafted in, for God has the power to graft them in again. For if you were cut off from what is by nature a wild olive tree and grafted contrary to nature into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these, the natural branches, be grafted back into their own olive tree?

So here's the statement. Very simply, we have this olive tree, which sometimes people will depict as Israel. I don't think that's the most accurate way to understand this text because some of the branches are cut off and in the context of this chapter, that's national Israel.

Not the remnant from within, but national Israel. We see it's cut off. Others are grafted in. What are they grafted into? This is speaking of the new covenant of Jesus, the promise that He offers us. You become part of what He promised, part of His family, truly brought into the kingdom of God.

This is what the people become grafted into in belief. But interesting, and I want to point this out. Paul is writing this, actually as the apostle to the Roman church. Fascinating, somehow the Roman Catholic church came to the conclusion that their apostle was Peter.

But according to scripture, Paul is the one that's writing to them. Paul is also an apostle to the Gentiles. And something that he is noticing in the early church, specifically even coming out of Rome, is hatred of the Jewish people because they look down upon them and their rejection and they start to speak ill of them.

We see this develop early, early, early in Christian history. Clearly, Paul's addressing it here. Just fascinates me that he's writing to Rome because eventually the Roman Catholic church historically really brought in an institution of antisemitism, seeing the Jews as the Christ killers, the one who took the Lord's life.

Although in John chapter 10, our Lord is very clear that He lays down His own life. Nobody takes it from Him. So He's very clear that there is not any one person that's responsible for His death. And actually, Peter, in making an argument, in Acts, he makes the statement that Jesus died by both Pontius Pilate and by Herod, that He died by the Jewish court, or Gentile court.

But the idea is Jesus died by everybody, for everybody. If He didn't die, you wouldn't have the option to be able to enter into eternal life because there would have been no sacrifice that offered your forgiveness.

But instead, the church demonized the Jewish people. And this unfortunately caused massive suffering and massive condemnation. The Jewish people, sometimes when we ask, well, why don't they get it? Part of it is the Lord's blinded them.

But then another massive component is historically, the church did an awful job of representing Jesus to them. Because the Jesus that they were introduced to was at the end of a knife, a sword, a gun, because it was told that you either believe in this or you die.

And sometimes they weren't even given the option of conversion and were killed throughout their time in Europe. This is an unfortunate tragedy that Paul is clearly addressing in this section of Scripture to not fall into this.

He taught the church preemptively. Something that's wonderful about Scripture, Scripture deals with problems prophetically and preemptively, not reactively. They don't find themselves in a different situation so they react in some new way.

No, Scripture, because God is God, He knows past, present, and future, deals with these problems. And He's dealing with the problem of church anti-Semitism right here. And it's something that was real and a great tragedy and black eye for the church.

So the church that needed to be grafted in, they were grafted into the olive tree, what they are not natural to, because this is something that comes through Jesus, biologically Jewish. The promises of these things were Jewish.

The Gentiles coming into this generally didn't have a clear understanding of the Hebrew Scriptures, of the prophecies that spoke of Him. They were coming in from a very foreign place, but yet they were ready to accept it, even being foreign grafted in.

But yet the Lord loves them and always had a plan to bring in the nations through Israel. It's a beautiful thing, a powerful thing. It's something that He makes so clear here that I want all of us to understand this.

We know that God will keep His promises to you, partially because He kept His promises to Israel. He's not a promise breaker. We have evidence. These people that were scattered throughout all the world for 2 ,000 years, He brought back together, just like the prophecies throughout Scripture said that He would.

This has never happened in world history, by the way. Actually, that's not true. It has happened once before. Twice in world history that we know of, a people group has been taken out of their country, scattered through different parts of the world, often in slavery and bondage, and then eventually regathered to their nation.

Only twice in world history have we ever seen it. Both times it was Israel. This isn't something that happens. But yet it happened with them. Partially so that you can see that God keeps His promises to His people.

The New Covenant says Israel will never cease to be a nation before them. Somebody questions whether or not the current regathering was done by God. I often will give them a great challenge to their theology because what occurs is Israel is clearly scattered because of their sin.

It's a curse of God according to Deuteronomy 28 and Leviticus 26. And if they're scattered by their sin because of a curse, then is it possible for man to undo a curse of God by his own strength? Can I overcome God's curse by my own power and will?

It's a great challenge for us theologically because Israel is not a religious nation. It's not a godly nation today. But God does not necessarily gather them for that reason as it even states in Deuteronomy 29.

He gathers them not because of their righteousness but because of His grace, His mercy, and His promise to their ancestors. Also one of the things that He states is because of the wickedness of the nations that dwell there.

This is what Scripture tells us. So we are assured through the things that we see with Israel through His blessings upon them that He will keep His promises to you. But His promises to you aren't just simply physical.

His promise to you is if you trust in Jesus and His death for your forgiveness of sins, you're forgiven. And if you believe and confess that Jesus rose from the dead on the third day, you too will be raised from the dead by the same Spirit that rose Him because the Spirit of God dwells in those who have put their faith and trust in Jesus.

You can't hold the Spirit of God down. He's life. If we continue and look in verse 25 through 32, we see this in Matthew 11. Lest you be wise in your own sight, I do not want you to be unaware of this mystery, brothers, a partial hardening has come upon Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.

And this way all Israel will be saved. As it is written, the Deliverer will come out of Zion, He will banish ungodliness from Jacob, and this will be My covenant with them when I take away their sins.

What we see here in this very section of Scripture is that the Lord is going to save Israel. When? It says after the time of the Gentiles, after the Gospel goes throughout wherever it's going to go throughout the nations.

I happen to be dispensational.

Why?

Because the Scripture talks about dispensations. This is a clear example of one of them. God moves away from Israel so that He can save the nations, and then when He's done working throughout the nations, He goes back to His people.

This statement about all Israel being saved is debated as to what exactly it means, but clearly there seems to be an indication of a national turning of the people remaining in Jerusalem, at least many of them, and Zechariah seems to state all of them there at that point in time.

This is not talking about all the Jewish people throughout history, because many Jewish people have gone to their grave rejecting Jesus. And just like with any of us, when we reject Jesus going into eternity, then we will not receive the eternal life that He offers us.

Instead, we are going to be condemned. This is just clear in Scripture.

Why?

Does it seem cruel? Does it seem unfair? It's very simple if we break this down. Very simple. When we think about the Kingdom of God, the heavenly realm, the Kingdom that our Lord is going to set up, is it a place of peace or war?

I'm asking you guys.

You can answer.

Peace, very clearly.

Okay?

And who is the King of this Kingdom?

It's our Lord.

And so if you go into this Kingdom in opposition to that King, then you have made the heavenly realm not a place of peace, but a place of war by your simple presence. There's no place for you there. You've chose to distance yourself from it by your own depravity.

This is what the Lord has set up for us. It's not that it's unfair. It's very fair. There's a place of peace and there's a King who's going to rule it graciously and wonderfully and perfectly. And if you do not submit to that King, if you do not put your faith and trust in that King, then you would make that place a place of war.

It's just very simple.

It's not unfair by any means. And so as the people of Israel at the end,.

As it says,.

That they turn to Jesus recognizing the God whom they have pierced, they themselves make a national turning that correlates with His return. Fascinating. Listen to the words of Jesus from Matthew 23, starting in verse 37 as He's speaking to Israel.

He says this, O Jerusalem, Jerusalem! Who is Jesus talking to? Very clear. Who lives there? Who lives there? The people of Israel. The city that kills the prophets and stones those who were sent to it,.

How often I would have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, but you were not willing. They've rejected Me.

Okay?

This is what He states during this time. And then He goes on and says, See, your house is left to you desolate, for I tell you that you will not see Me again until you say, Baruch Haba, B'Shem Adonai, quoting out of Psalm 119, Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.

Jesus says to the Jewish people in Jerusalem, You will not see Me again until you welcome Me. That's what He says. It's His words, not mine. So He's waiting, partially, for this national turning of Israel.

It's a fascinating section of history in eschatology that unfortunately is often overlooked. This event, typically within a pre-tribulational, dispensational type of eschatology would be understood to probably occur at the end of the tribulation, somewhere around that time period, where Jesus physically returns with His bride.

This is kind of the general understanding for the time frame. You can correct me, Pastor, if I'm wrong later. Amen to correcting me later? Wouldn't be the first time.

It goes on.

The text. Oh, let me explain this actually. There's a prophetic shadow of this from King David. King David is the King of Israel. At some point in time, all of the tribes of Israel decide to endorse his son, Absalom, as opposed to David.

And then, when you get to 2 Samuel chapter 19, starting in verse 9, this is very similar to what we see happen with Jesus regarding His return to reign. Because what happens is Absalom and his men go to war with David and his men.

Absalom is killed by Joab. Joab seems to kill everybody. And after he is dead, we read this text. Fascinating. Listen to the words of David from what we just heard Jesus say.

It says,.

And all the people were arguing throughout the tribes of Israel,.

Saying,.

The King delivered us from the hand of our enemies and saved us from the hand of the Philistines, speaking of David. And now he has fled out of our land because of Absalom. So when they endorsed Absalom, David left.

Then their armies fought. Absalom's killed. But Absalom, whom we anointed over us, is dead in battle. Now therefore, why do you say nothing about bringing back the King? Then King David sent this message to Zadok and to Abiath of the priests.

So what happens is, all the tribes of Israel are asking for Jesus to come back, except for one. What tribe is, or excuse me, asking for David to come back,.

Except for one.

What tribe is David from? Lion of the tribe of Judah.

Judah.

Judah is the only tribe. Listen to what he says. Say to the elders of Judah, why should you be the last to bring the King back to his house when the word of all Israel has come to the King? Every people group but his own have asked for him.

Sound familiar?

You are my brothers. You are my bone and my flesh. Why then should you be the last to bring back the King? Say to Amasa, are you not bone of my bone, flesh of my flesh? God, do so to me and more also if you are not commander of my army from now on in the place of Joab.

And he swayed the hearts of all the men of Judah, a national turning, as one man, so they sent word, return to the King, both you and your servants, and so the King came back to the Jordan and Judah came to Gilgal to meet the King and to bring the King over the Jordan when his people asked for him.