Ger-15 Israel and the Nations — Art Katz

Israel, the Church, and the Nations

The topic is so broad and rich that we could not in any one speaking begin to do it justice. But we gave the very broad title, Israel, the Church and the Nations. Do you understand that connection? I don't think that the Church has really grasped the connection.

Israel has been kind of a subject unto itself. Good. Let there be light. Thank you. Which would be interesting enough in itself that God would restore his own people to himself at the end of the age, having passed through much suffering and trial?

That would be a lovely theme in itself. But there is much more involved. For which reason this conclusion will be so powerfully resisted. The place of Israel to the nations. It was part of Israel's original call.

A nation of priests and a light unto the world. God has cast them into all nations and will restore them from the nations. And this will be one of the final, most dramatic activities of God in the last days.

One which will test both the Church and the nations through which they pass. In such a way as the eternal destiny of the nations will be affected by how they respond to the Jews that pass through their nations.

And then the millennial future of Israel to the nations. Many scriptures on that subject. One that comes to mind is in Zechariah 8 where ten men from as many nations will clutch the skirt of a Jew and say, take us to your God, for we know that you know God.

Very few of us consider this relationship to the nations after Israel's restoration. Very few of us consider this relationship to the nations after Israel's restoration. If we understood that better, we would understand how far God will go in restoring them and preparing them for such a ministry.

If we understood that better, we would understand how far God will go in restoring them and preparing them for such a ministry. Nations clutching the skirt of the Jew. The promise to Abraham fulfilled that all of the families of the earth will be blessed.

Of course the word blessed itself has fallen into disuse or disrepute. Of course the word blessing itself has fallen into disuse or disrepute. Yes, you take a superficial reference to the world of feelings.

Yes, you have been blessed. But Paul says that their return will be nothing less than life from the dead. Had God's apostolic servant Paul not come to them. What would your condition be? You would still be drinking beer out of skulls.

You would be wallowing in paganism. But God sent a man in the full power and anointing of God to make known the way of God. And it was life transforming for the people to whom he came. Imagine a nation of Paul's released into the world.

Imagine a nation of Paul's released into the world. That's why Paul said that he was a man born out of season. One born out of due time. One untimely born. What does he mean? A nation of priests and a light unto the world.

A nation of priests and a light unto the world. Like the high priest and the apostle of our confession. Like the high priest and the apostle of our confession. These expressions are so lost to our understanding.

Only faintly they mean something to us. But what is a priest? One who stands for men before God. And mediates the truth and the way of God to men in a completely objective manner. There is nothing to serve in himself by his ministry.

A frequent phrase of Paul is for your sake and for God's sake. Never for his sake. He was selfless with regard to himself. His ministry was for your sake and for God's sake. He had no other consideration.

He was total in his absoluteness to those to whom he was brought. He says, you know what kind of man we were among you for your sake. We were gentle among you. As a nursing mother cherishes her children.

So affectionately longing for you we were well pleased to impart not only the gospel but also our own lives. Affectionately longing. Not only to impart the gospel but our own lives. Because you had become dear to us.

As a father does to his children. Nursing mother. Father to his children. Affectionate longing for you. Because you had become dear to us. Do you recognize what this means? This is a Hebrew of the Hebrews speaking about Gentiles.

You had become dear to us. I cherished you as a nursing mother. You know what kind of men we were among you for your sake. Our experience has not fitted us to understand these things. There is hardly a day that goes now where some young believer is not looking to me to be a spiritual father.

Paul says we have many teachers but few fathers. How much more would we have been blessed in the faith had we had one. With such a longing and affection as this. That gives himself to the other so exclusively.

Israel’s Restoration as a Blessing to the Nations

A Jew to Gentiles. Paul said I was untimely born. What you see in me. Is a picture of Israel's restoration. As a blessing to the nations. Little wonder that God calls them a crown in his hand. You will be called by a new name.

You will be known as the ministers of God. You will be known as the priests of God. For Paul says in Romans 11 that the gifts and the callings of God are without repentance. What a transformation. Not Israelis or Jews as we presently know them.

Aggressive and hard. Bright in themselves. Impressive. But not apostolic. Not priestly. Not caring. Something has got to happen to this people. The deepest breaking and repentance. Nothing less than life out of death.

A transformation. So as to fulfill the word of God. Give it to Abraham. That from your seed will be cut that people that will bless all the families of the earth. Do you realize how substandard our life is now?

How corrupt our values. How inadequate our living. So beneath the glory of God. One day is like the next. We need God to send unto us a priestly people. Citizens of heaven. To show unto us the way of life.

And where will abortion be then? And child molestation. And abused women. And incest. Sexual perversion. God. For the priest shall teach the people the difference between the holy and the prophetic. I'm not doing this subject justice.

I'm just scratching at it. Just enough to tease you. Of what the restoration of Israel will mean to the nations. And to this nation. Let's look at Amos chapter 9. From verse 11. Through the end of the chapter.

There is a title in my bible. Over this section. Just before that. Called the restoration of Israel. Amos chapter 9 from verse 11. Why don't you read the 11 and 12. We need to look at these verses not charismatically but apostolically.

Because in my country the restoration of the tabernacle of David has come to mean the restoration of Davidic or charismatic worship. A completely arbitrary interpretation. That reflects a lack of careful attention to the text.

Men have made it to mean what serves their purposes. And miss the greater glory of God. Cats are you against Davidic worship? God forbid. But I recognize something here that exceeds that in importance.

It's the issue of God's government and rule over the nations. That has as its key first the restoration of this nation. And there is a mystery here. This insignificant people. That unpromising and unspectacular piece of real estate.

This should be the nub and the locus of God's world rule. The law shall go forth out of Zion. And the word of the Lord out of Jerusalem. And nations shall convert their swords into pruning hooks. And study war no more.

It has its location in a restored Israel. But the consequence is for all nations. We need to see the issue of Israel in the context of God's theocratic rule. And our problem is that we are too democratic.

And want to see only some improvement or amelioration in our present system. We are not jealous for the rule of God himself. Literal rule. That will constitute a true peace and righteousness in the earth.

And one of the reasons might be is that we have no stomach for the apocalyptic collisions that precede that rule. We are humanists. And we want progressive improvement. Without any shaking of our nations or ourselves.

Rather than the apocalyptic shakings of which the scriptures speak. That precede both Israel's restoration and the Lord's coming and his world rule. Look at verse 14. Also I will restore the captivity of my people Israel and they will rebuild the ruined cities and live in them.

That I will restore the captivity of my people Israel and they will rebuild the ruined cities and live in them. That they will plant vineyards and drink their wine. That they will plant gardens and enjoy their fruits.

It seems to me that everywhere in these prophetic scriptures where reference is made to the restoration of the castle. Mentions in the same breath the devastation that comes to Israel. As if the final thing that foreshadows their being restored to their God is a devastation and a dealing of a very severe current.

As if the final thing that foreshadows their being restored to their God is a devastation and a dealing of a very severe current. Then comes the return and the millennial blessing. And they will rebuild the ruined cities and live in them.

That this is spoken in conjunction with the tabernacle that has been ruined and will be restored in the kingdom of God. Indicates that it is yet a future time. And the last verse seems also to suggest this.

I will also plant them on their own land. And I only suggest this as opinion. It may be entirely different than the way that Israel has presently been planted. Much more utterly the supernatural work of God.

And there should be no question with them as to who it is who has restored them. And they will not again be rooted out from their land which I have given them says the Lord their God. So we need to reflect on this very soberly.

The Restoration of Israel and the Government of God

In the earlier afternoon session I quoted the scripture from Haggai. That God would shake all nations. And that the latter glory of this house will be greater than the former. And in this place I shall give peace.

Two different writers. Speaking at two different times. But by the same spirit of God. In prophetic accuracy. Showing that the restoration of Israel has to do with the government of God to the nations.

And in this place I will give peace. What is the place? His sanctuary. His dwelling place. In Jerusalem. When he will abide and dwell with his restored people. And that nation that will not come up to Jerusalem to worship on the feast of tabernacles will be cursed.

Because that's where he will be. That's what will make Jerusalem holy. A tabernacle and a place of worship. But also the location of his rule. Because he comes as king. To rule from the throne of David.

And every word of this is calculated to be offensive to our modern minds. Therefore the church has historically spiritualized these references away. They do not expect a literal coming. Or they may say so doctrinally.

But there's no longing for his appearing. In the sense of one who comes to rid the world of injustice and unrighteousness. The phrase kingdom of God has become a generality. It means all things and it means nothing.

But the least of the things that it means is a literal political rule of God in the earth. Therefore we can interpret the raising up of the tabernacle of David as being the charismatic restoration of a certain kind of worship.

But what does the text say? That they may possess the remnant of Edom and all the nations who are called by my name declares the Lord who does this. This is the issue of government and not worship. That is to say a method of worship.

But because it is the Lord who rules. It is his sanctuary and his dwelling place, a place of worship as well as rule all in one. That's what the prophet Isaiah says in chapter 2. And it will come about that in the last days the mountain of the house of the Lord will be established as the chief of the mountains and be raised above the hills.

It will be the chief of the mountains. Because the symbolic meaning of mountain in scripture is place of government. But the mountain of the house of the Lord which God shall restore from ruins will be raised above other mountains and above all the hills.

And all the nations will stream unto it. For the law will go forth out of Zion, the word of the Lord out of Jerusalem. The end of verse 3. The law will go forth from Zion. And the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.

And he will judge between the nations. I suppose you naively think that the nations could hardly wait for this opportunity. That they really will enjoy that the word of the Lord comes forth out of Jerusalem.

How naive you are. That nations will give up their autonomy. Their self-rule. Which is to say their selfishness. By which we stir our coffee in Vienna and eat our torte while black people are starving some thousands of miles away in the same earth.

We want to retain our privileged condition. But the scripture says the earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof. And the nations that dwell and those that dwell therein. And if we will not look for and pray for and work for the establishment of Christ's rule in the earth.

Be assured that we will have to receive anti-Christ's rule. Which is already in formation. For the world is in such a condition ecologically and economically and politically. That the only kind of true solution is a global solution.

The question is from whom shall it come. Christ or anti-Christ. It's amazing how little apocalyptic expectation the church has for this. Because it is inextricably connected with Israel's restoration.

And there is something in our gentile hearts that does not delight in that. I hear the chorus of complaint increasing daily. Why Israel? Why should God have a special interest in that nation? Or that land?

Or their city? With God everyone is equal? One nation is as good as another? They don't like a God who chooses. Who elects. Who will appoint what he desires. For he will choose what he will choose. And he will elect what he will elect.

Because he is who he is. And that's the long and the short of it. But that he has chosen that people. With their reputation. Their historic apostasy. Their opposition to the gospel. And restore them. Offends us.

But glorifies him. The disciples asked Jesus. Is it time now to restore the kingdom to Israel? I want you to know that that's a perfectly legitimate question. It has everything to do with God's promises to their fathers.

You can read it in 2 Chronicles 7. And reiterate it in other places in the scripture. That God has promised them a kingdom. Under their Prince David. In the latter days. And so the disciples rightly thought that this was that time.

They did not understand that there would be an interim period. In which God would raise up the church. From a people from his name. From among all nations. Not the nations per se themselves. A people from all nations.

The body of Christ. For when the fullness of the Gentiles be come in. So all Israel shall be saved. As it is written. Dear Kinder. The issue of Israel's restoration is the issue of God's promise. It's the issue of his word.

His ability to fulfill it. Even despite Israel's condition. Because he has promised in his covenant with them. That upon the throne of David. To order it and establish it. Would be his peace. And his rule.

Israel’s Repentance and the Promise of David’s Throne

At the end of chapter 37 of Ezekiel. When God restores this people from their grave. A very precious theme that God has given. Me to preach. When they have been brought to a place of total helplessness and hopelessness.

That's where we Jews need to be brought. Because we're so capable. So able to do. But we're not able to bless. Until we have a total change of character and personality. And this will come out of the deepest national repentance.

That has ever been seen on the face of the earth. When we shall loathe ourselves in our own sight for all that we have done and sinned. And that God has restored us despite ourselves. By no virtue of our own.

Because he is who he is. And he's not a man that he should lie. And he has made a promise. And he has established a throne. And of the increase of that government and of that peace. There shall be no end.

Now and forever. How shall that government exist? Unless indeed there is a literal throne. And a literal kingdom. Promise to a literal people. That's how all of this is intertwined. And when God raises us from the dead and restores us to the land.

I will make them one nation on the mountains of Israel. Verse 22, chapter 37. I will make them one nation. When they say two Jews and you have three opinions. Even when we're Christians. I will make them one nation.

This is the supreme masterpiece of God. I will make them one nation. This is the supreme masterpiece of God. Performed before the face of all nations. That not only shall Israel know that I am the Lord who has performed this.

But the nations that are left round about. They will be my people and I will be their God. In verse 23. And my servant David will be king over them. Forever in verse 25. And David my servant will be their prince forever.

The same one of whom we have said we will not kill. But have this man to rule over us. He will rule over us forever. If he rules over us. Who will be exempt? For though the kingdom is for Israel. It's to Israel.

Yet it's not exclusively for Israel. All nations will come up to Jerusalem to worship. I wonder how they will like that at Rome. And I will place them and multiply them. And I will set my sanctuary in their midst forever.

My dwelling place in verse 27. And I also will be with them. I will be their God. They will be my people. Verse 26. The multiplying. Yeah. The glory of the latter house will be greater than the former.

Not because of its Solomonic architecture. But because he will dwell with them and be with them forever in their midst. As king over them. And the nations will know that I am the Lord who sanctifies Israel.

The nations will know. Do you know what we have to say when we consider this? The God of the Bible is no longer a subject for Sunday school. We're coming to an hour when he's going to come crashing into history.

He will be the issue of nations. It will no longer be a Sunday matter. It will be a daily matter. For the rule of God will go out over the face of the earth. The knowledge of God which covers the earth.

Which is also the glory of God. For he rules in righteousness and grace. Did I finish answering the question how the nations will like this? We don't have to speculate. Psalm 2 tells us how they will like it.

Why are the nations in an uproar? And the people devising a vain thing. The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers take counsel together. Against the Lord and against his anointing. Who are these rulers?

Not just the earthly invisible men of power. But the total invisible realm that has successfully jerked and manipulated them for centuries. Against the rulers of the darkness of this world. They won't like this.

Because they have had a field day up till now. It was not too much for them to possess the whole of the earth. It was not too much for them to have control of the nation Germany in the Nazi time. Not content merely to influence but actually to possess and to dominate.

These powers understand better than you what God's design is. If they can only fix you at a sentimental level with regard to Israel. That you like the Israelis. And think by that you are doing God's service.

It's going to require much more. When these powers of hell are raised up against this Jewish people. To exterminate them. For in the wisdom of the powers of darkness. The way to remove the threat to your rule is by eliminating the people through whom another kingdom comes.

There is going to be conflict. Unbelievable hatred against the Jew in every nation. Inexplicable hatred. By skinheads and neo-Nazis who were born after the Hitler time. Have never seen or known a Jew.

But bristling with hatred against them. Which is the statement of the hatred of the powers of darkness against that people. Hating them because they know that if that people is restored. Even a remnant of them.

Their rule over the nations is finished. For his kingdom has come. Now you have been a very good audience. Now let's see how you can handle this. God will allow that fury to be poured out upon them. It will drive them out of their places of security and affluence in the cities that they have occupied throughout the world.

They will be a persecuted people in flight for their lives. They will be a persecuted people in flight for their lives. Then will come the opportunity to fulfill what Paul spoke of in Romans 11. That by your mercy they may obtain mercy.

Will they ever need it? And it may well be the matter of life or death for them. Which will not be a cheap thing to extend. Any more than for that great saint in Holland who ended up in a concentration camp.

What's her name? Corrie ten Boom. You'll extend mercy at the risk of your own life. Oh brother Art, how can we believe such things? This is Ascension Day. The weather is lovely. And Switzerland is the best of all possible worlds.

These things shall not come to pass. It will come sooner than you think. And when it comes it will come suddenly. That's what Ezekiel 20 tells us. With fury poured out I will rule over you. Verse 33. I'll bring you out from the people and gather you out of the countries where you've been scattered with a mighty hand.

With a stretched out arm and with fury poured out. Get the Semitic fury. For what else would bring us out of the cities and the countries where we have sojourned? So comfortably. We like our coffee and torta also.

And I will bring you into the wilderness of the people. And there I will plead with you face to face. You want to know what happened to me in Neuchatel? Took me completely by surprise. Because I knew that our farm in Minnesota was intended by God as a refuge for Jews in flight.

And I know of other Christians who have a similar calling. And are already now preparing places of refuge for Jews in flight. And so a couple of years ago I went to visit these French speaking saints in Neuchatel.

Christian Community and Hospitality Toward Jews in Flight

And I had been talking to them about community. Because community is not a luxury or an option. It's the definitive statement of what church in fact is. Wherever there's a people who are not satisfied with mere Sunday services.

And know that they need each other daily while it is yet today. And the frequency and authenticity of true relationship of what church should be. The fact of the matter is only a community of believers can receive the weight and the impact of Jews suddenly coming upon them in flight.

Don't think they're going to be on their best behavior. They will be totally deranged and upset. This is a fury suddenly poured out. But it's a fury. They won't know what hit them. They'll have to leave everything behind.

For which they've worked all their lives. When they thought this will not come again. Never again they said. And paying again another Nazi time. Now global. And how will you bear them? When we're difficult even at our best.

We already have had such a foretaste in Minnesota. I wasn't there. I just heard the report. A Jewish hobo, a bum, a nothing was drifting in the area. Good for you. And someone brought him to us because we're called Ben Israel.

And so a Jewish brother received him. A much nicer fellow than I. Much sweeter. I've never heard him ever raise his voice. Very mild mannered. Well composed. So he showed this Jewish man to a place to sleep.

And he got him some food. And to his utter astonishment this Jew complained. It wasn't good enough. And he didn't like the facilities. And the food was not adequate. And this brother says something rose up out of my depths.

Mama Mia as we say in Yiddish. An anger against the hospitality which has been spurned. When the giving of yourself falls on total ungratefulness. It's one thing to have our nice Sunday Christian face now.

But what face will we show them? When God says I will meet with them face to face in the wilderness of the nations. What a scenario. The remnant church, the true people of God. In every nation faced with their ultimate challenge the Jew.

In the hour of the Jews ultimate extremity. And they will test us to see what manner of saint we are. Will you be proper and polite? Do your evangelical reformed best? That best will not be good enough.

For it is a critical moment of confrontation. If the survivors of this process are to return as the redeemed of the Lord to Zion. They must find the face of God in root. I will meet with them face to face.

In a face that will not express disappointment. Will not be offended. Will not recoil. Can't be hurt. So deep is the sanctifying work of God in that community of believers. Can you see why we would rather just go to Israel and plant the tree?

Then that the issue of the restoration rests with us. So I went to these friends in New Chateau. Without a thought of this. And they wanted me to see a property. It was a private girl school that used to be a Moravian retreat.

At a time when the Moravians were pursued and persecuted and had to find a place of refuge and flight. What a property. Not in New Chateau itself. But off to the side in the wilderness. A city on a hill.

Orchards and fields and garage and apartments and dormitories. Everything complete. And I saw it. And of course they wanted millions for such a property. But these believers felt that God wanted them to have it as a location for community.

So I agreed to walk over the property with them. Maybe the Lord would say something. And as we were walking, a word came out of my mouth without any thought. I said, wouldn't it be remarkable if a property that had its origin as a refuge for Moravians should end as a place of refuge for Jews?

So close to Zurich. And the moment I said that, the Spirit of God fell. Have you ever experienced that phenomenon? Something comes out of your mouth quite mindlessly. But it's God's thought. And he confirms it by his Spirit coming on with might.

I was not the only one who felt it. We all felt that presence in that town. We went speechless. Lord, what are you doing? What is this? Let's take hands, I said. On this holy ground. And pray. Lord, what are you saying?

I didn't have any thought about this being a place of refuge. I didn't have any thought about this being a place of refuge for Jews. But if this is your intention, then you persuade these religious authorities to yield it to you for that purpose.

So we went into the office of the director to announce this revelation. And on his desk were two familiar books. Ben Israel and Reality, the Hope of Glory. My books. Reality. In French. He had just finished reading them with his wife.

And was impressed. Then I said to him what the Lord had said. And he responded. The Lord had prepared the way. He said, let me get on the telephone and speak to the minister who's in charge of the sale of this property.

And introduce you over the phone. And introduce you over the phone. Or else I would have seemed to have been some kind of an American nut. And so I was properly introduced. And this pastor was impressed.

He said, yes, we need to get together. I'm going to be in Basel next weekend. I said, ich auch. Ich auch. My program had been changed. And I also was going to be in that city though it was not originally planned.

So I shared with him for two hours. The Moravian movement is a quaint relic today. It has become a denomination. And has lost the original character and power and glory that was theirs. A religious curiosity.

And I said to him, the Lord is giving you one more chance. I will bless them that blessed thee. If you will give up this property for the purpose of God to the Jew. It may well be the turning point in the history of your movement.

And the glory of your latter house may be greater than the former. If you will not, if you're out for dollars and cents to make the best deal, you may be signing the death warrant of your movement. And that's how it will be for us all.

The Nations’ Treatment of the Jews and Eternal Destiny

When these Jews pass through our nations. Lord, when did we see you hungry and thirsty and naked and did not feed you and clothe you and give you to drink? As you did not do this for the least of these, my brethren, you did not do it unto me.

This one issue, the response of the nations to the Jew in extremity will determine their eternal destiny. Those that will feed them, will clothe them, will give them to drink. God calls them the righteous.

Inherit the kingdom prepared for the righteous. Not that you became righteous in this moment. But what you were in fact in God was revealed. As the crisis of the Jew will reveal it. That's our soon coming future.

In the fulfillment of the mystery of Israel to the nations. Opposed bitterly by the powers of darkness. And employed by God for their sifting and their return. For I will sift them among the nations as one sifts corn in a sieve.

And not so much as one corn shall fall to the ground. We will also be sifted. He'll find a remnant among them. And he'll find a remnant among us. The issue of the Jew will be the issue of the church. The issue of the church will be the issue of the church.

And indeed reveal who in fact the true church is. So I prayed for the church in Switzerland at the conclusion of our afternoon session. And I want to pray again the same. Merely to view the issue of Israel and the Jew sentimentally is as much to be opposed to God as rejecting the Jew.

We need to be apprehended by this mystery. Which is for us the issue of the cross. That when they shall constitute for us an ultimate test it is his face that will be revealed. How's your face tonight?

Faith or face? Face. How is your face tonight? And how will it be then? Except that we ourselves move from faith to faith and glory to glory. Beholding in each other's faces the glory of God. We need to come to a new seriousness about the faith.

About the church. His body. And be it. However costly the requirement. Sunday Christianity charismatic Christianity will not suffice. The community of God's people in apostolic and prophetic fullness shaped at God's hand from this night forth willing?

Do you dare tell him that? Lord, I want part in this. I don't want to be among the apostate who will join the world in its choruses against the Jew. I want to be among that remnant that receives them and reveals to them your face whatever the requirement.

A Call to Submit to God’s Rule

Let's bow before the Lord. Hallelujah. Thank you, Jesus. Hallelujah. This is a final moment. And God wants to transact. He needs to hear from us. Our willingness to be part in this. Let him know that.

Let him deal with your self-will. With your independent spirit. That is happy to sing he is Lord, he is Lord. But likes very much to protect and to guard its own life and its own interest. How shall his rule come to the nations when it has not yet come to his church?

Let him be Lord over all. From this night. You will be eternally grateful. Tell him that from where you sit. How far you have come and how far you want to go with him. How much you desire his government for your life and everything.