One belief which clearly distinguishes Christadelphians from the vast majority of Church-goers is their belief in the “hope of Israel” — that is, their understanding of the position of the Jews in God’s sight. Paul had this belief in mind when he spoke from bondage in Rome:
“For the hope of Israel I am bound with this chain” (Acts 28:20)
Paul saw this “hope of Israel” as an essential element of God’s truth. In his letter to the Romans he develops this thought:
“Hath God cast away His people? Let it not be! . . . Have they stumbled that they should fall? No, but rather, through their fall salvation is come to the Gentiles . . . Blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in. And so all Israel shall be saved; as it is written, There shall come out of Zion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob; For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins” (Rom. 11:1, 11, 25-27)
Israel Shall Dwell Alone
The Jews have always had, and always will have, a special favor in God’s eyes. Through their own sins and shortcomings, they have often suffered adversity or chastisement — but this does not set aside nor alter God’s eventual purpose with them. They will yet occupy a unique position among the nations.
About 3,500 years ago, there occurred an event which bears close resemblance to other events, happening in this twentieth century. And indeed it should! — for God’s hand is the governing agent in both cases. A host of people were journeying toward the land of Canaan, which they claimed for their own in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds. The Gentile nations had listened fearfully to the tales of this people’s powerful new God, who had rained destruction and death upon proud Egypt. And they sought for a way to defeat these “Hebrews.”
In this situation, Balak (the king of the Moabites) called the prophet Balaam — to curse the children of Israel as they approached the land of Moab. And the answer came, perhaps unwillingly, from the lips of Balaam, a solemn pronouncement of great significance to all peoples and all times:
“How shall I curse, whom God hath not cursed? or how shall I defy, whom the Lord hath not defied? For from the top of the rocks I see him, and from the hills I behold him: lo, the people shall dwell alone, and shall not be reckoned among the nations. Who can count the dust of Jacob, and the number of the fourth part of Israel?” (Num. 23: 8-10).
“The people shall dwell alone. . .” No other phrase could offer a better summary of Israel’s situation throughout its long history. In either adversity or prosperity, they were to be a peculiar people, God’s “witnesses,” separated from the heathen nations around them, and protected and disciplined by God’s angels. This was for the scripturally attested reason of showing God’s glory to their neighbors. It is true that often the children of Israel failed to live up to their calling; but God’s ways have never been thwarted by man’s foolishness and perversity. Though many of the Jews have endeavored to be absorbed into the Gentile world, God has preserved them for thousands of years as a separate and special people.
A Burdensome Stone
The prophet Zechariah speaks particularly of our own time, when he speaks of the day that God “will make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people” (Zech. 12:3). But Israel has always been a burdensome stone to the nations — her continuing existence has posed countless problems to kings and rulers for many, many years. What has happened to every empire that subjugated and persecuted the Jews? Where are they now? They can only be found in the history books and archaeological records. Where is the glorious Egypt of the Pharaohs? . . . wealthy and arrogant Babylon? . . . the Persian and Roman Empires? . . . the “Third Reich” of Hitler? Never has there been a more obvious fulfillment of a prophet’s words: “All that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces
The Lion and the Scepter
Again, as Balaam surveyed the host of Israel, the word of God came to him:
“Behold, the people shall rise up as a great lion, and lift up himself as a young lion: he shall not lie down until he eat of the prey, and drink the blood of the slain” (Num. 23:24).
“He crouched, he lay down as a lion, and as a great lion: who shall stir him up ? Blessed is he that blesseth thee, and cursed is he that curseth thee” (24:9).
And finally Balaam speaks again, the word of God concerning a very remarkable person who was to arise and fulfill the will of God Who sent him, a person who was to become the embodiment of the one “Hope of Israel” — for Gentiles as well as Jews:
“I shall see him, but not now: I shall behold him, but not nigh: there shall come a Star out of Jacob, and a Scepter shall rise out of Israel, and shall smite the corners (‘princes’—mg.) of Moab, and destroy all the children of Sheth (or the ‘tumultuous ones,’ the children of noise’ — see Jer. 48:45)” (Num. 24:17).
These verses from the book of Numbers have a very close connection with the prophecy concerning Judah in Gen. 49. Here we shall focus our attention — especially upon vv. 8-10, concerning the true and perfect “Lion of the tribe of Judah,” called also the “SHILOH.” And here we shall find one of God’s most wonderful promises concerning His kingdom and the hope of Israel.
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One