It’s sad what’s happening in the Middle East today. Whenever these things happen, I get asked about the 2nd Coming of Jesus. Before we get into this episode, please pray for the innocent and helpless in this war. Recently, we’ve looked at what Scripture says about the Return of Christ, the Tribulation, and the End of Days. There’s a lot of fear and confusion among believers about all these subjects, especially now. I think it’s important we have more clarity about what’s really happening as Christ’s return continues to get nearer.
Something that can help us get a more precise understanding of the Return of Christ is to eliminate the confusion and misconceptions about national Israel and its place in the Kingdom of God. So, in order to do this, we need to understand where national Israel stands with God today. I’ve entitled this episode God’s Day of Judgment For Israel. In this episode, we’ll see the inditement, the judgment, and the sentencing of Israel by their Messiah for their rebellion and stubborn disobedience to God.
Let me give you some of The Backstory on Israel: Israel became a nation after God brought them out of their slavery in Egypt. Moses led Israel to the Promised Land. Many different tribal nations inhabited the land, but God would help Israel in conquering those nations so they could possess the land. Israel was God’s chosen people in the world. Israel and God entered a covenant that included the Ten Commandments and all the laws and rituals of their worship of God. As with any contract, there were stipulations. Between God and Israel, the stipulations were called blessings and curses. If they kept the commandments, laws, and rituals of the covenant, God would bless them. If they didn’t keep them, God would curse them. Every blessing and every curse was graphically explained to the entire nation, to which the people said, “Amen!”
As we know, Israel broke all the stipulations of the covenant. Repeatedly, they worshipped false gods, broke the commandments, and didn’t keep the religious rituals or ceremonies. God brought the curses on them to bring them back, but they kept defying the covenant. Multiple times, Israel was defeated, and God rebuilt them. They were removed from the land, and God brought them back. They continued in their stubbornness, pride, and sin and even got worse.
Then, 1,400 years after making the covenant with God, their Messiah comes to them. What did Jesus find in Israel? He found a people oppressed physically by Rome and spiritually oppressed by its religious and civil leaders. The poor, the sick, the widows and orphans, the hungry, the outcasts, and the needy were ignored and abused by the nation. Jesus saw a people that began with a promise, and now they were drowning in apostasy because of rebellion, greed, and the callousness of their hearts.
After three years of preaching the kingdom of Heaven to Israel, it was time to let them know what God thought about what they had become. In chapter 23 of Matthew, Jesus declares seven woes or indictments against the scribes and Pharisees, and he identifies them as hypocrites. Chapter 23 of Matthew is a public sentencing of the nation of Israel by God.
Let’s look at *God’s Indictments of Israel: Jesus directed these woes at the Scribes and Pharisees because they represented the nation. They sat in the seat of Moses, as we see in Matthew 23:2. Jesus doesn’t even acknowledge the Priests because he indicted them in Matthew 21 when he overturned the money changer tables and accused them of making God’s temple a den of thieves. The priests were controlled by the Sadducees, who were only interested in financial gain, not the covenant. The scribes and Pharisees represented the authority of Moses. This indictment contains seven charges; Seven Woes Against National Israel –
The first woe is in Matthew 23:13. They don’t believe their Messiah, and they prevent others from believing in him.
The second woe is Matthew 23:15. Gehenna was a garbage dump outside Jerusalem. Meaning their teachings were trash, and the converts they made were useless for the kingdom of God.
The third woe is in Matthew 23:16-22 ( REF. Matthew 5:33-37). Elaborate oaths were a deception. The religious leaders valued material things over the spiritual. They valued their legalistic oaths more than the truth. They would create elaborate legalistic oaths on things they valued to convince others they could be trusted. It was all a rouse. It’s like someone saying to you, “Do you swear?” and you say, “I cross my heart and hope to die.” “Oh, you hope to die, then you must be telling the truth.” But you know, the whole time, you had your fingers crossed. They were liars and deceivers. Jesus says it’s better not to make any oaths at all. Just be truthful. Say yes or no. Integrity and honesty had been replaced in Israel with deceitfulness and duplicity against the people and God.
The fourth woe is in Matthew 23:23-24. They legalistically pay attention to the trivial details and overlook the larger concepts of mercy, faithfulness, and justice.
The fifth woe is in Matthew 23:25-26. Everything was for show while their hearts were rotting within them.
The sixth woe is in Matthew 23:27-28. The tomb looks nice on the outside, but inside are the bones of the dead and purification. They appeared to be teachers, but they were really morticians.
The final woe is in Matthew 23:29-32. Even so, they will kill their Messiah.
Deuteronomy chapters 27-30, the covenant between God and Israel is laid out. These chapters have the blessings for obeying and curses for disobeying the covenant. They are warned of the consequences that they will face if they don’t keep the covenant commands in Deuteronomy 28:15. In the next 52 verses there are listed all the curses that would come upon Israel. Israel as a people and a nation said ‘Amen’ to this covenant with God.
This brings us to God’s Judgment of Israel, which we find in the words of Jesus in Matthew 23:33-36.
From Genesis, we know Cain was jealous of his brother Abel and killed him.
In 2 Chronicles 24:15-22, we see the murder of Zechariah. The Jewish leaders had abandoned the temple and God and were serving idols. God sent Zechariah to question why they abandoned the commands of Moses. But they stoned Zechariah at the king’s command in the courtyard of the temple. As Zechariah lay dying, his last words are recorded in 2 Chronicles 24:27. The account of Israel was due at the time of Christ.
Now we come to God’s Sentence for the nation of Israel. God offered them Salvation, but they refused, Matthew 23:37-39 (REF. Psalm 118:26).
God will recompense those who abuse and misuse his children. A day is coming when those who commit crimes against the faithful will be punished. Whether as individuals, as a community, as a country, or as an ideology, God will bring judgment upon them for his elect.
Listen to the compassion of Jesus in Luke 19:41-44.
God is compassionate. Jesus loved Israel. But faithfulness, righteousness, truth, love, trust, and compassion all require fidelity and justice. God isn’t the one causing the judgment. Israel caused it itself. God’s response will be not to deliver them from the consequences of their own actions.
In the next episode, we will see how judgment comes upon Israel and the Signs of the end of age.
