These are notes I took yesterday on a teaching. I'll post them, then post my thoughts on them later.
Notes on “God’s Purpose for Israel” by Wes Hall, an instructor at the Forerunner School of Ministry at the International House of Prayer in Kansas City
Isaiah 62:6-7 – “I have posted watchmen on your walls, O Jerusalem; they will never be silent day or night. You who call on the Lord, give yourselves no rest, and give him no rest till he establishes Jerusalem and makes her the praise of the earth.”
- God has put intercessors on Jerusalem’s walls. There’s another group (those who call on the Lord) that are to give God no rest until He makes Jerusalem a praise in the whole earth – this is a mandate for all believers!
Romans 11:1 – “I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers, so that you may not be conceited; Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in. And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: ‘The deliverer will come from Zion; he will turn godlessness away from Jacob. And this is my covenant with them when I take away their sins.’”
- This is about understanding the place Israel’s people have in God’s plan & Gentiles help in saving God’s chosen people
- If we are ignorant of this subject, we end up opposing God himself & falling away
Isaiah 56:7b – “for my house will be called a house of prayer for all nations.”
- God is raising up a prayer movement for the salvation of Israel!
- When the Bible says “Jerusalem”, “Zion,” or “Israel” – understand that it means the literal places!
- God still has one people – Gentiles have been “grafted” in!
Romans 10-11 – “1…my heart’s desire and prayer to God for the Israelites is that they may be saved…4 Christ is the end of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes….9 That if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved….12 there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, 13 for, ‘Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. 14 How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? 15 And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!’…18 But I ask: did they not hear? Of course they did: ‘Their voice has gone out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world.’ 19 Again I ask: Did Israel not understand? First Moses says, ‘I will make you envious by those who are not a nation; … (11:1) I ask then: Did God reject his people? By no means! I am an Israelite myself, a descendant of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin. 2 God did not reject his people; whom he foreknew….5 at the present time there is a remnant chosen by grace. 6 And if by grace, then it is no longer by works; if it were, grace would not longer be grace….8 ‘God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes so that they could not see and ears so that they could not hear, to this very day.’…11 because of their transgression, salvation has come to the Gentiles to make Israel envious….13 Inasmuch as I am the apostle to the Gentiles, I make much of my ministry 14 in the hope that I may somehow arouse my own people to envy and save some of them. 15 For if their rejection is the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead? ...16b if the root is holy, so are the branches. 17 If some of the branches have been broken off, and you, though a wild olive shoot, have been grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing sap from the olive root, 18 do not boast over those branches. If you do, consider this: You do not support the root, but the root supports you. 19 You will say then, ‘Branches were broken off so that I could be grafted in.’ 20 Granted. But they were broken off because of unbelief, and you stand by faith. Do not be arrogant, but be afraid. 21 For if God did not spare the natural branches, he will not spare you either….23 And if they do not persist in unbelief, they will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again. 24 After all, if you were cut out of an olive tree that is wild by nature, and contrary to nature were grafted into a cultivated olive tree, how much more radily will these, the natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree!”
- While we are all part of God’s family, we have unique, individual roles – no one is better or worse off automatically
- God says He has great zeal for Zion/Jerusalem
Isaiah 62:1 – “For Zion’s sake, I will not keep silent, for Jerusalem’s sake I will not remain quiet, till her righteousness shines out like the dawn, her salvation like a blazing torch.”
- Everything God does is for the sake of Jerusalem until she becomes holy – at that time the earth will be filled with the glory of the Lord as the water covers the seas.
Ezekiel 36:23 – “I will show the holiness of my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, the name you have profaned among them. Then the nations will know that I am the Lord, declares the Sovereign Lord, when I show myself holy through you before their eyes.”
- There will be a period of revival, restoration, & redemption for the whole earth, that will be ushered in when Israel takes its place before the Lord with its saving knowledge—then the nations will know who God is!
Romans 9:1-3 – “I speak in truth in Christ—I am no lying, my conscience confirms it in the Holy Spirit—2 I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. 3 For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, those of my own race, the people of Israel.”
- Paul had grief in his heart continually—he, an apostle to the Gentiles—said he would give up his salvation to see Israel come to know Jesus. He said that’s why he preaches to Gentiles because the response of the Gentiles will provoke Israel to say yes to Jesus.
- Why Jerusalem?? Why Israel??
- Israel is like that piece of the puzzle that you cannot find where it goes, but once
Isaiah 62:6-7 – “I have posted watchmen on your walls, O Jerusalem; they will never be silent day or night. You who call on the Lord, give yourselves no rest, and give him no rest till he establishes Jerusalem and makes her the praise of the earth.”
- God has put intercessors on Jerusalem’s walls. There’s another group (those who call on the Lord) that are to give God no rest until He makes Jerusalem a praise in the whole earth – this is a mandate for all believers!
Romans 11:1 – “I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers, so that you may not be conceited; Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in. And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: ‘The deliverer will come from Zion; he will turn godlessness away from Jacob. And this is my covenant with them when I take away their sins.’”
- This is about understanding the place Israel’s people have in God’s plan & Gentiles help in saving God’s chosen people
- If we are ignorant of this subject, we end up opposing God himself & falling away
Isaiah 56:7b – “for my house will be called a house of prayer for all nations.”
- God is raising up a prayer movement for the salvation of Israel!
- When the Bible says “Jerusalem”, “Zion,” or “Israel” – understand that it means the literal places!
- God still has one people – Gentiles have been “grafted” in!
Romans 10-11 – “1…my heart’s desire and prayer to God for the Israelites is that they may be saved…4 Christ is the end of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes….9 That if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved….12 there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, 13 for, ‘Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. 14 How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? 15 And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!’…18 But I ask: did they not hear? Of course they did: ‘Their voice has gone out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world.’ 19 Again I ask: Did Israel not understand? First Moses says, ‘I will make you envious by those who are not a nation; … (11:1) I ask then: Did God reject his people? By no means! I am an Israelite myself, a descendant of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin. 2 God did not reject his people; whom he foreknew….5 at the present time there is a remnant chosen by grace. 6 And if by grace, then it is no longer by works; if it were, grace would not longer be grace….8 ‘God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes so that they could not see and ears so that they could not hear, to this very day.’…11 because of their transgression, salvation has come to the Gentiles to make Israel envious….13 Inasmuch as I am the apostle to the Gentiles, I make much of my ministry 14 in the hope that I may somehow arouse my own people to envy and save some of them. 15 For if their rejection is the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead? ...16b if the root is holy, so are the branches. 17 If some of the branches have been broken off, and you, though a wild olive shoot, have been grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing sap from the olive root, 18 do not boast over those branches. If you do, consider this: You do not support the root, but the root supports you. 19 You will say then, ‘Branches were broken off so that I could be grafted in.’ 20 Granted. But they were broken off because of unbelief, and you stand by faith. Do not be arrogant, but be afraid. 21 For if God did not spare the natural branches, he will not spare you either….23 And if they do not persist in unbelief, they will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again. 24 After all, if you were cut out of an olive tree that is wild by nature, and contrary to nature were grafted into a cultivated olive tree, how much more radily will these, the natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree!”
- While we are all part of God’s family, we have unique, individual roles – no one is better or worse off automatically
- God says He has great zeal for Zion/Jerusalem
Isaiah 62:1 – “For Zion’s sake, I will not keep silent, for Jerusalem’s sake I will not remain quiet, till her righteousness shines out like the dawn, her salvation like a blazing torch.”
- Everything God does is for the sake of Jerusalem until she becomes holy – at that time the earth will be filled with the glory of the Lord as the water covers the seas.
Ezekiel 36:23 – “I will show the holiness of my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, the name you have profaned among them. Then the nations will know that I am the Lord, declares the Sovereign Lord, when I show myself holy through you before their eyes.”
- There will be a period of revival, restoration, & redemption for the whole earth, that will be ushered in when Israel takes its place before the Lord with its saving knowledge—then the nations will know who God is!
Romans 9:1-3 – “I speak in truth in Christ—I am no lying, my conscience confirms it in the Holy Spirit—2 I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. 3 For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, those of my own race, the people of Israel.”
- Paul had grief in his heart continually—he, an apostle to the Gentiles—said he would give up his salvation to see Israel come to know Jesus. He said that’s why he preaches to Gentiles because the response of the Gentiles will provoke Israel to say yes to Jesus.
- Why Jerusalem?? Why Israel??
- Israel is like that piece of the puzzle that you cannot find where it goes, but once
it is in place, the rest comes together, it all makes sense.
- God’s overall plan: to bring everything together on heaven & earth in Christ. Blend the spiritual & natural realms:
Ephesians 1:9-10 – “And he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, 10 to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfillment—to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ.”
- Restoration! This is God dwelling with man on earth!
- God created mankind for earth, not heaven & wants to dwell with us here forever.
Revelation 21:3 – “Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.”
- The problem is that currently earth is in bondage to decay.
Romans 8:19-21 – “The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. 20 For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God.”
- If the new Jerusalem came down right now & connected with earth, earth would be destroyed. It must first be restored to a state of compatibility, of holiness, righteousness.
- God is committed to redeem & restore this planet!
- Who will restore the earth?
- In Genesis 1, God gave man authority, and it still holds true even though we failed, so a man must be used to restore the earth.
- Where is this man who can do this?
- The entire Old Testament is the story of the family that would bring this God-man who has the ability to restore the earth, making it ready for God to dwell here with us forever.
- God chose that family, the people of Israel; before Abraham, there were no Jews.
Acts 3:21 – “He must remain in heaven until the time comes for God to restore everything, as he promised long ago through his holy prophets.”
- The earth is waiting for all things to be restored, for Jesus to return!
- Creation is longing, groaning to be liberated from this bondage to decay!
- At the moment, our spirits are the only things that move from glory to glory to glory; everything else on earth eventually decays or dies or ceases to exist. Once liberated, all things created will only get better and better and better.
- We’re so used to things aging and living so far below what God intended
- When Jesus returns, he will restore all things!
- The family God chose to redeem the earth were the Jews, Jesus was the “Son of David”
- David’s throne – Jerusalem/Zion
- David’s Kingdom – Israel
- Jesus is like a president that has been elected, but not yet inaugurated. He’s not yet exercising his power.
- The inauguration ceremony is the salvation of Israel! Jesus is waiting to be invited to be king over Israel. He will not force himself on them. He wants to be wanted.
- Jesus says to the leaders of Israel before he is crucified that they will see him no more until they call out, “Blessed is the name of the Lord!”
- Promises of the New Jerusalem: City on a hill that cannot be hidden, filled with the manifest presence of God, over each dwelling a cloud by day & fire by night, nothing unholy allowed to exist there
- At the time of Jesus’ return, Satan will be sent to prison for 1,000 years, the amount of time it will take for Jesus to restores the earth. Then Satan will be cast into a lake of fire. Then God will dwell with His people on earth for all eternity.
- Because of this plan, Satan is mad. He’s like the president that’s still in office, but has lost his power. He’ll take advantage of every loophole, especially the one stipulation Jesus set up—not coming back until invited by Israel.
- Satan will do whatever it takes to wipe out Jews & destroy Jerusalem.
- Satan’s focus is on wiping out the Jewish people to keep Jesus from returning & establishing His kingdom so he doesn’t have to go to prison/lake of fire.
- Satan puts animosity between Jews & Gentiles, examples throughout history:
- The Crusades
- The Inquisition
- The Holocaust
- Growing Anti-Semitism
- Trouble is coming to Israel & many will die
Jeremiah 30:7 – “How awful that day will be! None will be like it. It will be a time of trouble for Jacob, but he will be saved out of it.”
- God will not allow the nation to be wiped out completely.
- If the Jewish people are the vehicle to Jesus’ return, then the church is the vehicle to the salvation of Israel—that’s where we come in! It is critical that we understand this! This starts in the place of prayer!!
Romans 11:31 – “so they too have now become disobedient in order that they too may now receive mercy as a result of God’s mercy to you.”
Romans 11:11 – (see above)
- The goal of your life is to provoke those of natural Israel to jealousy that they would receive Jesus, that Jesus would return, and all things made new! It starts with prayer.
- How will they be provoked?
- Only if the church actually looks like Jesus and has something to offer
- God gave a portion of his Holy Spirit to the church & said, “Live in the power of the
- God’s overall plan: to bring everything together on heaven & earth in Christ. Blend the spiritual & natural realms:
Ephesians 1:9-10 – “And he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, 10 to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfillment—to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ.”
- Restoration! This is God dwelling with man on earth!
- God created mankind for earth, not heaven & wants to dwell with us here forever.
Revelation 21:3 – “Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.”
- The problem is that currently earth is in bondage to decay.
Romans 8:19-21 – “The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. 20 For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God.”
- If the new Jerusalem came down right now & connected with earth, earth would be destroyed. It must first be restored to a state of compatibility, of holiness, righteousness.
- God is committed to redeem & restore this planet!
- Who will restore the earth?
- In Genesis 1, God gave man authority, and it still holds true even though we failed, so a man must be used to restore the earth.
- Where is this man who can do this?
- The entire Old Testament is the story of the family that would bring this God-man who has the ability to restore the earth, making it ready for God to dwell here with us forever.
- God chose that family, the people of Israel; before Abraham, there were no Jews.
Acts 3:21 – “He must remain in heaven until the time comes for God to restore everything, as he promised long ago through his holy prophets.”
- The earth is waiting for all things to be restored, for Jesus to return!
- Creation is longing, groaning to be liberated from this bondage to decay!
- At the moment, our spirits are the only things that move from glory to glory to glory; everything else on earth eventually decays or dies or ceases to exist. Once liberated, all things created will only get better and better and better.
- We’re so used to things aging and living so far below what God intended
- When Jesus returns, he will restore all things!
- The family God chose to redeem the earth were the Jews, Jesus was the “Son of David”
- David’s throne – Jerusalem/Zion
- David’s Kingdom – Israel
- Jesus is like a president that has been elected, but not yet inaugurated. He’s not yet exercising his power.
- The inauguration ceremony is the salvation of Israel! Jesus is waiting to be invited to be king over Israel. He will not force himself on them. He wants to be wanted.
- Jesus says to the leaders of Israel before he is crucified that they will see him no more until they call out, “Blessed is the name of the Lord!”
- Promises of the New Jerusalem: City on a hill that cannot be hidden, filled with the manifest presence of God, over each dwelling a cloud by day & fire by night, nothing unholy allowed to exist there
- At the time of Jesus’ return, Satan will be sent to prison for 1,000 years, the amount of time it will take for Jesus to restores the earth. Then Satan will be cast into a lake of fire. Then God will dwell with His people on earth for all eternity.
- Because of this plan, Satan is mad. He’s like the president that’s still in office, but has lost his power. He’ll take advantage of every loophole, especially the one stipulation Jesus set up—not coming back until invited by Israel.
- Satan will do whatever it takes to wipe out Jews & destroy Jerusalem.
- Satan’s focus is on wiping out the Jewish people to keep Jesus from returning & establishing His kingdom so he doesn’t have to go to prison/lake of fire.
- Satan puts animosity between Jews & Gentiles, examples throughout history:
- The Crusades
- The Inquisition
- The Holocaust
- Growing Anti-Semitism
- Trouble is coming to Israel & many will die
Jeremiah 30:7 – “How awful that day will be! None will be like it. It will be a time of trouble for Jacob, but he will be saved out of it.”
- God will not allow the nation to be wiped out completely.
- If the Jewish people are the vehicle to Jesus’ return, then the church is the vehicle to the salvation of Israel—that’s where we come in! It is critical that we understand this! This starts in the place of prayer!!
Romans 11:31 – “so they too have now become disobedient in order that they too may now receive mercy as a result of God’s mercy to you.”
Romans 11:11 – (see above)
- The goal of your life is to provoke those of natural Israel to jealousy that they would receive Jesus, that Jesus would return, and all things made new! It starts with prayer.
- How will they be provoked?
- Only if the church actually looks like Jesus and has something to offer
- God gave a portion of his Holy Spirit to the church & said, “Live in the power of the
Holy Spirit in the face of Israel! Let them see you live this way, like Jesus.”
- We have not been the kind of witness to Israel as to provoke them to jealousy—we
- We have not been the kind of witness to Israel as to provoke them to jealousy—we
are so full of our own ideas & agendas, therefore Israel is not impressed, much less
provoked.
- As you stand in prayer for Israel, God will release His spirit of prophesy on the church
Isaiah 62: 1-7 – “For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent, for Jerusalem’s sake I will not remain quiet, till her righteousness shines out like the dawn, her salvation like a blazing torch. 2 The nations will see your righteousness, and all kings your glory; you will be called by a new name that the mouth of the Lord will bestow. 3 You will be a crown of splendor in the Lord’s hand, a royal diadem in the hand of your God. 4 No longer will they call you Deserted, or name your land Desolate. But you will be called Hephzibah (‘my delight is in her’), and your land Beulah (‘married’); for the Lord will take delight in you, and your land will be married. 5 As a young man marries a maiden, so will your sons marry you; as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride, so will your God rejoice over you. 6 I have posted watchmen on your walls, O Jerusalem; they will never be silent day or night. You who call on the Lord, give yourselves no rest, 7 and give him no rest till he establishes Jerusalem and makes her the praise of the earth.
Joel 2:28-32 – “And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people, Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions. 29 Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days. 30 I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and billows of smoke. 31 The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord. 32 And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved; for on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be deliverance, as the Lord has said, among the survivors whom the Lord calls.”
- As the church gives God no rest for the sake of Israel’s salvation, God says he will not rest or be silent. God will speak in response to our prayers. God speaks through prophesy—the testimony of Jesus.
- It starts with prayer & understanding God’s zeal for Jerusalem. Its not about God having a favorite. It’s about God’s desire to fill all nations with his glory, to restore the whole earth.
Genesis 12:3b – “and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you [Abraham].”
Zechariah 2:8 – “for whoever touches you touches the apple of his eye [Israel].”
- As you stand in prayer for Israel, God will release His spirit of prophesy on the church
Isaiah 62: 1-7 – “For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent, for Jerusalem’s sake I will not remain quiet, till her righteousness shines out like the dawn, her salvation like a blazing torch. 2 The nations will see your righteousness, and all kings your glory; you will be called by a new name that the mouth of the Lord will bestow. 3 You will be a crown of splendor in the Lord’s hand, a royal diadem in the hand of your God. 4 No longer will they call you Deserted, or name your land Desolate. But you will be called Hephzibah (‘my delight is in her’), and your land Beulah (‘married’); for the Lord will take delight in you, and your land will be married. 5 As a young man marries a maiden, so will your sons marry you; as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride, so will your God rejoice over you. 6 I have posted watchmen on your walls, O Jerusalem; they will never be silent day or night. You who call on the Lord, give yourselves no rest, 7 and give him no rest till he establishes Jerusalem and makes her the praise of the earth.
Joel 2:28-32 – “And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people, Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions. 29 Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days. 30 I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and billows of smoke. 31 The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord. 32 And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved; for on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be deliverance, as the Lord has said, among the survivors whom the Lord calls.”
- As the church gives God no rest for the sake of Israel’s salvation, God says he will not rest or be silent. God will speak in response to our prayers. God speaks through prophesy—the testimony of Jesus.
- It starts with prayer & understanding God’s zeal for Jerusalem. Its not about God having a favorite. It’s about God’s desire to fill all nations with his glory, to restore the whole earth.
Genesis 12:3b – “and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you [Abraham].”
Zechariah 2:8 – “for whoever touches you touches the apple of his eye [Israel].”
1 comment:
Wow. You weren't kidding about being a good notetaker oO
Can't wait to hear your thoughts on it!
Post a Comment