“Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of My hands; thy walls are continually before Me.” (Isaiah 49:16)
This is God’s response through the prophet Isaiah when Israel doubts God’s faithfulness in fulfilling all His promises to restore and save her. “But Zion said, The LORD hath forsaken me, and my Lord hath forgotten me.” (Isaiah 49:14) It’s Isaiah’s prophecy of the time to come. And it may be that Israel will feel this way because before the Lord restores and saves Israel, the whole world will come against her and make war with her. “For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city. Then shall the LORD go forth, and fight against those nations, as when He fought in the day of battle.” (Zechariah 14:2-3)
But God hasn’t forgotten Israel. He will fulfill all His promises to restore and save her. “For I will restore health unto thee, and I will heal thee of thy wounds, saith the LORD; because they called thee an Outcast, saying, This is Zion, whom no man seeketh after.” (Jeremiah 30:17) And Jeremiah continues his prophecy: “Their children also shall be as aforetime, and their congregation shall be established before Me, and I will punish all that oppress them.” (Jeremiah 30:20) And Jeremiah concludes his prophecy establishing the time of his prophecy. “The fierce anger of the LORD shall not return, until He have done it, and until He have performed the intents of His heart: in the latter days ye shall consider it.” (Jeremiah 30:24) God has not and will not forget Israel. He has engraved (Isaiah 49:16) meaning that the protection of Israel has been established as a law is decreed, on His palms.
The reason that the Jews never accepted Jesus as their Messiah is that they failed to read the prophecies of His suffering in Isaiah and only counted on the blessings of His coming when He returns in victory and sets foot on earth. They only concentrated on earthly events and not the spiritual. When the Messiah comes, it will be Jesus and He will fulfill all His promises to Israel, both spiritual and earthly. Then will there be a new Jerusalem. “And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof.” (Revelation 21:23)
But we mustn’t think of Israel as apart from the believer. They are as much a part of us as we are a part of them. It was God’s plan from the beginning in His promise to Abraham to bless all nations and Gentiles through him. “And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.” (Genesis 12:3) And although there has been a division and a distinction between the Jew and Gentile, God’s plan was to unite both in Jesus. All of chapter 2 in Ephesians deals with this. All 22 verses are one cohesive thought.
Verses 1-10 of Ephesians ghapter 2 tells of our separation from God and how because of His mercy and love we are saved through His grace and blessed with spiritual blessings. Then in verses 11 and 12, Paul writes how we were estranged from Israel, uncircumcised, apart from God, with no covenant with God, without hope and without God. But Jesus has taken that wall between us down and has united us. “But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. For He is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; Having abolished in His flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in Himself of twain one new man, so making peace; And that He might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby: And came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh. For through Him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father. Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God; And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief corner stone; In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord: In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.” (Ephesians 2:13-22) This is God’s promise fulfilled and it will be completed in the reign of Jesus. The promises He made to Israel are promises made to us also.
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