April 19 – 25, 2008

ISRAEL IN THE LAST DAYS

In this lesson you will learn about God’s covenant with Abram, His promise to make him a great nation and to give him a specific land. God still has a plan for the Jewish people.

I. God’s covenant with Abram – Genesis 12:1-3.

A. Verse 1 – “The Lord said to Abram: ‘Get out of your country, from your family and from your father’s house, to a land that I will show you.’”

B. Verse 2 – “I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing.”

C. Verse 3 – “I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

II. Why the land of Israel is in the news constantly – Genesis 17:1-8.

A. Verse 8 – “Also I give to you and your descendants after you the land in which you are a stranger, all the land of Canaan, as an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.” There are people who have a contention with Genesis 17 they do not want the Jewish people in the land of Israel, and they want to wipe them off the face of the earth.

III. Jews’ rejection of Jesus.

A. Matthew 23:37-39 – Jesus laments or sorrows in His heart because the Jewish leaders and the people in Jerusalem did not see who He was, did not receive Him, and did not rise up on the day of their visitation.

B. Luke 21:20-24 – Jesus told about the destruction of Jerusalem and how it would relate to the times we are living in now. “And Jerusalem will be trampled by Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled” – v. 24.

IV. God still has a plan for the Jewish people – Romans 9-11.

A. Romans 9:1-9 – Paul told how the Jewish people rejected Jesus, yet they are children of the promise and counted as the seed.

B. Romans 10:1 – “Brethren, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they may be saved.”

C. Romans 11:1-28 – “I say then, has God cast away His people? Certainly not! … God has not cast away His people whom He foreknew …. And so all Israel will be saved …. concerning the election they are beloved for the sake of the fathers” vv. 1-2, 26, 28.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

• When did you begin to understand God’s plan for the Jewish people?
• Do you have a better understanding of the conflict over the land of Israel?
• Are you friendly to the Jewish people and are you praying for them?

BE A DOER OF THE WORD

Make a decision to stand up for Israel and the Jewish people. They have a right to exist as a nation and as a people. Do not be silent on this issue.

SCRIPTURE MEMORY VERSE: Romans 11:26 – “So all Israel will be saved.”