December 18: ISRAEL’S TRUE IDENTITY

“But you, Israel, are My servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, The descendants of Abraham My friend.” Isaiah 41:8

The LORD is citing two well-known events in the people’s history and tying them together with the identity of the promised Messiah. The ‘all-nighter’ of Jacob’s wrestling with the Man Whom we understand to be the pre-incarnate Christ, gave us a picture of salvation entering into the heart of an individual (Genesis 32:24-28). Jacob, whose name means deceiver or supplanter, wrestled with the fact of his sin and how it was clinging to him wherever he went. In his choice to take hold of Christ (v.26), he simultaneously was letting go of his past ways. Therefore, he was divinely renamed Israel, which means Overcomer or Prevailer with God. Looking farther back into the people’s history, Abraham had been called out of the Chaldean culture, the most advanced and sophisticated culture on the earth. Because he heard and heeded the call, he is known to this day as God’s friend (2 Chronicles 20:7; James 2:23).

In the New Testament, followers of Christ are called Christians, meaning little Christs (Acts 11:26). The name implies that babes in Christ (1 Corinthians 3:1) are to grow and mature into His likeness, skilled in discernment for making wise choices (see Hebrews 5:12-14).

“Many feel that it would be a great privilege to visit the scenes of Christ’s life on earth, to walk where He trod, to look upon the lake beside which He loved to teach, and the hills and valleys on which His eyes so often rested. But we need not go to Nazareth, to Capernaum, or to Bethany, in order to walk in the steps of Jesus. We shall find His footprints beside the sickbed, in the hovels of poverty, in the crowded alleys of the great city, and in every place where there are human hearts in need of consolation. In doing as Jesus did when on earth, we shall walk in His steps.” Desire of Ages by EGW (p.640)

The LORD magnanimously equated His saved people to His Son when He instructed Moses to say to Pharaoh: “Thus says the LORD: Israel is My son, My firstborn. So I say to you, let My son go that he may serve Me…” (Exodus 4:22b-23a) It was understood among the Hebrew nation that the Servant of Yahweh was the promised Messiah. In applying the name Israel to His people who were descendants of Abraham and Jacob, their purpose of spreading the gospel among the Gentiles was implied. Although they failed, ultimately rejecting their promised Messiah, God fulfilled every Old Testament promise to His people in sending His Son into the world. For all the promises of God in [Jesus Christ] are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us. (2 Corinthians 1:20) So, ask yourself: Who is the real Israel? Is it not Him who has overcome the world? Is it not His followers whom His angels help, who will inherit salvation – little overcomers – who, through holding fast to Him, are letting go of their past ways and embracing heavenly citizenship?

“Behold! My Servant whom I uphold, My Elect One in whom My soul delights! I have put My Spirit upon Him; He will bring forth justice to the Gentiles.” Isaiah 42:1

For further study: John 8:37; 16:33; Galatians 3:29; Philippians 3:20; Hebrews 1:14; Revelation 2:7, 11, 17, 26; 3:5, 12, 21