From a letter written by the apostle Paul
to believers in Rome:
I say the truth in Christ, I lie not, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost, That I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart. For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh: Who are Israelites; to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises; Whose are the fathers, and of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came, who is over all, God blessed for ever. Amen. Not as though the word of God hath taken none effect. For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel: Neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children: but, in Isaac shall thy seed be called. That is, They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed. For this is the word of promise, At this time will I come, and Sara shall have a son. And not only this; but when Rebecca also had conceived by one, even by our father Isaac; (For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth;) It was said unto her, The elder shall serve the younger. As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated. What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid. For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy.-Romans 9:1-16***Abraham (Abram the Hebrew) was 75 years old and his wife Sarah (Sarai) was 65, and they were childless, when the Lord God appeared to Abraham and promised to give Canaan, a land inhabited by idolaters, to Abraham's descendants and Abraham. Abraham and Sarah were childless when the Lord God told Abraham to look at the land in every direction, and said that he would make Abraham have an innumerable amount of descendants. Abraham and Sarah were childless when the word of the Lord God came to Abraham in a vision and Abraham spoke of being childless and spoke of his servant Eliezer. The Lord God promised Abraham that a son would be born to Abraham, and promised that Abraham would have an innumerable amount of descendants. Abraham believed in the Lord God, and the Lord God accounted it to Abraham for righteousness. After Abraham questioned the Lord God, and Abraham was in a deep sleep, the Lord God told Abraham that Abraham's descendants would undergo 400 years of affliction in a foreign land before they would depart from the land with a vast amount of valuable goods and begin living in Canaan, and the Lord God made a covenant with Abraham. When Abraham was 86 years old, Ishmael was born to Abraham and Hagar, according to Sarah's suggestion. Hagar was Sarah's Egyptian maidservant. Before Ishmael was born, the angel of the Lord spoke the words of the Lord God to Hagar and told Hagar to name the son Ishmael. When Abraham was 99 years old, the Lord God appeared to Abraham, and identified himself to Abraham. The Lord God gave Abraham a command, and gave Abraham and Sarah new names. The Lord God said he had made Abraham a father of many nations, and the Lord God promised to make Abraham exceedingly fruitful. The Lord God spoke of the nations and kings to come out from Abraham, and spoke of the everlasting covenant between the Lord God and Abraham and Abraham's descendants, and the everlasting possession of Canaan. The Lord God gave Abraham the covenant of circumcision. The Lord God promised to bless Sarah, and the Lord God promised that a son would be born to Abraham and Sarah, and Sarah would be a mother of nations, and kings of people would come from Sarah. Abraham laughed, and spoke in his heart, and questioned the Lord God, and spoke of Ishmael to the Lord God. The Lord God spoke of Ishmael being blessed, fruitful, multiplied, bearing 12 princes, and being a great nation. The Lord God told Abraham that the son born to Abraham and Sarah must be named Isaac, and said that he would establish his covenant with Isaac. The Lord God spoke of his everlasting covenant and Isaac's descendants, and said Isaac would be born at the specified time the following year. When Abraham was 100 years old and Sarah was 90, Isaac was born to Abraham and Sarah. Isaac was born through the promise, and Ishmael was born according to flesh. After Isaac was weaned, Abraham sent Hagar and Ishmael away, according to Sarah's insistence and with assurance from the Lord God. The angel of the Lord spoke to Hagar and proclaimed, from heaven, the promises of the Lord God regarding Ishmael. Years thereafter, the Lord God tested Abraham and commanded Abraham to take Isaac to a specified place in Moriah and offer Isaac as a burnt offering. In Moriah, when Isaac was upon the altar, the angel of the Lord called to Abraham from heaven and proclaimed the words of the Lord God to Abraham 2 separate times. Three years after Sarah died, 40-year-old Isaac married Rebekah (Rebecca), Abraham and Sarah's grandniece. Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah were born to Abraham and Keturah, his 2nd wife. Before Abraham died, he gave his wealth and possessions to Isaac, and gave gifts to his other sons and sent them eastward, away from Isaac. The Lord God appeared to Isaac and promised to be with Isaac, and bless Isaac, and promised to give Canaan to Isaac and Isaac's descendants. The Lord God promised to confirm the oath he swore to Abraham, and the Lord God promised to multiply Issac's descendants, and give Canaan to Isaac and Isaac's descendants. The Lord God said that in Isaac's descendants all nations shall be blessed. Over 100 years earlier, before Abraham and Sarah began living in Canaan, the Lo promised to make Abraham a great nation, and promised to bless Abraham, and make Abraham's name great, and promised that Abraham shall be a blessing. and all families shall be blessed in Abraham. When Isaac was 60 years old, fraternal twin sons Esau (Edom) and Jacob (Israel) were born to Isaac and Rebekah. The divinely inspired Scriptures of the Holy Bible reveal that Esau and Jacob struggled together while they were in Rebekah's womb. Rebekah went to seek the Lord God and the Lord God told Rebekah about the 2 nations in her womb. Decades after Jacob was born, he obeyed Rebekah and deceived Isaac and cheated Esau. While Jacob was asleep and dreaming during his journey away from the family home in Canaan, Jacob saw a divine revelation and heard the Lord God speaking to him. The Lord God identified himself to Jacob, and promised to give Canaan to Jacob and to Jacob's descendants and promised that Jacob would have an innumerable amount of descendants, and the Lord God promised that in Jacob and Jacob's descendants all families shall be blessed. The Lord God told Jacob that he is with Jacob and will bring Jacob back to Canaan and will not leave Jacob until he has done everything that he had spoken to Jacob. At least 7 years after leaving home, Jacob married Rebekah's nieces Leah and Rachel, the daughters of Rebekah's brother Laban the Syrian. Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, and Dinah were born to Jacob and Leah. Dan and Naphtali were born to Jacob and Bilhah, Rachel's maidservant. Gad and Asher were born to Jacob and Zilpah, Leah's maidservant. Joseph and Benjamin were born to Jacob and Rachel. During Jacob's journey to Canaan with his wives, maidservants, children, and possessions, Jacob had a divine wrestling encounter, and Jacob's name was changed. Sometime thereafter, the Lord God appeared to Jacob, and blessed Jacob, and gave Jacob a command, and spoke to Jacob about the nations and kings that shall come from Jacob, and the Lord God promised to give Canaan to Jacob and Jacob's descendants. Sometime after 147-year-old Jacob died in Egypt and his body was buried in Canaan, and Joseph and his siblings were dead, Israelites were enslaved in Egypt. Miriam and her younger brothers Aaron and Moses were born into the tribe of Levi. When Moses was 80 years old and Aaron was 83, they led the Israelites away from Egypt, across the divinely parted Red Sea, and into the desert wilderness of Shur, according to the commands of the Lord God. Months thereafter, in the desert wilderness of Sinai, in the region of Mount Sinai, the Israelites heard the voice of the Lord God proclaim the Ten Commandments to them. The Lord God began giving Moses judgments, statutes, and laws for the Israelites, and the Lord God made a covenant with the Israelites, his treasured and chosen people. When Moses was upon Mount Sinai with the Lord God for 40 days and nights, the Lord God told Moses that only Aaron, and Aaron's sons and the sons born to their descendants were to serve the Lord God as priests. While the Israelites, and those with them, were still in the region of Mount Sinai, the Lord God spoke to Moses about the Levites, their duties and their relationship to the Lord God. During the 40-year journey to Canaan, the Promised Land, Miriam died and was buried in Kadesh, in the desert wilderness of Zin. Upon Mount Hor, 123-year old Aaron died and was buried. When Moses went upon Mount Nebo, the Lord God showed Moses the Promised Land, and 120-year old Moses died and was divinely buried. Joshua, Moses' successor, led the Israelites across the divinely parted Jordan River and onto the land that the Lord God promised to give to Abraham, and Isaac, and to Jacob, and their descendants. Over 400 years after Joshua died and was buried in his tribe's portion of the Promised Land, Rehoboam, the son born to King Solomon and Naamah, and the grandson of King David and Bathsheba, became the 4th king to reign over all of the Israelites. After Rehoboam gave a specific answer, the Israelites split into 2 kingdoms, according to the will of the Lord God, due to the idolatry and other wickedness of Solomon. Judah was the nation in the south, Jerusalem was the royal city and Rehoboam was the 1st king to reign. Israel was the northern nation, Samaria was the final royal city and Jeroboam was the 1st king to reign. Less than 225 years after Jeroboam's son Nadab became the 2nd king to rule the northern nation of Israel, the Assyrians invaded the kingdom and conquered Samaria, according to the will of the Lord God, due to the idolatry and other wickedness of the Israelites. Less than 140 years after Samaria was conquered, the Babylonians (Chaldeans) invaded Judah and conquered Jerusalem, according to the will of the Lord God, due to the idolatry and other wickedness of the Israelites. Over 500 years after Israelites began returning to Judah and Jerusalem, Jesus the Christ, the Son of God, was born. Jesus was conceived of the Holy Spirit (Holy Ghost) in the womb of Mary, a virgin, and Jesus was born into the tribe of Judah, the birth tribe of David and his descendants, all of Judah's kings, to Mary and her husband Joseph when Mary was a virgin. On the 8th day after Jesus was born, Jesus was circumcised. Approximately 30 years after Jesus was born, Jesus was baptized in the Jordan River by Mary's relative John the Baptist. Jesus having prayed, the heavens tearing open, the Holy Spirit descended as a dove and lit upon Jesus. The Lord God in heaven audibly acknowledged his Son Jesus, and the Holy Spirit led Jesus into the desert wilderness. Jesus fasted for 40 days and nights and was tempted. Afterwards, Jesus was tended to by angels, and Jesus went to the area near John the Baptist, and John the Baptist proclaimed Jesus to be the Lamb of God taking away the sin of the world. In Galilee, Jesus told specific Israelite men to follow him, and Jesus began to preach, teach and perform miracles among the Israelites. Less than 3 1/2 years after Jesus was baptized, Jesus was betrayed, arrested, crucified, buried in a tomb, resurrected, seen by over 500 people, and returned to heaven. Paul (Saul) was an Israelite from the tribe of Benjamin. Paul did not believe Jesus to be the Christ. Throughout Jerusalem, Paul persecuted and imprisoned any Israelite who believed Jesus to be the Christ of God. When Paul was journeying to the synagogues in Damascus, Syria, to find, bind and take to Jerusalem any Israelite believers he found, Paul and those with him saw a light from heaven flash around them. Paul heard the voice of Jesus speaking to him, and Paul spoke to Jesus, and obeyed Jesus. In Damascus Paul was baptized. From thenceforward, Paul the apostle journeyed and wrote divinely inspired letters, teaching Israelites and Gentiles, people not born into the Israelite tribes, the good news of Jesus the Christ, everlasting life, and the need to be saved, available to anyone who confesses with their mouth the Lord is Jesus, and believes in their heart that the Lord God raised Jesus out from the dead.-Genesis 11:26-50:26, Exodus, Numbers 20:1-29, 27:12-23, Deuteronomy 31:1-30, 32:44-52, 34:1-12, Joshua 1:1-4:24, 23:1-24:33, Judges 1:1-2:23, Ruth, 1 Samuel, 2 Samuel, 1 Kings, 2 Kings, 1 Chronicles 1:1-2:55, 3:1-24, 6:1-81, 7:20-29, 10:1-29:30, 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts 1:1-26, 6:1-8:4, 9:1-31, 11:19-28:31, Romans, 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 Thessalonians, 2 Thessalonians, 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon
Reference Information:
accursed = anathema/anatithemi = cursed, pledged to destruction, laid up
Reference Scriptures:
And he said, I will certainly return unto thee according to the time of life; and, lo, Sarah thy wife shall have a son. And Sarah heard it in the tent door, which was behind him.-Genesis 18:10...And the LORD said unto Abraham, Wherefore did Sarah laugh, saying, Shall I of a surety bear a child, which am old? Is any thing too hard for the LORD? At the time appointed I will return unto thee, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son.-Genesis 18:13-14
And God said unto Abraham, Let it not be grievous in thy sight because of the lad, and because of thy bondwoman; in all that Sarah hath said unto thee, hearken unto her voice, for in Isaac shall thy seed be called.-Genesis 21:12
And the LORD said unto her, Two nations are in thy womb, and two manner of people shall be separated from thy bowels; and the one people shall be stronger than the other people; and the elder shall serve the younger.-Genesis 24:23
And thou shalt say unto Pharaoh, Thus saith the LORD, Israel is my son, even my firstborn:-Exodus 4:22
And the LORD said unto Moses, I will do this thing also that thou hast spoken: for thou hast found grace in my sight, and I know thee by name. And he said, I beseech thee, shew me thy glory. And he said, I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the LORD before thee; and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will shew mercy on whom I will shew mercy.-Exodus 33:17-19
I have loved you, saith the LORD. Yet ye say, Wherein hast thou loved us? Was not Esau Jacob's brother? saith the LORD: yet I loved Jacob, And I hated Esau, and laid his mountains and his heritage waste for the dragons of the wilderness.-Malachi 1:2-3
Click the link below to read more posts in this category: