Topical Studies
What the Bible says about
Israel's Unbelief
(From Forerunner Commentary)
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Matthew 21:33-44
These verses contain another parable to the leaders of the Jews, where Jesus uses the example of a householder leaving his vineyard with a husbandman or manager. God had left these leaders of physical Israel in Moses' seat, but they beat His true servants and even rejected His Son. In response, God would reject these husbandmen (verses 41-45)! The chief priests and Pharisees perceived He was talking of them (verse 45). He was removing them from office! They would no longer mean anything as physical leaders of Israel, for Christ would give their authority to others! This enraged them to the point of trying to kill Christ on the spot (verse 46). Those who had been in charge and seemed to be first in importance would be last in order of both resurrection and influence! Those who had been in the first marriage with Christ and rejected Him were no longer of any spiritual value until the second resurrection! They were being supplanted by a New Testament church whose leaders would now be in charge. Yes, God would offer them salvation later on, but not in the time and order they expected!
Staff
Who Are the 'Guests at the Wedding'?
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Luke 22:52-53
This tragic situation shows unbelief to be destructive, ugly, and cruel. Christ possessed all the power to serve—to heal and to bring peace—yet He was seized and bound to suppress His good works. He lived, died, and rose again so that one day He could fulfill His own inspired words from Isaiah 61:1: “He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound.” Yet, His captors and eventual slayers, in their ungodly malice, could see His good words and works only as threats and Him only as an enemy, a man to shame, wound, and kill. People are no better today. Christians are prohibited from praying in many government buildings or at public gatherings, and they are sometimes prevented from speaking the truth because man's laws have, in effect, seized and bound such activity. The powers of darkness have influenced this world to hinder and persecute Christians just as Christ was. Finally, Jesus' captors took Him into custody despite being witnesses to the greatest Source of knowledge and truth ever manifested on earth. Foolishly thinking they were superior-minded to Christ and His disciples, these men's actions will forever be a shameful tribute to unbelief (Romans 1:18-22). Had they truly known Him and the truth He brought, “they would not have crucified the Lord of glory” (I Corinthians 2:8).
Martin G. Collins
The Miracles of Jesus Christ: Healing Malchus' Ear (Part One)
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1 Corinthians 10:6-11
Israel's experience in Egypt and in the wilderness is an object lesson that God desires us to reflect on frequently. These lessons are most forcefully brought to the fore during the spring as we begin rehearsing God's plan of salvation in the annual holy days. Once freed from their slavery to Egypt, it took the Israelites but seven days to cross the Red Sea, breaking completely clear of Egyptian control. In dramatic contrast, it took them forty years to walk the remaining few hundred miles! During this trek, every man of war numbered in the first census after leaving Egypt—with the exception of Joshua and Caleb—died without reaching the Promised Land. Will we allow ourselves to match this miserable record by failing to maintain our liberty? What a costly expedition! Hebrews 3:16-19 clarifies the cause of their failure more specifically: For who, having heard, rebelled? Indeed, was it not all who came out of Egypt, led by Moses? Now with whom was He angry forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose corpses fell in the wilderness? And to whom did He swear that they would not enter His rest, but to those who did not obey? So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief. [emphasis ours] Clearly, they did not make the right efforts to defend their God-given liberties. Instead, they exacerbated their circumstances by failing to discipline themselves to submit to God's rule over their lives, even though He freely rescued them from their slavery. They were unwilling to pay the costs of directing their lives as He commanded, despite knowing, through the many manifestations of His power, that He acted exactly as Moses had said He would.
John W. Ritenbaugh
The Awesome Cost of Love
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Hebrews 3:12
"Departing from," although it is not incorrect, is really a rather weak translation, because in order to get the forcefulness behind what is in the context it should really read "rebelling against." When we rebel against, or depart from, it is not against or from some dead doctrine, but it is from a living and dynamic Being - the Father or the Son. This entire exhortation is directly tied to us in verse 6: "But Christ as a Son over his own house; whose house we are." This aims this section directly at us and our responsibilities to Christ in this deceptively perilous time. We are the people of God, and it is our responsibility to glorify God by being tenaciously faithful in all circumstances. It was Israel's unbelief that was the breeding ground for her capriciousness. Israel's insatiable curiosity and the desire for variety and control continuously led them astray. This in turn produced the mistrust and the unreliability in the relationship with God. We must not follow her in this. Our stakes are much higher: This is addressed to "Christ's house."
John W. Ritenbaugh
Where Is the Beast? (Part Seven)
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