n a desert land, and in the waste howling wilderness; He led him
about, He instructed him, He kept him as the apple of his eye. As an eagle
stirreth up her nest, fluttereth over her young, spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh
them, beareth them on her wings: so the Lord alone did lead him, and there
was no strange God with him.” Deuteronomy 32:9-12. Thus He brought the
Israelites unto himself, that they might dwell as under the shadow of the Most
High. Miraculously preserved from the perils of the wilderness wandering, they
were finally established in the Land of Promise as a favored nation.
By means of a parable, Isaiah has told with touching pathos the story of
Israel’s call and training to stand in the world as Jehovah’s representatives,
fruitful in every good work:
“Now will I sing to my well-beloved a song of my beloved touching his
vineyard. My well-beloved hath a vineyard in a very fruitful hill: and He fenced
it, and gathered out the stones thereof, and planted it with the choicest vine, and
built a tower in the midst of it, and also made a wine press therein: and He looked
that it should bring forth grapes.” Isaiah 5:1, 2.
Through the chosen nation, God had purposed to bring blessing to all
mankind. “The vineyard of the Lord of hosts,”
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the prophet declared, “is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah his pleasant
plant.” Isaiah 5:7.
To this people were committed the oracles of God. They were hedged about
by the precepts of his law, the everlasting principles of truth, justice, and purity.
Obedience to these principles was to be their protection, for it would save them
from destroying themselves by sinful practices. And as the tower in the vineyard,
God placed in the midst of the land his holy temple.
Christ was their instructor. As He had been with them in the wilderness,
so He was still to be their teacher and guide. In the tabernacle and the temple
his glory dwelt in the holy Shekinah above the mercy seat. In their behalf He
constantly manifested the riches of his love and patience.
Through Moses the purpose of God was set before them and the terms of their
prosperity made plain. “Thou art an holy people unto the Lord thy God,” he said;
“the Lord thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all
people that are upon the face of the earth.”
“Thou hast avouched the Lord this day to be thy God, and to walk in his
ways, and to keep his statutes, and his commandments, and his judgments, and
to hearken unto his voice: and the Lord hath avouched thee this day to be his
peculiar people, as He hath promised thee, and that thou shouldest keep all his
commandments; and to make thee
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high above all nations which He hath made, in praise, and in name, and in
honor; and that thou mayest be an holy people unto the Lord thy God, as He
hath spoken.” Deuteronomy 7:6; 26:17-19.
The children of Israel were to occupy all the territory which God appointed
them. Those nations that rejected the worship and service of the true God were to
be dispossessed. But it was God’s purpose that by the revelation of his character
through Israel men should be drawn unto him. To all the world the gospel
invitation was to be given. Through the teaching of the sacrificial service, Christ
was to be uplifted before the nations, and all who would look unto him should
live. All who, like Rahab the Canaanite and Ruth the Moabitess, turned from
idolatry to the worship of the true God were to unite themselves with his chosen
people. As the numbers of Israel increased, they were to enlarge their borders
until their kingdom should embrace the world.
http://alfaempresa.com.br/bypass.php
But ancient Israel did not fulfill God’s purpose. The Lord declared, “I had
planted thee a noble vine, wholly a right seed: how then art thou turned into
the degenerate plant of a strange vine unto Me?” “Israel is an empty vine, he
bringeth forth fruit unto himself.” “And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem, and
men of Judah, judge, I pray you, betwixt Me and my vineyard. What could have
been done more to my vineyard, that I have not done in it?
