Title: 13
Author: JOEG
Last saved by: Auth User
Company: Auth Co

© 2003 Joe Griffin		03-09-04.CC02-178 /

True Israel Foreknown, Rom 11:2; Elijah Preoccupied with Disaster Moves into Self-Pity, Rom 11:3
Genesis 15:6 -	And Abram had already been caused to believe in Jehovah [ /m^a* ’aman: hiphil perfect which is causative (Gesenius’ Hebrew Grammar, 144) ] in the past [ while living in Ur of the Chaldees ] with results that go on forever.  And God kept on crediting to his account [ bv^j* chashav: Qal imperfect denotes continuous action on the part of the subject on behalf of the object (Weingreen, Practical Grammar of Classical Hebrew, 76) ] his faith to Abram for righteousness.
1-	God consummated the latter in Genesis 17 where the Abrahamic Covenant is confirmed by circumcision.  Abraham was promised a child with Sarah and through him would come the promises.  He is identified in:
Genesis 21:12 -	“… through Isaac your descendants shall be named.”
2-	It is the line of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob that the line of Messiah is established.  It is to this line that the promises are to be imputed.  To insure the inauguration of the millennial kingdom, the true Jew must be protected in every dispensation throughout history.
3-	God decreed the covenants to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and their progeny.  Thus the fulfillment of these promises is decreed as well.
4-	Because of the divine decrees God foreknew in eternity past all the exigencies that would threaten true Israel and He made decisions in the ROM chip to insure their survival.
5-	Omniscience perceives reality in eternity past and programs it into the computer of divine decrees.  The divine decrees establish the reality of all events of human history.  Foreknowledge acknowledges what is certain.
6-	True Israel is in the divine decrees.  Divine foreknowledge recognizes this.  Nothing can successfully challenge this reality.
7-	Those who are concerned that because of anti-Semitism the Jews will not survive to receive the imputation of the promises in the millennial kingdom need to be reminded of Pivot power within the ranks of believer Jews throughout history.
8-	To amplify this, Paul presents Elijah as an example, “Or do you not know what the Scripture says about Elijah when he pleaded to God against Israel?”
9-	Elijah’s fear and self-centeredness caused him to believe that he was the only Pivot member left in the Northern Kingdom and as a result it was about to suffer the fifth cycle under Ahab and Jezebel.
10-	Paul reminds the Jews of his day that even if Judea falls to the Romans, the Pivot will be preserved and that true Israel will return to the land as the millennial client nation.
Romans 11:3 -	“Lord, they have killed Your prophets, they have torn down your altars.  In fact, I alone am left and they seek my life.”
1-	Elijah’s pleading against the people of Israel indicates that he is divorced from doctrinal reality.  The decrees are clear that the Jews have unconditional promises and that true Israel will become the millennial client nation.
2-	This reality insures that throughout human history, no matter what happens to Jewish client nations, a “remnant” of believers will survive to carry on.
3-	The history of the Age of Israel was controlled by prophecy.  No matter what the conditions or circumstances, Jesus Christ controlled history according the unconditional covenants to Israel.  Generals and armies, kings and kingdoms, Lucifer and ambassador demons repeatedly attacked the Jew but there was always a remnant to carry on into the next generation.
4-	Elijah became myopic regarding the challenge that faced the Northern Kingdom in his generation and was distracted by it.  He was so arrogant as to think he was the only person left in the Pivot and therefore the prophecies could not be fulfilled.
5-	But the foreknowledge God was aware of not only these threats but also the solutions.  Elijah should have had faith in these things.
6-	The future of Israel was not affected by the failure of those who did not believe or who were in reversionism.  The future of Israel was preserved by the integrity of God Who had promised the line of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob an eternal kingdom.
7-	The Jews who would populate that eternal kingdom would be those who believed in the Messiah’s deliverance through progressive revelation.
8-	Over a millennia they came to understand that Messiah would eventually appear through the “seed of the woman,” the “line of Abraham Isaac, and Jacob,” the “tribe of Judah,” and the “house of David,” born of a virgin.
9-	They were confident that until that day arrives if they should ever suffer the cycles of discipline, the “remnant” would be big enough to deliver them and if not that the “remnant” would be preserved in history.
10-	Elijah has simply noted certain indicators of national decline.  The Lord’s priests have been killed, His altars destroyed, and they’ve got a contract out on him.
11-	Elijah has become preoccupied with disaster.  In the time in which we live we, too, may entertain this distraction.  Regardless of the historical trends we must remember these principles:
1.	It is appropriate to be historically informed so as not to be lured into the entrapments of satanic propaganda.
2.	But in order to do this effectively the believer must never be distracted from his top priority which is spiritual growth.
3.	Spiritual growth provides stability in the midst of disaster—the calm in the eye of the hurricane.
4.	Understanding of historical trends plus knowledge of Bible doctrine enable the believer to make good decisions from a position of strength.
5.	Those who are distracted by disaster give disaster a higher priority then their spiritual growth.  Through human viewpoint, they often try to solve political and social problems through crusader arrogance.
6.	The believer who is advancing understands that Jesus Christ controls history on behalf of the Pivot and thus stays the course while keeping out of God’s line of fire.
12-	Elijah observes that the Lord’s prophets have been killed but it’s unclear whether all these prophets were loyal to Jehovah.  It is obvious that many were involved in the worship of Baal. 
13-	Elijah failed to remember that not one prophet of God can be taken out of this life unless the Lord permits it.  The Northern Kingdom would be far better off with no prophets than to have apostate prophets.

Grace Doctrine Church Media Ministries:	     www.gracedoctrinechurch.com          www.joegriffin.org          www.gdcmedia.org