PODCAST TRANSCRIPT | EPISODE 281: What Does God Say About Israel and Togethering in the New Testament, Part 9

LIFE TO THE FULL w/ Nancy Campbell

EPISODE 281: What Does God Say About Israel and Togethering in the New Testament, Part 9

Do you know what God says about Israel? What about the land? Do you have a biblical worldview on this subject? Do your children know God's mind on this subject? It is imperative that we know the Scriptures regarding Israel, as it will affect our future destiny, and the destiny of our children. Please don't miss this podcast.

Announcer: Welcome to the podcast, Life to The Full, with Nancy Campbell, founder and publisher of Above Rubies.

Nancy Campbell: Hello, ladies! Great to be with you again today. At this time, we are all, I’m sure you are, as well as we are, facing the burden of this war in Israel. It’s a burden that is upon all our hearts because everything that happens in Israel really is at the very heart of what is going to happen in the whole of the world.

This little bit of land over there, in the very heart of the world, the middle of the world, which God chose—in fact, the Bible says that God went before His people, and He searched out a place for them. And He chose this land. This land, in the Bible, is called “God’s land.” When God is speaking, He says: “My land.” Then, when He’s talking to the people of Israel, He says, “It’s your land,” because God chose this land. Ultimately it is His, but He gave it to His people.

He chose these people, through which He would bring forth the Scriptures, through which He would bring forth the Messiah, Yeshua Mashiach, the Messiah, the Savior of the world. This land belongs to His people forever. I think this is something we have to know deep in our spirits. We’ve got to know the truth because all around we are being bombarded with lies and deceptions and protests from the Palestinians, the people who want to take this land that doesn’t belong to them.

That doesn’t mean that God doesn’t love the Palestinians. No, the fact is that He gave the land to His people, Israel. It’s nothing to do with, “OK, God does not love them because he’s not giving them the land.” No, He has already given it to His people. It doesn’t belong to us Gentiles at all. It belongs to Israel.

I’m sure you are praying much for this situation. We are here. We, of course we pray morning and evening at our family devotions, but we also have two prayer meetings a week, one at our place, and one at Serene and Sam’s. Of course, currently we are praying very much for Israel. Last night we had a special prayer for Israel. It was such a wonderful prayer meeting.

I had this thought during the day of writing out, in big print so it was easy for people to see, loads of the promises that God has given to Israel. I typed them all up in great big print and pinned them all around the wall of our big meeting room. After worship we all got up from our seats. Everyone began to walk around the room, and speak out the Scripture, and pray over the Scriptures, and pray these promises. Because every word of God is pure, every word of God is truth, and every word of God is eternal. The Bible says: “Heaven and earth can pass away, but My Words shall not pass away.”

It was so good to be praying the Scriptures! I thought I may mention a few Scriptures to you this morning. I put them around the wall. I put up over 30 Scriptures and I’ve yet to add to that. Of course, this is only a little wee fraction of the promises that God has given to His people for His land that He gave them.

In fact, we read right back in Genesis 13:15, and God is speaking to Abram. His name has not even been changed to Abraham yet. He says: “Abram, Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward: For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed, thy children, and thy children’s children,” for how long? For a few years? No, “forever.” The word is “forever.”

That word was written right back in the very first book of the Bible. It is amazing, ladies, isn’t it, that here a promise, a personal promise given to a man, and to his children afterwards, that here three thousand years later, we are still standing for that promise. It is a promise that has never gone away! Here we are today, we’re still reading about it. We’re still praying about it. We’re still standing for it, contending for it, because although we know God’s words will come to pass, the devil tries to come against them. The devil attacks everything that God has promised.

We go over to Genesis 17. God is speaking to Abram again. Here in this chapter, He changes his name to “Abraham,” because he is going to become the father of many nations. We go down to Genesis 17:8. God says again to him: “And I will give unto thee, and to thy children after you, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan,” (not part of it) “all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.” Read that whole chapter of Genesis 17 when you have some time.

Let’s go over to Jeremiah, the prophet Jeremiah. By the way, as I’m turning to this, ladies, I believe these Scriptures are so important, not only for us personally to know, because when we read them and know them, we know God’s heart. We know His plans. We know His truth.

But we must get them into our children’s hearts and minds. They must know what God says about Israel, which begins in Genesis and ends in Revelation! Right throughout the whole Bible! No wonder the devil wants to get rid of Israel! If he can get rid of God’s land, and God’s people, well, that’s it! The Bible’s finished! Throw it in the fire. Because it’s about Israel, and His promises to Israel from Genesis to Revelation.

Here in Jeremiah 23, oh, read that whole chapter too. It is the most wonderful chapter. I love reading it over and over again. But let’s just read. Jeremiah 23:7-8: “Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that they shall no more say, The LORD liveth, which brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt; But, The LORD liveth, which brought up and which led the children of the house of Israel out of the north country, and from all countries whither I had driven them; and they shall dwell in their OWN land.” Did you get that? “In their own land.”

I’d love to read that from the Knox Translation. It’s an old translation of the Bible. I love old translations. I’m not so crazy about the new translations although I do like to read them. I am a King James version Bible reader, but I do love to look at other translations.

Here is the Knox Translation: “I will reassemble all that is left of my flock, scattered over so many lands, and restore them to their old pasture grounds.” I love that. God is bringing them back to where they originated. We go to verse 8: “The living God will be the One Who rescued Israel and brought them home from the north country, and from all the places of exile He had once designed for them, to live in their OWN land again.”

We are living in the days of the fulfillment of these prophecies. Since 1948, and even before 1948, although it began to accelerate after that when Israel become a nation, God has been bringing His people back from the four corners of the earth, back to their land. He promised He would, and He is doing it, and He is still doing it. They’ve come back to the land, a nation that was once forgotten. They were taken to all the countries all over the world.

Any country, any nation that that has happened to has never ever risen again. But Israel has risen again! It became a nation again. They’ve become a nation significant in the world. They are back in their own land. Let’s get it ladies. Their own land. Let’s get this truth to our children. Our children must have a biblical worldview.

Having a biblical worldview is not just knowing the doctrines of Scripture about justification, and sanctification, and glorification, and so on. No, it’s knowing God’s heart and mind on every subject that there is in the world! God doesn’t leave one thing out. It’s all there in His Word. Israel is a huge part of His Word. God tells us His plans and His promises. We must know them.

We’ve got to have a biblical worldview, not a humanistic worldview. Not a worldview of the media telling us everything. No, that’s not truth. It’s all lies and deception. Our children have got to be embedded with a biblical worldview about Israel, especially at this time, when all these deceptive voices are coming through the media, through those who hate God’s people.

There is rising more and more this antisemitism again. Where does it come from? There’s no excuse for it. There is no need for it. Why, why, why? There’s only one reason. It’s demonic. It’s because the devil hates God’s people, and hates the land, because it’s God’s plan. Everything that God has planned and promised, the enemy seeks to destroy. He’s the one who comes to “steal, kill, and destroy” (John 10:10).

So, ladies, I think it would be so great if you could take these Scriptures, read them to your children, tell them about them, let them know. I’m just giving you a few little teasers. You can go to my website, aboverubies.org. On “Articles and Stories,” you can click on “Israel and The Land.” Then you can click on “Everlasting Possession.” You will see many, many, many Scriptures there. You can go through them all. It will take you weeks! Go through them with your family. It will give you God’s plan and heart for Israel which we must know.

Let’s move on a little bit. We go over to Ezekiel 34. Oh, I would encourage you too, to read Ezekiel chapters 34, 35, 36, 37. Oh, just amazing, amazing chapters of prophetic promises for the land of Israel and for God’s people. It’s just amazing! It’s so incredible. Many of these things have yet to come to pass but we can pray them into being.

I love Ezekiel 36! It became so real to me when I was in Israel a few years ago, out there on the West Bank. I went out to be with the beautiful people of HaYovel, the Waller family, and all those who are helping them. This family has gone out to the West Bank, the heartland of Israel, to help support the Israeli farmers who have gone out there to possess the land.

That’s the heartland of Israel, where the children of Israel first came into the Promised Land. It’s the heartland, where they first put their feet when they came in. Well, first of all, Abraham had walked the land to and fro, but when they came in as a people, this was where they put their feet. It’s the heartland. But now it is overtaken by the Palestinians, although there is 60% of this barren land still waiting to be possessed. Yet God says it's going to be possessed. Oh, you’ve got to read these chapters to see what is going to happen out there.

But I love this Scripture. The whole of Ezekiel 36 is the prophetic word, not so much to people, but to the land. God is speaking to the land, and the mountains, and the valleys, and the rivers, and the wasteland. He says, in Ezekiel 36:8: “But ye, O mountains of Israel, ye shall shoot forth your branches, and yield your fruit to my people of Israel; for they are at hand to come. For, behold, I am for you, and I will turn unto you, and ye shall be tilled and sown.”

Yes. And that is happening before our eyes. This word was prophesied so many years ago! And now, in our day, it is being fulfilled. There is no one alive on this planet who can say that the word of God is not true! Because here is prophetic fulfillment happening right now, before our eyes. Well, if you go over to Israel, you see it.

I remember standing out there, on these barren hillsides, looking around and seeing just dirt and stones. Then we walk up to a vineyard that has been planted, a vineyard planted in this barren soil! Really, how can it grow anything? And yet, out of this barren ground grow these prolific vineyards, giving off tons and tons of grapes! It is miraculous, because it’s what God said, that He would prepare the land when His people came back to shoot forth their branches, and it would be tilled and sown.

He also said He would send aliens and strangers to be their vinedressers and help them on the hills of Samaria. That is what is happening. HaYovel brings in, every year, at harvest time, hundreds of families and young people from all over the world, to help these Israeli farmers harvest their grapes. They bring in teams to do the pruning and the planting. Now they do many, many other projects out there to help these people possess the land. They do it all for nothing, just to bless God’s people, and for His glory. It’s all happening.

But anyway, I’m telling you verses about the land, aren’t I? We were reading Ezekiel 34:13: “And I will bring them out from the people, and gather them from the countries, and will bring them to their OWN land.” Do you see these words repeated over and over again? “Their own land, and feed them upon the mountains of Israel by the rivers, and in all the inhabited places of the country.” And so, it goes on.

Oh, yes, I love this, verse 14: “I will feed them in a good pasture, and upon the high mountains of Israel shall their fold be.” This is where so many of these Israelis have gone out to possess the land. “There shall they lie in a good fold, and in a fat pasture shall they feed upon the mountains of Israel.” 

All right. Let’s go over, shall we, to chapter 36. I was reading from there before, but let’s read verses 11-12: “And I will multiply upon you,” that’s upon the land, “man and beast; and they shall increase and bring fruit: and I will settle you after your old estates.” Yes, you once lived in the land, and now I’ve brought you back. “And will do better unto you than at your beginnings: and ye shall know that I am the LORD. Yea, I will cause men to walk upon you, even my people Israel; and they shall possess thee, and thou shalt be their inheritance, and thou shalt no more henceforth bereave them of men.”

Verse 24: “For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your OWN land.” There it is again, ladies. “Your own land.”

Let’s go, shall we, to chapter 37. I hope you’re going to read all these chapters. You need to read every Scripture. They are all so amazing. Ezekiel 37:14: “And I shall put my spirit in you, and ye shall live, and I shall place you in your OWN land: then shall ye know that I the LORD have spoken it, and performed it, saith the LORD.” Yes, God has spoken it, and He is performing it now, bringing them back to their own land. And He will continue to perform and fulfill every promise.

Let’s go to verse 21: “And say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the heathen, whither they be gone, and will gather them on every side, and bring them into their OWN land. And I will make them one nation in the land.” One nation. Did you get that? “One nation upon the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king to them all: and they shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all.”

Verse 25: “And they shall dwell in the land that I have given unto Jacob my servant, wherein your fathers have dwelt; and they shall dwell therein, even they, and their children, and their children's children FOR EVER: and my servant David shall be their prince forever.” David was a type of the Messiah to come.

Well, dear ladies, that was just a few Scriptures to give you that give understanding of God’s heart for His land, and for His people, because we must know the truth. Please, impart this truth to your children. Not only take the Scriptures I’ve given you today but read those chapters. Look up that link on my website and begin to read all the promises and all the Scriptures that God has given for His people.

Today I have to tell you something, ladies. I said last podcast, “OK, I think we’ve talked enough about how God loves the togethering of His people.” But this last week, I just realized, oh my!  I can’t stop! I do have to give you one more, or maybe two. Let’s see how it goes.

WHAT DOES THE NEW TESTAMENT SAY ABOUT ASSEMBLING?

But ladies, I didn’t even take you to the New Testament! I think it was eight podcasts we did, and we were mainly talking about the words that God gave for “assembly,” and for “congregation,” and “convocation,” and the “gathering together” in the Old Testament. What I will do, because I haven’t given them all to you, but I will write in the next transcript the 17 Hebrew words for “assembly” so you can have them if you are really interested to look into them.

But today we’re going to move on to the New Testament, because really, the Bible, although we have the Old and the New, it’s not really meant to be separated. It is one book. We go to the New Testament. It’s amazing. We’ve been talking from the Old, and now we go right over to the New. Wow!

We read in Hebrews 12:22-23. It was talking in the previous Scriptures about how awesome it was when God came to Mount Sinai and gave the Ten Commandments. He came with lightning, and burning with fire, and blackness, and darkness, and tempests, and the sound of the trumpet; oh, all these things happening.

But he says to us that now: “Ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, To the general assembly and church of the firstborn,” the firstborn being Jesus, the firstborn risen from the dead; “which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel.”

This is now bringing us to all that we have come into in Christ because of His death, and burial, and resurrection, because of the Son of God being willing to shed His own blood for our sins. And now we have come into the greatest of assemblies.

We’ve been talking about how God loves the gathering of and the assembling of His people on earth. But this Scripture . . . it’s still speaking of the assembling of all His people who are the blood-bought believers, but not only here on earth—those who are in heaven, those who have gone before, and also the innumerable angels. Wow!

Imagine the hosts that are going to be in heaven, the hosts of angels (because the angels are often spoken of as “hosts.”) When it talks about “hosts,” it’s speaking of an innumerable number that cannot be counted. In fact, one of the most prolific names of God in the Old Testament is “The Lord God of Hosts.” That is speaking of the Lord God of the armies, the angelic armies of heaven. They’re called “the hosts” because there are so many of them!

Then, of course, there are going to be so many of God’s blood-bought believers. Can you imagine this festive assembly in the heavenly realm one day? Oh, we have been given the inheritance to this. We’re part of it already. We belong to it already. We’re on earth belonging to it.

But one day, we’re going to belong to it in the heavenly realm. That will be the greatest assembly of all! Just think of the marriage supper of the Lamb! What an incredible assembly that is going to be! Of every blood-bought believer, from every nation, tribe, and kindred in the world, surrounded by the angelic hosts! Oh, we can’t even imagine it. Our brains can’t even take it in. Even when you get little glimpses of eternity, dear ladies, doesn’t it make you think, “What on earth are we worrying about things here on this earth? Why are we taken up with so much of these temporal and material things?” Oh, every day is a day worth living, preparing for this eternal world.

Now, we have two words for “assembly” in the New Testament. We have synagoge. I think I’ve pronounced it sort of correctly (soon arh o gay), something like that! You can see that comes from “synagogue.” We do read about the synagogues in the New Testament. That word in the Greek means “an assembling together.”

Back in Jesus’s time, it was usually an assembly of Jews, formally gathered together to offer prayers and listen to the reading of the Scriptures. Later that same word was used for the assembling of Christians gathering together for the same reason; to offer prayer and to hear the teaching of the Word. That word was used for the assembling of the Jews and then later, the assembling of Christians together.

Then we have the word “church.” Well, we use that mostly today, don’t we? The word “church” in the Greek, as I’m sure most of you will know, is the word ekklesia (ek klay see ah). It means “a calling out, a gathering of people called out from their homes into some public place, an assembly, an assembly of Christians gathered for worship, united into one body.”

It can also mean the Christian community of members on earth and the saints in heaven. This is the word “church” that we read in the New Testament. It’s used 118 times in the New Testament—115 times, it’s translated “church,” and three times it’s translated “assembly.”

This word, of course, often we talk about the church. “Oh, I’m going to church.” We think of the building, don’t we? Well, that is true. That is the church building. It’s where we go to meet.

But the full meaning of the understanding is that it’s the people in the building. Of course, we know that. The ekklesia is God’s people when they are assembling together. So, it’s the assembling of God’s people, coming together in a building. Sometimes we talk about it as, “OK, I’m going to church.” You may be going to a building, but you could be going to a specially designated place outside. That would be the church too, because it’s the people you are gathering to. You’re gathering firstly unto God and then with His people.

What did the early church do? They were the first example. Everything that’s written in the Word is written for our example. We have to go back . . . we have to go back to the very beginning, in Genesis, to find out the truth on so many areas of what we even need to know today. We need to go back to Genesis to understand God’s account of creation, of the world, and of mankind, of male and female, to know the truth.

Why are people walking in such delusion today? We are now facing this ridiculous deception, transgenderism, because people have forgotten to go back to their roots, back to the truth, back to the very beginning. Creation is the beginning of God in the Word of God. He created male and female, only two genders. Of course, we’re speaking about church now.

We’ve got to go back to the beginning of the church to see how they operated. We go to Acts 2:42-43, and we see what they did: “And they continued steadfastly in” four things.

No. 1: THE APOSTLES’ DOCTRINE

That was teaching. They came together, they assembled together to hear more of the understanding of what God had to say to them.

No. 2. FELLOWSHIP

Oh, that was such a big part of their gathering together! That’s missing in many churches today. Yes, many people, “OK, we’ve got to go to church, folks! Let’s go!” We go, and we have singing. Then we have a message. Then we go home. I beg your pardon. We’ve only had one thing: just teaching. Oh yes, and some worship. That’s wonderful. But when did you fellowship? Fellowship is so important.

We, at our fellowship now on the Hilltop, our HOUSE OF PRAYER. We nicknamed it “The Hilltop Fellowship.” We have fellowship lunch after every service, where we all bring a dish, and we hang out, and we talk, and we fellowship together. There’s still never enough time to fellowship!

No. .3. BREAKING OF BREAD

That could be Communion, yes, but it was more than that. When they fellowshipped, they broke bread together. That’s how they ate back then. Even in Middle Eastern times now, they have the flatbread, the matzoh, which they break and tear off to dip in the hummus, and the baba ghanoush, or whatever dish they are eating. It’s the fellowshipping over food.

No. 4. PRAYERS (Notice the word is plural)

Prayers.  Oh, wow! How much time does your church spend praying? Wow! Often, we have an opening prayer and a closing prayer. But it should be a very big part of our service, and also throughout the week as well.

I can’t believe it. Time has gone. We’re going to have to do one more. We’ll do that with you next time. We’re going to look at the attitudes God wants us to have toward coming together with His people, and how we are to teach these attitudes to our children. They’ve got to get it while they’re young.

“Dear Father, thank You so much again. I’m always thanking You, Lord, for Your precious Word, because it’s so rich. It shows us the way. Every word You speak is filled with truth. It’s what You have given us to live by.

“I pray that, Lord, You will help us to truly have a biblical worldview on every subject, and every aspect of our lives, and to teach it to our children, that they will understand Your heart and Your ways. Lord God, this young generation must know your heart for Israel. I pray, Father, that You will teach us more and more as we read Your Word.

“Give us Your understanding, Your heart. Give us Your burden to pray. I ask that You will put this anointing and burden upon every family listening, that, Lord God, if they’re not already praying for Israel, they will begin to pray for Israel as families together. Lord, You’ve said those who bless Israel, You will bless. You’ve told us that we are the watchmen who never get off the wall, who do not keep silent! Lord, we do not give up praying until we see Jerusalem established as a praise in the earth! Help us to be faithful, Lord God. We ask in Jesus’ Name. Amen.”

Blessings from Nancy Campbell

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Transcribed by Darlene Norris * This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

17 DIFFERENT WORDS FOR ASSEMBLY

 

Genesis 28:3: “And God Almighty bless thee, and make thee fruitful, and multiply thee, that thou mayest be a MULTIDUDE (assembly - qahal) of people.”

The Bible uses 17 different Hebrew words in the Old Testament to describe the assembling of God’s people. This is how important it is to God.

1. QAHAL (an assemblage, assembly, company, congregation).
2. ASAPH (gather, assemble together).
3. EDAH (an assemblage, family, crowd, company, congregation, people, multitude).
4. YA’AD (to meet at a stated time, to appoint, to fix a time and place, to meet by agreement, come together, gather together, to summon). It speaks of the congregation assembling to worship God at designated times and places.
5. MO’ED (an appointment, a fixed time or season, specifically a festival or assembly convened for a definite purpose, congregation, the place of meeting, set time).
6. QABATS (to collect, assemble, bring together, assemble together).
7. ZA-QQ (to announce or convene publicly, assembly, call together, cry out, come with a company, gather together).
8. ATSARAH (an assembly, especially a festival or holiday, solemn assembly or meeting).
9. MIQRA (something called out—the act, the persons, or the place, assembly, calling, convocation, reading).
10. MAQHEL (an assembly, congregation).
11. SOD (a company of persons in close deliberation, intimacy, assembly, also secret counsel).
12. SHAMA (to gather together, to hear with obedience and attention, give ear).
13. Y’QAHA (“The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come, and unto him shall the gathering of the people be.” Genesis 49:10).
14. YAHAD (union, unitedness together, altogether in one place).
15. Q’HILLAH (assembly, congregation).
16. YACHAD (together, altogether, unitedness) Strong’s 3161, 3162, and 3163 are all similar but different Hebrews words.
17. ADA (congregation, company, assembly, multitude, swarm).

We cannot come to the full understand of all that God wants us to know without each other!

Ephesians 3;17-19: “That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that yew being rooted and grounded in love, May be able to comprehend WITH ALL SAINTS what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fullness of God.”