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Articles 2024-2026
What if God, wanting to show His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath prepared for destruction,
God did indeed want to reveal His power and His wrath against the Egyptians because of how they had treated His people. But that is not the end of the story. In fact, it is actually a sort of beginning.
and that (Greek, HINA – in order that) He might make known the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy, which He had prepared beforehand for glory,
God’s purpose was far greater than to simply bring His righteous judgments to bear on those who opposed Him. His primary goal was to reveal the great wealth of His glory on those vessels of mercy that He had been preparing. To some degree, the vessels of mercy were the whole nation of Israel. All of Israel experienced His glory in the Red Sea deliverance and also at Mount Sinai when He gave the Law.
But the reality was that not everyone in Israel loved God and walked with Him like Abraham had. And there were those who even rebelled against Him to the point of their own destruction (Numbers 16).
Still, His goal in expressing His wrath was to reveal to the whole earth a people whose identity would be realized in the riches of His glory. And so, over many years, throughout the Old Testament, God raised up mighty men and women in Israel who loved Him, so that through them He might make Himself known to the nations. And as a result of His work in their lives, we today in the ends of the earth read in Scripture both the stories of their relationship with Him and also the prophetic words that He gave them to write out for us. How awesome. His words and His works are timeless.
So, Paul in his letter to the Roman believers looked forward from Moses’ day and identified the vessels of mercy in his own day.
even us, whom He also called, not from among Jews only, but also from among Gentiles.
(Romans 9:24 NAS)
Those hearing God’s call to repent and to receive Jesus as their Messiah, both Jews and Gentiles, were His vessels of mercy upon whom He would reveal His glory to the whole earth. And so, in the New Testament Scriptures, we read both of their relationship with Him and also the words that He gave them. For us.
But what we must remember is that with all the judgments of God upon individuals and also upon nations over the last two thousand years, the focus of Heaven is upon an emerging people who are realizing their identity in the riches of His glory.
As He says also in Hosea: “I will call them My people, who were not My people, and her beloved, who was not beloved.”
God is so gracious. He lifted up His eyes beyond the borders of Israel. And along with all the Jews who were turning to the Lord Jesus, He also saw multitudes among the nations responding to His call in the Gospel and becoming His beloved.
“And it shall come to pass in the place where it was said to them, ‘You are not My people,’ there they shall be called sons of the living God.”
Wherever people were living, whether in Israel or in a land on the opposite side of the planet, many would be set free from spiritual blindness and in that geographical locale would become God’s sons. Intimacy with Him would not be predicated on geography. One would not have to travel to Israel, enter a physical temple, and offer up animal sacrifices in order to draw close to Him. When the Samaritan woman at the well asked Jesus where the proper location was for true worship, His response was simply that it was in spirit and in truth (John 4:20 - 24). The simplicity of that statement has not changed over the generations since Jesus made it. Today, the Lord meets with people in the ends of the earth and calls them sons of the living God. But what about Israel in Paul’s day?
Isaiah also cries out concerning Israel: “Though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, the remnant will be saved.
Had the Jews over the centuries become as numerous as the sand? Indeed, they had. As it says in Hebrews:
Therefore, from one man, and him as good as dead, were born as many as the stars of the sky in multitude–innumerable as the sand which is by the seashore.
God had fulfilled his promise to Abraham and given him an innumerable number of descendants. So, according to His promise, there would now be a saved remnant of Israel.
Previously, in the days of Isaiah, the Lord had promised that His judgment upon the Assyrian Empire would ultimately overflow with righteousness, and that a remnant in Israel would return to Him (Isaiah 10:5 - 23).
As a result, over the many following years, God had those in Israel who loved Him. And along with this, in Paul’s day, a faithful Jewish remnant had turned to Him with all their hearts and were now bearing the fruit of His kingdom. Indeed, a remnant had been saved. And it was increasing in number.
For He will finish the work (Greek, LOGOS – the word) and cut it short in righteousness, because the LORD will make a short work upon the earth (Greek, GE).”
(Romans 9:28 NKJV)
Since the Greek word GE above can be translated as either the land or the earth, and since in these verses Paul is referring to Israel, it seems that his focus is on God fulfilling a word that He had spoken about the land.
The NASB translates the above verse in this way:
FOR THE LORD WILL EXECUTE HIS WORD ON THE EARTH (Greek, GE – the land), THOROUGHLY AND QUICKLY.”
Through His tears, Jesus had prophesied that because they had not recognized the time of Heaven’s visitation, great destruction would come upon both the land of Israel (Luke 19:41 - 44) and specifically upon the temple (Luke 21:5 - 6).
And it would be only a matter of a little more than a dozen years after Paul wrote this letter to the Romans that the destruction that Jesus foretold came to pass in AD 70.
And as Isaiah said before: “Unless the LORD of Sabaoth (Hebrew, armies) had left us a seed, we would have become like Sodom, and we would have been made like Gomorrah.”
Sobering words indeed. Israel came close to being obliterated from the earth like Sodom and Gomorrah. But in His judgments, God remembered mercy. Not only did many Jews survive physically in AD 70, but a holy Jewish remnant, of which Paul was a part (Romans 11:5), went on to be powerfully used by the Lord in the building of His house.
What shall we say then? That Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have attained to righteousness, even the righteousness of faith; but Israel, pursuing the law of righteousness, has not attained to the law of righteousness. Why? Because they did not seek it by faith, but as it were, by the works of the law. For they stumbled at that stumbling stone. As it is written: “Behold, I lay in Zion a stumbling stone and rock of offense, and whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.”
Many in Israel were going to stumble over Heaven’s promised Messiah. The problem was that instead of walking in faith with the Lord like Abraham had, many were trusting in themselves to keep His Law. And along with this, religious leaders had added many traditions on top of the Scriptures so that the Author of the Law had become obscured. And so, it was time for God to step out from that obscurity and reveal Himself in clear unmistakable terms. But since our God is always greater than His peoples’ perception of Him, He knew that many who trusted in themselves that they were righteous would stumble over Him.
Jesus called His time in Israel the time of visitation (Greek, EPISKOPE – visitation, oversight, inspection). The time had come for Heaven’s thorough inspection of the hearts of the nation. Israel had its perception of God. But when He stepped into perfect clarity among them, many turned away. In our own day, we pray for Him to arise among us bringing revival/visitation. But remember, we are specifically inviting His inspection. Let us be careful to not hold too tightly to our limited perception of Him and let us welcome His coming increased clarity in our midst. Amen.
Donald Rumble – June 2025
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1 Name : Patrick E. RionClick to compress comments
Subject: Missing Rumbling in NYS
Time : 2025-06-10 14:31:52
Shalom Brother Rumble
It has been a very long time! It's so nice to see you still doing your news letter. Have you read any new books?
Love and miss you Bro.
Pat
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