2006 Latin American Bible Study MeetingApril 19, morning LectureBrethren, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they may be saved. For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted to the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.  Romans  10:1-4The Plan of God Revealed through IsraelWe have already examined the process of the creation of the heavens and the earth as it appears in Genesis, and what happened as a result of man disobeying God’s word. Also through the process of creation and through the image of God who spoke to Adam and did as He said He would, we have taken a look at the prophecies regarding the course that history would take in the future. We have also considered the history of Israel through the process of the six-day creation and in relation to the Sabbath rest that followed. The work that God carried out during the six days of the creation was not for the sake of the history of Israel; God had predestined the Church as His partner in love, as reflected in the creation of the woman on the sixth and final day of the creation. It was for the sake of this Church that God carried out the creation. Then, when the man whom God had created disobeyed God’s word and fell into sin, God predestined one nation in order to save mankind from the world, the pit of evil into which they had fallen. This nation was Israel which God planned after Adam had sinned. The beginning of this plan is to be found in Genesis. The book of Genesis also reveals clearly an image of the Church, which God first predestined, and its relationship with Israel, which God planned in order to save mankind when man failed. When we read the Bible, we tend to perceive its contents from our personal perspective. Of course, we need to consider these words as addressed to us individually, and it is important for us to keep the Bible close to us and accept it as the word of God. If you study the Bible carefully, however, you will be able to see that the history of Israel in this world is clearly revealed and that within that history, God also deals with matters related to us as individuals. Just as God commanded Adam not to eat of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, God also commanded the nation of Israel to follow certain laws. The words God spoke to Israel need to be examined and observed by all of mankind. Just as we all became sinners through Adam’s sin since we were all in Adam, we can find out what God wants of us through the words God spoke to Israel.The reason this is so important is that it is only when we understand precisely the words God spoke to Israel that we can understand clearly the words He has spoken to the Church. It is through the image of God managing Israel and governing their history that we can discover where our own individual fate lies. Then, through the image of the Church as revealed in the New Testament, we can see how we have been saved within the course of its history. Therefore, if an individual does not acknowledge that the Bible is the word of God given to the Israelites, neither will he be able to accept these words as intended for him personally. The fate of Israel revealed in the Old and New Testaments reflects the fate of each of us individually because God appointed the nation of Israel as the channel through which He would speak to us. God Did Not Accept Cain and His Offering Let’s read Genesis chapter 4 from verse 1.Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, and said, “I have acquired a man from the Lord.” Then she bore again, this time his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground.  verses 1-2Previously, in Genesis chapter 3, we compared what Adam did and how God acted in regard to Adam. After Adam sinned, he sewed fig leaves together to make a covering for himself, but God made him a tunic of skin and clothed him in it. Adam’s actions amounted to another sin. This is the way in which the religions of the world seek God; it is not God’s method but man’s method of seeking God. Such are the many religions of this world; they teach people to look for God, but God’s truth that appears in the Bible tells us that it is God who first seeks out man. Adam had made coverings of fig leaves and was hiding, but God was walking in the garden looking for Adam.  In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.  1 John 4:9-10It says here that God sent His Son out of love for mankind. We may think we are searching for God through the Bible, but this is definitely not the case. God took the lead and has prepared everything for the sake of mankind, and it only remains for us to discover God’s plan of salvation in the Bible. Herein lies the difference between the words in the Bible and the religions of this world. There is no religion in this world that tells us that grace comes from above. Every religion worships its own deity. Some even say they worship Jesus. They have all chosen their own way to seek God through their own efforts. Yet the Bible tells us that God has come in search of man, and that man does not need to do anything at all. The Bible says, that God upholds all things by the word of His power (see Hebrews 1:3). We live on this earth with our feet attached to the ground and God’s love pours down to us from above, just as water always flows downwards.Why did God do things in this way? It is because no matter how hard people may try they cannot reach the place where God dwells. Death is present within the tunics of skin with which God clothed Adam and the love that God pours out upon us. Adam’s shame was covered through the death and shedding of blood of an animal. Since the blood God had put inside Adam’s body became that of a sinner through disobedience to God’s word, the blood of another was needed to cover Adam. This image of the blood of an animal being shed provides us with a preview of the blood of Jesus Christ which would someday be shed on the hill of Golgotha. We come across something similar to this in the biblical account of Adam’s sons. Adam’s first son, Cain, was a tiller of the ground, but God had said to Adam, “Cursed is the ground for your sake; in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life” (Genesis 3:17). God made man work with his hands in order to provide himself with food. The efforts of man’s hands will merely fill his stomach and satisfy his flesh. All the many religious acts and good deeds that we have carried out in our own way in the course of our lives so far have achieved nothing but satisfying ourselves, and it is a sin to offer these to God. God has prepared a separate, different righteousness that has nothing at all to do with our toil and efforts. Abel, on the other hand, was a keeper of sheep. Sheep eat grass, which grows up from the ground, and they drink flowing water; they are raised by God. And in the process of time it came to pass that Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground to the Lord. Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat. And the Lord respected Abel and his offering, but He did not respect Cain and his offering. And Cain was very angry, and his countenance fell.  Genesis 4:3-5Cain brought to the Lord an offering of the fruit of the ground. He offered to God something that was intended only to fill his stomach and preserve his own life. Abel, on the other hand, offered to God the firstborn of his flock and of their fat. He made an offering to God in accordance with the method God had used when covering the shame of his parents. In this case, the blood of an animal was clearly shed. Then it says here, that “Lord respected Abel and his offering.” It was not only Abel’s offering that was accepted; it says that God accepted both Abel and his offering. We need to read the Bible carefully. Both Abel and his offering were accepted, while both Cain and his offering were rejected. What can we possibly offer God? Will God have accepted you and whatever you have thought to offer to God in your life so far? Until now, haven’t you been serving God in the way that you thought was right with the things you thought would please Hi

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