ROOTED - Thursday, April 30, 2026

Isaiah
27:6

6   In days to come Jacob shall take root,

    Israel shall blossom and put forth shoots

    and fill the whole world with fruit.

Reflection:
Jacob, Jerusalem, and The End

Written By: Pastor Jesse Caro

Note:
the following is not a political commentary and should not be read as such.

One
cannot escape reading the Book of Isaiah without noticing that much of its
content has to do with Jacob, Israel, covenant, or Jerusalem. I am taking a
guess, but I would say a third of the prophecies in the book have to do with
God’s people, Israel, directly. Another third has to do with the Messiah
(which, of course, is connected to Israel). This is an inescapable fact as one
reads through this long book. Clearly Isaiah has interpreted the future times
in light of a particular people. Isaiah is, of course, Jewish and he hearkens
back to promises of God to Abraham… I will make for you an everlasting
covenant, to make you a great nation.

I
do not wish to get into a theological conundrum, but I am not sure how
(especially lately) it has become so fashionable to throw Israel and the Jewish
people over-board in terms of interpreting end times. I accept that I grew up
being taught that Israel had an end-times role and that (as the Apostle Paul
puts it when discussing the Abrahamic Covenant), “the promises of God are
irrevocable.” I respect that there are differences of theological opinion as to
whether or not Israel plays an end times role, but frankly, I don’t agree. I am
not supporting (I hope this is clear) every decision the government of Israel
makes, but I do support Israel, as I think they are still God’s chosen people.
I do not hold to “replacement theology” which says that Israel is replaced by
the Church (as “spiritual Israel”). Again, I am unconvinced. Isaiah has spilled
a lot of ink on its emphasis on an ethnic people group, if all of that ink
actually points to the Church. I believe we ought to take care, at a minimum,
to study prophetic literature earnestly and read it without modern biases. In
my mind, God has made a Covenant for his chosen people Israel, and we are
beneficiaries of the blessings of that Covenant (Ephesians makes this clear). If
this is true, we can assume that the covenant God made for us, he equally will
not abandon.

Prayer

Lord,
thank you that you are a God who keeps his promises. Unlike us, you are earnest
in what you say, always.