PODCAST TRANSCRIPT | EPISODE 410: WELCOME TO THE LAND OF MORE AND MORE, Part 16

LIFE TO THE FULL w/ Nancy Campbell

EPISODE 410: WELCOME TO THE LAND OF MORE AND MORE, Part 16

Today we speak about the HOW MUCH MORE of the “natural branches.” Who are the “natural branches”? And why does the Bible say they are HOW MUCH MORE? And why does it talk about their FULLNESS? And why does the Bible say it will be like LIFE FROM THE DEAD?

Announcer: Welcome to the podcast, Life to the Full, with Nancy Campbell, founder and publisher of Above Rubies, a magazine bringing strength and encouragement to families across the world.

Nancy Campbell: Hello, ladies. Welcome again to our podcast, Life to the Full. We are now up to point 35 in our series of “Welcome to the Land of More and More.” This point is called . . .

No. 35. MORE RECEIVING OF THE NATURAL BRANCHES

Well, what is this talking about?

I’m going to take you to Romans 11, and we’re going to read some Scriptures here, once again, with that phrase that we’ve been finding over and over again, “HOW MUCH MORE.” This chapter, Romans 11, is a chapter Paul wrote about the Jewish people, and how, although God has blinded their eyes in part, and most of them, still today, do not realize that Jesus, the Son of God, the Son of David, is their Messiah.

But he tells us of a coming day, when God is going to reveal Himself to them, for God has not forgotten His chosen people, because they are His chosen people. He chose them to be His nation, and He chose the land of Israel to be their land. We see this right throughout the Bible.

Let’s go to these Scriptures, shall we? Romans 11:11: “I say then, Have they stumbled that they should fall? God forbid: but rather through their fall salvation is come unto the Gentiles, for to provoke them to jealousy.” We, dear mothers, we are so blessed. We are Gentiles, but God allowed blindness to be given to the Jews so that we could come in, so that we, the Gentiles, could come into this wonderful kingdom.

It goes on to say” “Now if the fall of them (the Jews) be the riches of the world, and the diminishing of them be the riches of the Gentiles; how much more their fulness?” In other words, we have been so blessed to receive this wonderful, good news, but how much more will it be when that time comes and these Jews, once again, understand that Jesus Christ is their Messiah?

It goes on, verse 15: “For if the casting away of them be the reconciling of the world, what shall the receiving of them be, but life from the dead?” This hasn’t happened yet, but it is going to be a marvelous day. We don’t know when it will happen, or exactly how, but this is the word of the Lord, written in God’s Holy Word that when He brings them in, it will be like life from the dead.

Verse 24: “For if thou wert cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and wert grafted contrary to nature into a good olive tree: (that’s talking about us Gentiles who receive God’s salvation and it then goes on to say) how much more shall these, which be the natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree?”

Wow! That is so amazing. We are the wild branches. In God’s grace, we’ve been grafted into this olive tree. For many years, mostly the Israelites, the Jews, they have not come in yet. But God has promised a time when they will come in. Paul says, “Well, if we’ve been able to be grafted in as the wild branches, how much more they, who are the natural branches, will be grafted in again?” What an amazing promise! And because this is one of the “how much more” Scriptures, well, Paul says it two times in this chapter, we have to look at it.

I want to talk for a little while about Israel, because we are facing in our time today, in this time of history, there is arising antisemitism in a very strong way, which is very, very sad. It is anti-God, anti-biblical. There are many, even in the church, who do not understand God’s plan for Israel. They’ve just been told, and they just listen to what they’re told.

They may believe what many Christians believe is replacement theology. This means that all the Scriptures that God has given about Israel in the Old Testament (there are about 200 Scriptures where it talks about the land and Israel and God’s promises for them coming back to the land). Even here, in the New Testament, in Romans, chapters 9, 10, and 11, and somehow these people cast all those Scriptures away.

Well, maybe they don’t cast them away. They keep them, but they say, “They are now mine. They no longer belong to Israel. They belong to us, the church.” Now, that is called “replacement theology.” The church has replaced Israel. It’s also called “supersessionism.” It’s also called “fulfillment theology.” All those three believe exactly the same thing that the church has replaced Israel.

But when we go into the Scriptures, it is impossible to see that. It is not the doctrine of the Word of God. Now, there is the tension of truth, as there is in many aspects of God’s truth. We have to hold that tension of truth there.

On one hand we hold the glorious truth that God blinded in part the Israelites, so that we, who are the Gentiles could come in and be grafted into this olive tree. We have been wild branches. This salvation, oh how blessed we are!

But on the other hand, we have all the promises that God has for His nation of Israel that still stand. They were not written for anybody else, but for Israel.

So, I would like to take you to a few of these Scriptures. Oh, the Word of God is filled with them, from Genesis to Revelation. But we will just take a few, to get God’s understanding, to get the biblical understanding. You may be saying, “Wow! Well, why are talking about Israel? Isn’t “Life to the Full with Nancy Campbell” a podcast for wives and mothers?”

Oh, yes, dear mothers. This podcast is especially for you as wives and mothers. But this subject is very important for us as mothers, because we must know the truth of what God says about this subject, and what is so close to His heart, because we are the transmitters of God’s truth to the next generation. We are the ones who will show our children the truth. We pass on God’s truth. We’ve got to make sure we’re passing on God’s truth, not something that is deception. We’ve got to know what God says. Therefore, we have to become familiar with the Scriptures, and to know what God says, and to feel His heartbeat.

Going on from that Scripture in Romans 11:15, it says: “For if the casting away of them be the reconciling of the world, what shall the receiving of them be, but life from the dead?” 

And also, in verse 24: “For if thou wast cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and wast grafted contrary to nature into a good olive tree, how much more shall these, which be the natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree?” which are promises stating that this is going to happen. There is coming a day when God will reveal Himself to His people. God has not yet finished with His people.

We go to Zechariah 12:10-14. Here, this prophetic word says: “And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem (this is Israel He is speaking to. It’s not the Gentiles. It’s the house of David, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem) the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon Me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for Him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for Him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn. 

“In that day shall there be a great mourning in Jerusalem . . . And the land shall mourn, every family apart; the family of the house of David apart, and their wives apart; the family of the house of Nathan apart, and their wives apart; The family of the house of Levi apart, and their wives apart.” And it goes on in Zechariah 13:6, the next chapter: “And one shall say unto Him, What are these wounds in Thine hands? Then He shall answer, Those with which I was wounded in the house of My friends.”

And so, we see there is coming a day. Yes, there are people who say, “Well, look at Israel! They don’t even believe in their Messiah, so God’s finished with them!” No, they do not yet believe that Jesus is their Messiah, although many, of course, do. But the majority, as yet, have not got this revelation. But the time is coming. We just read Scriptures which say this is going to happen.

Let’s go back a little more to the Old Testament which is the foundation of our Bible. Yes,

“The Old is in the New revealed;

The New is in the Old concealed.”

Now, God gave covenants to His people Israel. Do you know how many covenants He gave them? Yes, for those who remember, He gave four covenants to Israel. Actually, God gave five covenants in the Old Testament. The first was the covenant He gave to Noah. But then He gave four covenants specifically to Israel.

The first one was the ABRAHAMIC COVENANT. God gave this promise in covenant to him four times. The first one was when Abraham came from Ur of the Chaldees, then to Haran, and from Haran he came to the Promised Land, the land that God would show him, the land of Canaan. As he walked this land, God says in Genesis 12:7: “Unto thy seed will I give this land.”

Then in the next chapter, Genesis 13:15-17, this was the time when he separated from Lot because they had so many herds, and they were both rich in all their herds and servants, and they could no longer live together. After they separated, Abraham stayed in the mountains and Lot went down to the plain, looking to Sodom and Gomorrah. And God said to Abraham again: “For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed forever.” Notice that word “forever.” In all these Scriptures and promises I’m going to read to you, we notice the word “forever.” It keeps coming up all the time.

Now we go to chapter 15. This is the third time that God comes to Abraham and tells him and promises him that he’s going to give him this land, which the Bible says is a land which God went and sought out for His people.

God searched for this land and found this land (Ezekiel 20:6). This is the land He chose for His people. It’s right in the middle of the earth. This is the land God chose. It is ultimately God’s land. In the word of God, it’s called “His land.” It’s the land where God is coming back to. Jesus is coming back to Jerusalem. He’s not coming back to any other city in the whole of the world. He’s coming back to Jerusalem in Israel, the city where He placed His Name. That is what the Bible says.

And so, we come to Genesis 15. At the beginning of this chapter, God calls Abraham out. It was nighttime. He calls him out and He says: “Abraham, just have a look at all these stars in the sky. Can you count them?” Of course, Abraham couldn’t count them. My, he could see stars out there, out there in the desert that we cannot see here. He would have seen so many stars. They would have been so bright.

And He said unto him: “Look now toward heaven and tell the stars if thou be able to number them. And he said unto him, so shall thy seed be.” And the next Scripture says: “And Abraham believed in the Lord, and God counted it to him for righteousness.” But then it goes on in this chapter.

Then later, God told Abraham to take three different animals and two birds. He was to take them, and to cut them up. Then he had to lay each piece against the other and make two rows so there was an aisle down between them. This was a familiar thing that people did back in those days. It was called “cutting a covenant.” They would take the pieces of the animals on either side. Of course, the animals were killed and cut in pieces. They were dead.

Then the two people cutting the covenant would walk between the aisles, literally saying, “We are going to keep this covenant. If we don’t, we will be as these dead pieces of meat.” So, Abraham got it all ready to cut this covenant. But what happened? He went to sleep. Wow! He didn’t even cut the covenant.

Instead, God cut the covenant on His own. God walked down this aisle, through those pieces of meat. It says here, in Genesis 15:17: “And it came to pass, that, when the sun went down, and it was dark, behold a smoking furnace, and a burning lamp that passed between those pieces.” That was a picture of God Himself walking through those pieces.

“In the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates.” It goes on describing the rest of the land. That was their God giving this covenant and showing him all the land that He was giving him.

Let me give you a quote. This is from Walter Kaiser, an Old Testament scholar. He says, “In Genesis 15, it was God Himself who walked in between the pieces. They cut a covenant. The word to make a covenant is ‘to cut a covenant.’ They cut the pieces, one half of the animal on each side, forming an aisle down the middle; three cut animals and two birds. And God walked between the pieces. As we know, it was a smoking furnace and a burning lamp, God Himself.”

And then, I continue the quote: “And God was saying in effect, may I, God, die like these animals if I do not keep what I have promised. And what was the promise? That God was giving him this land that God had chosen, from the river of Egypt, unto the great river, the River Euphrates.” That contains much more land than the land Israel has currently. They only have a sliver of the land that God originally promised, but one day they will have it. All the promises are not yet fulfilled but they will be fulfilled.

Walter Kaiser continues, “So, when the church brought in replacement theology, and embraced a supersessionist mentality, in which they now sat in the chair that belonged to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and his descendants, they took away what God had promised on the pledge of His life.”

Another commentary says: “God’s presence alone passes through the sacrificial animals while Abraham is in a deep sleep. As a result, the covenant responsibility is entirely incumbent upon God. Therefore, it is impossible for Abraham, or his descendants, to revoke the covenant through disobedience. The land has been promised and will not be taken back. It is a perpetual promise from God, who cannot lie, and never breaks His oaths.”

Replacement theology believes that because Israel was disobedient and they haven’t kept all God’s commandments, that this promise God gave is taken away from them and now given to the church. Well, it’s a little strange, isn’t it? Why is it that God’s people are coming back to the land from all over the world? Who is coming back? The Jews. It’s not the Gentiles coming back. But if the Gentiles believe that God has now given these promises to them, why aren’t they packing up and going back to the land? Well, let’s see a few more Scriptures.

Now, the fourth time. Remember I said God gave this covenant four times to Abraham. On the third time, He covenanted with an oath that didn’t even include Abraham. It was an oath God gave by Himself. So, He is responsible to keep that oath. No matter what Israel does, God will keep that oath and covenant.

But let’s go over and see what He said in Genesis 17:1-10. It says here: “And I will make thee exceeding fruitful, and I will make nations of thee, and kings shall come out of thee. And I will establish my covenant between Me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed, (thy descendants) after thee. 

“And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed (or thy children, or descendants) after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God. And God said unto Abraham, Thou shalt keep My covenant therefore, thou, and thy seed after thee in their generations.”

Do you notice that God said, it was “an everlasting covenant”? God does not lie. God is not finished with fulfilling His promises for Israel, because God gave them an everlasting covenant. You can’t get anything clearer than that. And then, after God giving these amazing promises to Abraham four times, He then gives them to His son, Isaac. Well, actually, even before then, even in that same chapter, Genesis 17.

We just read down further, and God continues with His promise. Not only did He say all this to Abraham, but then He talks about Sarah. Genesis 17:15: “And God said unto Abraham, As for Sarai (she was not called “Sarah” yet) thy wife, thou shalt not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall her name be. And I will bless her, and give thee a son also of her: yea, I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of people shall be of her. 

“Then Abraham fell upon his face, and laughed, and said in his heart, Shall a child be born unto him that is an hundred years old? and shall Sarah, that is ninety years old, bear? And Abraham said unto God, O that Ishmael might live before Thee!”

Even though God gave him this promise of Isaac, he’s still thinking about his son Ishmael. “Oh, that Ismael could receive the promise!” But what did God say? “And God said, Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed; and thou shalt call his name Isaac: and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his seed after him. And as for Ishmael, I have heard thee: Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful . . . But my covenant will I establish with Isaac, which Sarah shall bear unto thee at this set time.” So, God is keeping to His word, that his descendants, his seed, and it is in the seed of Isaac. It’s to Isaac that the promises now continue.

We also read again in Genesis 21:9-12, where God reminds Abraham again. This is the time Ishmael is 14 years of age now. And he and Hagar, his mother, are starting to mock Isaac. Sarah comes to Abraham and says: “You’re going to have to get rid of Ishmael. He’s mocking my son!” And, oh, Abraham is distraught because he loves his son, Ishmael. But God says to him, “Abraham, listen to your wife. This is My plan. You will have to remove Ishmael, “for in Isaac shall thy seed be called.” So, actually, this is the fifth time God reminds Abraham of this promise.

We go on to Genesis 26. Now, Isaac is grown, and God comes to him and gives the same promise: “And the LORD appeared unto him, and said, Go not down into Egypt; dwell in the land which I shall tell thee of: Sojourn in this land, and I will be with thee, and will bless thee; for unto thee, and unto thy seed, I will give all these countries, and I will perform the oath (notice the word “oath) “which I sware unto Abraham thy father; And I will make thy seed to multiply as the stars of heaven, and will give unto thy seed all these countries; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed.”

So, God continued the promise to Isaac. And then Isaac had Esau and Jacob. But God, in God’s sovereignty, and we don’t always understand God’s plan, but God knows what He is doing. As my mother always used to say when I had a question about things, she would quote this Scripture: “Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?” (Genesis 18:25).

And so, God, in His sovereign plan, continues the promise and the oath to Jacob. Not to Esau but to Jacob, because God is called “the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.” And, dear precious ladies, did you know that God says that this is His Name forever? Often, we Gentiles forget who our God is. We just think of Him as a Gentile God. Well, God is spirit. He is, I guess, not really any particular nation.

But this is what He said to Moses in Exodus 3:15: “And God said moreover unto Moses, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, The LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent Me unto you: this is My name FOR EVER, and this is My memorial unto all generations.” Sometimes we have to remind ourselves that right throughout the Bible our God is called “the God of Israel.” That is His Name.

Then He specifies it even more in this Scripture: “I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, and this is My Name forever.” And so, we see this promise and oath being continued on to Jacob.

Genesis 28:10-16: “I am the LORD God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac: the land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed (to thy descendants). And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south: and in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed.”

And God spoke this last powerful phrase five times. “In thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed.” Genesis 12:3; Genesis 18:18; Genesis 22:18; and Genesis 26:4.

And then, we see it confirmed over in the Psalms. Psalm 105:8-11: “He hath remembered His covenant forever.” Oh, lovely ladies, do you see this word “forever” coming up all the time? “The word which He commanded to a thousand generations. Which covenant He made with Abraham, and His oath unto Isaac; And confirmed the same unto Jacob for a law, and to Israel (speaking of their descendants) for an everlasting covenant: saying, Unto thee will I give the land of Canaan, the lot of your inheritance.” 

Oh, wow! Ladies, that’s all pretty clear, isn’t it? Those promises are so strong, given by God who never lies. I think of that Scripture in Malachi 3:6, where it says: “I am the Lord. I change not.” Well, I have always known that wonderful Scripture. I love that Scripture: “I am the Lord. I change not.” I know I belong to a God Who is faithful, who does not change, who keeps His promises.

But I haven’t ever noticed until recently the next phrase. And this proves that God is a God who changes not, because the next phrase says: “I am the Lord. I change not. And therefore, ye sons of Jacob are not consumed” God is revealing to His people. “You know I am a God who does not change because I am keeping my promises to you.”

Because although the children of Israel came into the Promised Land after they had been in the wilderness for 40 years, Joshua then took them into the land. They conquered the land, and they lived in the land, and settled the land. But as the years went by, we read, as we read through the Bible how they began to live like those nations whom they had cast out.

And God was so grieved with them. The Bible tells us that He had to vomit them out of the land He’d given them because of their sin. But although He did that, yes, He did that. They were cast out. They began to live amongst the nations of the world. But God, God cannot lie. God is absolutely true to His Word.

Therefore, because He said that He had given them the land for an everlasting possession, He then began to give His promises that He would bring them back. He would bring them back from the four corners of the earth, and He would bring them back to the land that He originally gave them. After all these years, even AD 70, when the general Titus, who conquered Israel, conquered Jerusalem, once again, those who were there, who were still living there, they were dispersed.

And the land began to deteriorate. It was once a fertile, lush land. It began to deteriorate and become more and more just a desert. For these 2,000 years, these people have lived in other countries. But God is true to His Word, and now He’s bringing them back. He established the nation of Israel.

There are some who don’t even believe in the nation of Israel, even though it exists. Oh, they say that was man-made. No, it was only miracles. The day that Israel became a nation, Friday, May 14^th, 1948, they had no sooner become a nation, than all the Arab nations around them (five nations) began to come after them, to conquer them, to wipe them out.

And yet, they even survived that. They had hardly any ammunition. They were nothing. They were just a struggling, little, weak, tiny nation of people who’d come back to the land. They were nothing and yet God was with them, and they survived. They are still surviving today, and God is bringing His people back to the land, fulfilling Bible prophecy.

The fact that Israel is a nation again, after all those years, and God is bringing His people back, according to His promises, proves that this word is true! It’s alive in our day!

And Malachi 3:6 says: “I am the Lord. I change not. Therefore, ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.” They could have died out, and we’d never have heard of them again. But no, they’re coming back to the land. They’re a nation again. And God is bringing them back for that time, in His timing, when He will reveal Himself to them, and fulfill all His promises. Amen?

So, actually ladies, I haven’t finished yet. I’ve got a few more things to share with you in the next session. Because I do believe that we, as mothers, have to know the Scriptures, know what God says, so that we pass onto our children the truth. We are responsible for them to understand, and to understand what God is doing in this day. Anyway, time to finish! The Lord bless you richly.

“Dear Father, I thank You for all these precious wives and mothers, and young people, and little ones listening. Bless them, Lord God. Bless their homes, bless them with Your peace, bless them with Your provision, bless them with Your protection. Oh, Lord God, bless them with Your truth. May they be homes of truth, knowing the Scriptures. May they be homes of righteousness, living according to Your Word. Oh, Lord God, I pray Your mighty blessing upon them this day. In the Name of Jesus. Amen.”

Blessings from Nancy Campbell

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

www.aboverubies.org

Transcribed by Darlene Norris

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

DON’T FORGET TO TELL OTHERS ABOUT THESE PODCASTS AND TRANSCRIPTS.

“LIFE TO THE FULL w/ Nancy Campbell, Above Rubies”

DON’T KEEP THE BLESSINGS TO YOURSELF.

For further Scriptures, go to: http://aboverubies.org/EverlastingPossession

Here is a beautiful song about the promises for Israel:

https://tinyurl.com/GodsPromisesForIsrael

It is also important in understanding Israel to know the four covenants that God gave to Israel. They are important for every Christian to know. You can get a good understanding of them by going to this link:

https://www.reconciliationoutreach.net/downloads/BOOKTHE-FOUR-GREAT-COVENANTS.pdf

Here is a beautiful song about the promises for Israel:

https://tinyurl.com/GodsPromisesForIsrael