God's Divine Plan For Israel

GOD’S DIVINE PLAN FOR ISRAEL

Acts 3:24-26

For the last couple of weeks we have been dissecting Peter’s sermon at Solomon’s Colonnade. This is a fascinating message that is filled with amazing truths about our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. It is important for me to remind you that this message was delivered to a Jewish audience. In this passage the Church is not in view, the Kingdom is.

In the closing verses of this chapter (and Peter’s sermon) we receive a history lesson concerning God’s chosen people. Peter references the Abrahamic Covenant, the Old Testament Prophets and the marvelous work of the Messiah.

As he has done in his entire sermon, he uses history and scripture to prove that Jesus is the Promised Messiah. He was the one sent from God, the fulfilment of the Covenants and the one spoken of by the Prophets. I would like to examine verses 24-26 and preach about “God’s Divine Plan For Israel”. As I side note, let me encourage you with the fact that God has a divine plan for us (the Church) as well.

As Peter stood at Solomon’s Colonnade and proclaimed these truths, he was not delivering a new message to the people of Israel. He was actually pointing out the fact that the prophecies of old had been fulfilled before their very eyes.

v24 Yes, and all the prophets, from Samuel and those who follow, as many as have spoken, have also foretold these days.

Samuel was a servant of God who lived during the days of the judges of Israel. He was the man whom God used to warn Israel that they did not need a king. When the people refused to heed this warning, Samuel was the man that God used to anoint both Saul and David as king of Israel. Samuel did not specifically prophesy about Christ, but he was essential in the establishment of David’s kingdom. It would be through that royal line that the Messiah would come.

God’s prophets pointed to the arrival of God’s Messiah. The Jews that were present at Solomon’s Colonnade needed to understand that they were witnesses of the days that had been spoken of by the prophets of old.

v25 You are sons of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying to Abraham, 'And in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed.'

This verse makes it clear that God is not finished with Israel. Don’t miss the fact that Peter refers to his audience as “the sons of the prophets”. These people were the descendants of Abraham. In verse 13 Peter says that Jesus had been glorified by “the God of OUR fathers; “the God of Abraham, Isaac & Jacob”. In verse 17 Peter refers to his audience as “brethren”. These men were indeed the “sons of the prophets” and heirs of the covenant promises.

Genesis 22:17-18 records the covenant that God made with Abraham. He said “…I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies. In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice."

God reaffirmed this covenant with Isaac in - Genesis 26:2 Then the LORD appeared to him and said: "Do not go down to Egypt; live in the land of which I shall tell you. 3 Dwell in this land, and I will be with you and bless you; for to you and your descendants I give all these lands, and I will perform the oath which I swore to Abraham your father. 4 And I will make your descendants multiply as the stars of heaven; I will give to your descendants all these lands; and in your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed”

The Jews did not realize it, but Jesus was the fulfillment of God’s covenant with Abraham. He is the source of the blessings that God promised to the Jewish people. Paul referenced this fact in - Galatians 3:16 “Now to Abraham and his Seed were the promises made. He does not say, "And to seeds," as of many, but as of one, "And to your Seed," who is Christ.”

Those who were gathered at Solomon’s Colonnade hearing the message of the Apostle Peter were the recipients of God’s promises; they were “the sons of the prophets”. God fulfilled His promise concerning the Abrahamic Covenant. He sent Christ who was the One in whom He would bless “all of the families of the earth”. The Messiah was a decedent of Abraham and just as God promised, He has blessed the world through Abraham’s “Seed”.