WHO IS AN ISRAELITE? by Clarence Santee

Pacific Press Publishing Association · Mountain View, California · Jul 20, 1915

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 42, No. 28.

WHO IS AN ISRAELITE?

By Clarence Santee

The Name Stands for Prevailing over Wrong—A Descendant of Abraham May Not Be an Israelite—Trusting a Mere Name, May Ruin Us

By CLARENCE SANTEE

ALL through the ages, God has had a people in the earth. At times, the gloom of sin has settled down until their light has seemed lost in the darkness. But again its bright rays have flashed out over the great sea, giving hope and courage to the mariner who has been seeking landmarks as his bark has been driven toward an unseen shore.

THE BRIGHT OUTLOOK

When the Lord created this earth, He placed over the work of His hands a young man with his wife, who could look out into the eternal years with undimmed assurance. Gen. 1:26. Their every request was anticipated before it was made. “And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear.” Isa. 65:24.

This was God’s ideal as shown in creation. He briefly summed up all in the words, “And God saw everything that He had made, and, behold, it was very good.” Gen. 1:31. The prophet, speaking by the Spirit, has said: “I know that, whatsoever God doeth, it shall be forever: nothing can be put to it, nor anything taken from it.” Eccl. 3:14.

“The perfection of beauty” rested down upon all.

THE PROMISED DELIVERANCE

Over all this, the pall of sin settled so dense and dark that not one ray of light gave hope or courage. Speaking of the entrance of sin, a prominent writer has said, “Sorrow filled heaven as it was realized that man was lost, and the world that God created was to be filled with mortals doomed to misery, sickness, and death, and there was no way of escape for the offender.”

“The wages of sin is death.” Rom. 6:23. “In the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” Gen. 2:17.

Before that first day of disobedience by our first parents came to a close, the “seed of the woman” was promised, and the cloud of sin was lighted by the beams of the Sun of righteousness.

Addressing the serpent, God said: “I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.” Gen. 3:15.

ANOTHER ASSUMES THE SENTENCE

The promise of the “seed” was renewed to Abraham (Gen. 13:15); and Paul, speaking by the Spirit, said that “seed” was Christ. Gal. 3:16.

That day, another took upon Himself the sentence of death, and hope was planted in the sinner’s heart. The margin of 2 Sam. 14:14, last part of verse, reads, “Because God hath not taken away his life, He hath also devised means, that His banished be not expelled from Him.”

Christ became “the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.” Rev. 13:8. As men multiplied upon the earth, some accepted of the sacrifice of the Lamb of God, and they were called “sons of God.” Gen. 6:2.

The name “Israel” was given to God’s children through Jacob. He had a name among the seed of Abraham; but for many years, self-interest struggled with Christian duty. Not until at the ford of Jabbok, on the night of wrestling, did he learn the lesson of full surrender. There he received the name “Israel.” “And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel; for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed.” Gen. 32:28. Hosea speaks of that night in which the name “Jacob,” meaning “a supplanter” (Gen. 27:36, margin), was exchanged for “Israel,” meaning, “one who prevails with God.” “Yea, he had power over the angel, and prevailed: he wept, and made supplication unto him.” Hosea 12:4.

THE NAME CANNOT BE ASSUMED

In this way, the name “Israel” became an inherited name. Written into the character with heartfelt supplications, and baptized with tears in its very inception, that name cannot be assumed at will by bodies of people, by creeds, nor by councils.

While the outward name was adopted by a whole people, the true Israel of God have ever been those who have received the name by the crucifixion of self, and laying all upon the altar of God. God has said: “They are not all Israel, which are of Israel: neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children; but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called. That is, They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God.” Rom. 9:6-8. When the Jews, answering Christ, said, “Abraham is our father,” Jesus said, “If ye were Abraham’s children, ye would do the works of Abraham.” John 8:39.

HOW THE CHILDREN ARE KNOWN

From the above, it is evident that the “Israel” of God are the children of God; and being children of God, they are the true children of Abraham, being known by doing “the works of Abraham.” God said of Abraham’s works, “Abraham obeyed My voice, and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws.” Gen. 26:5.

This is one of the outward evidences of a true Israelite—he keeps the commandments of God.

The Jews looked to Abraham for their right to the name “Israel.” They rested in the outward evidence, circumcision. But while every Jew might boast of outward circumcision, only those whose hearts God had circumcised, were reckoned as the true Israel of God. “For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh: but he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.” Rom. 2:28, 29.

LIFE FOR THE SINNER

This was no new conception of the operation of God upon the heart. God is ever the same. He says of Himself, “For I am the Lord, I change not.” Mal. 3:6. The same necessity existed in the time of Moses as in Paul’s day. The human heart is the same. The promise of God to the helpless sinner is the same in all ages. “And the Lord thy God will circumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, that thou mayest live.” Deut. 30:6.

TURNED INTO ANOTHER MAN

This is the real change of heart that must be manifest in genuine conversion, the work of the Spirit of God. In another way it is stated, “And the Spirit of the Lord will come upon thee, and thou shalt prophesy with them, and shalt be turned into another man.” 1 Sam. 10:6. This turning “into another man” is explained to be a change of heart. “And it was so, that when he had turned his back to go from Samuel, God gave him another heart.” Verse 9.

The utter weakness of resting our hope in some outward form, or name, when the heart has not been cleansed by divine grace, is further emphasized in Paul’s letter to the Galatians: “For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature.” Gal. 6:15. Additional features are given in the fifth chapter, verse 6: “In Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love.”

Again the same statement is made, with other evidences of the new birth. It reads, “Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing, but the keeping of the commandments of God.” 1 Cor. 7:19.

A NEW CREATURE

Placing these texts side by side, leaving out that which is only the outward index, we have the statement that to be “a new creature” does avail with God; that this new creature will have that “faith which worketh by love”; and that this work will be “the keeping of the commandments of God.” The beloved disciple saw this divine truth when he said, “For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments.” 1 John 5:3.

That faith which is seen in profession only, has no life, no power. James says: “But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?” “Faith, if it hath not works, is dead.” James 2:20, 17.

FAITH IS A WORKING POWER

While no man can be saved by his works, as “all have sinned” (Rom. 3:23), if he has faith, it will work. Faith cannot sleep. Its time for growth is in the days of darkness. It is the test of connection with Christ. He says, “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature.” 2 Cor. 5:17. Being “a new creature” decides our relation to Christ; and we have seen that if we are “a new creature,” we will have works of love, summed up in keeping the commandments of God.

DANGER IN MERE FORMALITY

Now, as in old time, there is danger in resting in the outward form of church fellowship, and religious association, rather than in the known fact of acceptance with God. And as then, so now, such hope is vain. To be able to say, “Abraham is our father,” never saved any man. Neither can we present before God our claim of a denominational name, to offset our failure to have become in heart one of the Israel of God by willing, heartfelt obedience.

Whether circumcised or uncircumcised, whether having taken one denominational name or another, the inward work of grace, wrought by the Spirit of God, which leads to these outward evidences, alone is reckoned with in the books of God. “For the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart.” 1 Sam. 16:7.