BibleInteract

As God’s firstborn son (Ex 4:24), all the children of Israel are entitled to a special inheritance of leadership known as the birthright.

Israel’s inheritance is not “salvation” (a Christian concept), but a special inheritance of leadership known as the birthright. However, each individual must exhibit characteristics of leadership or God will remove the birthright for unworthy behavior. However, all the children of Israel, whether they inherit the birthright or not, still belong to God.

God is making a selection out of Israel as to who is worthy to inherit the birthright, which is a special role of leadership. This selection process has nothing to do with “who will be saved.” All the children of Israel belong to God. However, those who inherit the birthright are called a “remnant,” and they have a special role to play in God’s great Plan of Redemption.

God is selecting a remnant out of Israel to play an important future role. After the Millennial Kingdom, a remnant will be led by the Messiah in a victorious battle against the forces of evil, which we can see in the Book of Daniel. Our lives today are a training ground to prepare those who will be worthy of this special role.

It is clear from Scripture that there will be a remnant of Israel. In a previous session we learned that the remnant are those who will inherit the birthright. However, what about believers in Christ? Romans 9-11 reveals that there will also be a remnant from the Church.

What does it mean in Col 1:27 that Christ is “in” those with faith in him? After answering this question, we explore what it means that “you are in Christ".

Ez 37:16-19 talks about a future joining of two sticks. What do the sticks represent? This passage is in a chiastic construction, and the Hebrew word translated “companions” leads us to a different conclusion than is generally offered.

We must know the historical and cultural background of ancient Israel in order to understand the biblical passages about the Samaritans.

A common interpretation finds that only those Jews who believe in the Messiah will be “saved.” First, this teaching examines the biblical meaning of the word “saved.” Then we discover from Scripture that all the children of Israel “belong to God,” just as those with faith in Christ also “belong to God.”

How does the resurrection of Christ lead to the first aspect of salvation? And, if there is a first aspect of salvation, what follows?