“For the Joy of the Lord is your Strength” Nehemiah 8:10

“For the Joy of the Lord is your Strength”Nehemiah 8:10

The Rebirth of Israelby Pastor Fee Soliven

Isaiah 43:1Sunday Morning August 19, 2013

Isaiah 43:1But now, thus says the LORD, who created you, O Jacob, And He who formed you, O Israel: "Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; You are Mine.

 23 "And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you

who practice lawlessness!'

Isaiah 66:7-107 "Before she was in labor, she

gave birth; Before her pain came, She delivered a male child. 8 Who has heard such a thing? Who has seen such things? Shall the earth be made to give birth in one day? Or shall a nation be born at once? For as soon as Zion was in labor,

She gave birth to her children. 9 Shall I bring to the time of birth,

and not cause delivery?" says the LORD. "Shall I who cause delivery

shut up the womb?" says your God. 10 "Rejoice with Jerusalem, And be glad with her, all you who love her; Rejoice for joy with her,

all you who mourn for her...

Psalm 105:6-106 O seed of Abraham His servant, You children of Jacob, His chosen ones! 7 He is the LORD our God;

His judgments are in all the earth. 8 He remembers His covenant

forever, The word which He commanded, for a thousand

generations, 9 The covenant which He made with Abraham, And His oath to Isaac, 10 And confirmed it to Jacob

for a statute, To Israel as an everlasting covenant...

Amos 9:11-1511 "On that day I will raise up The

tabernacle of David, which has fallen down, And repair its

damages; I will raise up its ruins, And rebuild it as in the days of old;

12 That they may possess the remnant of Edom, And all the

Gentiles who are called by My name," Says the LORD who does this thing. 13 "Behold, the days

are coming," says the LORD, "When the plowman shall overtake

the reaper, And the treader of grapes him who sows seed; The mountains shall drip with sweet wine, And all the hills shall flow

with it.

 14 I will bring back the captives of My people Israel; They shall build the waste cities and inhabit them; They shall plant vineyards and drink wine

from them; They shall also make gardens and eat fruit from them. 15 I will plant them in their land, And no longer shall they be pulled up From

the land I have given them," Says the LORD your God.

Ezekiel 37:1-141 The hand of the LORD came

upon me and brought me out in the Spirit of the LORD, and set me

down in the midst of the valley; and it was full of bones. 2 Then He

caused me to pass by them all around, and behold, there were

very many in the open valley; and

indeed they were very dry. 3 And He said to me, "Son of man, can

these bones live?" So I answered, "O Lord GOD, You know." 4 Again He said to me, "Prophesy to these

bones, and say to them, 'O dry bones, hear the word of the LORD! 5 Thus says the Lord GOD to these

bones: "Surely I will cause

breath to enter into you, and you shall live. 6 I will put sinews on you and bring flesh upon you,

cover you with skin and put breath in you; and you shall live. Then

you shall know that I am the LORD." ' “ 7 So I prophesied as I

was commanded; and as I prophesied, there was a noise,

and suddenly a rattling; and the bones came together, bone to bone. 8 Indeed, as I looked, the sinews and the flesh came upon them, and the skin covered them over; but there was no breath in

them. 9 Then He said to me, "Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath,

'Thus says the Lord GOD: "Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they

may live." ' " 10 So I prophesied as He commanded me, and breath came into them, and they lived,

and stood upon their feet, an exceedingly great army.

 11 Then He said to me, "Son of

man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They indeed say, 'Our bones are dry, our hope is

lost, and we ourselves are cut off!' 12 "Therefore prophesy and say to

them, 'Thus says the Lord GOD: "Behold, O My people, I will open

your graves and cause you to come up from your graves, and

bring you into the land of Israel. 13 Then you shall know that I am the LORD, when I have opened your

graves, O My people, and brought you up from your graves. 14 I will put

My Spirit in you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I, the LORD,

have spoken it and performed it," says the LORD.' "

Israel is God's promise to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob!

1. God's Faithfulness to Israel

Deuteronomy 7:6-96 "For you are a holy people to the

LORD your God; the LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for Himself, a special

treasure above all the peoples on the face of the earth. 7 The LORD

did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were

more in number than any other people, for you were the least of all peoples; 8 but because the

LORD loves you, and because He would keep the oath which He

swore to your fathers, the LORD has brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you from the house of bondage, from the hand

of Pharaoh king of Egypt. 9 Therefore know that the LORD

your God, He is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and

mercy for a thousand generations with those who love Him and keep

His commandments... 

Jeremiah 17:9-109 "The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked;

Who can know it? 10 I, the LORD, search the heart, I test the mind, Even to give every man according to his ways, According to the fruit

of his doings.  

Psalm 89:30-3730 "If his sons forsake My law And do not walk in My judgments, 31 If they break My statutes And do not keep My commandments, 32 Then

I will punish their transgression with the rod, And their iniquity

with stripes. 33 Nevertheless My lovingkindness I

will not utterly take from him, Nor allow My faithfulness to fail. 34 My covenant I will not break, Nor alter

the word that has gone out of My lips. 35 Once I have sworn by My holiness;

I will not lie to David: 36 His seed shall endure forever, And his throne as the sun before Me; 37 It shall be established forever like the moon, Even like the faithful witness in the

sky."

2. God's Sovereignty towards Israel

Psalm 78:6767 Moreover He rejected the tent of Joseph, And did not choose the tribe of Ephraim, 68 But chose the tribe of Judah, Mount Zion which

He loved.

Romans 9:14-1614 What shall we say then? Is

there unrighteousness with God? Certainly not! 15 For He says to

Moses, "I will have mercy on whomever I will have mercy, and I

will have compassion on

whomever I will have compassion." 16 So then it is not of him who wills, nor of him who

runs, but of God who shows mercy.

3. God's Compassion for Israel

Isaiah 49:13-1713 Sing, O heavens! Be joyful, O

earth! And break out in singing, O mountains! For the LORD has comforted His people, And will

have mercy on His afflicted. 14 But Zion said, "The LORD has forsaken

me, And my Lord has forgotten me.”

15 "Can a woman forget her nursing child, And not have compassion on the son of her womb? Surely they

may forget, Yet I will not forget you. 16 See, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands; Your walls are

continually before Me. 17 Your sons shall make haste; Your destroyers and

those who laid you waste Shall go away from you.

Thank God that He said he is married to the backslider!

Jeremiah 3:14-1514 "Return, O backsliding

children," says the LORD; "for I am married to you. I will take you, one from a city and two from a family, and I will bring you to Zion. 15 And I will give you shepherds according to My heart, who will feed you with

knowledge and understanding.

 Lamentations 3:22-24, 31-3322 Through the LORD's mercies we

are not consumed, Because His compassions fail not. 23 They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness. 24 "The LORD is my

portion," says my soul, Therefore I hope in Him!"

31 For the Lord will not cast off forever. 32 Though He causes

grief, Yet He will show compassion According to the multitude of His

mercies. 33 For He does not afflict willingly, Nor grieve the children of

men.

4. God's Mercy Israel

Zechariah 1:16-1716'Therefore thus says the LORD: "I am returning to Jerusalem with mercy; My house shall be built in

it," says the LORD of hosts, "And a surveyor's line shall be stretched out over Jerusalem." ' 17 "Again proclaim, saying, 'Thus says the

LORD of hosts:

"My cities shall again spread out through prosperity; The LORD will again comfort Zion, And will again

choose Jerusalem."

Ezekiel 39:25-2925 "Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: 'Now I will bring back the

captives of Jacob, and have mercy on the whole house of Israel; and I will be jealous for My holy name--

26 after they have borne their shame, and all their unfaithfulness

in which they were unfaithful to

Me, when they dwelt safely in their own land and no one made them afraid. 27 When I have brought

them back from the peoples and gathered them out of their

enemies' lands, and I am hallowed (to make holy; sanctify;

consecrate) in them in the sight of many nations, 28 then they shall

know that I am the LORD their God, who sent them into captivity

among the nations, but also brought them back to their own

land, and left none of them captive any longer. 29 And I will not hide My face from them anymore; for I shall have poured out My Spirit on the house of Israel,' says the Lord

GOD."

5. God's Grace towards Israel

Isaiah 44:1-81 "Yet hear now, O Jacob My

servant, And Israel whom I have chosen. 2 Thus says the LORD who

made you And formed you from the womb, who will help you: 'Fear

not, O Jacob My servant;And you, Jeshurun (is a poetic name for Israel), whom I have

chosen. 3 For I will pour water on him who is thirsty, And floods on

the dry ground; I will pour My Spirit on your descendants, And My blessing on your offspring;

4 They will spring up among the grass Like willows by the

watercourses.' 5 One will say, 'I am the LORD's';

Another will call himself by the name of Jacob; Another will write with his hand, 'The LORD's,' And

name himself by the name of Israel. 6 "Thus says the LORD, the King of Israel, And his Redeemer, the LORD of hosts: 'I am the First

and I am the Last; Besides Me there is no God. 7 And who can

proclaim as I do? Then let him declare it and set it in order for Me,

Since I appointed the ancient people. And the things that are coming and shall come, Let them show these to them. 8 Do not fear, nor be afraid; Have I not told you from that time,

and declared it? You are My witnesses. Is there a God besides Me? Indeed there is no other Rock; I know

not one.'"

Zechariah 14:3-43 Then the LORD will go forth And fight against those nations, As He fights in the day of battle. 4 And in that day His feet will stand on the

Mount of Olives, Which faces Jerusalem on the east. And the Mount of Olives shall be split in

two,

From east to west, Making a very large valley; Half of the mountain shall move toward the north And

half of it toward the south.  

7.They love pleasure rather than love God 8. They sow discord amongst the brethren

“For the Joy of the Lord is your Strength” Nehemiah 8:10