No 2

(God's desire for Israel)

What God really wanted Israel to do was that they be His voice to the rest of the world; they, of course, failed miserably. As a matter of fact, not only did they not do it, they even refused to do it even when God Himself had given the order. Two examples are Jonas and Peter.

Jonas, as we all know did not want go to Ninevah and it took a large fish to convince him. Why didn't Jonah go there? He knew that if Ninevah repented, God would forgive them an he didn't want to share God with anyone who was a pagan. He was even mad after their conversion (Jonah 4:1) "But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was very angry".

Peter; same thing! He did not want to go to see Cornelius because he was impure and it took a table-cloth of unclean animals to prove to Peter that what God has made pure, no one is to consider impure or common (Acts 10:15) "And the voice spake unto him again the second time, What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common".

Basically, what god wanted from His people is summarized in the following verse: Isaiah 41:20 "That they may see, and know, and consider, and understand together, that the hand of the LORD hath done this, and the Holy One of Israel hath created it". The Lord was referring to the nations who had persecuted His people but this applies to everyone. The Lord is very patient with Israel over the centuries and He has never completely forsaken them. He has always made sure that there be a remnant of His people and, one day, they will all turn to Him, as a nation, and recognize Him (Romans 11:1-7)