They have provoked Me to jealousy by what is not God; they have moved Me to anger by their foolish idols. But I will provoke them to jealousy by those who are not a nation. (Deuteronomy 32:21)
Once again, through His servant Moses, the Almighty addressed the issue of the “nothing gods” that Israel was prone to worship, this time using the Hebrew term בלא אל b’loel –- phonetically similar to belial. The term belial is used to describe one who appears good outwardly but is full of corruption inwardly. In this case, what appears to be “god” is nothing more than “vanities” –- something that is unreal, intangible, therefore false. As a consequence of their actions, God vows to arouse them to jealousy with a “no people” — which in Hebrew is לא עם lo am.
On the surface, this would indicate that God would raise up the nations surrounding them to bring about this purpose, nations such as Assyria, Babylon, and now the Islamic world. However, it escapes me how these nations’ hostility toward Israel was supposed to arouse them to jealousy, and so, is it possible this might allude to something else? Consider that the prophet Hosea used the term לא עמי lo ami – translated as “not my people” – to describe the consequence of Israel’s idolatry. Because of their sin, He intended to show them no mercy and relegate them to the status of lo ami. However, in the same prophecy, those who were not to be regarded as His people are also to be called “sons of the living God.” Interestingly, this is the same terminology Peter used to describe those who were coming to faith in Messiah:
“But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.” (1 Peter 2:9-10)
If we translate “not a people” into Hebrew the result is lo am. — that which the Creator swore to raise up in order to provoke Israel to jealousy. This is exactly what Paul said that those not born Israeli, but coming to faith in Messiah, are supposed to do (Rom. 11:11). And so my point is that, I am convinced the Body of Messiah are the ones hinted at in this passage above. We are to serve our God, in part, by provoking His wayward children to jealousy, and by that we don’t mean jealousy that results in rage but one that results in repentance. Our faithfulness to the Messiah is not only for our benefit but for the benefit of a nation, therefore, let us be diligent in our calling. In short, your dedication to God has the ability to positively affect you, your family, your friends and a myriad of people you may never meet.
Blessings and Shalom,
Bill
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