Israel to vanish “When he offended in [the worship of] Baal, he died” (v1). Ephraim’s sin was pride (5:5, 7:10). God knew them in the wilderness, had given them all they ever wanted (Psalm 106:15), but they were proud and had forgotten God (v6). Now the nation would die (v9). “The wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23), separation from God, i.e. loss of the consciousness of God, and the divine life of which He is the source. So they would be as the morning cloud and early dew, as chaff driven before the whirlwind and smoke out of the chimney (v3): they would vanish. Note: So completely did 10-tribed Israel vanish that the Jews to this day pray that they may be found (see Britain in Prophecy, pages 20–21).
Jesus Saviour of Israel “Yet I am the LORD thy God from the land of Egypt, and thou shalt know no god but Me: for there is no saviour beside me” (v4). He their God would yet be their Saviour! “See now that I, even I, am He, and there is no god with Me” (Deuteronomy 32:39). “I am the LORD: that is My name: and My glory will I not give to another, neither My praise to graven images” (Isaiah 42:8). “Ye are My witnesses, saith the LORD, and My servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and believe Me, and understand that I am He: before Me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after Me. I, even I, am the LORD; and beside Me there is no saviour” (Isaiah 43:10).
“There is no God else beside Me; a just God and a Saviour; there is none beside Me. Look unto Me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else” (Isaiah 45:21–22). Who is He? “Thou shalt call His name Jesus: for He shall save his people [Israel] from their sins” (Matthew 1:21). “For there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). Note: Jesus (Greek IhsouV) = Joshua (Hebrew ò⇐ØdaggerÇäéX Yah-oshea), the LORD saves.
“I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death: O death, I will be thy plagues; O grave, I will be thy destruction” (v14, cf 1 Corinthians 15:55). “He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord GOD [ äåäé ] will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of His people [Israel] shall He take away from off all the earth: for the LORD hath spoken it” (Isaiah 25:8, 1 Corinthians 15:54).
Israel lost to the world Deported into Assyria, Israel would die and be lost to the world. But the Creator, the Holy One of Israel, Jesus Christ her Messiah, would shed His precious Blood and die for her. So Israel’s death would become the gateway to their salvation, not a temporal deliverance and return to Palestine, but their eternal salvation through Christ (Hebrews 2:14–15). They would be ransomed and redeemed, a Christian people.
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