“Is Israel, Israel?” -2

  In my last tidbit, I offered several ‘natural’ reasons to affirm that contemporary Israel is indeed the historical Israel. In this tidbit, I want to break open the Word of God to offer my first ‘spiritual’ reason that contemporary Israel is synonymous with historical Israel.
   The King James version of Isaiah 45:17:
“But Israel shall be saved in the LORD with an everlasting salvation: ye shall not be ashamed nor confounded world without end.” 
The New American Standard version says it even better:
“Israel has been saved by the Lord with an everlasting salvation; You will not be put to  shame or humiliated to all eternity.”
 
  The context of Isaiah 45 begins with God introducing Himself to Cyrus, the pagan King of Persia! God directs Cyrus to His works of creation as evidence of His sovereignty and His power over all things; and in this particular case, God refers to using King Cyrus to free His people, Israel, from their 70-year exile in Babylon.
  Next, notice that Isaiah 45:17 unequivocally declares that everything that occurs up to verse 17 depends alone on the will and action of God, Himself, and not on the will and actions of Israel!! In other words, Isaiah 45:17 declares the action of this context is God working sovereignly and independently on behalf of Israel…apart from their help or involvement! I repeat, this is God’s sovereign move on behalf of Israel. What is purposefully left-out of the context is the time. In other words, God is informing us of a future event!
  Now that the foundation is set, let’s interpret Isaiah 45:17. The first word in this verse, “saved” (yasha) means wide or free, to be safe; deliver, help, preserve, rescue (Strong’s). The second word “salvation” (teshûʿâh) means national deliverance, help, safety, salvation, victory (Strong’s). In addition, the first Hebrew word yasha is a root for the second word teshûʿâh.
   So…these definitions are critical because, and I  repeat, they show ‘what’ ‘GOD ALONE’  will do for Israel in the future! In other words, these definitions unlock the purpose of verse 17; the purpose of the chapter of Isaiah 45; and most importantly, the past, present, and future of Israel!
  Let’s continue. The word “everlasting” in Isaiah 45:17 is the word ‘owlam’ and means eternity or everlasting; continuance, perpetual (Strong’s). So, when ‘owlam’ is applied to God, as in Psalms 90:2- “…even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God”; ‘owlam’ means eternal—or, that which has no beginning and without end. In other words, ‘eternality’ is an attribute of God and means He has no beginning and no end. Therefore, God was not created, but always has, and always will--exist as God! On the other hand, when ‘owlam’ is applied to man or the creation, it means ‘everlasting’, which means the creation has a beginning, but has no end.
  In case our human frailty causes us to miss God’s glorious revelation in “everlasting salvation”, God repeats Himself in the second half of Isaiah 45:17 using the phrase: “world without end”!!!
  For example, the Hebrew words for “world without end” are “ad owlam ad”!  First, notice the word “owlam” is included in “world without end”! Please return to my earlier definition of the ‘owlam’. Second, the definition of ‘ad’ is duration, perpetuity, eternity (Strong’s), which means that although ‘ad’ and ‘owlam’ are not the same words, they are synonyms, possessing ‘eternity’ in their definitions! To interpret this means, God inspired the Hebrew word ‘ad’ before and after the word ‘owlam’, i.e. ‘ad owlam ad’!  But why? To emphasize, highlight, underscore…the ‘length of time’, and ‘width of space’…that God SAVES Israel!!
  In conclusion, remember, only God can be eternal, meaning without beginning and end. But...in the context of Isaiah 45:17, the words “everlasting salvation”, along with the phrase “world without end” apply to Israel! Therefore, the literal interpretation of Isaiah 45:17 is a double whammy! In the first part of the verse, God calls Israel to an “everlasting salvation” using the Hebrew words “owlam teshûʿâh”. However, to make certain that we understand His point, God repeats Himself in the second part of Isaiah 45:17, using the Hebrew words:  “ad owlam ad”, which means ‘forever, everlasting, forever’!!!!
   In review, looking at both the first and second parts of Isaiah 45:17, God literally makes a future promise to save Israel!!! The intensity of God’s promise is so heavy that He has to repeat Himself: “Israel has been saved by the Lord with an everlasting salvation; You will not be put to  shame or humiliated to all eternity.”
      1.first part of Is45:17, God promises to save Israel with an
        “everlasting salvation” (owlam  teshûʿâh)!!!!!

         In case you missed the clear meaning, He repeats Himself:

      2.second part of 45:17: God AGAIN promises to save Israel , this time
        using the words “forever, everlasting, forever” (ad owlam ad)
        salvation!!!!
    
…This is an ABSOLUTELY AMAZING revelation!!
 
So, “Is Israel, Israel”? Is contemporary Israel the same as historical Israel? In Isaiah 45:17, God ‘TWICE’ declares, in the future---He will save Israel with a salvation without end!