28. Therefore thus saith the Lord,
Behold, they that serve Me shall eat, but ye shall be hungry; behold,
they that serve Me shall drink, but ye shall be thirsty. Note
that one clause contains two different tenses, in order to teach truth
concerning two different times; They that serve Me shall
eat. Present piety is rewarded with a future prize, and
similarly present godlessness shall suffer the penalty of future thirst
and hunger. Then He adds, Behold, they that serve Me shall
rejoice with gladness, but ye shall cry for sorrow of your heart, and
shall howl for vexation of spirit. Here again, as before,
there is a revelation for the future and for the present. They
who serve now shall rejoice with gladness, while they who do not serve
shall abide in crying and howling through sorrow of heart and vexation
of spirit. He proceeds, For ye shall leave your name for a
rejoicing unto My chosen, but the Lord shall slay you. These
words, dealing with a future time, are addressed to the carnal Israel,
which is taunted with the prospect of having to surrender its name to
the chosen of God. What is this name? Israel, of course;
for to Israel the prophecy was addressed. And now I ask, What is
Israel to-day? The Apostle gives the answer:—They who are
in the spirit, not in the letter, they who walk in the Law of Christ,
are the Israel of God Cf. Rom. ii. 29..