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Romans 2:
28. For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh:
29. But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.
The purpose of this
article is to show that the apostle is making this statement as one of
fact and in light of clear Old Testament teaching and prophecy, as
opposed to him using this language to merely teach truth using Old
Testament examples to do so. In the next passage we see the same type of
statement.
Romans 9
6. Not as though the word of God has taken none effect. For they are not all
Israel, which are of Israel:
7. Nor are they all children because they are the descendents of Abraham: but, In Isaac shall
your descendents be called.
8. That is, they which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of
God: but the children of the promise are counted as descendents .
Lets look at this verse in the New
International Version.
6. It is not as though God's word had failed. For not all who are descended from Israel are Israel.
7. Nor because they are his descendants are they all Abraham's children. On the contrary, "It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned."
8. In other words, it is not the natural children who are God's children, but it is the children of the promise who are regarded as Abraham's offspring.
Galatians 3:
28. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for
you are all one in Christ Jesus.
29. And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's
seed, and heirs according to the promise.
Other verses like this in the New
Testament will be covered but the question must be asked: "How can
this language be used if the Israel of the Old Testament is not the
Israel spoken of here?" The apostle is clearly using the race of Israel
or the Jewish race as a mere symbol of a true Israel rather than using
them symbolically to teach truth. One reason this is so hard to
conceptualize for so many in Christian circles is because they divide
the bible up into different time periods called
"dispensations" which they misunderstand to be God dealing
with different peoples in different ways during different times in history
and the future. If this mistaken view is held on to one would have to
overlook these and the other scriptures in the NT on the subject or
entertain teachings that would say God has rejected the Jew and replaced
them with the "church" during this time period. This would
constitute a brand new teaching rather than a continuation of Old
testament teaching on the part of the Apostle. However, if one looks at
the Bible as a unit and dispensations as necessary time periods in which
God brought his one and only plan and purpose into being one can more
easily fit this "true Israel of promise" into their theology
as the one and only Israel God ever had in mind. In other words this
Israel of Promise always was, and always will be, those who call upon the
name of the Lord, be they Jew or any other race of people. Romans 9:8
brings absolute clarity to the reference; "in Isaac shall your descendents
be be called," as one not talking of the physical descendents of Isaac
in opposition to the physical descendents
of Ishmael but rather it speaks of the way or the "modus
operandi" in which these two came into existence. One via the will
of man and the other by way of God's promise and miraculous
ability working with and in man. The two, Isaac and Ishmael are prophetic;
Ishmael symbolized those who where to be Abraham's physical descendents
who did not serve God, the majority of the children of the first
covenant, while Isaacs birth symbolized those among them who
did. To be a little more specific however Isaac's birth
prophesied of the peoples and nations who would serve God after the
messiah came, via the second covenant while Ishmael's birth spoke of
those who would not. This is seen clearly in the next
verses.
Galatians 4
22. For it is written, that Abraham had two sons, the one by the slave
woman, the other by the freewoman.
23. But he who was by the slave was born according to the flesh; but he of the freewoman
came by promise.
24. Which things are an allegory: for these are the two covenants; the one from the mount Sinai,
which produces slaves, this is Hagar.
25. For this Hagar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and corresponds to Jerusalem which now is,
and is in slavery with her children.
26. But Jerusalem which is above is free, and is the mother of us all.
27. For it is written, Rejoice, you barren one that bore no children; break forth and
shout, you that labored not: for the desolate woman has many more children than she
who has a husband.
28. Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise.....
31. So then, brethren, we are not children of the slave woman, but of the
free.
Please carefully compare Romans 9:6-8
with Galatians 4:22-31. Both of them specifically state the promises to
Abraham are fulfilled through the New Covenant which includes all races
of people. In Galatians 4:28 it says "we" (Jewish and Gentile believers)
are the children of promise and in Romans 9:8 it says ...it is not the natural children who are God's children, but it is the
children of the promise who are regarded as Abraham's offspring.
Both passages go so far as to say that just because they are Abraham's descendants
by race it does not make them Israel (Romans 9:6) and it does not make them
children of God (Romans 9:8); and if they abide in unbelief the will be
looked upon exactly like Hager and her son Ishmael were symbolically
looked upon (Galatians 4:24.) Furthermore they say that Old Covenant as misunderstood by the majority
of Jewish people produces slaves not children of God or children of
promise (Galatians 4:25,) and finally it says that the natural city of Jerusalem
is not the city spoken of concerning the promises of God, but a Jerusalem
that is above that cannot be seen with the eyes is
the mother of the children of God (Galatians 4:24-26.) Jesus articulates
it this way:
John 4
6. Now Jacob's well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied with his journey, sat
on the well: and it was about the sixth hour.
7. Then a woman of Samaria cam to draw water and Jesus said unto her,
draw some water for me to drink.
8. (For his disciples were gone to the city to buy food.)
9. The woman of Samaria said to him, Why are you, a Jew, asking me for a
drink, a Samaritan? For the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans.
10. Jesus answered and said to her, If thou knew the gift of God, and who it is that
said to you, draw me some water; you would have asked of him, and he would have given
you living water.
11. The woman said to him, Sir, you have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep:
where to you get that living water?
12. Are you greater than our father Jacob, which gave us the well, and drank
from it himself, and his children, and his cattle?
13. Jesus answered and said to her, Whoever drinks of this water shall thirst again:
14. But who ever drinks of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be inside
of him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.
15. The woman said to him, Sir, give me this water, that I don't get thirsty
and have to come here to get water.
16. Jesus said to her, Go, call your husband, and come back.
17. The woman answered and said, I have no husband. Jesus said to her, You
have spoken well by saying I have no husband:
18. For you have had five husbands; and he whom you now have is not your
husband: in that you have spoken the truth.
19. The woman said to him, Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet.
20. Our fathers worshipped in this mountain; and you say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.
21. Jesus said to her, Woman, believe me, the hour comes, when you shall neither in this mountain,
nor at Jerusalem, worship the Father.
22. You don't know what you worship: we know what we worship: for salvation is from
the Jews.
23. But the hour comes, and has now arrived, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father
seeks such to worship him.
The point being in this passage, as far as
this article is concerned, is that we have Jesus saying the same thing as
Paul in answer to the Samaritan woman stating that the Jews, in opposition
to what the Samaritans believe, say that men aught to worship God only in
Jerusalem. He answers that God will not be worshiped in the natural city
of Jerusalem and that the time has arrived for the true worshipers to
worship God, and that she is being given an opportunity to be one of
those true worshipers. (versus 20-23.) Here is Jesus saying to a woman
who belongs to a race that it was popular among a majority of Jews
to call pigs and dogs, that the salvation that is being offered her has
come into the world through Israel (verse 22,) and the time that the
promises and prophecies spoken of in the OT to Abraham and others has
arrived, and that since that time has arrived the natural City of
Jerusalem will no longer be a focal point of revelation, or the local
through which God will work. This goes hand in hand with the verses in
Galatians, i.e. the natural Jerusalem and its children are what Hager and Ishmael
symbolized and Mount Sinai foretold. It's the children of that
unseen heavenly Jerusalem that are the children of God, Abraham's
promised children, the true worshipers, i.e. those who are Jews
inwardly, be they Jewish by race, Samaritan by race or any other. Was
this not the very promise to Abraham? That through his (one) descendant
all the nations of the world would be blessed and was this not the very
purpose of Israel? To bring this blessing and salvation into the
earth? Mission accomplished!
Below are a few more passages of scripture to emphasize that the
promised children of God through Abraham where not promised to be
a specific race. Then some bible prophecies and who they are speaking
of: i.e. those who are Jewish by race or those who are Jewish inwardly but
may or may not be by race.
John 8:
37. I know that ye are Abraham's descendants; but you seek to kill me, because my word
has no place in you.
38. I speak that which I have seen with my Father: and you do that which ye have seen with your father.
39. They answered him, "Abraham is our father." Jesus said to them, If
you were Abraham's children, you would do the things Abraham
did.
40. But now you seek to kill me, a man that has told you the truth, which I have heard of God:
Abraham did not do that.
41. You do what your father does. Then said they to him, We were not born
out of wedlock; we have one Father, even God.
42. Jesus said to them, If God were your Father, ye would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me.
43. Why don't you understand my speech? it's because ye cannot hear my word.
44. You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father
you will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and lived not
according to the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he
speaks of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.
45. This is why when I tell you the truth, you do not believe me.
Matthew 12:
46. While Jesus talked to the people, behold, his mother and his
brothers stood outside, desiring to speak with him.
47. Then one said to him, your mother and your brothers are outside desiring to speak with
you.
48. But he answered and said to him that told him, Who is my mother? and who are my
brothers
49. And he stretched forth his hand toward his disciples, and said, Behold my mother and my
brothers!
50. For whoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother.
This very
graphic language describes that being a child of God, or a child of
Abraham, is not according to one's race but rather in what is voluntary in
an individual, i.e. the will. Once more the exact same thing is said:
Abraham's children are those who do what Abraham does and not those who
are his his descendants by race. As a matter of fact, those who are his descendants
by race and do not do as Abraham did are children of the devil. Of
course, as we have seen in the other passages, this being children of the
devil and/or children of God applies to all races.
Now on to the main reason that this true Israel/true Jew/by choice not
by race, must be understood and embraced; that reason being Bible
prophecy. The Bible has dozens of chapters prophetically foretelling an
age where Israel/the Jewish people/ Mount Zion or Jerusalem are talked
of as the dominate people in the earth, as the blessed of mankind, the envy
of the world, those whom God is with, the city where God dwells, the
mountain that the whole world goes to to learn of God, ect. ect. It is
of paramount importance then to understand just which of these two
groups these prophecies and promises are speaking of. Those who are
Israeli by race that may or may not serve God, or those who are Jewish
inwardly but not necessarily by race, who Paul and Jesus say are
the promised children of Abraham and are the the Israel of God
and of promise, the true worshipers and the true children
of God. Could these prophecies possibly be speaking of the natural
Jerusalem that sits on a mountain named Zion whose children Paul states are
of the flesh just like Ishmael was and Jesus says
the true worshipers will no longer worship there? Or is this
Jerusalem and Mount Zion prophesied of the heavenly one that cannot be
seen and yet is the mother of God's children? We will start here:
Hebrews 12
18. For ye are not come to the mountain that might be touched, and that burned with fire, nor unto blackness, and darkness, and tempest,
19. And the sound of a trumpet, and the voice of words; which voice they that heard
entreated that the word should not be spoken to them any more:
20. (For they could not endure that which was commanded, And if so much as a beast touch the mountain, it shall be stoned, or thrust through with a dart:
21. And so terrible was the sight, that Moses said, I exceedingly fear and quake:)
22. But ye are come to mount Zion, and to the city of the living God, the
heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels,
23. To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect,
24. And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant....
What must be grasped in this passage from
Hebrews is that the believers are not come to something that can be
touched physically. The example used here is Mount Sinai, which Paul
has already stated in Galatians 4:25 represents the Jerusalem on Mount
Zion that can be touched. Then the writer states that you have
come to the Heavenly Jerusalem, Mount Zion the city of the living God
which obviously cannot be touched physically, hence the emphasis
on can be touched in verse 18. Notice it says you have come, past tense,
rather than you are coming to, or are going to, or in heaven you will go
to.
Zechariah 8:
23. Thus says the Lord of hosts; In those days it shall come to pass, that ten men out of all languages of the
nations shall take hold of the skirt of him that is a Jew, saying, We will go with you: for we have heard that God is with you.
Looking at this prophesy from the
viewpoint of the scriptures listed according to Jesus and his Apostle
Paul the fact that this happens hundreds of times a day world wide to believers
is a cause for great rejoicing. Over a hundred and fifty thousand people
a day are making some sort of decision about Jesus. Some indeed whole
heartedly, perhaps most are not, but the fact of the matter is they are
hearing and seeing the testimonies of those who are inwardly Jews that
God is with them and are saying (so to speak) we will go the way you are
going. This is not happening in any way, shape, or form to people just
because the are Jewish by race. This is the verse that proceeded that
one.
22. Yea, many people and strong nations shall come to seek the Lord of hosts in Jerusalem, and to pray before the Lord.
Why would Jesus directly say to the Samaritan woman that the true
worshipers would no longer worship in the city of Jerusalem (John 4:21)
if this OT prophecy says the opposite? Unless of course Jesus understood
this to mean the Heavenly Jerusalem that cannot be seen.
Isaiah 60
1. Arise, shine; for your light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon
you.
2. For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the Lord shall arise upon
you, and his glory shall be seen upon you.
3. The nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising.
4. Lift up your eyes round about, and see: all they gather themselves together, they come to
you: your sons shall come from far, and your daughters shall be nursed at
your side.
5. Then you will see, and flow together, and your heart shall fear, and be enlarged; because the abundance of the sea
(the nations) shall be converted to you, the wealth of the nations shall come
to you......
10. And the sons of strangers shall build up your walls, and their kings shall minister
to you: for in my wrath I destroyed you, but in my favor have I had mercy on
you.
11. Therefore your gates shall be open continually; they shall not be shut day nor night; that men may bring
to
you the wealth of the nations, and that their kings may be brought.
12. For the nation and kingdom that will not serve you will perish; yes, those nations shall be utterly wasted.....
14. The sons also of them that afflicted you shall come bending down to you; and all they that despised
you shall bow themselves down at the soles of your feet; and they shall call
you; The city of the Lord, The Zion of the Holy One of Israel.
An utterly fantastic and totally unrealistic prophecy, that is, unless
this is talking of that heavenly Jerusalem and not the earthly one. Who
did Jesus say was the light of the world (verses 1-2?) Are not his
people the light and salt in a darkened world? To whom have a
billion and a half Gentiles (and Jews) come to and been converted to in the
last century (verses 3-5?) Christ through his word and people or that
city in the middle east that wallows in darkness with most of the rest
of the world? Who are the strangers that build up the walls of this
heavenly city (verses 10-11?) Are they not the believers from all
nations that serve
God as evangelists, pastors, preachers of his word and ministers of his
Spirit? Are not people coming to Christ continuously
day and night, in dark times and light, so that the scripture foretold
the gates shall not be shut at any time (verse 11?) Have not the people
and nations that seek to destroy God's children eventually perished in
great calamities, unless of course they embrace the gospel of
those they persecuted (verse 12?) Finally, are not those nations where the gospel
has been the most influential been dominate in the world for the last
few centuries for the good rather than for the worse (verse 14?) Take
note that this city of the Lord in verse 14 is spoken of as though it is
a people rather than a literal city by the statement: "and all they that despised
you shall bow themselves down at the soles of your feet; and they shall call
you; The city of the Lord, The Zion of the Holy One of Israel.
Isaiah 61
4. They will rebuild the ancient ruins and restore the places long devastated; they will renew the ruined cities that have been devastated for generations.
(N.I.V.)
5. And strangers shall stand and feed your flocks, and the sons of the alien shall be your plowmen and your vinedressers.
6. But ye shall be named the Priests of the Lord: men shall call you the Ministers of our God:
you shall eat the riches of the Nations, and in their glory shall you boast yourselves.
7. For your shame you shall have double; and for confusion: they shall rejoice in their portion: therefore in their land they shall possess the double: everlasting joy shall be unto them.
8. For I the Lord love judgment, I hate robbery for burnt offering; and I will direct their work in truth, and I will make an everlasting covenant with them.
Who are the strangers and aliens
spoken of in verse 5 but believers from all the nations who work in the
Lord's
vineyard, and pastor the Lord's flock? As for verse 2 who does Peter
in the NT call a royal priesthood and a Holy Nation? Who does Jesus give
everlasting joy to as in verse 3 and what nations in the world
possess the double but those most influenced by the gospel? Also in
verse 8, to
whom has the Lord made an everlasting covenant with which includes
everlasting life? Can the reader see the tremendous disparity between
taking this OT prophecies to mean the physical descendants of
Israel verses those whom Paul calls Israel? If these prophecies
can possibly be taken as speaking of the physical descendants of Abraham
exclusively and the physical city of Jerusalem they they must be taken
as a future event that has not yet come to pass. But why take it to mean
that when the word of God so clearly reveals differently? Why wait and
put one's hope in an end of the world cataclysmic event, when it can
be clearly seen according to Jesus and his apostles interpretation, that
these things have been, are, and will continue to be fulfilled in an
entirely different fashion than one based on race, physical location,
and newspaper prognostications.
Below are a few passages of scripture that those who hold to that erroneous
form of dispensationalism (radical dispensationalism) unfortunately
wrestling with them to the hurt of many who would gain great hope and faith through the word
of God if properly understood.
Ezekiel 36:
22. Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord God; I do not this for your sakes, O house of Israel, but for
my holy name's sake, which you have profaned among the heathen, wherever
they went.
23. And I will sanctify my great name, which was profaned among the heathen, which
you have profaned in the midst of them; and the heathen shall know that I am the Lord,
says the Lord God, when I shall be sanctified in you before their eyes.
24. For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land.
25. Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you.
26. A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.
27. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.
28. And ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and ye shall be My people, and I will be your God.
This passage of scripture is wrestled
with because Israel was brought back to Judah from the Babylonian
deportation before the messiah came on the scene. However when he came
the majority of Israelites rejected him and in the end the nation was
destroyed once more in seventy A.D. In other words because of the
propensity to think this passage speaks of Israel as being the race exclusively
,and the land
being Judah exclusively for the fulfillment of prophecy, this scripture
is viewed as not yet fulfilled. Now what is awaited is an end of the world
cataclysmic event that brings the rest of the prophecy to pass, i.e. the
new heart/spirit and God's Spirit indwelling them part. Yet here
goes Apostle Paul again, as if what he said in the other scriptures
listed previously was not enough.
Hebrews 8
1. Now of the things which we have spoken this is the sum: We have such an high priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens;
2. A minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord
built, and not man....
6. .. he obtained a more excellent ministry, so much so that he is also
the mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises.
7. For if that first covenant had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for
the second.
8. For finding fault with them, he says, Behold, the days come, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah:
9. Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they continued not in my covenant, and I regarded them not,
says the Lord.
10. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days,
says the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people:.....
13. In that he says, A new covenant, he has made the first old. Now that which
decays and grows old is ready to vanish away.
10. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days,
says the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people:
The problem with the radical
dispensationalist interpretation of Ezekiel 36 is that Paul says
this scripture has been fulfilled with the coming of the messiah and
those physical descendants of Abraham that received him, those who
embraced the New Covenant. In other words Paul again says it is those
who call upon the name of the Lord that are counted as the children of
Abraham and fulfill bible prophecy and promises. Seeing this scripture
fits exactly into Jesus' and his Apostle's teaching on just what exactly
constitutes being Jewish and a child of God, some other scripture along
these lines need to be looked at.
Romans 9
1. I say the truth in Christ, I lie not, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost,
2. That I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart.
3. For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh:
4. Who are Israelites; to whom pertained the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises;
5. Whose are the fathers, and of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came, who is over all, God blessed for ever. Amen.
6. Not as though the word of God hath taken none effect. For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel:
7. Neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children: but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called.
8. That is, They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed.
Above are the scriptures already covered
9. For this is the word of promise, At this time will I come, and Sara shall have a son.
10. And not only this; but when Rebecca also had conceived by one, even by our father Isaac;
11. (For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that
calls;)
12. It was said to her, The elder shall serve the younger.
13. As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated.
What is Paul describing in verses 9-13 but Bible prophecy. God has
written Bible Prophecy in the lives of these OT individuals, Isaac and
Jacob. They are those born through God's promise and
supernatural means rather than the will of man. They are the born second
because God foretold the second covenant through their miraculous births,
thus verifying the means through which mankind would be blessed, i.e.
through God's miraculous intervention and work via the second covenant. . He
prophecies the first covenant through the natural births of Ishmael and
Esau, both of them the first born, symbolizing that born of the flesh or the will
of man apart from a proper relationship with God and the first covenant.
14. What shall we say then? Is there unfairness with God? God forbid.
15. For he says to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.
16. So then it is not of him that wills, nor of him that runs, but of God that
shows mercy.
17. For the scripture says to Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised
you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth.
18. Therefore he has mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he
hardens.
19. You will say then to me, Why does he yet find fault? For who has resisted his will?
20. No, O man, who are you that replies against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why
have you made me thus?
21. Has not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel
for honor, and another to dishonor?
22. What if God, willing to show his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to
destruction
23. And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared
to glory,
24. Even us, whom he has called, not of the Jews only, but also of the
Nations?
The majority of the Israeli's hearts were hardened in the exact
manner Pharaoh's heart was hardened, by seeing and being alive during a
time of great visitation from on high yet not being ready and therefore
willing to embrace it. By seeing wonderful supernatural events with the
natural eyes, but being unprepared in heart to be instructed by those
sights. Moral agents, when confronted with something that is purported to
be truth, cannot remain in a neutral position on the subject. Their wills
are forced to either embrace it or reject it because it demands change
and in rejecting it the heart imagines all kinds of lies about that
truth that eventually will lead a man or even a nations to destruction.
This is why most of the natural descendants of Israel were doomed to
destruction. God with much suffering and grief on his part had to choose
a people to bring his word into the earth, of which the majority would never
embrace the heavenly calling. When Jesus prophesied the
destruction of Jerusalem and Israel in 70 A.D. he used these words:
"That there would never had been or would be again tribulation like
they would see." The reason he said this was not because of the intensity
of destruction they would suffer but the way in which it all came about.
No nation ever has, or ever will see, the culmination of times, prophecies
and events; signs and wonders, truth and light that the nation of Israel
saw. No nation ever had, nor ever will have, such things to reject, nor
such an opportunity to receive so much and therefore lose so much. Not
only lose what they could have gained in that generation, but utterly
lose what God had given them beforehand which was more than all other
nations combined; his truth, his Spirit, the glory, the adoption, the
service as God's ministers in the earth all gone in a mere 40 years. Then
the perpetual destructions that followed for a people who live in utter
darkness, Satan the author of those destructions because of his hatred
for the race that brought God's word and will into the earth. Let us
never forget that unless a seed fall into the ground and die it abides
alone, and that God himself took on human flesh and suffered death at
the hands of wicked men to bring mankind salvation. True, Israel of
the flesh bore the dishonor and they deserved the reward of the wicked,
but any other nation chosen for that purpose would have acted in the
same manner. Now those
people and nations that have not seen yet believe, as it is fitting and
proper, were prepared for the glory that would follow (so to speak)
by their
demise. Both Jew and Gentile, vessels fitted for mercy through the death
of the Son and the longsuffering of God using a nation to bring his Son,
his word, the sacrifice, and his will into the earth.
25. As he says also in Hosea, I will call them my people, which were not my people; and her beloved, which was not beloved.
26. And it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said to them,
You are not my people; there shall they be called the children of the living God.
Who is he speaking of here but the nations.
27. Isaiah also cries concerning Israel, Though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, a remnant shall be saved:
28. For he will finish the work, and cut it short in righteousness: because a short work will the Lord make upon the earth.
29. And as Isaiah said before, Except the Lord of the Sabaoth had left us a seed, we had been as
Sodom, and been made like Gomorrah.
Who is he speaking of but the minority of those who are Israeli by
race that served God.
30. What shall we say then? That the Nations, which followed not after righteousness, have attained to righteousness, even the righteousness which is of faith.
31. But Israel, which followed after the law of righteousness, has not attained to the law of righteousness.
32. Why? Because they sought it not by faith, but as it were by the works of the law. For they stumbled at that
stumbling stone;
33. As it is written, Behold, I lay in Zion a stumbling stone and rock of offence: and
whoever believes on him shall not be ashamed.
Romans 10
1. Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved.
2. For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge.
3. For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves
to the righteousness of God.
4. For to every one that believes Christ is the point aimed at in the end as
far as the law of righteousness.
5. For Moses describes the righteousness which is of the law, That the man which
does those things shall live by them.
6. But the righteousness which is of faith speaks on this wise, Say not in
your heart, Who shall ascend into heaven? (that is, to bring Christ down from above:)
7. Or, Who shall descend into the deep? (that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead.)
8. But what does it say? The word is close to you, even in your mouth, and in
your heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach;
9. That if you will confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in
your heart that God has raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
10. For with the heart man believes to righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made
to salvation.
11. For the scripture says, Who ever believes on him shall not be ashamed.
12. For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him.
13. For who ever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
14. How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?
15. And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!
16. But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, Lord, who has believed our report?
17. So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
18. But I say, Have they not heard? Yes truly, their sound went into all the earth, and their words
to the ends of the world.
19. But I say, Did not Israel know? First Moses says, I will provoke you to jealousy by them that are no people, and by a foolish nation I will anger you.
20. But Isaiah is very bold, and says, I was found of them that sought me not; I was made manifest unto them that asked not after me.
Who is this foolish nation and those who sought and asked not for but
the Gentiles?
21. But to Israel he says, All day long I have stretched forth my hands toward
a disobedient and gainsaying people.
Romans 11
1. I say then, Has God cast away his people? God forbid. For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin.
2. God has not cast away his people which he foreknew. Don't you know what the scripture
says of Elijah? how he makes intercession to God against Israel, saying,
3. Lord, they have killed your prophets, and destroyed your altars; and I am left alone, and they seek my life.
4. But what says the answer of God to him? I have reserved to myself seven thousand men, who have not bowed the knee to the image of Baal.
5. Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace.
Another affirmation that it was always by grace through faith that
men are saved rather than by their natural descent.
6. And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then is it no more grace: otherwise work is no more work.
7. What then? Israel hath not obtained that which he seeks for; but the election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded.
The word "election" does not refer to God arbitrarily choosing
some and rejecting others without considering the merit of the
individual but rather it speaks directly to the the way God has
"elected" that men must be saved. By grace through faith is
the way God chose or "elected" for mankind to be saved and
blessed.
8. (According as it is written, God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear;)
to this day.
9. And David says, Let their table be made a snare, and a trap, and a
stumbling block, and a recompense unto them:
10. Let their eyes be darkened, that they may not see, and bow down their back
always.
This all happened to them by way of the voluntary hardening of their
hearts as described in a previous paragraph.
11. I say then, Have they stumbled that they should fall? God forbid: but rather through their fall salvation is come unto the Gentiles, for to provoke them to jealousy.
12. Now if the fall of them be the riches of the world, and the diminishing of them the riches of the Gentiles; how much more their
fullness?
13. For I speak to you Gentiles, inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify mine office:
14. If by any means I may provoke to emulation them which are my flesh, and might save some of them.
15. For if the casting away of them be the reconciling of the world, what shall the receiving of them be, but life from the dead?
This salvation being for the Israelite every bit as much as for the
nations.
16. For if the first fruit be holy, the lump is also holy: and if the root be holy, so are the branches.
17. And if some of the branches be broken off, and you, being a wild olive tree,
were grafted in among them, and with them partake of the root and fatness of the olive tree;
18. Boast not against the branches. But if you boast, thou bear not the root, but the root
bears you.
19. You might say then, The branches were broken off, that I might be grafted in.
20. Well; because of unbelief they were broken off, and you stand by faith. Be not
high minded, but fear:
21. For if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he also spare not
you.
22. Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but toward
you, goodness, if you continue in his goodness: otherwise you also
shall be cut off.
23. And they also, if they abide not still in unbelief, shall be graft in: for God is able to
graft them in again.
24. For if you wert cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and
grafted contrary to nature into a good olive tree: how much more shall these, which be the natural branches, be
grafted into their own olive tree?
It is imperative to understand that the root spoken of here is not
the race of Israel but the faith of Abraham and all the OT saints. Those
who were descendants by race but did not voluntarily embrace the faith
of their Ancestor Abraham were cut off, and those of any race who of an
act of their own volition embrace it are grafted into that tree. Those
Israelis who do not remain in their unbelief will also be grafted back
into the tree. The key to all of this is how a man responds to the Almighty
who is calling him, that grace that reaches down from heaven to all men
inviting them to be reconciled and saved.
25. For I don't want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers, lest
you should be wise in your own eyes; that this blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the
full number of the nations be come in.
This is Bible prophecy that fits perfectly into the very nature of
the gospel of Jesus Christ and it's power to change the world. The full
number of the nations coming in is not a specific date that God has
chosen as a cut off point when God ends his focus of bringing his grace
to the nations and brings it to a modern day nation of Israel or
Jewish people in general as radical dispensationalism teaches in it's
various forms and theories, along with it's end of the world
prognostications. It is however, a time (that has hopefully begun) where
such a large and/or strategic portion of the world's population serve
the Almighty that through their influence, power, and the governments
they form, prevent Satan from his perpetual destructions against the
natural descendents of Israel. But in even a greater way than
this through their love that never fails and their faith (that Abraham possessed)
win the hearts and trust of the Israelis and those of Jewish descent
thereby rendering the gospel desirable to them, thereby bringing
millions to salvation and reconciliation.
The reader needs to take heed, when considering the many end of the
world scenarios, to the fact in that if anyone has proven that seeing
with the eyes does not lead to faith and salvation, Israel has. If the
Gospel of Jesus Christ brought through love and faith was not the most
effective and only way that God could save men he would have elected
another way that was better. If a majority of the natural descendants
of Abraham are to be saved in the future it will by necessity be by the
gospel of Jesus Christ. Cataclysmic end of the world events as erroneously
taught or seeing Jesus in the sky will, by their very nature, do exactly
what they did in the first covenant, and God's will is salvation not
destruction for all men, and especially those of Jewish descent.
26. And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of
Zion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob:
27. For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins.
Once more it is imperative to not take these two verses out of
the context of the voluntary and put it back into the ill conceived concept
of salvation by race. The Israel spoken of here is still in the context
of Romans 9: 6-8, i.e. those who call on the name of the
Lord. It, taken with the proceeding prophecy, undoubtedly means
that when the fullness of the nations are sufficiently enlightened many
millions of Israelis by race will accept the gospel and their savoir
through the kindness, love, and mercy shown towards them..
28. As concerning the gospel, they are enemies for your sakes: but as touching the election, they are beloved for the fathers' sakes.
29. For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance.
As it is written in Timothy 2:4 God desires all men to be saved and
to come to the knowledge of the truth.
30. For just like you in times past have not believed God, yet have now obtained mercy through their unbelief:
31. Even so have these also though now not believing, that through your mercy they also may obtain mercy.
32. For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all.
33. O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!
34. For who has known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counselor?
35. Or who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed back to him again?
36. For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen.
That says it all, amen and praise God!
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