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Hoyte Nelson's Poems/ Reflections & Biblical Essays
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Essay The Hope of Israel (A
summary from “Doctrinal
Essays,” Sometime repetitive) (Unless otherwise indicated, all scriptural quotations are
taken from the New American Standard Version of the Bible, highlighted for
emphasis). To
the believer, the promise of the return of Christ is called, “The blessed
Hope” (Titus 2: 13). As I get older, the dreams of life have been redirected.
I no longer look for any life enrichment beyond family, church, friends, and the
normal things for daily living, but I do look forward for the things that are
eternal. The focus of this article is to emphasis this one
truth: That the only hope for Israel (the “Sons of Jacob)”is in the mystery
that was kept secret, (not only from the prophets, but from the angels); that
is, the Jew and Gentle, are to be one body in Christ Jesus in God’s eternal
kingdom (Ephesians 3: 7-10; 29). The
apostle Paul wrote, “it is not the
children of the flesh who are children of God, but the children of the promise
are regarded as descendants” (Romans 9: 8). In other words, it not national
Israel (Jews) who are the children of God, but the children of the promise given
to Abraham and fulfilled in Christ” (Galatians 3:6-9). True,
God chose Israel for his divine purposes having to do with His redemptive
purposes for all mankind (John 3:16). Through them, we have the scriptures; the
Messiah, and as God’s chosen prophets, the proclamation of the promise made to
Abraham; fulfilled in Jesus Christ. Again, the apostle Paul, in Galatians
writes, “Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. He does not
say, “and to seeds, as referring to
many (the Jews, or Israel), but rather to
one, and to your seed, that is, Christ” (Galatians 3: 15,16). Again in verse
29 Paul says, “And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s
descendants, heirs according to promise. To
Adam, it was the promise, by the seed of women: “And
I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed;
He shall bruise you on the head, and you shall bruise him on the heel.” (Genesis
3: 15). [The gospel truth is contained in this promise, “by the seed of
women.]” To
Abraham, it was the promise visualized: Now
the Lord said to Abram, (Abraham)“go
forth from your country, and from your relatives, and from your father’s
house, to the land which I will show you; And I will make you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great,
and so you shall be a blessing; and I will bless those who bless you, and the
one who curses you I will curse, and
in you all the families
of the earth will be blessed”
(Genesis 12: 3). You will notice that this covenant was not for Israel only, but
for the families of the earth, including Israel. This is what Peter says on the
day of Pentecost: “And it shall
come to pass, that whosoever shall
call on the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Act 2: 21), [including the
Jews]. The
Apostle Paul asked this question: “What advantage then has the Jew? (Romans
3:1) It was a rhetorical question
because he wanted to make a point, and that is this:
“But to them was given the oracles of God.” And this was their prime
advantage; they were to be the people, conduit if you please, through which God
would fulfill His promise! The salvation was purposed in the “promise” first
given to Adam, renewed with Abraham, and fulfilled in Christ. This promise was a
universal in scope. “And if you belong to
Christ, then you are Abraham’s descendants, heirs according to the promise” (Galatians
3:29). It
is said in Romans, “ For I do not want
you, brethren, to be uninformed of this mystery—so that you will not be wise
in your own estimation—that a partial hardening has happened to Israel until
the fullness of the Gentiles has come in (as one with the Jews; and with them as
one), so all Israel will be saved; just as it is written, The Deliverer will come from Zion, He will remove ungodliness from Jacob” (11: 25,26). Apostle
Paul who was chosen by God as an Apostle to the Gentiles; that is, that the
Gentiles would be one in Christ with the Jews, and they, as one, would make up
the body of Christ. (Ephesians 3: 15,16) This body, now called the “Church,
”would proclaim the message of the mystery. (Ephesians 3: 3-11, 21) In this
“mystery” God had always planned for man’s salvation; otherwise, it could
not have been “hid” (kept secret) from the prophets. (1
Peter 1:10,12; Colossians 1: 26) “As to this salvation, the prophets who
prophesied of the grace that would come to
you made careful searches and inquiries,…things which the angels longed to
look into,” (See 1 Peter: 1:
10-12).
The message contained in the mystery was never said to be the Church as
Israel was never said to be the object of the “promise,” but they were only
the messenger, chosen of God to share the message contained in the Promise
(mystery); The church today is now the messenger of the message contained in the
mystery; which is the oneness of the Jew and the Gentile as the makeup of the
people of God – called the church. I repeat: National Israel was never the
objects of God’s eternal purposes, but was chosen to be the conduit through
which God would use to bring His message of salvation to the world. This is also
true of the church. The church is not the mystery, but the messenger [conduit]
through which the “mystery,” is to be proclaimed: i.e., Jew and Gentile as
one in Christ. Long before the Jews determined that they would not receive the King
(Jesus) when He came two thousand years ago, He told His disciples that he would
build His church and the gates of hell would not prevail against it. (Matthew
16:18) Nothing happened in the first advent of Jesus that was not purposed from
eternity. The “Church” was not an after-thought with God; neither was the
church a “parenthesis”
instituted because the Jews had rejected Christ; otherwise, God’s purposes
would have been altered, and this could never be (Romans 8: 28)! What is the Church? The church is the
“called-out-ones” in Christ for the fulfillment of the great commission.
Just as Israel was the chosen ones of God for the fulfillment of the
“promise” that was fulfilled in Christ. (Exodus 12:3; Galatians 3: 29) To explain this truth, Paul said this, “But it is not
as though the word of God has failed. For they are not all Israel who are Israel
(by physical birth); neither are they all children because they are Abraham’s
descendants, but through Isaac your descendants will be named. That
is, it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the
children of the promise are regarded as descendants” (Romans 9:6-8).
Paul says, in verse 24 “even
us, whom He also called, not of the Jews only, but from the Gentiles also.”
Again the apostle, recorded these words “And the Scripture,
foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel
beforehand to Abraham, saying, in you shall all the nations shall be blessed.”
“... And if you belong to
Christ, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to Promise”
(Galatians 3:8,29). The wall of separation is no more. (Ephesians 2: 14), for we are now one body in Christ Jesus forever. The need for a “this world kingdom” to fulfill the eternal promises of God to His people can only be fulfilled in the New Heaven and the New Earth when Jesus comes again. (2 Peter 3: 9-13) That is the reason why a “Rapture” of the Church is never referenced in the scriptures; also, that is why there is no scriptural reference to a thousand-year-reign of Christ upon this earth. (See Revelation 20: 3-6) This passage is in references to the reign of Christ with His martyred saint who “come to life, (resurrected) and live and reign with Christ a thousand years,” but no reference to the earth, Israel or the Jews. The sons of Israel must be saved in this “Day of Salvation, for, now is the accepted time; today is the day of salvation” no matter if you are a Jew or a Gentile! `(2 Corinthians 6: 2…) The
Apostle Peter records these words, “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness;
but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any
should perish, but that all should
come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night;
in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and
the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that
are therein shall be burned up. Seeing
then that all these things shall be
dissolved, what manner of persons
ought ye to be in all holy
conversation and godliness, Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day
of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements
shall melt with fervent heat? 13 Nevertheless
we, according to his promise, look
for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelt righteousness.” This
is the Old Testament promise is recorded in Isaiah 65: 17,25 “For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be
remembered, nor come into mind.
The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like the
bullock: and dust shall be the
serpent’s meat. They shall not hurt nor destroy in my holy mountain, saith the
LORD. (KJV).” So
blessed are we who once were called “Gentiles in the flesh...uncircumcised...
that, at that time you were without
Christ; being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the
covenant of promises; having no hope, and without God in the world. But Now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were afar off have been
brought near by the blood of Christ. For He himself is our peace, who
made both into one (Jew and Gentile), and broken the barrier of the dividing
wall, by abolishing in His flesh the enmity, which is the Law of commandments
contained in ordinances, that in Himself He might make the two (Jew and Gentile)
into one new man, thus establishing peace.”
(Ephesians 2: 11,15). Again,
reading from Paul’s letter to the Galatians where it is said, “There is
neither Jew nor Greek (Gentile), there is neither slave nor free man, there is
neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you belong to Christ, then
you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to the promise” (Galatians
3: 28,29). There were two
basic promises made to the Sons of Jacob that have caused much debate concerning
Israel’s future: The first argument is that Israel has not yet occupy
all the land promised to them; therefore that is still in the future; however,
this is not scriptural. The scripture affirms: “So
the Lord gave Israel all the land,
which He had sworn to give to their fathers, and they possessed it and lived in
it. Not one of the good promises which the Lord
had made to the house of Israel failed; all
came to pass” (Joshua 21: 43,45). Secondly, unlike the “promise”
concerning the “Land of Palestine, etc.,” all the other promises concerning
Israel’s future are eternal in duration
Daniel 7:13-18; therefore, this can only be completed at the second coming of
Christ in the New Heaven and the New earth. (Revelation 21: 1, etc It
is of tremendous importance that we understand the answer that Jesus gave to His
disciples regarding the restoration of His Kingdom
to Israel” (Acts 1:6). [See The Restored
Kingdom on my web: <christianessays.org>] If Jesus had said “yes,”
to those disciples, this would have blown their mind for at this time they had
no understanding of what the kingdom would be like. The mystery had not at that
time been unveiled; that is, that the Gentiles would be redeemed by the blood of
the lamb, and that they would be one with Israel as the make-up of His body,
called “The Church.” Yes, Jesus did, “at
this time,” actually restore the Kingdom, but it was a spiritual kingdom,
and this they could not have understood it at that time.
It is at this point, in my opinion, much of the confusion in today
systems of theology have gone astray. When Paul quotes Isaiah saying, “Though the number of
the sons of Israel be like the sand
of the sea; it is the remnant that will be saved,” (Romans 9:27);
therefore, whatever the number is in for the future, the “remnant” spoken of
in this text will be the final count - there will not be an exception, ever!
When the apostle speaks of fullness of the Gentiles being a part of the old
olive tree; that is, when they are brought “in” as one with the
“remnant” as referenced by the apostle Paul, then the true Israel of God
will be complete. (Romans 11: 25,26). Again as Paul says, “For neither is
circumcision anything, nor un-circumcision, but a new creation. And those who
will walk by this rule, peace and mercy be
upon them, and upon the Israel of God” (Galatians 6: 15,16). |