Is the Church a “Parenthesis” Not Foretold by the Prophets?
Christ’s resurrection, ascension to His throne, and the subsequent sending of the Holy Spirit is emphatically by the apostles explained to be a fulfillment of the prophecies which describe a restoration of the house of Israel and the house of Judah, as also foretold in Isaiah 11:13. It is not the building of a new thing at all. It is the building and restoration of a remnant of Israel according to the Spirit of grace that is inclusive of a remnant out of the Gentiles as well according to the same Spirit of grace. Clearly, it is not the creation of a separate body of believers. It is not a new Church or building program, but a building up of the old Church that grows and grows to become a holy temple in the Lord (Eph. 2:21). Isaiah foretold of these days of Israel’s small beginnings that would be enlarged upon, when he writes:
In days to come Jacob will take root, Israel will bud and blossom and fill all the world with fruit. (27:6).And again,
Enlarge the place of your tent, stretch your tent curtains wide, do not hold back; lengthen your cords, strengthen your stakes. For you will spread out to the right and to the left; your descendants will dispossess nations and settle in their desolate cities (Isa. 54:2-3).If you will notice, these immediate verses above in Isaiah 54:2-3 are in the same context that Paul quotes from in Galatians of there being more of the children of the barren woman (heavenly Jerusalem) than of her (earthly Jerusalem) who could physically bear children (cp. Gal. 4:27; Isa. 54:1). Need I say anymore? And get this, all of this takes us back to the Tabernacle of Moses with its rudimentary tent pegs and ropes which was all a type of Christ and His Church. And the allusion is again carried over even to the holy city of New Jerusalem from above mentioned in Isaiah 33:20-24:
Look upon Zion, the city of our festivals; your eyes will see Jerusalem, a peaceful abode, a tent that will not be moved; its stakes will never be pulled up, nor any of its ropes broken. There the LORD will be our Mighty One. It will be like a place of broad rivers and streams. No galley with oars will ride them, no mighty ship will sail them. For the LORD is our Judge, the LORD is our Lawgiver, the LORD is our King; it is He who will save us. Your rigging hangs loose: The mast is not held secure, the sail is not spread. Then an abundance of spoils will be divided and even the lame will carry off plunder. No one living in Zion will say, “I am ill”; and the sins of those who dwell there will be forgiven.Our bodies are the outer shell of the tabernacle in which we are offered up now to God as living sacrifices. Our soul is the Holy Place wherein our wills and emotions are enlightened. And our spirit is the Holy of Holies wherein the Spirit of God now dwells, with His Spirit testifying (or witnessing) with our spirit that we are the children of God.
The city of Jerusalem in Solomon’s day which housed, enshrined, and protected the temple of the Holy Place and Holy of Holies represents all of these same ideas, and whose “walls” are now said to be spiritually called “salvation” (or her deliverance) and her gates “praise” (Isa. 60:18; cp. also 26:1; 49:16; 56:5), and that “the righteous nation may enter, the nation that keeps faith" (Isa. 26:2). We, the Church, are now that holy nation that keeps faith (Isa. 62:12; Mat. 21:43; 1Pet. 2:9). And in Revelation, the Church (the bride and wife of the Lamb; cp. Rev. 21:2, 9), is now said to be both city and temple whose dimensions are square like that of the Holy of Holies (with the type again pointing to the antitype). And the author of Hebrews adds that we all have this hope “as an anchor to our souls” (like the tent pegs and ropes in the tabernacle of Moses) which is both sure and steadfast; immovable and unshakable. Without a doubt, we are both the city and temple in which all of this speaks of and represents. For even of Abraham it was said: “For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God,” and not built by man (cf. Heb. 11:10); and that we have now come[1] (not later) to the heavenly Mount Zion and Jerusalem, the city of the living God…to the Church of the firstborn-ones (cf. Heb. 12:22; lit. trans.); a city whose foundation stones are now the apostles and prophets (cf. Eph. 2:20; Rev. 21:14). And get this, what all started out as small beginnings with the Holy of Holies being 15 ft. x 15 ft. x 15 ft. in the Tabernacle of Moses, grew twice the size to 30 ft. x 30 ft. x 30 ft. in Solomon’s days, ten times that amount by 150 ft. x 150 ft. x 150 ft. in Ezekiel’s vision of the formation of the Church of Israel, to finally grow exponentially 528,000 times to 1,500 mi. x 1,500 mi. x 1,500 mi. (or, 7,920,000 ft.) in Revelation[2], going way beyond Israel’s natural borders. If all of this doesn’t take us back to the original 15 foot square dimensions of the Holy Holies in the Tabernacle of Moses, I don’t know what does. Clearly, of a truth, Paul by revelation had all of this in mind when he spoke of the height, depth and breadth of God’s love for all of His elect from both Jews and Gentiles, called His Church, called-out and gathered together as one assembly from all over the earth. The “Rock” (Christ) that struck the great image in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream which “became like chaff on a threshing floor,” has become “a huge mountain” that has “filled the whole earth” (Dan. 2:35). No wonder that Christ could say that no longer would God be worshiped at a literal mountain in Palestine; for He would be worshiped from a spiritual mountain that was to encompass the whole earth; from a heavenly city that was to light up the whole world; and from a spiritual temple made up of “living stones” not made with men’s hands, and who now receives “living sacrifices” from the whole earth in which “all nations will stream into” (Isa. 2:2) as a result of our “priestly duty of proclaiming the gospel of God, so that the Gentiles might become an offering acceptable to God, sanctified by the Holy Spirit” (Rom. 15:16). The Apostles’ mandate by Christ to make disciples of all nations beyond Israel’s borders, as depicted in the size and magnitude of this spiritual city and temple that also extends beyond Israel’s borders, takes the concept of being fruitful and multiplying to a whole new level altogether.
It is Isaiah who also further declares of this ethereal and magnificent building or tent,
You have enlarged the nation, O LORD; you have enlarged the nation. You have gained glory for Yourself; You have extended all the borders of the land. (Isa. 26:15).And again,
You have enlarged the nation and increased their joy; they rejoice before you as people rejoice at the harvest, as men rejoice when dividing plunder (Isa. 9:6).And if all that were not enough, it is again Isaiah who says with regards to the “barren” woman mentioned above who is Jerusalem and the Israel of God from above:
“Lift up your eyes and look around; all your sons gather and come to you. As surely as I live,” declares the LORD, “you will wear them all as ornaments; you will put them on, like a bride. Though you were ruined and made desolate and your land laid waste, now you will be too small for your people, and those who devoured you will be far away. The children born during your bereavement will yet say in your hearing, ‘This place is too small for us; give us more space to live in.’ Then you will say in your heart, ‘Who bore me these? I was bereaved and barren; I was exiled and rejected. Who brought these up? I was left all alone, but these—where have they come from?’ This is what the Sovereign LORD says: “See, I will beckon to the Gentiles, I will lift up My banner to the peoples; they will bring your sons in their arms and carry your daughters on their shoulders” (50:19-22).And again:
“Before she goes into labor, she gives birth; before the pains come upon her, she delivers a son. Who has ever heard of such a thing? Who has ever seen such things? Can a country be born in a day or a nation be brought forth in a moment? Yet no sooner is Zion in labor than she gives birth to her children. Do I bring to the moment of birth and not give delivery?” says the LORD. “Do I close up the womb when I bring to delivery?” says your God. “Rejoice with Jerusalem and be glad for her, all you who love her; rejoice greatly with her, all you who mourn over her. For you will nurse and be satisfied at her comforting breasts; you will drink deeply and delight in her overflowing abundance.” For this is what the LORD says: “I will extend peace to her like a river, and the wealth of nations like a flooding stream; you will nurse and be carried on her arm and dandled on her knees. As a mother comforts her child, so will I comfort you; and you will be comforted over Jerusalem.” When you see this, your heart will rejoice and you will flourish like grass; the hand of the LORD will be made known to his servants, but his fury will be shown to his foes (Isa. 66:7-14).Jesus likewise said all these things by way of another similitude: “Say not, There are yet four months, and then comes harvest? Behold, I say unto you, lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest” (Jhn. 4:35, KJ 2000 Bible).
In Acts 2:16-18, Peter speaks of the activities on Pentecost as being a fulfillment of what the prophet Joel had likewise stated with regards to God pouring out His Spirit upon His spiritual body, Israel. This citation by Peter of Joel’s prophecy stops short, but the prophet Joel actually goes on to say:
It will so happen that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be delivered. For on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be those who survive, just as the Lord has promised; the remnant will be those whom the Lord will call. For look! In those days and at that time I will return the exiles to Judah and Jerusalem (Joel 2:32-3:1).This goes hand in hand with the words of Amos where he spoke of Israel being shaken as a sieve and that not a pebble[3] (the remnant) will reach the ground except for the sinners among God’s people. This occurred in the days of Christ’s ministry in the saving of His remnant and sheep from the house of Israel and Judah; and, in the destruction of all the sinners among His people in 70 A.D. via the Roman armies, as foretold in Matthew 24.
Here, in Joel above, the pouring out upon all flesh is connected with what follows, the returning of the exiles to Judah and Jerusalem. Again, this is absolute and unequivocal evidence that the so-called building of a separate entity called “the Church” was really referring to the re-establishment, building and restoration of the exiled house of Israel. Not a new Church or assembly of called-out ones at all. Not a new body of believers. And not a new thing in the sense that God had never had a spiritual remnant of believers prior to the cross of Christ. But an “enlarging” of that which had in its initial formation a very small beginning. Noah and his family were just a glaring example of this.
Acts chapter three records the event immediately following Pentecost. Here Peter speaks of those events as what all the Prophets wrote about in the Law long ago:
But this is how God fulfilled what he had foretold through all the prophets, saying that his Christ would suffer. Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord, and that he may send the Christ, who has been appointed for you—even Jesus. He must remain in heaven until the time comes for God to restore everything, as he promised long ago through his holy prophets. For Moses said, “The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own people; you must listen to everything he tells you. Anyone who does not listen to him will be completely cut off from among his people.” Indeed, all the prophets from Samuel on, as many as have spoken, have foretold these days. And you are heirs of the prophets and of the covenant God made with your fathers. He said to Abraham, “Through your offspring all peoples on earth will be blessed.” When God raised up his servant, he sent him first to you to bless you by turning each of you from your wicked ways (Acts 3:18-26 ).Peter’s first epistle describes the events of Pentecost as the beginning of the fulfillment of the restoration and building of the house and nation of Israel as "a royal priesthood" and "holy nation," and as that which was spoken of by “all” of the Law and the prophets. There is no longer any “mystery” here for those with the ears to hear it and the eyes to see it. It is only a "mystery" to those who are nearsighted and blind. And it is just such blind leaders and teachers as these who are leading God’s people to follow after the doctrines of devils and demons, which are really nothing more than natural Jewish myths and fables that have overthrown the houses of some.
As one can see, so far none of this that the prophets spoke about is sounding like a "new" Church at all, but really only a restoration and building-up of the old one that Stephen said had in days long ago wandered in the wilderness (albeit with wretched sinners in their midst who were really not God’s people at all, not unlike many who are in the Church today).
All of what occurred in Acts was simply the beginning of the restoration of Israel and Judah which had fallen down in disrepair. But Christ said He would restore it and build it up once again. And to this all the prophets agree. The prophets stated that their Messiah would rebuild Israel, not create something new; and that He would restore Israel, not scatter Israel. So, if Jesus said He is going to build a new Church, should the understanding of that not agree with the prophets and of what the Messiah was said to come and do? Indeed, Peter above has just claimed that what God was doing with present Israel and with the Gentiles was due to the fact that they were “heirs of the prophets and of the covenant God made with your fathers,” and that through Abraham’s seed (which we now all know is Christ) “all peoples on earth will be blessed.” Not with two separate and distinct groups of people, but with one. Not with them forming a Gentile nation, but with the Gentiles becoming citizens with Israel and forming one nation that is still called “Israel.” Israel doesn’t come into the Church. The true Israel of God according to the Spirit, has always been “the Church.” It is the Gentiles who come into Christ’s Church called “Israel” from of old, and who surname themselves with that same name via adoption. And, actually, if the truth were really known, even natural Jews who become spiritual Jews are so by way of “adoption”; for no one is of this Israel of God by natural descent (again, see Jhn. 1:13; Rom. 9:16). Even Jesus himself affirmed this of the "natural" Jews in His day in John 8:39-47 and Rev. 2:9; 3:9).
Again, for those who continue to insist that the apostles were describing a "new" thing that was created—i.e., the Church—surely this so-called "new" assembly of believers would never call themselves “sons (or heirs) of the prophets and of the covenant…of the fathers.” Yet this is precisely who Peter is speaking to. He’s speaking to the Israel according to the Spirit, and not to some alleged New Testament Church apart from this Israel of God. Therefore, Christ’s response to Peter’s confession in Matthew 16:18 must be understood as describing the Messiah’s work that He came to do to build and restore the house of Israel (again, not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit) as foretold so many times by the prophets of old and as James declares, “known from the beginning of the world.” But, again, only “known” to those who have the eyes to see it and the ears to hear it of what it is the Spirit has been truly saying all along concerning them, and them alone.
Is There a Future For Natural Israel Here on Earth Apart From Spiritual Israel in Heaven?
Christ’s next statement in Mat. 16:19 to Peter, must be understood in the context
in which it is declared:
And I will give to thee the keys of the reign of the heavens, and whatever you bind upon the earth shall be having been bound in the heavens, and whatever you loose upon the earth shall be having been loosed in the heavens” (lit. trans.; see also YLT).There is little debate on the crux of this statement. Jesus, the ruling and reigning Messiah at His ascension to His throne at the right hand of the Father (see Mk.16:19 and Rev. 3:21), is speaking of giving regal authority to Peter. Binding and loosening is a Hebrew idiom for exercising authority. In a round-about-way Jesus says the same thing in Rev. 3:7, “These are the words of Him who is holy and true, who holds the key of David. What He opens no one can shut, and what He shuts no one can open.” So, when the angel said to Mary concerning the Messiah in Luke 1:32-33 that, “the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David and will reign over the house of Jacob forever,” and that “His kingdom will never end,” this is what Jesus is talking about here to Peter. Being a flesh and blood son of David gave Christ the legal right through both Joseph and Mary to reign and sit enthroned as king over David’s (or even Jacob’s) house forever. This “house” is the house of Israel born after the Spirit in which Christ’s heavenly kingdom, rule and reign will “never end.” If we were talking here about an earthly kingdom, rule, and reign, then, of course, that would naturally come to an end as all earthly kingdoms do. But this is not the nature of Christ’s kingdom, rule, and reign being spoken of here---which is very telling indeed. It is the kingdom that Christ told Pilate about that He said He was “King” over, that is “not of this world,” “from another place,” and which cannot be seen unless one is born-again (Jhn. 3:3). It is the day in which we are now living wherein “living water will flow out from Jerusalem, half to the eastern sea and half to the western sea, both in summer and in winter,” wherein “the Lord will be King over the whole land” (cf. Zech. 14:8, 9). It is on this day that the Lord also says through Zechariah that He will be “one Lord” among His people “and His name the only name” for them (ibid). And it is at this time also “that the survivors [or remnant] from all the nations that have attacked Jerusalem [that is Jerusalem from above; Gal. 4:26] will go up year after year to worship the King, the Lord Almighty, and to keep the Feast of Tabernacles” (Zech. 14:16)---in the same manner that one is now said by Paul to “keep the Feast” of Passover in 1Cor. 5:8---no longer in a natural way, but in a spiritual way. Therefore, let us also“keep the feast [and all the feasts], not with the old leaven of malice and wickedness, but with bread without leaven—with the bread of sincerity and truth” (ibid).
For those who can receive it, even Isaiah foretold of these days that we are now living, wherein the Messiah would “stand as a banner for the peoples; the nations will rally to Him…He will raise a banner for the nations and gather the exiles of Israel; He will assemble the scattered people of Judah from the four quarters of the earth. Ephraim’s jealousy will vanish, and Judah’s enemies will be cut-off; Ephraim will not be jealous of Judah, nor Judah hostile toward Ephraim. They will swoop down on the slopes of Philistia to the west; together they will plunder the people to the east. They will lay hands on Edom and Moab, and the Ammonites will be subject to them. The LORD will dry up the gulf of the Egyptian sea; with a scorching wind He will sweep His hand over the Euphrates River. He will break it up into seven streams so that men can cross over in sandals. There will be a highway for the remnant of His people that is left from Assyria, as there was for Israel when they came up from Egypt” (Isa. 11:10, 12-16).
“Seas” and “Rivers” in the prophets were often analogous to the ungodly people in the clutches of Satan who would hold God’s people at bay so that they could not worship the Lord as freely as they would like to.[4] But the Lord says in Isaiah that He will remove all such obstacles so that His people could cross over unhindered via His "highway" of "holiness" in Isaiah 35:8 from the kingdom of darkness in this world, into His glorious promised land and kingdom of light to worship Him freely with no restraints whatsoever. Truly, this is the day (for the most part) that we are living in right now. The knowledge of the Lord has been covering this earth, just as He said it would, as the waters cover the sea. And His kingdom that is not seen with the natural eye is as a “great mountain” that is “filling the whole earth” from Christ's first coming to His second coming, just as the prophet Daniel had alluded to (cf. Dan. 4:35; see also 1Cor. 15:25). A literal mountain here in Daniel (and even in Isaiah 2) is out of the question, for a singular literal mountain cannot fill the whole earth, and especially not a round earth. And it should not go without saying here that "mountains" in Scripture are typical of kings or kingdoms.
In the days that we are now living in, the Lord speaks through Isaiah of lowering lofty mountains, hills, trees and the like, with the Lord alone being exalted in that day:
The Lord Almighty has a day in store for all the proud and lofty, for all that is exalted (and they will be humbled), for all the cedars of Lebanon, tall and lofty, and all the oaks of Bashan, for all the towering mountains and all the high hills, for every lofty tower and every fortified wall, for every trading ship and every stately vessel. The arrogance of man will be brought low and the pride of men humbled; the Lord alone will be exalted in that day (Isa. 2:12-17).And it is John the Baptist who likewise cried out:
As is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet: "A voice of one calling in the desert, Prepare the WAY for the Lord, make straight paths for Him. Every valley shall be filled in [or raised], every mountain and hill made low. The crooked roads shall become straight, the rough WAYS smooth. And all mankind will see God's salvation” (Lke. 3:5-6).“Every mountain and hill will be brought low, and every valley filled in [or raised]” is speaking of the humbling and exalting process in the kingdom of God in the world with people right now, not sometime later literally in the future. Clearly, the Lord is not speaking about "literal" mountains being made low, nor of "literal" valleys being filled in (or raised up). He is talking about humbling the proud and lifting up the lowly, the humble, and the poor in spirit right now. The Lord's "mountain" or kingdom made up of His people is being "exalted," while all other "mountains" (or kingdoms of peoples) are being abased. And the "crooked roads" and "ways" (think of "HIGHways" again) are made straight for God's people to enter into all that God has for them.
So now, you tell me whose theology has really "replaced" whose here? Christ and His holy apostles and prophets knew of no other theology for Israel other than what has been described above. Indeed, “all the prophets from Samuel on, as many as have spoken, have foretold these days. And you are heirs of the prophets and of the covenant God made with your fathers.” Indeed, God said to Abraham, “Through your offspring [or seed, which is Christ] all peoples on earth will be blessed.”
Neither “circumcision nor uncircumcision is of any importance; but only a renewed nature” (Gal. 6:15, Weymouth trans.), which is the “new creation.” And Paul says that all who shall regulate their lives by this principle or rule—“peace and mercy be upon them, and upon the Israel of God” (Gal. 6:16, NASB). There is an interesting thing to note here behind this statement of Paul’s. Paul was very much familiar with it. It is taken right from the natural Jew's Eighteen Benedictions where they also conclude: “Grant peace, goodness, blessing, grace, lovingkindness and mercy unto us and unto all Israel, Your people.” Now, may I ask, are the Jews distinguishing between “unto us” and “and unto all Israel, Your people” in this prayer as referring to two different groups or classes of people by using the conjunction "and," as all dispensationalists would have us to believe in Gal. 6:16? The answer is quite obvious. Paul, who was well acquainted with this prayer, knew exactly what he was saying when repeating this blessing from God over His true people called "Israel," made up of both Jews and Gentiles. It was to “them” alone (or “unto us” in natural Israel’s case in their benediction) “and to the…Israel of God,” who are all of God’s chosen spiritual Jews in Christ from both Jews and Gentiles. And Paul reiterates this concept of who is actually inwardly a true “Jew” in Rom. 2:28-29. Gentiles and Jews become, in Christ, the true Jews and Israelites indeed in whom there is no guile. And it is no different from natural Jews proselytizing Gentiles with them likewise becoming Jews and Israelites. And just in case there is any who would doubt all of this, Jesus himself says of all natural Jews outside of Him and His Church: “I will make those who are of the synagogue of Satan [and not ‘of God’], who claim to be Jews though they are not, but are liars—I will make them come and fall down at your [our] feet and acknowledge that I have love you [not them]” (Rev. 3:9). Where have we heard this kind of language before? In “Jacob have I loved, Esau have I hated” (Mal. 1:2-3; Rom. 9:13). And regardless of how one defines “hated” here, Israel according the flesh is not loved, just like Esau, and thus “cast out” like Hagar and Ishmael, never to share in the inheritance with the free woman’s son” (Gal. 4:30). So, whose their “daddy” now? Not God! Again, Jesus said so in John 8:38, 41, 42, 44.
It is the Judaistic theology of dispensationalism that has truly “replaced” God’s true people for a people that really do not belong to God at all, but who are of their father the devil (cf. Jhn. 8:44), and not loved by God at all as He loves us. One never finds Jesus and His apostles praying for the “peace of God’s chosen people” with regards to all natural Jews who are born only according to the flesh. It was the furthest thing from their vocabulary.[5] But we do find Paul praying for “peace and mercy” upon those who are the true and bonafide “Israel of God.” What Jesus told His disciples upon entering a Jewish house in their day was that “Whatever town or village you enter, search for some worthy person there and stay at his house until you leave. As you enter the home, give it your greeting. If the home is deserving, let your peace rest on it; if it is not, let your peace return to you. If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, shake the dust off your feet when you leave that home or town. I tell you the truth, it will be more bearable for Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that town. I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves” (Mat. 10:11-16). Who were these “wolves” and those who would not “welcome you or listen to your words” and for which “your peace is to return to you”? The same ones that Jesus describes in Mat. 7:15 concerning the Jewish scribes and Pharisees who were outwardly dressed in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly were ravening wolves and who spared not the flock of God like Saul of Tarsus. There is no “peace,” says the Lord, for the wicked (cf. Psm. 48:22). But we are to pray for peace upon the true Israel of God and the New Jerusalem from above. He that blesses us, blesses Christ. He who receives us, receives Christ (cp. Mat. 25:34-46). And “anyone who receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward, and anyone who receives a righteous man because he is a righteous man will receive a righteous man’s reward. And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is My disciple, I tell you the truth, he will certainly not lose his reward” (Mat. 10:41-42).
"I will bless those who bless Abraham" does not mean I will bless those who bless faithless natural Israel or Jews according to the flesh. Such an idea is diametrically opposed to God’s (and I might add, Christ’s) will as delineated above, and in all of the four gospels—not to mention in all of the epistles. What Jeremiah and God had said to the sinners among His true people of faith in those days, still holds true even more so today: “But I said, alas, Sovereign Lord! The prophets keep telling them, ‘You will not see the sword or suffer famine. Indeed, I will give you lasting peace in this place’” (Jer. 14:13). And the Lord’s reply is: “They dress the wound of My people as though it were not serious. “Peace, peace,” they say, when there is no peace.” (Jer. 8:11). And while people are saying, “Peace and safety, utter destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape” (1Ths. 5:3). Like Israel’s false prophets of old, similar men in our day “have made men to hope that the word [which they are proclaiming] would be confirmed” (Ezk. 13:6, ASV). But it won’t!
The fact of the matter now remains that Israel according to the flesh is no longer in a binding covenantal relationship with the Lord as “My people.” That covenantal relationship ended with them at the cross. Anything that was to be “everlasting” was in the context of them being Abraham’s descendents through faith in Christ. And even their former old covenantal relationship with God didn’t guarantee them unequivocal “peace,” for it is again as God had said to them back then in sending forth the Babylonians: “Go through her vineyards and ravage them, but do not destroy them completely. Strip off her branches, for these people do not belong to the Lord” (Jer. 5:10). And again, “Among My people are wicked men” (v. 26). The unbelieving scribes and Pharisees in Jesus’ day were likewise a testament to this fact.
In conclusion, to all of “God’s holy people…, the faithful brothers and sisters in Christ: Grace and peace to you from God our Father” (Col. 1:2). And to “all…who are loved by God and called to be His holy people: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ” (Rom. 1:7). And it is also in these words of Christ that I now say unto you: Peace I leave with you, not as the world gives, give I unto you. And may “The God of peace be with you all. Amen” (Rom. 15:33). Now go therefore in this YOUR peace.
Footnotes:
[1] This verb “come” is a perfect active indicative, which really says that this began in the past with continuing results in the present.
[2] The Holy of Holies in the Tabernacle of Moses was 15 ft. x 15 ft. x 15 ft. as determined by measuring the total length of the wooden sockets inlaid with silver in which the tent poles sat in (which was 10 cu. x 10 cu. x 10 cu.). In the Temple of Solomon everything was doubled, with the Holy of Holies now being 30 ft. x 30 ft. x 30 ft., or 20 cubits square (1Kin. 6:2; 2Chr. 3:8). And in Ezekiel’s temple the Holy of Holies is 150 ft. x 150 ft. x 150 ft., or 100 cubits square (Ezk. 41:13). In John’s vision, the 150 feet in Ezekiel’s vision is multiplied many times over to give us a temple/city which is: 7,920,000 ft. x 7,920,000 ft. x 7,920,000 ft. square (there is 5,280 feet to one mile; 12,000 stadia is 1,500 miles; so 1,500 miles x 5,280 feet = 7,920,000 ft.).
As stated, there is 5,280 feet to one mile. Divided by the 15 feet of the Holy of Holies in the Tabernacle of Moses, this amount comes to 352 times that 15 feet can go into 5,280 feet. Now multiply this 352 that 15 feet can go into one mile, times 1,500 miles, and the number is 528,000 times that the perfect cube of the New Jerusalem has grown to since the Holy of Holies that is depicted in the Tabernacle of Moses.
[3] Also translated “grain” or “kernel” in many translations.
[4] For example, see particularly Isa. 8:7-8 mentioned just earlier concerning this “River,” and Isa. 5:30a; 17:12-13; Jer. 51:55; Ezk. 26:3, 19; and Rev. 17:15 concerning “seas.” Many more Scriptures could be cited as further examples of none of this to be taken literally. My book entitled: Jesus Concerning Israel, the Land, the Temple, and the City is also helpful in understanding a lot of this; as is my post called: Lions, Tigers and Bears---Oh My! on Isaiah 11.
[5] Psalm 122:6 is often quoted by naïve Christians that we must “pray for the peace of [natural] Jerusalem,” and that we must also claim “peace be upon Israel” as mentioned in Psalm 125:5 and 128:6. But is this what we are to do now? And how can we be so sure that natural Jerusalem and Israel are what David really had in mind? In fact, when we read the Psalms of David he seems to have things in mind that are more heavenly and ethereal in nature than of anything earthly. But let’s give him the benefit of the doubt and assume he is talking about the literal city of Jerusalem and Israel. Even if that were so, in David’s mind, I’m sure, he was thinking of Jerusalem and Israel when they were under the good graces of God and still under their old covenant in which all of this was still applicable. Such a prayer today over natural Jerusalem filled with the brood of vipers and snakes that are there today, and who flat-out deny having faith in Christ or God as David and many of his contemporaries had back then, becomes a no-brainer that such a prayer over present-day Jerusalem and Israel should not even be entertained by us (cp. Gal. 4:21-31). In fact, some Jews online who are more familiar with the Hebrew, claim that Psalm 122:6 isn’t even to be understood as a prayer at all, but as a petition of David to the people to inquire of Jerusalem’s present state or condition. And I quote:
"We pray for the land and for the ultimate peace, the salvation of the people of Israel. We pray for God to protect and enlarge the borders and that He would not allow the world to pressure Israel into giving up her land. But based on that one verse in Psalm 122, if you read it in Hebrew, even the Christians who have a heart for Israel are praying amiss! The problem lies exactly here. You see, reading the verse in Hebrew in which, of course, it was originally written, we see that the verse does not require us to pray that there will be peace in Jerusalem at all. Actually, when one reads the Biblical end time prophecies carefully, it becomes quite clear that peace in Jerusalem is entirely out of the picture at this time. If we’re not to pray for her peace, what does verse 6 tell us to do? A more accurate translation of this commandment is, “Ask how is Jerusalem doing.” The same phrase appears when Jeremiah describes the fatal situation in Jerusalem, and then stops and cries out, “Who will have pity on you, Jerusalem? Who will mourn for you? Who will stop to ask how you are?” (Jer. 15:5). This phrase, “Who will ask how you are?” is the same as the one in Ps. 122:6 which is wrongly translated as a command to pray for the peace of Jerusalem. This phrase does not ask us to pray automatically for peace, but to get involved, to express interest, to develop a relationship with the land and the people, so we can know how they are really doing. Then we will begin to see why there is no peace within her walls" (cited online, 2/25/14, at: http://sidroth.org/articles/pray-peace-jerusalem-0).So the question now can be reasonably asked: “Did, or would, Jesus and His apostles pray for the peace of natural Jerusalem?” We know Paul desired that his kinsmen according to the flesh would be saved according to Rom. 10:1, admitting that they refused to “submit to God’s righteousness” (v. 3). And we also know that Jesus wept over the condition and state of Jerusalem who would not allow Him to gather her “chicks” (or children) unto Himself (Mat. 23:37). But nowhere do we find Jesus or His apostles pronouncing blessings or peace over them. In fact, Jesus said of them, “If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes” (Lke. 19:42). And it is upon this statement that He adds: “The days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you and encircle you and hem you in on every side. They will dash you to the ground, you and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of God’s coming to you” (vv. 43-44). These are the ones that Jesus had said elsewhere were of their father the devil (Jhn. 8:44), and who were to be “cast out” in Mat. 8:12 and Lke. 13:28. And Paul said the same thing of them in Gal. 4:30 of whom he likened unto Hagar and Ishmael, and not unto Sarah and Isaac at all. We are called “children of promise” like Isaac in verse 28, not them.
No comments:
Post a Comment