HOPE OF ISRAEL 6: (God’s Warning through Moses)

Hello all,

This chapter continues with the Old Testament warnings to Israel through Moses. There is so very much that the Lord has given us through His Word that tells us exactly who Israel is. It is amazing to me that most do not even want to find out but would rather believe the lies of the dispensationalists and protect their false doctrine. Why? Could it be sensationalism…create more drama…cast more divisions so they can have more denominations…write more books…make more money…not make waves….why?

I have no choice but to keep on presenting what the Bible truly tells us about this issue, as it is crucial that we understand this, because if we do not we cannot rightly divide the Word…it is a major foundation stone, if lacking, makes it impossible to build on the Rock of Truth. Yes, I am passionate about this, but as always encourage everyone to find out for yourself, I am hoping I am helping you to do that.
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THE HOPE FOR ISRAEL: What is it?

By Philip Mauro

CHAPTER VI

GOD'S WARNINGS THROUGH MOSES (Continued)

The truth of the matter concerning which we are inquiring can be ascertained with certainty by a study of God's covenants with the children of Israel (to which partial consideration has been given in the preceding chapter), and of His messages to that people from time to time, given through His servants, the prophets.

We have already seen that, by the covenant of Sinai, God offered them the highest of all blessings, but upon the express condition of obedience; the terms being, "If ye will obey My voice indeed, and keep My Covenant" (Ex. 19:5,6). To this they all agreed, saying, "All that the Lord hath spoken, we will do" (v. 8). And this pledge of obedience was twice repeated by them after the Ten Commandments had been spoken to them (Ex. 24:3 and 7). Nevertheless, that covenant was broken by them within forty days through the idolatry of the golden calf ("Which My covenant they brake," Jer. 31:32).

Nevertheless, in response to Moses' intercession, God continued to acknowledge them as His people, and consented to go with them into the land that had been promised by Him to their fathers. But the covenant of Sinai was annulled, and a substitute covenant was made with them at the end of their wilderness journey, when they were about to enter and occupy the land of Canaan. For we have seen that in the last chapters of Deuteronomy is the record of another covenant, which, like the first, was accompanied by the giving of the law.

The additional (or substituted) covenant was made with the next succeeding generation following that which had broken the covenant of Horeb. It is very different in its terms, particularly in that those great promises - "ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto Me, ...and ye shall be unto Me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation" - are entirely omitted. (Those wonderful promises reappear in connection with God's new covenant people, the true "Israel," the "holy nation," I Pet. 2:9).

The covenant made at the end of the wilderness journey is limited to a recital of the terms and conditions upon which the children of Israel would be permitted to occupy the land of Canaan, which God had promised their fathers that He would give to their children; and as has been already stated, the children of Israel failed completely to keep the conditions of this covenant, even as they had failed to keep those of the other. Moreover, though the Lord God of their fathers sent to them repeatedly by His messengers, the prophets, to warn them, and to recall them to Himself, "because He had compassion upon His people, and on His dwelling place," yet "they mocked the messengers of God, and despised His words, and misused His prophets, until the wrath of the Lord arose against His people, till there was no remedy" (2 Chr. 36:15,16).

It is recorded that both Israel and Judah "kept not the commandments of the Lord their God"; wherefore "the Lord rejected all the seed of Israel, and afflicted them, and delivered them into the hand of spoilers, until He had cast them out of His sight" (2 Kings 17:18-20).

Nor was this national rebellion and apostasy ever repented of. For Christ declared concerning the generation of His day that they would fill up the measure of their fathers, and would bring upon them the wrath of God to the uttermost (Matt. 23:29-36). And this was repeated by Paul a short time before the final storm of judgment burst upon them (I Th. 2:14-16).

Close attention should be given to the last prophecy of Moses (Deut. 28-32) because of the clear light it throws upon the subject of our present inquiry. It foretells the history of the children of Israel, down to the very end thereof, showing that it would be a history of continued apostasy and rebellion, and of stubborn refusal to hear the voice of Jehovah by His servants the prophets; and it declares with marvelous exactitude and fullness of detail what the end of that nation was to be (Deut. 28:49-68). This has ever been accounted, by all who have given attention to it, one of the greatest wonders of prophecy. For example, Keith on the Prophecies contains an instructive comment upon this passage, from which I quote the following:

”The commonwealth of Israel from its establishment to its dissolution subsisted for more than fifteen hundred years. In delivering their law, Moses assumed more (much more) than the authority of a human legislator; for he asserted that he was invested with a divine commission; and he who founded their government foretold, notwithstanding the intervening of so many centuries, the precise manner of its overthrow.

"While they were yet wanderers in the wilderness, without a city and without a home, Moses threatened them with the destruction of their cities and the desolation of their country. Even while they were viewing for the first time the land of Palestine, and victorious and triumphant, they were about to possess it, he represented the scene of desolation that it would present to their vanquished and enslaved posterity, on their final departure from it. Ere they themselves had entered it as enemies, he describes those enemies by whom their descendants were to be subjugated and dispossessed; though they were to arise from a very distant region, and though they did not appear till after a millenary and a half of years: "The Lord shall bring a nation against thee from far, from the end of the earth, as swift as the eagle flieth; a nation of fierce countenance, which shall not regard the person of the old, nor show favor to the young' etc. (quoting Deut. 28:49-52).

"Each particular of this prophecy has met its full completion. The remote situation of the Romans, the rapidity of their march, the very emblem of their arms, their unknown language and warlike appearance, the indiscriminate cruelty they manifested toward old and young, could not have been represented in more descriptive terms. The Roman Generals, Vespasian, Adrian and Julius Severus, removed with parts of their armies from Britain to Palestine, the extreme points of the Roman world."

And this writer proceeds to show, as many other commentators have done, how, point by point, in the minutest detail, the judgments executed by the Romans in the years 66-70 of our era, were prescribed by Moses.

Now the matter of chief interest for our present purposes is that, from this national destruction by the Romans there was to be no recovery. And in this, the prophecy of Moses is in full accord with that of Jesus Christ, recorded in Matthew 24 and Luke 21. For Moses said: "God will rejoice over you to destroy you, and to bring you to nought; and ye shall be plucked from off the land wither thou goest to possess it. And the Lord shall scatter thee among all people, from one end of the earth even to the other" (Deut. 28:63,64). This, according to this prophecy, was to be the end of their history as a nation.

Nor is there any promise of God, by any later prophet, of recovery for the earthly nation from this final destruction and dispersion at the hands of the Romans. For an attentive reading of the prophecies concerning "Israel," "Zion," and "Jerusalem," leads to the conclusions that such as are yet to be fulfilled relate to the heavenly people, country, and city, to which respectively those names properly belong; and that all prophecies of recovery intended for "Israel after the flesh" (I Cor. 10:18) were completely fulfilled in and after the return from the Babylonian captivity.

THE IMPORTANCE OF A RIGHT UNDERSTANDING
OF THESE PROPHECIES

Some may think it a matter a small consequence whether the prophecies of future blessing and dominion for "Israel" apply to the earthly or to the heavenly people. But not so! for the matter affects the whole subject of salvation, and the hope of the Gospel. It needs to be settled, and settled according to the Scriptures, in order that the gospel itself may be understood and its work properly accomplished. For so long as another hope, that is to say "another gospel" (upon which, be it noted, the only anathema of the New Testament is laid, Gal. 1:8,9) is presented for a section of the human race (the scattered descendants of Jacob) and that a hope of earthly character, just so long, and to that extent, will the work of the Gospel itself be obscured. It was so at the beginning, when the fixed notion of a restoration of the earthly greatness of Israel made the Jewish people the implacable enemies of the Gospel, and of the Christ of the Gospel, Who is also the Christ of prophecy.

Therefore I am impelled to insist in the strongest way, and to call upon all friends of the Gospel to do the like, that there is but one hope, one Gospel, one salvation, even as there is but one Savior for all men. Israel after the flesh was a nation under the law. As such, i.e., as being under the law, promises were given them, all those promises being expressly conditioned upon their obedience to the law; and as such, judgments were denounced upon them as penalties for disobedience, which judgments mounted up to complete national extermination, if their disobedience should be persistent- as it was.

And now the law has been superseded by the gospel, with its "better hope." The economy of the law, with all its shadows - people, land, city, temple, priesthood, sacrifices- has been set aside, and forever.

Therefore, it is needful, and is due to the glory of the Gospel, and of Him Who died and rose again in order that all men might have the blessings of the Gospel, that it should be clearly established and ceaselessly proclaimed that there is one hope, and only one hope, for all mankind.

For, there is no room in the purposes of God for "the hope of the Gospel", and for another hope for any. Whatever promises there were annexed to the law were all conditional; and all have now been forfeited and annulled. Its curses were what the nation earned for itself; and hence there is, in this dispensation of grace, but one way of escape from the curse of the law, and that is by accepting the mercy which God freely offers to all men through "Jesus Christ of the seed of David raised from the dead" (II Tim. 2:7).

THE KINGDOM FORETOLD BY MOSES

It is a remarkable fact that Moses foretold, in this last prophecy, that the children of Israel would set a king over them; and he also foretold what would be the consequences thereof (Deut. 28:36). That wicked act on their part was to be the culmination of apostasy; for it meant the repudiation of the sovereignty of Jehovah. We have His own word for this; for He said to Samuel, when commanding that prophet to give them their desire, "They have not rejected thee; but they have rejected Me, that I should not reign over them" (I Sam. 8:7). That kingdom therefore was not "the kingdom of God," preached by John and Christ. So far from its being the kingdom of God, the truth is that its establishment involved the setting aside of the kingdom of God. And it was not "the kingdom of heaven," for what the people demanded was a kingdom of earthly character, "like all the nations." It is strange indeed, therefore, that any Christian expositor should regard the proclamation of Christ and His forerunner as the announcement of the restoration of that kingdom, born of apostasy and rebellion; and the more so after God had plainly spoken concerning it, saying, "I gave thee a king in Mine anger, and took him away in My wrath" (Hos. 13:11).

Moreover, this ending of that odious kingdom in precisely what Moses had foretold long before it came into existence. For his words were, "The Lord shall bring thee, and thy king which thou shalt set over thee, unto a nation which neither thou nor thy fathers have known" (v. 36). That, of course, was the Babylonian captivity. The kingdom ended then, but not the nation. And in agreement with this historical fact, the prophecy of Moses goes on to speak of the subsequent experience of the nation, as an experience of continued servitude to, and oppression by, other nations.

It shows too that the post-captivity period was to be an era in which they should have, not peace and plenty in their land, but dearth, distress, and various other miseries and afflictions (vv. 37-48). The fact that Moses speaks of the continued existence of the nation after the Babylonian captivity affords strong reason for the belief that his prophecy gives the history of the nation down to its very end. From this alone we have warrant for the conclusion that from the national destruction wrought by the Romans there was to be no recovery.

That, of course, was not the view of the Jewish teachers, who, "because they knew not the voices of the prophets" (Ac. 13:27), and because their thoughts and desires were carnal, interpreted the promises as pertaining to a kingdom of the very same sort as their forefathers had demanded of Samuel - one "like all the nations."

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JESUS IS ALL AND EVERYTHING!!

Patti C.

HOPE FOR ISRAEL 7 (God’s promises fulfilled by Joshua)



Hello all,

I can see by the numbers not many are interested in reading about this subject, or most have already made up their minds that the Lord had two different plans of Salvation for mankind…one for the Gentiles and one for the Jews. This concept is not supported by the Word of God, and it certainly was not taught or preached in the Church until recent times, and is false doctrine brought in by the Jesuits to confound and confuse…even the elect. Thank the Lord that will not be possible because the Truth is being brought forth and the lies exposed, and the elect will not be fooled!

Or, maybe most already know the truth about who Israel is, and don’t need to be shown any further Biblical proof. I certainly pray that is the case.

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THE HOPE FOR ISRAEL: What is it?
By Philip Mauro

CHAPTER VII

GOD'S PROMISES TO THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL
FULFILLED BY JOSHUA

The book of Joshua contains a passage (Chapter 21, verses 43-45) which throws clear light upon the question we are investigating- the future of the Jews. The passage has already been briefly noticed; but its importance demands a more extended consideration. Its value for our present purpose lies chiefly in the fact that thereby it clearly appears that nothing now remains to be fulfilled of all that God promised the fathers of Israel He would do for their natural descendants.

Joshua, whose name signifies Saved-of-Jehovah, had by God's express command, led the children of Israel across the river Jordan and into the land which the Lord had promised their fathers to give them. Furthermore, after a personal interview with "the Captain of the host of the Lord" (who could have been none other than the Lord Jesus Himself) he led them victoriously against their enemies, subduing one after another, until, as the record declares, "he left nothing undone of all that the Lord commanded Moses" (11:15). And finally, he divided the entire land among the twelve tribes, assigning to each tribe its inheritance, and to the Levites cities in diverse parts of the land.

God was with Joshua in a very special way; and through that chosen and well prepared instrument He completed all He had pledged Himself to do for the children of Israel under His unconditional covenants with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; and this is plainly and most emphatically declared in the passage we are about to examine. The confusion and misunderstanding that now exist, in regard to the present status and future prospects of "Israel after the flesh," would never have arisen had due attention been given to these facts of Scripture: first, that God's promise to the fathers of Israel concerning the land of Canaan went no farther than He would bring their descendants into that land, would give them complete possession of it, and would subdue their enemies under them; and second, that their continued possession of that promised land would depend upon their faithfulness to Him and their obedience to His commandments.

Accordingly, when the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob had fulfilled to their seed, through Joshua, all He had pledged Himself to do for them, all of which He faithfully accomplished to the last detail, notwithstanding their many and great "provocations" during the forty years He suffered their manners in the wilderness, then the unconditional covenants with the fathers were fulfilled so completely that "there failed not ought of any good thing which the Lord had spoken to the house of Israel." Therefore, they stood thenceforth, as to their relations with God, wholly upon the conditional covenant He made with them through Moses, which we have considered in a previous chapter (Deut. 29:1).

The details of that substituted covenant, which is strangely ignored by Bible teachers in our day, occupy the greater part of the Book of Deuteronomy. The substance of it was, as we have already seen, that, upon the express condition that the children of Israel would diligently keep the commandments of God- those commandments being of the essence of the covenant- He would plant them firmly in that land, would establish them in permanent possession of it, and would, moreover, give them to enjoy certain specified blessings therein.

But if, on the other hand, they should be disobedient, should adopt the customs of the people of the land, and should forsake Him to worship their gods, then He would bring sundry curses upon them, and eventually, for persistent rebellion and apostasy on their part, would destroy them from off the land and scatter them among all the nations of the world (Deut. 28:15-68). This is stated again and again, in the clearest and strongest terms (See Deut. 29:23-28; and 30:17,18).

Certainly it is impossible to maintain, in the face of these plain Scriptures, and of what we are now about to bring to the reader's attention, that God had obligated Himself to give the land of Canaan to the natural seed of Abraham for an everlasting possession. Moreover, those who so teach overlook the fact that, if God had indeed obligated Himself by His covenants of promise, not only to bring the children of Israel into that good land, but also to establish them in it forever, then it would have been a breach of covenant on His part to pluck them from off the land and scatter them among all nations of the world, as He has now done. But, as to the conclusions we should reach regarding this important matter, we are not left to an inference, however plain; for we have this clear record:

"And the Lord gave unto Israel all the land which He sware to give unto their fathers; and they possessed it, and dwelt therein.

"And the Lord gave them rest round about, according to all that He sware unto their fathers: and there stood not a man of all their enemies before them; the Lord delivered all their enemies into their hand.

"There failed not ought of any good thing which the Lord had spoken unto the house of Israel; all came to pass" (Josh. 21:43-45).

Here is a carefully worded record, manifestly designed to arrest the attention and impress itself upon the minds of the readers of God's Word; which record declares in the most emphatic terms that God had, despite all the provocation, contumacy and rebellion of that people, fulfilled completely "all" He had promised and sworn to their fathers to do them; insomuch that of all the good things He had spoken concerning the house of Israel, "there failed not ought."

But that is not all; for Joshua, when about to die, assembled all Israel, with their elders, their heads, their judges and their officers (23:2), and after rehearsing briefly what Jehovah had done for them, he earnestly exhorted them to be "Very courageous to keep and to do all that is written in the Book of the law of Moses"; to shun the idolatries of the Canaanites, not even so much as to make mention of the names of their gods; but to cleave steadfastly to Jehovah their God, as they had done during the period of his leadership (vv. 6-8).

And then, with the utmost solemnity and impressiveness, he warned them that, if they should "in anywise go back, and cleave unto the remnant of those nations... and make marriages with them, then they were to "know for a certainty that the Lord" would no more drive out those enemies; but would make them the instruments of His judgment upon the apostate people, "until ye perish from off this good land which the Lord your God hath given you" (11-13).

And he concludes with these weighty words:

"And behold, this day I am going the way of all the earth: and ye know in all your hearts and in all your souls, that not one thing hath failed of all the good things which the Lord your God spake concerning you; all are come to pass unto you, and not one thing hath failed thereof.

"Therefore, it shall come to pass that, as all good things are come upon you, which the Lord your God promised you; so shall the Lord bring upon you all evil things, until He have destroyed you from off this good land which the Lord your God hath given you. When ye have transgressed the covenant of the Lord your God, which He commanded you, and have gone and served other gods, and bowed yourselves to them; then shall the anger of the Lord be kindled against you, and ye shall perish quickly from off the good land which He hath given unto you" (vv. 14-16).

It is specially to be noticed that Joshua's last message changes in character at verse 15 from an exhortation to a prophecy; and that, in the prophetic part of that message, he plainly declares that the then unborn generations of Israelites would transgress the covenant of the Lord, and that He would therefore destroy them from off the land. (That the prophecy had reference to future generations of Israelites appears from verse 31 of the next chapter, where it is recorded that "Israel served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders that over lived Joshua, and which had known all the works of the Lord, that He had done for Israel.")

And now the whole world has been witness for nineteen centuries that God has done just what He said He would do. And is there to be, in time to come, a reversal of this Divine decree and judgment? Impossible. We use that strong word advisedly. For to begin with, there is no hint in the Scripture we have been considering of the reversal of this decree and of a return to the old order of things; and "God will do nothing, but He revealeth His secret unto His servants the prophets." Furthermore, the terms in which God announced through Moses and Joshua (the founders of the nation of Israel) the destruction of that nation, exclude the possibility of its restoration.

And finally, it was necessary that the old covenant and all that was connected with it should wax old and vanish away, in order that place might be found for the new and everlasting covenant, the "better covenant, which was established upon better promises" (Heb. 8:6-13). It was under that old covenant, which had merely "the shadow of good things to come"- the glorious and eternal things of God's everlasting kingdom- that the children of Israel took possession of the land of Canaan. And now, not only have the old covenant and all the shadows connected with it passed away, but they have been replaced by the eternal realities, which those shadows represented for that era of mingled light and darkness. But "the darkness is past and the true light now shineth" (1 J. 2:8); so there can be no going back again to the time of dimness and shadows.

It is of the highest importance that this truth be clearly grasped and firmly maintained, for it is of the very essence and substance of the gospel that, while there is mercy now for all men- pardon, life and eternal blessing- "Through the blood of the everlasting covenant," there is no mercy and no blessing for any, whether Jews or Gentiles, under any other covenant; but judgments and curses only. There now remains no promises for any except the "better promises" of the gospel of Christ; and for those who refuse that gospel- it matters not what their ancestry- there is nought but the abiding wrath of God, nought "but a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries." (Heb. 10:27). It is due to the glory of God and the honor of His gospel to insist upon this.

FROM THE DESERT TO THE RIVER EUPHRATES

Those who hold the doctrine of a national restoration for the Jews, and with a territorial dominion greater (so we are told) than any they occupied in their past history, usually refer to the word of the Lord to Abraham- "Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates" (Gen 15:18), as affording support for the doctrine. The argument is- and it is regarded by those who make use thereof as quite conclusive of the matter -that this promise has never been fulfilled to the "seed" of Abraham, and hence there must needs be a restoration of national Israel, if only for the purpose of the fulfillment of this particular promise.

But this argument is based upon a two-fold mistake: first, a mistake as to the facts of history, for the above promise was duly fulfilled to Abraham's natural "seed," and the Bible contains clear records of the fact, as will be shown presently; and second, a mistake as to the nature of the promise; for the promise in its fullness runs to Abraham's true "Seed" (which is Christ), as clearly explained by the apostle Paul. This also will be shown below.

1. As to the historical facts: At Mount Sinai God showed to Moses how He would proceed to put the children of Israel in possession of their promised inheritance. He would not drive out the inhabitants of the land "in one year"; but He said, "little by little I will drive them out from before thee, until thou be increased, and inherit the land." And He goes on to say that He would set the bounds of their possession "from the desert unto the river" (Euphrates), and would "deliver the inhabitants of the land" into their hand, and they should "drive them out" before them (Ex. 23:27-31). This shows that the fulfillment of God's promise to Abraham, insofar as it was to be fulfilled to his natural seed, was not to be postponed to a far-off dispensation, but was to be accomplished in that era of the old covenant; and so it was.

Again, when Moses had brought the Israelites to the river Jordan and was about to leave them, he reminded them of the word of Jehovah spoken at Horeb; where He commanded them to take their journey "to the land of the Canaanites, and unto Lebanon, unto the great river, the river Euphrates"; and said, "Behold, I have set the land before you; go in and possess the land which the Lord sware unto your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to give unto them and to their seed after them" (Deut. 1:6-8). From this it will be seen that, as soon as the Israelites had crossed the river Jordan, they were constructively in possession of the of the whole land of promise, from the Red sea to the Euphrates river. And once again, in this last message, Moses says: "Every place whereon the soles of your feet shall tread shall be yours; from the wilderness and Lebanon, from the river, the river Euphrates, even unto the uttermost sea shall your coast be" (Deut. 11:24).

Furthermore, in God's first word to Joshua after the death of Moses, He commanded him, saying: "Now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, thou and all this people, unto the land that I do give them, even to the children of Israel" (Josh. 1:2). And what was the extent of the territory which God gave to the children of Israel at that time? The next verses answer the question: "Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto you, as I said unto Moses. From the wilderness and this Lebanon even unto the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and unto the great sea toward the going down of the sun, shall be your coast" (vv. 3-4).

Here therefore, we have a record of the fulfillment of the promise, considered as a promise of an earthly possession to an earthly people, in its widest extent.

But there are later records which make it yet more certain that nothing remains, of the promise we are considering, for fulfillment to be a re-constituted Jewish nation.

Thus we read (2 Sam. 8:3) that "David smote also Hadadeger, the son of Rehob, King of Zobah, as he went to recover his border at the river Euphrates." This record makes evident that the eastern boundary of the territory of the nation of Israel was the river Euphrates." It shows, moreover, that part of that territory has been wrested from them, and was occupied by the King of Zobah, and then when David defeated the latter he did not conquer alien territory, but merely recovered his own proper "border at the river Euphrates." (See also 1 Chron. 13:3).

A little further on we read: "And Solomon reigned over all kingdoms, from the river [i.e., the Euphrates] unto the land of the Philistines, and unto the border of Egypt... For he had dominion over all the region on this side of the river, from Tiphsah even to Azzah, over all the kings on this side of the river" (1 Ki. 4:21, 24. See also 2 Chron. 9:26).

So much for the "literal" fulfilment of God's promise to Abraham and his "seed."

2. But we learn from the New Testament that God's promise to Abraham, recorded in Genesis 15:18, was much larger than appears from the words in which it was spoken; and we learn also that, while it had Abraham's natural "seed" immediately in view, its fullness was intended for his spiritual seed.

For in Romans 4:9-25 Paul unfolds the great truth that Abraham was, in God's sight and according to His eternal purpose, the father, not only of a natural line of posterity, but also "the father of all them that believe, though they be not circumcised." And in that connection he refers to the promise we are considering, and say: "For the promise that he should be the heir of the world, was not to Abraham, or to his seed, through the law, but through the righteousness of faith" (v. 13).

Here we get a view of the vast extent and the true character of this promise; and we see also that the heirs of the promise are, not Abraham's natural descendants, but his spiritual children. And this is confirmed by what is written in Galatians 3:7. "Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham"; and in Galatians 3:29, "And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise."

"The promise" referred to in this chapter of Galatians is the promise of Genesis 13:15 and 15:18; and verse 16 contains a very illuminating explanation thereof: "Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, and to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ."

Thus we find that the promise to Abraham embraced the gift of the whole world, and that the true and sole heir of that promise is Jesus Christ; though, through God's wondrous grace, those who believe in Christ are reckoned "the children of God. And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ" (Rom. 8:16,17). And this makes it impossible that there should be a future fulfilment of the promise in the realm of "that which is natural" (1 Cor. 15:46).

"THE SON OF THE BONDWOMAN SHALL NOT BE HEIR"

But the Scripture does not leave the matter there. Chapter III of Galatians states the positive side of the truth, showing, and with all the clearness that could be asked, that Christ and His people are the true "Israel of God" (6:16), the seed of Abraham and heirs of the promises; but chapter IV presents the negative side of the same truth, making it evident that the natural Israel has no longer any standing before God, or any part in His future purposes. And further it is shown that the setting aside of "Israel after the flesh" is not a new revelation given to Paul, but was to be found in the O.T. records. For there is evident reproof in the words: "Tell me, ye that desire to be under the law, do ye not hear the law?

For it is written, that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondmaid, the other by a freewoman" (Gal. 4:21,22). Paul's question implies that those who construed the Scriptures in the sense that is now-a-days mis-called "literal," should have known better. And he goes on to show that these things "are an allegory," in which Hagar stands for the old covenant and her son, Ishmael, for the natural Israel; whereas Sarah represents the new covenant and Isaac the true Israel, the seed of Abraham, the heirs of the promise.

And the climax of the lesson is found in the words of Sarah, which the apostle here declares to be the voice of Scripture; for, in declaring what was to be the outcome of the controversy between the natural Israel, that which "was born after the flesh," and the true Israel, that which "was born after the Spirit," and which was being persecuted by the natural Israel, he says: "Nevertheless, what saith the Scripture? Cast out the bondwoman and her son; for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman." And he concludes with this comforting statement: "So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman, but of the free."

It is superfluous to say that these New Testament Scriptures make certain that the national restoration of Israel after the flesh is not a part of the revealed will of God, but that the reverse is true.

THE PERIOD OF THE JUDGES

The period of the Judges is one of repeated departures by the people of Israel from the right ways of the Lord, and of repeated lapses into idolatry. Yet He exercised great patience and long forbearance with them, not casting them off for one offence, or for many; but permitting them to have one bitter experience after another at the hands of their enemies, to teach them that their welfare, and indeed their very existence as a nation, depended upon their faithfulness to Him and their obedience to His law. And again and again, during that long period of decline, He intervened for their deliverance by the hand of one and another of the Judges.

It is recorded that, in the completeness of their apostasy and the depth of their degradation, "they sacrificed unto devils" (Deut. 32:7). And further to show the extent of their denial of God during the era of the Judges, we quote the following testimony from their own scriptures:

"And the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the Lord, and served Baalim, and Ashtaroth, and the gods of Syria, and the gods of Zidon, and the gods of Moab, and the gods of the children of Ammon, and the gods of the Philistines, and forsook the Lord and served Him not" (Jud. 10:6).

Finally, during the regency of Samuel, the last of the Judges and the first of the line of Prophets, the wickedness of the people culminated in their demand for a king. And notwithstanding that "the thing displeased Samuel," they persisted in that demand, saying, "Make us a king to judge us like all the nations" (1 Sam. 8:5,6).

This was a national sin of rebellion against Jehovah. Nevertheless, He did not cast them off, but directed Samuel to let them have their own way, saying:

"Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee; for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected Me, that I should not reign over them" (v. 7).

This was the origin of the earthly Kingdom of Israel, over which David and his descendants reigned, and which the carnally minded Jews were, and are, expecting their long looked for Messiah to restore. And we see that, so far from being the Kingdom of God, that earthly kingdom involved the repudiation of the Kingdom of God.

Later on Samuel, by the Lord's command, gathered the people together, and after recalling what the Lord had done for them in days past, said:

"And ye have this day rejected your God, who Himself saved you out of all your adversities and your tribulations, and ye have said unto Him, Nay, but set a king over us" (1 Sam. 10:17-19).

Finally when Samuel was about to die, he addressed "All Israel," reminding them of their grievous sin, and saying:

"And when ye saw that Nahash the King of the children of Ammon came against you, ye said unto me, Nay, but a king shall reign over us, when the Lord your God was your King."

And he went on to say:

"Now therefore stand and see this great thing, which the Lord will do before your eyes. Is it not wheat harvest today? I will call unto the Lord, and He will send thunder and rain; that ye may perceive and see that your wickedness is great, which ye have done in the sight of the Lord, in asking you a king" (Sam. 12:6-17).

These passages make it abundantly clear, even were there nothing else to enlighten us, that God regards that earthly kingdom with utter detestation, that He will never restore it, and that when John the Baptist preached to the Jewish people, saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand," he was not announcing the setting up again of the earthly throne of David.

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I hope that anyone who is taking the time to read all this appreciates the fact that this author is going forth and proving his point with Biblical proof from the whole of the Bible…line upon line, precept upon precept, as it should be done. I have yet to find a study proving the Jews are God’s chosen people doing this very thing…I wonder why?

JESUS IS ALL AND EVERYTHING!!

Patti C.

HOPE OF ISRAEL 8: (Salvation in Zion, the Sure Mercy of David)


Hello all,

Studying about who Israel truly is has shown me the utter importance of “rightly dividing the Word”, in a way I had never considered before. For, when we don’t see the unity in God’s plan for all mankind, we create divisions where there are none. There is only one Salvation, one Kingdom, one Gospel and one Hope for all.
How can modern churches and pastors take the UNBELIEVING part of the Jewish nation to be the true "Israel," and apply to them the blessings promised by God through His prophets?! This is not what the Bible teaches. The only division of Israel as God’s people was when Jesus came and natural Israel divided itself into two parts; a small remnant that accepted Christ and a large group that rejected Him.

In this chapter the author continues to prove via the Holy Scriptures the truth of this matter. May we pray to understand this with the guidance of the Holy Spirit, as it is so very important to “rightly dividing” His precious Word.
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THE HOPE OF ISRAEL: What is it?

By Philip Mauro

CHAPTER VIII

SALVATION IN ZION: THE SURE MERCIES OF DAVID.
"The hope of the gospel" is for those, whether Jews by nature or Gentiles, whom God has "delivered from the power of darkness and translated into the kingdom of His dear Son" (Col. 1:12, 23); for the gospel brings a glorious hope even to those who were "aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, having no hope" (Eph. 2:12). And briefly that hope is the promised kingdom, whereof God had spoken by the mouth of His holy prophets since the world began (for God had promised that gospel afore by His prophets in the holy Scriptures, Rom. 1:2); the kingdom concerning which the King Himself in that coming day will say to those on His right hand,

"Come, ye blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you," whereof it is written, "Hath not God chosen the poor of this world, rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which He hath promised to them that love Him" (Jas. 2:5); the kingdom whereof it is also written, "Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God" (I Cor. 15:50).

These passages refer, of course, to that eternal aspect of the kingdom, for which all creation waits (Rom. 8:19-21), when the kingdom of God, into which those who are saved by grace are immediately translated (Col. 1:12), will be manifested in power and glory. It is for this our Lord taught His disciples to pray, "Thy kingdom come."

In all the above passages, and in all others, so far as I can find, where the same subject is referred to, it is always one hope (not two), one kingdom, one gospel, one salvation, that is spoken of. I deem it of much importance to establish this; and therefore the main object of the present inquiry is to ascertain whether there be any ground in the O.T. prophecies for the idea that there is another "hope of Israel," another kingdom of God (one of earthly character, as some teach) which will be hereafter given to the Jewish nation en masse, which has rejected the kingdom of God, that was preached "to the Jew first."

It is true indeed that in the O.T. Scriptures the kingdom was promised to Israel only, and the hope was for Israel only. What God said again and again, in one form of words or another, is just what He expressed by the mouth of Isaiah, "I will place salvation in Zion for Israel my glory" (Isa. 46:13); and it is expressly reaffirmed in the N.T. that to them (Israelites) pertain the adoption, the glory, the covenants and the promises" (Rom. 9:4,5).

But while this is the truth concerning the promised kingdom, it is not all the truth. For when Christ came, the natural Israel parted in twain. It divided itself into two parts, one of which (a small remnant) accepted Christ, and the other rejected Him. The latter part embraced the mass of the nation; whereas the former was "a very small remnant" indeed, as it is written, "He came unto His own, and His own received Him not. But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God" (i.e., children of God, and if children then heirs, John 1:11,12; Rom. 8:17).

Now the apostle, in the passage quoted above, declares expressly that the unbelieving part of the nation is not the true "Israel" (Rom. 9:6); and he goes on to say that "Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for, but the election (the believing part) hath obtained it" (Rom. 11:7). And furthermore, in the very same passage, he declares that this "election," which is the true "Israel," and which has obtained the promises, embraces believing Gentiles along with believing Jews (Rom. 9:24-31; 10:19, 20; 11:11-27). And know we have the whole truth concerning "the Israel of God," as revealed in the Scriptures.

It is hard to conceive how there could be a plainer statement of facts than has been given us in the above quoted Scriptures concerning the kingdom promised to Israel. How extraordinary then, and how subversive of the truth concerning "the hope of Israel" (for the preaching of which Paul was accused and made a prisoner by the Jews), is the teaching of those in our day who take the unbelieving part of the Jewish nation to be the true "Israel," and apply to them the blessings promised by God through His prophets! This doctrine reverses completely that of the Bible, which teaches plainly that "they are not all Israel, which are of Israel"; that "they which are of the flesh are not the children of God" (and hence not the heirs of God's promises, or any of them) but that "the children of the promise are counted for the seed" (Rom. 9:6-8; Gal. 3:16).

Not only does this new teaching (new among the people of God, though it was the very core of the teaching of apostate Judaism) destroy the unity of the one kingdom of God, the one Israel of God, the one hope of the gospel, the one everlasting covenant, but it also deranges the whole scheme of prophecy. For it is necessitates that time and place be made in the future for another (an "earthly") kingdom and another people of God (an "earthly" people).


THE SURE MERCIES OF DAVID

In a preceding chapter (Chapter V) it was pointed out that Moses, the founder of the Jewish nation, clearly foretold its apostasy and its complete extermination; even describing the characteristics of the people (the Romans) whom God would use as the instrument of His vengeance.

The next prophet of note after Moses, who has written concerning the kingdom of God, the hope of Israel, is Israel's great King, David. His prophecies, however, are so numerous that it would not be possible within the limit of this volume to examine them. Moreover, the greater part of them are couched in language so poetical and figurative, so abounding in imagery which is obscure to us, as to require much patient investigation in order to establish the character of their fulfilment. But it is only the general purport that we need to ascertain at present; and happily that has been given to us in a single, comprehensive utterance, from the lips of the apostle Paul, spoken in a Jewish synagogue:

"And we declare unto you glad tidings, how that the promise which was made unto the fathers, God hath fulfilled the same unto us their children, in that He hath raised up Jesus again; as it is also written in the second Psalm... And as concerning that He raised Him up from the dead... He said on this wise, I will give unto you the sure mercies of David" (Ac. 13:32-34).

These words plainly declare that the promise, which God had made to the fathers of Israel, He had fulfilled by raising up Jesus Christ from the dead; and specifically that His promises to and concerning David - among which the kingdom was prominent - implied and depended upon, and that it was accomplished in, the resurrection of Christ. Hence; when a servant of Christ proclaims the gospel of His resurrection, he is preaching (whether he be aware of it or not) "the sure mercies of David."

The original passage from which the apostle took the phrase, "the sure mercies of David," connects those "mercies" with the everlasting covenant; and it most unmistakably locates the fulfillment of this great promise in this present era of the gospel. I quote the prophetic passage:

"Ho every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk, without money and without price. Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? and your labour for that which satisfieth not? hearken diligently unto Me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness. Incline your ear, and come unto Me; hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David" (Isa. 55:1-3).

Here we have "the Spirit of Christ" in the prophet (I Pet. 1:11) giving utterance beforehand to the gospel invitation, "Come ye to the waters"; "Come, buy, without money, and without price." And we have also the plain declaration of the everlasting covenant, and the sure mercies of David are one and the same thing.

As we have been at pains to show in the foregoing pages, the everlasting covenant is the only covenant of God that now that subsists. For the temporary covenant with the Jewish nation was but a fleeting "shadow," being likened in Scripture to the light that shined for a little while in the face of Moses, and then quickly faded away (2 Cor. 3:13-15). True the teachers and leaders of the Jews were, and still are, blinded to the fact that the covenant "is done away in Christ." But that is no wonder; for both David (Ps. 69:23) and Isaiah (6:9) foretold that they should be blinded to the passing away of the old covenant.

Moreover, Paul points this out in Romans 11:8-10; and in 2 Corinthians 3:13-15 he explains that the vail which Moses put over his face was a prophetic sign that the Jewish nation would be blinded to the passing away of the old covenant and its promises. So that "even unto this day, when Moses is read, the vail is upon their heart."

But the wonder is that any of the present day teachers of the word of God, who are legitimate successors of Paul and Timothy, whom God had made "able ministers of the new covenant" (2 Cor. 3:6) should be likewise blinded to the truth so plainly declared, and should in consequence be driven to the exercise of their ingenuity in the devising of schemes of unfulfilled prophecy, illustrated perhaps by elaborate charts and diagrams; wherein provision is made for a reviving of the promises and other incidents of the old covenant, which the Jewish nation forfeited by its flagrant rebellion and apostasy, and which God has long ago "abolished" (2 Cor. 3:13; Heb. 8:13).

It is of the very essence of the truth of the gospel that the resurrection of Jesus Christ marks the dividing line between "that which is natural" and "that which is spiritual" (I Cor. 15:46); for the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead is the gospel, insomuch that if Christ be not risen, the preaching of His apostles is vain, and our faith also is vain, we are yet in our sins, those who have fallen asleep in Christ are perished, and we who hope in Him are of all men the most miserable (id. vv. 13-19).

Before the resurrection of Christ, God recognized as His people a nation of men in the flesh, the natural descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; and with them He made covenants concerning earthly blessings. Also He recognized an earthly Zion and an earthly Jerusalem; and He appointed an earthly temple, an earthly priesthood and earthly sacrifices. But that system in its entirety was but "a figure for the time then present, in which were offered both gifts and sacrifices that could not make him that did the service perfect, as pertaining to the conscience" (Heb. 9:9). Moreover, its ordinances were imposed only "until the time of reformation" (v. 10).

Here is a fact to which we wish to direct special attention; namely, that the whole Jewish system, nation and all, had a status in God's plan only until the fixed "time of reformation"; and the next succeeding verses (vv. 11-15) make it plain that "the time of reformation" began when Christ- not in virtue of the blood of goats and calves, but in virtue of "His own blood," - entered in, once for all, into the true holy of holies, as the High Priest of the good things that were to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle than that ordained by Moses and administered by Aaron, a tabernacle not made with men's hands, and not of this creation.

Here indeed is "dispensational truth"; for "the time then present" was the dispensation of the law, and it was to be (and now has been) followed by the dispensation of the gospel; for "when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth His Son" (Gal. 4:4).

With the sacrificial death and the resurrection of Jesus Christ, the old system of natural things passed away completely and forever; and the new system of things spiritual and eternal came into being - the heavenly Zion, the Jerusalem which is above which is the mother of us all, the heavenly sanctuary, and a people - not blessed with all natural blessings in earthly places through Moses and Joshua, but - "blessed with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places through Christ" (Eph. 1:3).

The two systems cannot co-exist; for they are mutually exclusive of each other. That which had to do with an earthly people and earthly localities, was imposed only until the time of reformation. "But Christ being come" ...and having "through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God," and having assumed the office of "Mediator of the new covenant, that by means of death for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first covenant, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance" (Heb. 9:11-15), the former has completely served its purpose and has been wholly abolished.

Those who attentively consider what is written for our learning in Hebrews VIII-X can hardly fail to realize the utter impossibility, in the working out of the revealed purposes of God, of a restoration of the earthly nation of Israel and the other abolished shadows of the old covenant.

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I leave this chapter with this quote from the author about what the false doctrines about Israel has done to the Word:

“Not only does this new teaching (new among the people of God, though it was the very core of the teaching of apostate Judaism) destroy the unity of the one kingdom of God, the one Israel of God, the one hope of the gospel, the one everlasting covenant, but it also deranges the whole scheme of prophecy. For it is necessitates that time and place be made in the future for another (an "earthly") kingdom and another people of God (an "earthly" people).”

Let us not be blinded any longer about this issue. As stated before, I challenge anyone to refute what is being presented here in the same biblically supported way. It cannot be done, because it would not be, and is not the Truth.

JESUS IS ALL AND EVERYTHING!!

Patti C.

HOPE OF ISRAEL 9: (The Travail of Zion)

Hello all,

I am sick with the flu today so I might be a bit sharper of tongue in my comments than usual…you know what it’s like to feel so miserable that a good attitude is harder to find!! So, please forgive the tone of my words, even though I mean what I am saying.

Most modern Christians have based their whole end time scenario on a Jesuit lie…who wants to find out about that? And I guess I understand why. Most seem to want to believe that the nation of Israel has special promises given it by God, and that “natural Israel” is going to be under the Wrath of God, while “spiritual Israel” is going to heaven! Nice story but that is not what the Bible teaches, and to divide the People of God this way is something that would be called a Jewish Fable, one that the Jesuits made sure we would fall for. One started at His first coming that has been used to this day to blind us to the Truth.

This study is proving what a lie this is. And proving it Biblically, using the whole of the Bible and line upon line, precept upon precept…what is not to believe? I am weary of those who just throw out one Scripture that they assume proves their point, and offer up their opinions. This does not prove a thing!! Counter act Mr. Mauro’s in the same manner he is proving his point…or what you present has very little, if any, merit. So, I have to believe that no one can prove it using all Scriptures, which relate to this subject, as the author has done…so therefore Mr. Mauro must be correct. This goes to show that Truth is not very popular, just like it was not popular to the Pharisees and Scribes that rejected Christ.

I cannot stress enough how important it is to find this out for yourself. But, you must not believe what some person is telling you…search the Word, and read this study, and other studies that present the other side of this issue. If you believe otherwise, prove it, as I am certainly interested in what can be said to prove your side.

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THE HOPE OF ISRAEL: What Is It?

By Philip Mauro

CHAPTER IX

THE TRAVAIL OF ZION

We have shown by the prophecies of Moses the founder of the nation, of Joshua the vanquisher of the original possessors of the promised land, and of David the greatest of the kings of Israel and one of the greatest of its prophets, that the nation would completely apostatize, and that God would disown them and would "pluck them off the land." And we have shown that those prophecies are fully confirmed by the New Testament Scriptures.

But some will ask if later prophets, as Isaiah, Ezekiel or Zechariah, have not foretold the return of the children of Israel to Palestine and by implication prophesied the re-constitution of the nation?

The answer is that the later prophets could not contradict the word of the earlier prophets - they all being the mouthpieces of Jehovah - and that, of course, they do not. What has misled some students of the Bible in this regard is the fact that the prophets of later times, as Isaiah and Jeremiah, predicted the captivity of the Jews in Babylon and their return from that captivity (Isa. 6:12, 13; 44:26-28; 45:13; Jer. 30:3, etc.). Prophecies of that class have all been fulfilled.

There are also prophecies concerning the "remnant of Israel" that would return to the Lord in the latter days. Now it is not surprising that the utterly degenerate and carnally minded Jewish teachers of the times of Christ should have interpreted prophecies of that class as foretelling the restoration of the nation and its earthly grandeur; but for Christian teachers to make that mistake is surely inexcusable, seeing that, as has been shown in Chapter II of the present volume, the Holy Spirit, by the apostle Paul, has made known that such prophecies and promises have their fulfilment in God's new covenant people, the true "Israel of God."

Thus, to cite another example, Isaiah prophecies concerning "the remnant of Israel, and such as are escaped of the house of Jacob," of whom he says that they shall return "unto the mighty God." And he continues: "For though thy people Israel be as the sand of the sea" - for multitude - "yet a remnant of them [only] shall return." This was to be in the days when "the Lord God of hosts shall make a consumption, even determined, in the midst of the land" (Isa. 10:20-23).

We do not at present undertake an exposition of this prophecy, having cited it merely to remind the reader that, according to the interpretation of it given by Paul, the prophet was speaking of the few Israelites who, in these gospel times, should believe in Jesus Christ and "be saved." For the apostle quotes the passage thus: "Esaias also crieth concerning Israel, Though the number of the Children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, a remnant shall be saved" (Rom. 9:27). And further on he explains that such prophecies have their fulfilment in the "remnant according to the election of grace" (Rom. 11:5).

There are also prophecies concerning those who, in future times, should "come to Zion" (Isa. 35:10; 51:11). But the New Testament Scriptures make it evident that this and similar prophecies have their fulfilment in the heavenly realm. Thus, the apostle Peter, writing to converted Jews (the diasporia, "scattered throughout Pontus," and other provinces of the Roman Empire), says "Ye also, as living stones are [being] built up a spiritual house... Wherefore also it is contained in the Scripture, Behold, I lay in Zion a chief corner stone," etc. (I Pet. 2:6), quoting Isaiah 28:16. And the writer of Hebrews, addressing believers in Jesus Christ, says, "For ye are not come unto the mount that might be touched" - the earthly mount Sinai; "But ye are come unto Mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels," etc. (Heb.12:18-24).

So far as the writer has been able to find, there is no prophecy of the later, or of the earlier prophets, which foretells the return of the Jews to Palestine and their re-possession of that land as their national home (under the Theocracy of God), subsequent to the destruction of the nation by the Romans. We have seen that there are, on the contrary, many prophecies that seem to make such an event an impossibility.

And, disregarding all Bible prophecies, it seems to the writer that recent developments in connection with the political movement known as Zionism, following the mandate to Great Britain of the government of the land of Palestine, and following the famous "Balfour Declaration," make it more than even unlikely that the Jews will return to Palestine in a body, or in any considerable numbers, or will ever re-possess that land as their national home.

A VOICE FROM THE TEMPLE

Let us turn now to a passage in the last chapter of Isaiah which is sometimes cited as foretelling the conversion of the Jewish nation in a day yet future, but which in my opinion, and as will be evident to the unbiased mind upon slight examination, refers to this present gospel dispensation, and indeed to one of the most conspicuous events of the early days thereof.

The passage begins with these words:


"A voice of noise from the city, a voice from the temple, a voice of the Lord that rendereth recompense to His enemies. Before she travailed, she brought forth; before her pain came she was delivered of a man child. Who hath heard such a thing? Who hath seen such things? Shall the earth be made to bring forth in one day? or shall a nation be born at once? for as soon as Zion travailed, she brought forth her children" (Isa. 66:6-8).

Clearly there is nothing here about any salvation for Israel in the millennium; and nothing about the conversion of that nation, as a nation, at any time. On the contrary, the subject of the passage is the birth of another nation. Zion is represented as being in travail, and as bringing forth children. There can be no room for doubt, therefore, that the "nation" whereof the prophet here speaks is that "holy nation," concerning which Peter wrote (1 Pet. 2:9); a nation composed of all who have been "born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God" (1:23-25).

And beyond all question the "one day" here foretold is that great day of Pentecost, which was the birthday of that marvelous "nation," the like whereof had never been in the world before.

The predicted "noise from the city" had a striking fulfilment in what is recorded (Acts 2:6) in these words: - "Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together." And the predicted "Voice from the temple" was fulfilled when "Peter standing up with the eleven lifted up his voice, and said unto them" - (v. 14); and when, by the miracle of tongues, they all spake in different languages, as the Spirit gave them utterance, proclaiming the wonderous truth of the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. (In Chap. XII of this volume it is shown that all this occurred in the Temple at Jerusalem - See Lu. 24:53; Acts 2:1, 46; 3:11; 5:20, etc.) Then it was that a nation was "born at once."

Moreover, there is a striking significance in the words, "Before she travailed she brought forth"; for the earthly Zion's real "travail" did not come upon her until forty years later; God in His mercy, and in answer to our Lord's prayer on the cross for His murderers, having granted a reprieve for that space of time. Those distresses, which our Lord Himself foretold - that "great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world" (Mat. 24:21) - were termed by Him, "the beginning of sorrows," literally birth pangs (Mat. 24:8). Hence this prophecy of our Lord strikingly confirmed and also helps interpret that of His servant, Isaiah.

The "Jerusalem" with which the prophet in this passage bids us "rejoice" (v. 10), and concerning which God says, "Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river, and the glory of the Gentiles like a flowing stream" (v. 12), is the heavenly Jerusalem. This appears from various indications in the context, particularly from the fact that the passage is a prophecy of the "new heavens and new earth" (65:17); in which connection God says, "And the former shall not be remembered or come upon the heart (marg.). But be ye glad and rejoice forever in that which I create: For behold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy. And I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in My people; and the voice of weeping shall br no more heard in her, nor the voice of crying" (Isa. 65:17-19. See Rev. 21:4).

What we have said above about this new "nation" finds strong support in the word spoken by Christ to the leaders of the Jews:

"Therefore say I unto you, The Kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof" (Matt. 21:43).

And He has clearly identified that "nation" by the word He spoke to His disciples, "Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom" (Luke 12:32).

Clearly then the kingdom of God was not to remain with that nation; nor was that nation itself to be converted in millennial times, or ever; but on the contrary, the kingdom was to be "taken from" them, and given to another nation. That Divine act of taking the kingdom from the one nation and giving it to the other (specially created to that end) was, of course, a finality.

And in this connection we would bring to mind that, immediately following Isaiah 53, where the sufferings, death, burial, and resurrection of our Lord are foretold, is a prophecy concerning the barren woman who was to become a joyful mother of children, whose Maker was to be her Husband, and of whose children it is said that they shall be all taught of the Lord, that their peace shall be great, and "their righteousness is of Me, saith the Lord" (Isa. 54). Paul applies this prophecy to the Jerusalem which is above, which is the mother of us all" (Gal. 4:26). And in the same passage he proves, by a remarkable appeal to the prophetic types, that the earthly Jerusalem and her children (answering to Hagar and Ishmael) were to be "cast out"; and that "the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the free woman."

Now, according to the type, and according to all the pertinent Scriptures as well, this casting out of the earthly nation from all part and place in God's plan, and the disinheriting of "the son of the bondwoman," is to be forever. But the doctrine we are examining goes directly in the teeth of all this. For it reverses the order of God's revealed plan, bringing back the earthly nation again in millennial times, re-establishing all the abolished shadows of the old covenant, and making "the son of the bond woman" the sole residuary legatee, so to speak, of the forfeited promises.

ISAIAH'S PROPHECY AS A WHOLE

The occasion of God's message through this prophet and the general purport of that message, are clearly indicated by its opening words:

"I have nourished and brought up children and they have rebelled against Me... Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evil doers, children that are corrupters! they have forsaken the Lord, they have provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger, they are gone away backward" (Isa. 1:2-4).

Then follow words of sternest reproach, words which clearly imply that, as a nation, He has utterly repudiated them, and that He spares them only for the same reason that He would have spared even Sodom had He found so many as ten righteous persons in it. Note these words:


"Except the Lord of hosts had left unto us a very small remnant, we should have been as Sodom, and we should have been like unto Gomorrah.

Hear the Word of the Lord, ye rulers of Sodom; giver ear unto the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrah" (vv. 9,10).

This last verse is quoted by Paul in Romans 9:24-29, and he combines with it a quotation from Isaiah 10:21,22; from which he deduces that, though the number of the natural Israel were as the sand of the sea, yet only "a remnant shall be saved"; and further, from Hosea 2:23, he declares that, to this saved remnant, God would add believing Gentiles. For thus he applies the words: "I will call them (i.e. Gentiles) My people, which were not my people, and her beloved which was not beloved" (Hos. 2:23).

In Romans 11, Paul traces this saving work of God still further; for he there intimates a working of God's grace among natural Israelites, after the fullness of the Gentiles be come in; a divine working whereby a number of Jews will be converted and added to the one body of the saved" (Rom. 11:25-27), the "all Israel" being as the context clearly shows, the whole company of God's elect.

Returning to Isaiah's prophecy, we observe that, in the verses immediately following those quoted above, God proceeds to declare in the strongest terms His abhorrence of all their assemblies, sacrifices and ceremonies. Their oblations were "vain," their incense "an abomination," their new moons and appointed feasts "My soul hateth," He said; "They are a trouble to Me, I am weary to bear them." And this is His word to the end of the prophecy. For in the very last chapter we read:

"He that killeth an ox is as if he slew a man; he that sacrificeth a lamb, as if he cur off a dog's neck; he that offered an oblation, as if he offered swine's blood; he that burneth incense, as if he blessed an idol" (Isa. 66:3).

It would seem impossible to maintain, in the face of these strong words of abhorrence, that God purposes, in millennial times, to re-establish once more the whole detested system- incense, oblations, ceremonies, bloody sacrifices, and all. Nothing, we think, could be more directly contrary to the revealed purposes of God, of more contrary to the declared effect of the one Sacrifice for sins, offered by Jesus Christ "once for all" (Heb. 10:1-18).

From the foregoing Scriptures, and especially from the divinely perfect illustration of the one olive tree, which represents God's "Israel" from first to last (Rom. XI), we may know with certainty His plan for bringing to Himself an elect nation, a people for His own possession, chosen from among Jews and Gentiles.

There is much more in the prophecy of Isaiah that bears directly upon the subject of "the hope of Israel," and which tends to confirm the view that there is but "one hope" for all mankind, for Jews and Gentiles alike; or in other words, that "the hope of Israel" (Ac. 28:20) and "the hope of the gospel" (Col. 1:23) are identical; there being but one hope for all, as there is but one gospel for all.

THE NEW NATION A RESURRECTION

In the Scriptures we have been considering in this chapter, the holy nation, which is the true "Israel" and heir of the promises, is viewed as coming into existence through a new birth; the national Israel being the mother, through whose "travail" the new nation is brought forth.

The case is analogous to that of the new birth of the individual man when he is converted and become a new creature in Jesus Christ. In both cases the natural serves as the womb of the spiritual; in both cases the beginning of the existence of the new creature is accompanied by "birth pangs"; and in both cases the natural creature remains for a time after the bringing forth of the spiritual, and is in direct antagonism with it.

In another view of it, the beginning of the new Israel is a resurrection; and this too is analogous to the case of the saved individual, who is viewed in Scripture as one raised from the dead - a new creature in Christ Jesus, yet preserving his identity as an individual. So likewise, the true Israel is a nation of people who are "risen together with Christ"; a nation raised up out of the mortal and decaying remains, the dust and ashes of the natural Israel.

And manifestly, resurrection is like birth- a process that cannot be reversed.

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JESUS IS ALL AND EVERYTHING!!

Patti C.

THE HOPE OF ISRAEL 10: (The New Covenant)

Hello to those, very few who are reading these chapters,

May you be blessed for wanting to take the time to at least consider that what the mainstream churches and mainstream popular media are teaching is not the truth about Israel. For once you discover this truth a whole world of truth opens up before you…you have eyes to see and ears to hear. You graduate from milk to meat, from a carnal physical understanding to a spiritual understanding.

This chapter goes into the prophecies of Jeremiah and how they are speaking of the New Covenant, “the hope of the Gospel” that is the only hope for all mankind and apart from this there is no other hope
For anyone, Jew or Gentile…and as the author says:

“…and that there will be hereafter no salvation of any sort whatever for those who "obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ."

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THE HOPE OF ISRAEL: What Is It?

By Philip Mauro

CHAPTER X

THE NEW COVENANT

It has been pointed out in a previous chapter that, in God's covenants with Israel, both the covenant of Horeb (Deut. 5:2,3) and the substitute thereof made in the land of Moab (Deut. 29:1) all the promises were expressly made to depend upon conditions to be fulfilled by the Israelites, which conditions however they utterly failed to perform. From which it follows that the Jewish people inherit under those covenants, not blessings, but curses only. How immensely important therefore to them (as well as to the Gentiles) is that "new covenant," also called the "everlasting covenant," whereof God gave promise through Jeremiah! I hope that every reader of this volume will be aroused as to the vast importance of the truth concerning that new and everlasting covenant, whereof Jesus Christ is the "Surety" (Heb. 7:22), the (Heb. 9:15; 12:24) and the "Covenant Victim" (translated in Heb. 9:16,17 by the word "testator," which, however, has a very different meaning in modern English).

These are God's words through Jeremiah:

"Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah: Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the Lord. But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the Lord, I will put My law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. And... they shall all know Me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord; for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more" (Jer. 31:31-34).

The Epistle to the Hebrews contains (in Chapters VII-X) the Holy Spirit's comments upon this great prophecy; prominence being given to the truth that Jesus Christ is "the Surety" of this covenant, as well as "the Mediator" thereof (7:22; 8:6; 12:24); that it has been ratified "by His own blood" (9:12-24; 13:20); and that it is therefore "a better covenant, established upon better promises" (8:6).

Further it is revealed in those chapters that, when Christ had offered that "one sacrifice for sins forever, and sat down on the right hand of God," not only was the new covenant put into operation, but the old covenant and all its appointments - people, temple, priesthood, sacrifices, etc. - were forever abolished. Which things in fact was, even in their own era, nothing but "a shadow of good things to come" (10:1).

Moreover, God had never any pleasure in them, because "it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins." And surely, as we meditate upon the contents of Hebrews IX and X, we must perceive that God would abhor the very thought of setting up again that same system of vain sacrifices and ceremonies, which He abolished at the awful cost of the sacrifice of His own Son, and which had their complete fulfillment in the "one sacrifice for sins forever" offered at Golgotha.

And besides, we have in this connection the plain statement that Christ, in coming to do His Father's will by the sacrifice of Himself, "taketh away the first, that He may establish the second" (10:9); which words, in the light of the context, plainly signify the removal forever of the old covenant, and the establishment forever of the new covenant. Indeed it is manifestly an impossibility that the "shadows" should remain after the corresponding realities have come; and it is equally impossible that there should be at any time thereafter a return to the system of shadows again.

THE NEW COVENANT PEOPLE

Who then are the people with whom, and for whose benefit, this new and everlasting covenant has been "established"? By the Epistle to the Hebrews it is revealed in the clearest light that the blessings of the new covenant, that is the forgiveness of sins and all other benefits of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ are bestowed upon those who are of the faith of Jesus Christ, those "that believe to the saving of the soul" (10:39); which blessed and holy company includes all those examples of saving faith mentioned in Chapter XI. These are "the heirs of salvation" (1:14). They are the "many sons" God is bringing "unto glory" (2:10). They are those whom the writer of the Epistle addresses as "holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling" (3:1), and concerning whom he says they are "made partakers of Christ," and "partakers of the Holy Ghost" (3:14; 6:4).

We have seen, however, that by Jeremiah God promised the new covenant to :the house of Israel and the house of Judah." But there is no contradiction here, and no change in God's plans. For "Israel" and "Judah" were themselves but "shadows" of God's true Israel ("the Israel of God," Gal. 6:16). For God has now revealed that "He is not a Jew which is one outwardly;.. but he is a Jew who is one inwardly" (Rom. 2:28,29); and that "they which are of faith" - believing Gentiles equally with believing Jews - "the same are the children of Abraham," and heirs with Jesus Christ of the promises of God; which includes particularly the promises of the everlasting covenant (Gal. 3:7,29; 4:28,31; Rom. 4:13-16). Specially illuminating and to the point are the words of Philippians 3:3: "For we are the circumcision, who worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh."

Particularly should we recall in this connection that remarkable "allegory" of Galatians 4:21-31, to which reference has been made already in these pages, and which teaches in the first place the broad lesson that even such matters as the personal and family history of one of the patriarchs were "shadows" of the spiritual realities of this gospel era.

Specifically that allegory teaches that Abraham is the father of the one household of faith (see also Rom. 4:16), where he is called "the father of us all); that Hagar represents the old covenant of Mt. Sinai, and Ishmael the old covenant people (Abraham's natural seed); and that Sarah stands for the new covenant, and Isaac for the new covenant people, the miraculously born "children of Abraham." It further makes known (and this is the climax of the lesson) that the natural descendants of Abraham ("the son of the bondwoman") were to be "cast out," and to have no part with the spiritual seed in the promises of the new covenant.


IN THAT DAY

Let us now take a brief look at the prophecy of Zechariah, Chapters XII-XIV, for the purpose mainly of inquiring as to the meaning of the following predictions:

"And they shall look on Me whom they have pierced" (12:10).

"And His feet shall stand in that day upon the Mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the Mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west; and there shall be a very great valley; and half (i.e. a part) of the mountain shall remove toward the north and half (part) of it toward the south... And it shall be in that day that living waters shall go out from Jerusalem; half (or part) of them toward the former sea and half of them toward the hinder sea: in summer and in winter shall it be. And the Lord shall be King over all the earth: in that day shall there be one Lord and His name one" (14:4,7-9).

This passage has been referred to already in the previous pages, but we propose now to give it a more extended consideration.

The question that concerns us for the moment is this: Are these passages to be understood as predictions of the national conversion of the Jews in a coming "day," as some now teach? Or are they prophecies of the gospel, having their fulfillment in this present "day," which has been always held (as I understand it) until quite recent times?

In the first place, we call attention to the fact that the context makes it clear that the oft-recurring phrase, "in that day," refers to this present day of grace, and not to the succeeding day of judgment. Thus, the words, "Awake O sword against My Shepherd" (13:7) are certainly a prophecy of the cross. For our Lord Himself cited the words of the same verse, "Smite the shepherd and the sheep shall be scattered," as having their fulfillment on the eve of His crucifixion (Matt. 26:31).

That same passage, moreover, begins with the words, "In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and uncleanness" (13:1); which surely is, as it has been always esteemed, a most precious gospel promise. It follows that "the House of David" is a symbol for the royal house, that is for Christ and those whom "He is not ashamed to call brethren" (Heb. 2:11,12); "Whose house we are" (Heb. 4:6); Christ being the true "David."

There is a striking correspondence here with the words of John in the Apocalypse:

"Unto Him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto God" (Rev. 1:5,6).

For observe that here we have the reigning house ("kings and priests," answering to "the house of David"); and these are "washed in His own blood," which answers to the promised fountain for cleansing from sin and from uncleanness. (See also 1 Pet. 2:9). And of course "the inhabitants of Jerusalem" are those who now "are come to Mount Sion, and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem" (Heb. 12:22), "the Jerusalem which is above, which is the mother of us all" (Gal. 4:26).

Observe too that in the immediate context we find the prediction, "And they shall look upon me, whom they have pierced." The sense of this passage is clearer when we read "look unto Me," instead of "look upon Me." For the same expression occurs in Isaiah 45:22, where our A.V. renders it, "Look unto Me and be ye saved."

Most assuredly therefore the fulfillment of this prophecy takes place in this "day" of the gospel, and began from the day of Pentecost. For then Peter, standing up with the eleven, set forth before a great concourse of Jews, Christ crucified and risen; to whom also he addressed these memorable words: "Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God hath made that same Jesus whom ye have crucified" (compare the words, "whom they have pierced") "both Lord and Christ (Ac. 2:36). Thereupon some three thousand did look repentantly and believingly unto Him whom they had pierced.

Moreover they also mourned for Him, as the prophecy foretold. For it is recorded that "they were ******* in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, men and brethren, what shall we do?" That was indeed "a great mourning in Jerusalem"; for it resulted in the conversion of "about three thousand souls."

It should be observed further that, according to the prophecy, every family was to mourn apart, and their wives apart. Which signifies that "repentance unto life" and the "godly sorrow" that leads to it, were to be a personal and individual, and not a national affair, as the Jewish rabbis taught (and as some Christian teachers wrongly teach today).

Then as to the passage (quoted above) beginning, "And His feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives," I would first point out that what goes before is evidently a prophecy of the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans, when the city was "taken," and the other horrors recited in verse 2 were perpetrated by the Roman armies, which were made up literally of "all nation." This further tends to fix the time referred to by the phrase, "in that day." (It should be remembered also that in Bible prophecy any period of special judgment is spoken of as "the day of the Lord.")

Now this prophecy declares, by a series of figures and metaphors, after the usual prophetic manner, how the Lord would "go forth" for the deliverance of His own people in those days. "The mount of Olives" is a symbol of the nation Israel, to which He was to come (John 1:11).

For in Bible prophecy a mountain is the common symbol of a nation; and the Mount of Olives is a most suitable figure to represent the nation of Israel. The result of His coming to that nation was that it was divided in twain ("cloven in the midst"); for "there was a division because of Him" (John 7:43; 9:16, etc.).

And that rift was truly a "very great valley" - deep and wide. "One part" of the divided nation (for the word rendered "half" means merely one of two parts, which may be very unequal in size) was removed (speaking figuratively) "toward the north," the region whence Israel's enemies came, and whither they were taken into captivity (Jer. 1:14,15, etc.); a region that stands for the place of light and warmth and blessing - that is, the place of acceptance with God.

And lastly, the words, "And it shall be in that day that living waters shall go forth from Jerusalem," etc., most certainly are being fulfilled in this day of grace and salvation. For living water is a familiar figure of the word of the life-imparting gospel. And upon the day of Pentecost and subsequently it went forth from Jerusalem, both "toward the former sea" (the nations of the east), and "toward the hinder sea" (the nations of the west); both "in winter and in summer," that is at all seasons. And moreover from that time Jesus the risen One was proclaimed as the crowned and glorified Christ (God's King) to whom has been given all power in heaven and earth, "the King invisible," the "One Lord," whose is the "one Name given under heaven among men whereby we must be saved."

From all of which the conclusion must needs be that "the hope of the gospel" is the one, the only, and the all sufficient hope for all mankind; that apart from it there is no hope for any, whether Jews or Gentiles; and that there will be hereafter no salvation of any sort whatever for those who "obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ."

Further references to the new covenant, and additional proof of its commanding place and importance in God's dealings with all mankind, Jews and gentiles alike, will be found in the next succeeding chapter.

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As mature Christians we are to give up the milk and find the meat of the Gospel…the meat is Spiritual and as long as we keep seeing Israel as a Jewish nation only, with special promises and a different Covenant other than the everlasting Covenant, we are deceived and cannot see the Truth.

This author is doing an awesome job of proving this using every Scripture that relates to this issue. Yet, we need ears to hear and eyes to see, and it seems most want milk not meat, I pray that changes soon.

JESUS IS ALL AND EVERYTHING!!

Patti C.