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.