ISRAEL IN THE NEW TESTAMENT – (II)

By Glyn Jones

NORTHERN IRELAND

ADDITIONAL EVIDENCE FROM PETER’S WRITINGS

In 1 Peter 2:10, the Apostle describes the intended recipients of his letter in the following terms:

“Which in time past were not a people but are now the People of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.”

In doing so, he is in fact quoting from the prophet Hosea’s writings concerning Israel in the first chapter of his book:-

“And she conceived again and bare a daughter. And God said unto him, Call her name Lo-ruhamah, for I will no more have mercy upon the House of Israel, but I will utterly take them away.” (Hosea 1:6)

“Then said God, Call his name Lo-ammi; for ye are not my people, and I will not be your God.”  (Hosea 1:9)

Nevertheless, at the same time as declaring His impending judgements on the wayward House of Israel, the Lord also holds out a promise of national restoration:-

“Yet the number of the Children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured or numbered, and it shall come to pass that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people, there it shall be said unto them Ye are the sons of the Living God .” (Hosea 1:10)

The table above illustrates clearly that in his Epistle, Peter is in fact quoting from the Old Testament writings concerning Israel. Compare this with Jeremiah 31:33, where the Lord gives details of the New Covenant which He intends to make with the House of Israel:

“I will put my law in their inward parts and write it in their hearts; and will be their God and they shall be My People.”

Status of being the “People of God” figures here again as in the writings of both Hosea and Peter.

This surely must establish beyond any shadow of a doubt that it is indeed Israel in Exile to whom Peter is writing.

However, some claim that Peter, in his first Epistle, is merely writing to “Believers” and maintain that these are the “Strangers” to whom he refers. Let us examine this in the light of other Scripture.

Paul the Apostle, dealing with Christian doctrine, makes the following statement:

“For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the Sons of God” (Romans 8:14)

But, the prophet Hosea has already shown that one result of the New Covenant which the Lord intended to make with the House of Israel and which the lord Jesus Christ Himself ratified by the shedding of His Blood, would be as follows:-

“Ye are sons of the Living God” – ie “Christians” (Hosea 1:10)

The ministry of Peter, therefore, in no way runs counter to, but supports the evidence drawn from statements both about, or by, the Lord Jesus as to the purpose of His Ministry. This, in turn, strengthens the argument that there is absolutely no contradiction between the Lord’s original plan and purpose as vested in His Chosen People, Israel, and the Christian dispensation, which can be correctly viewed as merely a further development or phase in the preparation of Israel to carry out the Lord’s Purposes.

The Old Covenant was made between the Lord and Israel. The New Covenant is made between the Lord and Israel.

The parties to the Covenant are still the same – only the terms of this New Covenant are different. Therefore, Israel should now have come under the terms of this New Covenant and consequently should be found among those peoples who, nationally at least, have embraced Christianity.

(This also provides proof that the Israeli State, which has not come under the terms of the New Covenant, cannot be true Israel but merely a counterfeit.)

PHILIP

(Acts 8:26-40) – Here we read an account of the meeting between Peter and the Ethiopian eunuch. Many claim that this is the story of the conversion of a black man! However, there are several points that should be noted:

• The Ethiopia of the New Testament Scriptures was not the present land of Ethiopia but rather a general designation for the African continent as it was then known.
• Many Greek and Phoenician colonies – centres of trade and commerce existed within this land area and of these, many were actually settlements of exiled Israelites.
• One needs to ask the question why this eunuch was reading the Scriptures – Isaiah – in the first place?
• He must have been able to read and understand Hebrew, Aramaic or Greek as the Scriptures were only available in these languages at that time – there would have been none of the modern translations into other languages.
• One also needs to ask why this eunuch had come to Jerusalem to worship – unless of Israel descent – as only Israelites  had  been  commanded to do this at the time of the three major Israelitish festivals – Passover, Pentecost and Tabernacles.
• The fact that this eunuch listened to Philip’s exposition of the passage in Isaiah which he had been reading and responded in such a positive fashion would tend to suggest that he was, in fact, one of the “Lost Sheep of the House of Israel” to whom Jesus claimed to have been sent Himself and to whom He had Instructed His Disciples to carry their message _ “My sheep hear my voice…”

In the light of all this, the most reasonable conclusion that can be drawn is that this eunuch was one of the people from the Exiled House of Israel who had risen to political prominence in the land of his family’s settlement and whose wealth and position enabled him to travel back to Jerusalem to keep the Feast Days as commanded by the Lord.

JAMES

(James 1:1) – provides further evidence that the target of the Apostles’ ministry was primarily Israel.

“James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ to the Twelve Tribes which are scattered abroad, greeting…”

JOHN

“The elder unto the elect lady and her children, whom I love in the Truth; and not I only, but also all they that have known the Truth:”  (2 John 1:1)

There are a couple of points to note here:-

1. John had been banished to the Isle of Patmos by the Emperor Domitian during a period of persecution by the Roman authorities.
2. The expression – “Elect lady and her children” – does not refer to an individual and her family, but is rather a coded reference to Israel – (for John to speak openly of these things in the prevailing political climate at this time would almost certainly have meant his death).

Many other passages of the Scriptures corroborate this contention:­

“For Jacob my servant’s sake, and Israel mine elect, I have even called thee by thy name.”   (Isaiah 45:4)

The word “elect” could also be translated as “chosen”. In light of this, compare the following words of Moses, addressed to Israel:-

“For thou art an holy people unto the Lord thy God: the Lord thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all the people that are upon the face of the earth.” (Deuteronomy 7:6)

Israel is also often referred to in the Scriptures as a woman or wife:­

“Surely as a wife treacherously departeth from her husband, so have ye dealt treacherously with me, O House of Israel, saith the Lord.”   (Jeremiah 3:20)

“A woman clothed with the sun and the moon under feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars…”    (Revelation 12:1)

In this last scripture, too, the references to the sun, moon and stars clearly hark back to Joseph’s dream in Genesis 37:9 and further strengthen the argument.

Again, the conclusion here must be, as in the case of James, that John, too, directed his efforts to Israel.

PAUL

Paul refers to himself as ”The Apostle of the Gentiles” and this word “Gentile”, which conjures up the idea of “non-Israel” (or non-Jewish, to be more exact) in the minds of most Christians today, has become a real obstacle to rightly dividing the word of truth. Again here, there are several facts concerning this word which need to be established right from the outset:-

• There is no such word in the original text of the Scriptures – either in the Old or New Testaments – a fact which may, come as a surprise to many Christians.
• The translators of our English Bible used this word “Gentile” to translate the Hebrew word “Goi” and the Greek word “Ethnos” – both of which, according to Young’s Analytical Concordance, literally mean “Nation/s”.
• To further compound the confusion on this issue, there is no uniformity in the translation of these words “Goi” and “Ethnos” applied throughout our English versions of the Scriptures, as the table below will show.

• The intention of the translators was probably to differentiate between the Israel NationsNations and non-Israel Nations. Despite the confusion generated and the subsequent theological error in the way this word “Gentile” has been used, the position of the translators is understandable – particularly in view of the amount of light and truth that the Lord had been pleased to reveal at that time. However, there is no excuse for the perpetuation of this error today in the light of revealed truth!!
• The Latin root or stem from which the English word “Gentile” is derived, is “Gens” – a collective word, meaning Clan, Race, Nation and not a description that could be applied to an individual. The idea that a person can be referred to as a “Gentile” stems from an incorrect translation of the original text and the term a “Gentile Nation” is actually meaningless!?!
• If the translators of the Bible had set aside the religious bias and tradition of their day and uniformly translated the words “Goi” and “Ethnos” – correctly – as simply “Nation”, the context would have shown clearly whether the nation or nations referred to were Israel or non-Israel nations. A couple of examples from the Scriptures should illustrate this point:-

“Go not into the way of the Gentiles and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not: But go rather to the lost sheep of the House of Israel”.  (Matthew 10:5-6)

In the above statement from Jesus, these “Gentiles” (Nations) are, from the context, obviously non-Israel nations.

“For I speak to you Gentiles inasmuch as I am the Apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify mine office.”    (Romans 11:13)

Paul here refers to himself as “Apostle of the Gentiles” (Nations) and in the light of his travels, ministry and letters, these “Gentiles” (Nations) are, in this instance, clearly Israel nations.

Throughout all of Paul’s epistles, he refers to those to whom he is writing as “Brethren” – the English translation of the Greek word “adelphos” – which is only used in the sense of “blood-brother”, “kinsman”, “womb­brother” and specifically denotes a person of the same racial stock or origin. Paul, as we know, was an Israelite of the tribe of Benjamin and his use of this particular Greek word indicates that those to whom he addressed his epistles were also Israelites.

Bearing in mind Paul’s statement in Romans 11:1:-

“For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin…”

The following passages of Scripture should be considered and seen as additional proof that Paul directed his ministry to Israel in Dispersion in the lands where they had settled after the Lord had evicted them from their home in Palestine because of their continued disobedience and waywardness.

”What shall we say then that Abraham our father as pertaining to the flesh hath found…”              (Romans 4:1)

“All our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the (Red) sea, and were all baptised unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea.”   (1 Corinthians 10:1-5)

 “Now we brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise (Israelites).”     (Galatians 4:28)

“That at that time ye were without Christ being (having become) aliens from the Commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world.”    (Ephesians 2:12)

Compare the above description with the terminology employed by the prophet Hosea and examined earlier in this article:- “Not having obtained mercy”, “Not your God”, “Not my people” etc.

Add to this Paul’s use of the Greek word “adelphos” – translated as “brethren” – (not in today’s “spiritual” sense of the word but denoting the same racial stock) – in various passages of Scripture such as the following:-

• EPHESIANS 6:10
• PHILIPPIANS 1:12
• COLOSSIANS 1:2
• 1 THESSALONIANS 1:4

The above evidence must surely prove beyond any shadow of a doubt that the Romans, Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians and Thessalonians to whom Paul directed his ministry were none other than portions of the House of Israel – cast off and scattered abroad under the judgements of Almighty God, but now redeemed by this same Almighty God in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ through the shed blood of the “New Covenant” – which New Covenant He had promised through the prophet Jeremiah centuries before that he would make with His People Israel. ·

Both parts of this short study on “Israel in the New Testament” clearly illustrate the faithfulness and dependability of the Lord God of Israel – both to His Word and to Israel, His Chosen People. Therefore, we can have confidence (both personally, for our own salvation and also nationally, for our people) in such a God – One Who is not only Omnipotent but also Trustworthy and Reliable.

“For I am the Lord, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.”