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Results from: Answered Bible Questions, Answers, Unanswered Bible Questions, Notes Ordered by Verse | ||||||
Results | Verse | Author | ID# | |||
1 | Originals? | Rev 22:18 | Truthfinder | 79334 | ||
Hi Tim Most believe that the nation of Israel today is still God’s chosen nation. When Jesus Christ was on earth, it was still God’s nation or channel. Any who wished to serve Jehovah had to do so in association with his chosen nation. (John 4:22) But Moses had shown that the privilege of being stewards of “the things revealed” also carried responsibilities. He said: “The things revealed belong to us and to our sons to time indefinite, that we may carry out all the words of this law.” (Deuteronomy 29:29) That “time indefinite” came to an end in 33 C.E. Why? Because, as a nation, the Jews failed to ‘carry out all the words of the law.’ Particularly, the Bible, indicates that the Jewish nation lost God’s favor and protection when they rejected his Son, Jesus Christ. (Acts 3:13, 14, 19) Jesus himself plainly told them: “The kingdom of God will be taken from you and be given to a nation producing its fruits.”—Matthew 21:43. They failed to welcome the Seed, Jesus Christ, even though the Law had been, in effect, a “tutor leading to Christ.” (Galatians 3:24) Because of this failure, Jehovah chose another channel for “the things revealed.” Paul identified it to the Ephesians when he wrote that “there might be made known through the congregation the greatly diversified wisdom of God, according to the eternal purpose that he formed in connection with the Christ, Jesus our Lord.” (Ephesians 3:10, 11) Yes, it was the Christian congregation, born at Pentecost 33 C.E., that was entrusted with the new “things revealed.” As a group, anointed Christians served as “the faithful and discreet slave” appointed to provide spiritual food at the proper time. (Matthew 24:45) What the Jewish writer of Romans 11:26 called “all Israel” he called “the Israel of God” at Galatians 6:16. But if the natural Jews in the Republic of Israel and around the globe do not make up “all Israel,” who are its members? This question is a vital one, as the natural Jews of today do not know to which of Israel’s 12 tribes they belong. They have rabbis but no priesthood, no high priest on earth, no temple at Jerusalem and no altar there on which to offer sacrifices according to the Law God gave to them through Moses. All of this has been lacking since the Romans destroyed Jerusalem in 70 C.E. There also is no evidence that the God whose name they refuse to pronounce is with them any longer as a nation. In Romans, the text you quoted, Paul could not have believed that the Israelites as a nation still had a special place with God, for the apostle expressed “great grief and unceasing pain in [his] heart” over their unresponsiveness to God’s goodness. (Romans 9:2-5) At Romans 9:6 Paul adds: “However, it is not as though the word of God [to Abraham] had failed. For not all who spring from [natural] Israel are really ‘Israel.’” Note what Paul is saying: that because the Jews rejected Christ, God no longer considered them to be Israel! The anointed congregation of Jesus Christ’s followers was now the real “Israel,” the instrument through which God would bless all mankind.—1 Peter 2:9; Galatians 3:29; 6:16; Genesis 22:18. God, though, did not reject the Jewish people as individuals, for Paul pointed out: “For I also am an Israelite.” Yes, individuals within the Jewish nation, like Paul, could become part of spiritual Israel if they accepted Christ. Only “a remnant,” a minority, chose to do so.—Romans 11:1, 5. Truthfinder |
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2 | Originals? | Rev 22:18 | Searcher56 | 79344 | ||
Addition to Tim's note ... the Gentiles are grafted in accorsing to Romans 11. More later | ||||||