The previous post with Neil’s covering email refers:
THE SIGNIFICANCE OF ISRAEL – SOME COMMENTS ON ROMANS
After 2000 years of study, it may seem unlikely that there will be any truly new insights in our examination of Biblical prophecy. It is possible, however, that some truths will only be revealed at the appropriate time “But you, Daniel, close up and seal the words of the scroll until the time of the end” (Dan 12:4).
There was much that the disciples did not understand until Jesus was crucified, rose again and ascended into Heaven. In similar vein, much of Isaiah is clear to us now, after the cross, but must have been mysterious for the 800 years before Jesus was born
The OT is full of promises and prophecies that show that God has a special relationship with Israel and that they would be “the power in the land”. However, certainly in worldly terms, Gentiles appeared to take over the position of favour on the earth. Prophecy indicates that, in due course, God’s relationship with His chosen people will be restored. “Blindness in part is happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in. And so all Israel shall be saved, as it is written” (Rom 11:25, 26 (KJV)).
“The fullness of the Gentiles” should not be confused with “the times of the Gentiles” (Luke 21:24): one refers to spiritual blessing, the other to earthly power. It may be that Jerusalem will not be free of Gentile involvement in its affairs until Jesus returns to take David’s throne. The very expression “until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in” shows something will change, and implies a difference between Gentile believers and Israel. Is there a counter in Heaven – the numbers mounting while Satan watches, without knowing the target figure?
In Romans 11, Paul (the “Apostle to the Gentiles”) reasons that branches of the Abrahamic “tree” have been broken off and Gentile branches (believers) grafted in. The tree, whose roots Gentile Christians share, is essentially Abrahamic. Note that Paul never considered himself as having ceased to be a Jew, nor as having moved into a new religion, nor did he ever disparage his Jewish pedigree. Jesus as Messiah was for Paul the full expression of Judaism. Later (Rom 11:13-14) Paul added that, despite his calling as the apostle to the Gentiles, the ultimate motivation of his ministry was the salvation of his fellow Jews (Rom 10:1)
The Biblical predictions (prophecies) of a restored Israel are amazing, and the re-establishment of the Jewish nation in Israel, fulfilled in 1948, is even more so. The survival of national identity in dispersion, which the Jews maintained for nearly nineteen hundred years, prior to the rebirth of Israel, was a phenomenon in itself
Continuing in Romans 11 we see that this hardening will stay “until the full number of the Gentiles has come in;” and Paul adds, “And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: The Deliverer will come from Zion; He will turn godlessness away from Jacob, and this is My covenant with them.” (Rom 11:25-27). Does this mean that Israel will be brought within the blessings of the Gospel of Grace (the New Covenant), or that the Jews will be blessed on a different principle (the Abrahamic Covenant), or a bit of both? I really don’t know. Certainly, there is a remnant saved by grace: “at the present time there is a remnant chosen by grace” (Rom 11:5, see also Rev 12:17)
As mentioned above, the OT clearly shows that the Jews enjoyed a special relationship (blessing). Jesus confirmed the patriarchal promise: “Christ has become a servant of the Jews on behalf of God’s truth, to confirm the promises made to the patriarchs so that the Gentiles might glorify God for His mercy.” (Rom 15:8, 9). We can understand that the Cross broke down the barrier and levelled all distinctions. As to righteousness “there is no difference, for all have sinned;” (Rom 3:22, 23), as to mercy “there is no difference between Jew and Gentile – the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on Him.” (Rom 10:12). However, the promises to Israel are very specific. If there is “no difference”, can God give blessing on a principle, which seems to imply that there is a difference? In other words, the expectation of certain promises to Israel would appear to be inconsistent with the concept of “no difference”!
Romans 11 indicates that Gentile believers and Israel now enjoy the same privileges. Nevertheless, it is part of the same revelation that although grace comes to the Gentile just where he is, it does not confirm him as a Gentile, but gives him a new nationality as a citizen of the Kingdom of God; for in the Church “there is neither Jew nor Gentile.” (Gal 3:28. Contrast with John 4:22, “Salvation is from the Jews”). The promises to Israel, on the other hand, imply that blessing will reach the Jew as a Jew, i.e., recognizing his national position and endorsing his special relationship under the patriarchal covenant. Jesus will return to Jerusalem and take His throne as King of the Jews
The New Testament opens with the record of the genealogy, birth and ministry of Jesus as “the Son of David, the son of Abraham;” (Matt 1:1). Jesus was “a servant of the Jews on behalf of God’s truth” (Romans 15:8). The angel told Mary that the son she was to bear would be King on “the throne of his father David and he will reign over the house of Jacob for ever” (Luke 1:32,33). The question the Magi asked: “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews?” (Matt 2.2) appeared to be a confirmation of Jewish expectation
In both Daniel and Matthew, Jerusalem is the focus for End-Time events and that confirms the necessity and huge significance of the re-establishment of Israel and the re-unification of Jerusalem. The history of the Jews is a record of miraculous events: their escape from Egypt, their ordeals and God’s provision on the journey to the Promised Land were miraculous. Their successes and failures, conquests and captivities, their whole history is interwoven with miracles. The seventy years from Jesus’ birth to the dispersion of the Jews were full of remarkable events and prophetic fulfillment. From that time until 1948, however, there seems to have been a lull, as far as Biblical prophecy is concerned. We can now see the miracle of Jewish survival in dispersion. This is a new era: the very existence of modern Israel is the miraculous and essential ingredient for the next stage of prophetic fulfillment
In summary: “God has not cast away His people Israel” (Rom 11:1,2 KJV). In the Acts of the Apostles, Jerusalem was the centre for God’s people on earth, Gentiles were then admitted, “grafted in”. Initially, the Church was essentially Jewish. The Apostles taught in the temple (Acts 2:46; 3:1, 5:42). Their testimony was in line with the old prophecies (Acts. 3:19-26.), and even when the Christians were scattered by persecution, the Apostles remained in Jerusalem.
Those Christians who left Jerusalem evangelised only among the Jews (Acts. 8:1, 4, and 11:19). Peter had to be persuaded to go among the Gentiles (Acts. 10), and that was not popular within the Church (Acts. 11:2-18). Over the centuries the number of Gentile believers grew and the Jewish membership fell away. In Israel today there is a remnant “who obey God’s commandments, and hold to the testimony of Jesus” (Rev 12:17); Jews, and yet Christians; Jews who believe in Jesus, the One whom secular and non-messianic Jews will continue to reject, until He appears.
It is my personal view that there are two courses to the fulfilment of End-Times prophecy:
- The church (which includes messianic Jews) will be raptured, and…
- The remnant of Israel will then come to recognize who Jesus is, a conviction of sin, repentance and be saved.
Neil Mackereth, 15th November 2023
Richard's Watch 
I’ve had various experiences with the Lord in which He explains to me that it’s about being on earth and in heaven at the same time and fully aware of it – like the rapture and the remnant rolled into one on a personal basis. It happens when Christians heed the call of Christ to take up the cross and follow His example – rarely done in prosperity-preaching western nations. The closest a person can come to understanding the value is to look at the sacrifices of war vets to defend western freedom. Even then, there’s an element of politics involved that is overcome in the fullness of the Kingdom. It’s like the Lord led me as a fore-runner to learn the hard way, make all the mistakes and get up one time more than I fall, to serve as a Kingdom-hearted pioneer.
As a result I continuously hear Him speak from heaven about His sovereign plans for not only Israel but the nations who call on His Name. As I observe the current strife in Israel and see the Church being compelled to side with Israel unconditionally, I wonder what’s the viewpoint of the Sovereign Lord. He visited me one morning and said ‘The only part of Israel that will be redeemed is the part that calls on the Name of My Son.’ Whether it’s Yeshuah HaMashiach or Jesus Christ in English, Immanuel is the doorway to Israel’s redemption; not winning a war in this world or allowing the wheat harvest of Kingdom sons to be over-run with weeds (Matthew 13). The deceitfulness of wealth is the biggest pitfall of all when it means we do things our way, or believe that wealth is automatically a sign of blessing from God. It certainly can be but can also be a sign of someone having been bribed or blackmailed or prostituted himself to gain riches, while side-stepping the call of Christ to follow Him the way of the cross.
Here in Atlantic Canada where the prophecy is in progress of being fulfilled, that “God will use Canada to usher in the return of the Lord Jesus Christ”*, it seems most valuable of all is a relationship with the Father, through the Son by the power of the Holy Spirit, in which we gain experience related to His teaching that ‘not even Solomon was clothed like one of these’ (the lilies of the field). The threat that ‘you will own nothing and be happy’ is rendered null and void by someone actually seeing the value in that, and agreeing if it’s the Lord will we’ll do that in order to avoid the deceitfulness of wealth, only to be put in a position to be on the receiving end of the wicked becoming a ransom for the righteous. This is where I went and it’s glorious indeed. Living like a pioneer in Canada is key, where we have so much already in addition to that, it makes a great foundation for the Kingdom of God to join the Ecclesia and demolish the biggest enemy strongholds of all. It’s a time of rapture and habitation for His holy Presence all at once.
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Thank you ever so much for such a blessedly splendid contribution dear Maxine
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Maxine David, I have heard the very same from the Holy Spirit and it is wonderful that God confirms His Words with His Spirit and others who hear the same Words. God bless true Israel, all who come to Jesus; we speak life and blessings and peace to Jerusalem who will receive her true Peace when she comes to Jesus and receives Christ in her people, “Blessed is He who comes in the Name of the Lord: Risen Jesus, the true New Jerusalem, the new city set on a hill (Matthew 5:14); the “sought out” city (Isaiah 62:1-12); the pure betrothed many-membered bride, no longer Jew or Gentile, but one in Christ and Christ in her; those who come to Jesus who when lifted up is drawing us to Himself, to Christ as He is now so we can be AS He is in this present dark world, to shine His True Light, His Glory that the Father gave to Him and He gives to His one Body and one Spirit on earth AS in heaven, in Christ, and Christ in you who believe and are born again of God, of His Spirit, of His River of Living Water of Life (John 3:3-8, 4:10,24, 7:37-39; Luke 5:37-39); of Risen Christ of every tribe, tongue, people, and nation who come to Jesus, Who ransoms you out of this world through His death and burial, into His resurrection life and Spirit, into Christ, into God our Father who are One Living Holy Righteous Glorious God Almighty, so the Living Abiding Word of God can dwell in us by faith for faith, proven substance, evidence, and assurance! glory to God in the Highest and in the humble hearts of those submitted to God, governed by the Government of God in Christ and Christ in you. all praise and glory to God!
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Praise the LORD for bringing confirmation, another example of His GPS in action. (For new readers, Holy Spirit’s Global Prophecy Signals.)
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I don’t believe there is anything new under the sun, still sin and vanity Solomon shared; the vanity and vain imaginations of pride and lust of the eyes and lust of the flesh, greed, hatred, division, anger, conflict, war, jealousy, envy, covetousness, selfishness, self-focus, self-righteousness, self-centered, narcissistic behavior, world power that corrupts absolutely; bribes, black-mail, etc. etc. etc.
But I do believe in Christ is the new heaven and new earth where righteousness dwells, coming down like a river into Christ in those truly born again; receiving the Words of God through Jesus, the imperishable Seed, the life and Spirit of the Word of Jesus, God made flesh, so that if and when we come to Jesus and receive the Holy Spirit, the written Word (logos), the Spoken Words of Jesus (rhema) and the Living Word, Risen Glorified Jesus on the Throne, the Lord who is NOW the Spirit (2 Corinthians 3:16-18) who removes the veil when we turn to the Lord, Holy Spirit is able to open our Understanding by opening the eyes of our heart and enlightening them, giving us the Spirit of the Lord, Wisdom, Understanding, Counsel, Might, Knowledge, and Reverence for God in Awe and Wonder! so the “secrets of the kingdom of God” (Matthew 13:11-23) and His righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit (Romans 14:17) are revealed deeper and deeper, higher and higher, broader and longer to know the Love of Christ and be filled with all the fullness of God at work in us greater than we could ask or think (Ephesians 3:14-21) to give glory to the Father through Jesus!
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Some good observations in this post. I’d like to shed some light, though, if I may, on the question of whether the nation of Israel will be brought into the blessings of the new covenant at Jesus’ return or those of the Abrahamic covenant. I believe it’s an important point for us all that the answer is specifically the new covenant. Why important for us all? Because when God originally promised the new covenant through Jeremiah in Jeremiah 31:31-34, He didn’t just promise to make it only with “the house of Israel and the house of Judah”, but He promised to make it with Israel as a whole nation: “And they will not need to teach their neighbours, nor will they need to teach their relatives, saying, ‘You should know the Lord.’ For everyone, from the least to the greatest, will know me already,” says the Lord.” (Jer 31:34).
So that has two big implications for the Gentiles.
Firstly, because God only promised to cut this covenant with the family of Abraham, it means that a Gentile can only gain access to this covenant by becoming part of that family. That may sound unfair, and yet Paul says in Romans 11:17 that this is exactly what happens every time a Gentile becomes one with Christ: they also become one with the believing family of Abraham. Or, to use his language, they are ‘grafted in’.
And how does this happen? Simply because becoming one with Christ means becoming one with a Jewish Messiah. It’s His divinity that makes us children of God, but it’s His ethnicity that makes us children of Abraham, and that’s what gives us access to the family blessings. Paul makes this same point in Galatians 3:29 where he says that ‘now you belong to Christ, you are the true children of Abraham. You are his heirs, and God’s promise to Abraham belongs to you.’ This verse is often taken to mean that becoming one with Christ bypasses our need to join the believing family of Abraham, but it’s actually the reverse: it’s what meets that need. Being adopted through Christ into the believing ethnic family of Israel is the only way a Gentile can access that family’s new covenant.
But the second big implication for the Gentiles is God’s promise to make the new covenant with Israel as a nation. That hasn’t happened yet and means that the new covenant will not be fulfilled until it does. That, in turn, means that none of us will receive the full benefits of the new covenant until ‘all Israel will be saved’ (Romans 11:26) and, significantly, those benefits include our resurrection bodies (Romans 8:19-23).
So what’s delaying this fulfilment? Paul explains in Romans 11:25 that it’s pending the fullness of the Gentiles coming into the covenant first. God won’t conclude the covenant until His covenant-family includes representatives from all nations grafted in, for only then will Jesus have a global government through whom to rule the whole earth. Which means that Israel’s national salvation will be the last thing that happens before the coming King returns, which is the order that Paul describes in Romans 11:25-27: first ‘the full number of Gentiles comes to Christ’; then ‘all Israel will be saved’; and then Jesus returns to complete the covenant that will ‘take away their sins’.
So it’s very important for us all that it’s the new covenant that Jesus comes back to bring Israel into (although that will also fulfil the Abrahamic covenant promise of global blessing through them), as that will release our full inheritance in Christ. As Paul writes in Romans 11:15, ‘it will be life for those who were dead’ – the Resurrection!
Which brings me to a final observation about the timing of the rapture. Because one of the implications of all the above is that the resurrection can’t happen until Israel is saved as a nation and Jesus returns. But Paul makes clear in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 that the resurrection will be coincident with the rapture, so that means the rapture also can’t happen until all Israel is saved and Jesus returns. The price of being grafted into another family’s covenant is that you have don’t get the full inheritance of that covenant before the rest of the family do – we have to wait! One good reason to keep praying for the salvation of that nation, though. 🙂
Hope that helps.
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Thank you Paul and yes indeed it does help, and will let Neil know.
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