Jim Sluiter

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 Here's the Difference

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Sarah Stickfort

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Joel Hovey

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Were those of whom we read in the New Testament that they were demon-possessed responsible for being in that condition?

Certainly not in every case. In that of the boy in Mark 9:20-22," TARGET="_blank">Mark 9:20-22, his father in reply to the Lord’s question said that he had been thus from childhood. What was true with regard to the other miracles of healing wrought by Christ was probably true of the demon-possessed also, that in some instances the trouble was due to sin on the part of the person concerned, and in others not so. Contrast the warning to the impotent man in John 5:14," TARGET="_blank">John 5:14, “Sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee,” with the words spoken of the blind man in John 9.3," TARGET="_blank">John 9.3, “Neither hath this man sinned.”

W.R.

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Why is there pain and suffering?

You may also be interested in the more personal question "Why am I experiencing a time of difficulty? What is going trying to do to me?"

C.S. Lewis called it “The Problem of Pain” in his short, but influential book.

“If God were good, He would wish to make his creatures perfectly happy, and if God were almighty, He would be able to do what He wished. But the creatures are not happy. Therefore God lacks either goodness, or power, or both.  That is the problem of pain in its simplest form.”

Very briefly, there are a number of ways of answering this challenge.  

Choice

God created man, Satan and the angels with the power of choice.  This gives us the option of choosing to obey or to rebel against God.  Building us with a free will has the inherent risk of losing us to sin.  Suffering, being the result of sin, is the inheritance we received from Adam and Eve and their fatal choice to disobey God.  Romans 5:12" TARGET="_blank">Romans 5:12 says that he is the source of death in the world being the head of all humanity.  As a consequence of Adam’s choice, the world is visited by calamity and suffering.

Romans 5:12" TARGET="_blank">Romans 5:12  Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned--

This “bondage of corruption,” with the “whole world groaning and travailing together in pain” (Romans 8:21, 22)," TARGET="_blank">Romans 8:21, 22), has affected all men everywhere. God did not make the world in its fallen state.  In fact, when finishing the world he said "it is very good" (Genesis 2:1-3)." TARGET="_blank">Genesis 2:1-3).  Some day in the future, God will take away the curse from the earth. In that day, “God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain” (Revelation 21:4)." TARGET="_blank">Revelation 21:4). 

God lacks power?

If God is almighty, then why does he allow suffering to exist?  God actually uses suffering to accomplish his will.  Hebrews 12:5-11" TARGET="_blank">Hebrews 12:5-11 says that he disciplines his children with chastening.  Discipline is both punishment and instruction. 

Hebrews 12:5-11" TARGET="_blank">Hebrews 12:5-11  And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons? "My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him.  (6)  For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives."  (7)  It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline?  (8)  If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons.  (9)  Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live?  (10)  For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness.  (11)  For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.

Hebrews 5:8-9" TARGET="_blank">Hebrews 5:8-9 says that Christ himself “learned” and was "made perfect" by what he suffered. Christ was certainly not ignorant nor unaware of suffering neither was he "imperfect" in the moral sense of sin.  He "learned" by experience what suffering is.  He "learned" obedience by practicing obedience even at the cost of the worst suffering imaginable.  "Made perfect" is the completion of his work by carrying it out to the end.

 Hebrews 5:7-9" TARGET="_blank">Hebrews 5:7-9  In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to him who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence.  (8)  Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered.  (9)  And being made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him,

Just because suffering continues to exist does not logically mean it exists because God is powerless to stop it.  God uses suffering to accomplish his purposes, which raises the next question…

God is cruel?

If God is capable of stopping suffering, then why does it continue?  To end suffering, God would have to end the root cause of suffering – the ability to sin.  This would mean that God would end our ability to make choices. To stop murder, God could end our ability to commit murder.  To stop sin against God, he could end our ability to rebel.  To stop evil implies ending the ability for individuals to choose what they want to do. God created Adam with the foreknowledge that Adam and his sons had the ability to worship God as well as the ability of Cain to kill his own brother.

Doesn’t God want his creatures to be perfectly happy?

Is God leading us somewhere with the aid of suffering?  The purpose of creation is not to give us self-indulgent pleasure.  The ultimate happiness of man is found by being able to glorify God even if that entails suffering on our part.  If God had made Adam with the mind of a programmed machine, Adam would not have sinned nor died.  Adam and his descendents would also not have the experience of being redeemed by grace.  There would be no salvation.  There would be no mercy of God.  There would be no heaven.  Instead, God has created a plan that will be consummated by the salvation of sinners who don’t deserve redemption, but will worship God eternally because of it. Man would never know salvation apart from sin. 

Suffering is turned into goodness in the end.  God was not surprised by Adam’s sin and fall. Of course, this does not mean that God is the source of sin, but it does mean that God is above sin and can use it to accomplish glory in the end.  If God is eventually going to bring glory to himself through the suffering of all humanity, can he not do the same in your broken life?

Conclusion

These are summary paragraphs of a few reasons why suffering is allowed to continue.  We can't know all the reasons why God allows suffering we just know that He does.

Shad Sluiter

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THE SABBATH AND THE LORD’S DAY

Is there any Scripture for making the first day of the week or the Lord’s Day, a Sabbath, on the ground that the Sabbath has been changed from the seventh to the first day?

None whatever; the Sabbath never was changed from the seventh to the first day of theweek by any divine revelation in the Scriptures. The two days are quite distinct.  The former was the Jews’ day, and we read in the Acts that the apostles would improve the occasion, by going to the Jewish synagogues on the Sabbath to get an opportunity for testimony (Acts 13:42;" TARGET="_blank">Acts 13:42; Acts 18:4)," TARGET="_blank">Acts 18:4), and then on the first day of the week, break bread with the disciples (Acts 20" TARGET="_blank">Acts 20: .). Their idea of the Sabbath was a well earned physical rest after six days of work, but true spiritual rest they never earned. The true rest, that of the Lord’s Day—the resurrection day—is rest in Him. We begin with this rest, and then work throughout the week. The two days ran concurrently in the Acts period, but there is not a line to show that the first day of the week was a physical rest-day. Probably the reason why the early disciples broke bread at night was that they were working all day. A certain legal sect gets a great advantage over denominational Christians owing to this common, mistaken notion. Its adherents point out that God never changed the seventh to the first day, and therefore, as they are legal to the core, they enforce on all literal obedience to what is to them the greatest commandment of all— Sabbath observance. Yet they themselves do not strictly keep it as the law enjoins, but are content with an approximate obedience, as long as you join the ranks of their denomination. It is perfectly true that “God rested on the seventh day from all His works,” as recorded in Genesis 2:2," TARGET="_blank">Genesis 2:2, but though God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, there is no mention that it was instituted as a rest day for man till Millenniums later, nor have we a single case recorded in the history of the antediluvian patriarchs, nor of Abraham, Isaac or Jacob, of Sabbatical observance. What we read of Sabbatical resting in Gen. 2." TARGET="_blank">Gen. 2. 2 was no doubt coincidental with creation, but Genesis was only written by Moses, toward the end of the sojourn in Egypt. The Sabbath was not formally enjoined upon Israel till the giving of the law at Sinai in Exodus 20," TARGET="_blank">Exodus 20, though shortly before, when God gave the Manna, He arranged for a double quantity to be collected on the sixth day, “in view of the rest of the holy Sabbath,” so soon to be instituted. The collecting of the manna was to go on right through the desert wanderings, so that the question was settled at the start by anticipation, how manna was to be collected for the Sabbath’s consumption, preparatory to the institution of the day, in chap. 20. Later, in chap. 31. the true import of the Sabbath is explained (verses i 3, x 6: “Verily My Sabbaths ye shall keep, for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations; that ye may know that I am the Lord that doth sanctify you. . . . It is a sign between Me and the children of Israel for ever”).

The death-penalty was attached to a failure to observe it in every particular, e.g., the man found gathering sticks on the Sabbath. Nor were Israelites allowed to light a fire on the seventh day. But the Sabbath with its stringent laws was never given to the Gentile nations and still less to the church. The question as to the advantages of one day’s rest in seven is not disputed here. There can be no doubt at all that in practice some such rest is called for. Doubtless governments have a perfect right to decree such cessation from work on the pattern of the Jewish Sabbath, but that is totally different from enforcing a sort of Sunday Sabbath as a religious obligation, which is one of the pillars of Christendom under the title of “Sabbath Observance” (see Colossians 2:16)." TARGET="_blank">Colossians 2:16). What then is the Lord’s day?

It is the first day of the week, the resurrection day, on which the early disciples came together to break bread (Acts zo), and on which they were enjoined to lay by them in store as God prospered them, to avoid special collections when the apostle arrived (1 Corinthians 16:2)." TARGET="_blank">1 Corinthians 16:2). But because the day is not the Jews’ day, it is not for that “my day,” any more than any other day is “my day.” This is negative, but is there no positive enforcement? The first day is what no other is said to be: “the Lord’s day,” and though there is not a line of Scripture, known to the writer, which enjoins a legal or Sabbatical observance of the day on anyone, if it is His day, it is peculiarly fitting to regard it as such, and to avoid anything which would unnecessarily make the day common. The way we spend the Lord’s day may well be the straw which shews how the wind blows. The man who deliberately flouts the Lord’s day, flouts the Lordship of Christ, and shews the direction in which his whole life is trending.
W.H.

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What is the Illuminati conspiracy theory and One World Government?

The illuminati conspiracy is the idea that there has always been an evil group of men working behind the scenes of world politics and world business with the end of enslaving the masses to work for their purposes.  Supposedly the group began with five men in the order of the Jesuit Priests and continues today after many generations.

It is always assumed that the members of this group control events through manufactured crisis and gradual ownership of global assets.  Unaware of the hidden agenda, we common people, are slipping gradually into their control through organizations such as the United Nations, the World Bank, International Monetary Fund, International Criminal Court and others.

Major banks, industries, transportation, stock markets are supposed to be in their hands to be able to lead to a one world economy, one world religion and one world government. Whenever this "New World Order" comes to reality, the Illuminati will be the hands at the wheel.

Such fears of global dominion by one person or group of people are based partly on prophecy in the Bible.  We read in the Bible in the person of the Antichrist and his companion, the False Prophet.  2 Thessalonians 2:1-15" TARGET="_blank">2 Thessalonians 2:1-15 tells of his demands for absolute authority, lifting himself as God.  Revelation 13:1-18" TARGET="_blank">Revelation 13:1-18 tells of his rise to power in the symbol of a beast rising out of the sea and his demand of control of all economic activity with his seal 666 on the forehead or hand of every citizen.

It must be remembered that while Satan my be the inspiration behind the Antichrist, God is ultimately in control of all world events and world leaders.  God can use evil people to carry out his plans without their knowing it (Isaiah 10:5," TARGET="_blank">Isaiah 10:5, Isaiah 10:7)." TARGET="_blank">Isaiah 10:7).   He uses nations to punish his people Israel (Judges 2:14-15," TARGET="_blank">Judges 2:14-15, Judges 2:21-23;" TARGET="_blank">Judges 2:21-23; Judges 2:3:12)." TARGET="_blank">Judges 2:3:12).  He can also harden people's resolve to self-destruction (Joshua 11:20;" TARGET="_blank">Joshua 11:20; Judges 7:22)." TARGET="_blank">Judges 7:22).  Even the Antichrist will be under God's control and punished at the end of time (Revelation 20:1-10)." TARGET="_blank">Revelation 20:1-10).

Shad Sluiter

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Free Online Bible Commentaries

The Online Bible Search program at Gospel Hall provides free online Bible commentaries, dictionaries and concordance features.  The free online bible commentaries are available along with the dictionary under the link titled "Online Bible Search" or here.

Instructions for the Free Online Bible Commentaries

1. Select the link Free Online Bible Commentaries.

2. Choose a Bible version to read online (ASV -American Standard Version, BBE - Bible in Basic English, DBY - Darby "New Translation",  GFR - God's Word for Readers,  KJV - King James Version, WEB - World English Bible, YLT - Young's Literal Translation, or the ESV - English Standard Version)  The online bible commentaries are based on the King James Version except for Darby who used his own Darby Translation in his commentaries.

3. Select one of the online commentaries (Barnes Notes on the New Testament, Darby's Synopsis of the Entire Bible, William Kelly's Notes on the Bible, Jamison Brown Faucett, or Robertson's Word Pictures on the New Testament).  Some of the online commentaries are only for the NT.  Others include both the OT and NT.

About the Free Online Bible Commentaries

Albert Barnes (1798–1870) was an American theologian, born at Rome, New York, on December 1, 1798. He graduated from Hamilton College, Clinton, New York, in 1820, and from Princeton Theological Seminary in 1823. Barnes was ordained as a Presbyterian minister by the presbytery of Elizabethtown, New Jersey, in 1825, and was the pastor successively of the Presbyterian Church in Morristown, New Jersey (1825–1830), and of the First Presbyterian Church of Philadelphia (1830–1867).

Of the well-known Notes on the New Testament, it is said that more than a million volumes had been issued by 1870. The Notes on Job, the Psalms, Isaiah and Daniel found scarcely less acceptance. Displaying no original critical power, their chief merit lies in the fact that they bring in a popular (but not always accurate) form the results of the criticism of others within the reach of general readers. Barnes was the author of several other works of a practical and devotional kind, including Scriptural Views of Slavery (1846) and The Way of Salvation (1863). A collection of his Theological Works was published in Philadelphia in 1875.

John Nelson Darby, (November 18, 1800 - April 29, 1882) was an Anglo-Irish evangelist, an influential figure among the original Plymouth Brethren, and founder of the Darbyites. He is considered to be the father of modern Dispensationalism.

WILLIAM KELLY — the title-pages of whose works generally bear only the initials "W. K." — was born in the North of Ireland, in 1820. Being early left fatherless, he was already supporting himself by tuition to the family of Mr. Cachemaille, Rector of Sark, when, in 1840, he made the Christian confession, and he shortly afterwards embraced the views of the church characteristic to "brethren", with whom he then at once united. He retained a close connection with the Channel Islands for thirty years, residing chiefly in Guernsey, but for the latter half of his Christian career his home was at Blackheath.

He was a graduate, in classical honours, of Trinity College, Dublin, and was recognised as not merely a sound, erudite scholar, but a controversialist of formidable calibre. Besides aiding Dr. S. P. Tregelles in his investigations as a Biblical textual critic, Mr. Kelly himself published, in 1860, a critical edition of the Revelation of John, which Professor Heinrich Ewald, of Goettingen, declared was the best piece of English work of the kind that he had seen.

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Does the reference to “the sword” in Psalm 22:20," TARGET="_blank">Psalm 22:20, find its fulfilment in John 19:34" TARGET="_blank">John 19:34 where one of the soldiers with a spear pierced His side? and to what does the expression “dogs” refer?

The words referred to in the Psalm are, “Deliver my soul from the sword!” I cannot think that there is any reference here to the soldier’s spear! For one thing, the Lord did not pray to be delivered from the spear-thrust, for He was already dead, nor could He be said to be delivered from it, seeing it pierced Him, and was necessary for the fulfilment of the prophecy of Zechariah 12:10," TARGET="_blank">Zechariah 12:10, “They shall look upon Me whom they have pierced.” No doubt, this was permitted for a secondary reason, as an ocular demonstration to all of the reality of His death in the outpouring of all His blood. The water coming out visibly after the blood would indicate that the fountain of that life-blood was entirely exhausted: “He poured out his soul unto death” (Isaiah 53:12)." TARGET="_blank">Isaiah 53:12). Then what could the sword be to which reference is made in verse zo, and from which the Lord prayed that His soul might be delivered? It was something terribly real, the pressure of which our Lord felt to His innermost soul. There was only one sword at Calvary, and that was the sword of which Zechariah spake----the sword of Jehovah—”Awake, 0 sword, against my shepherd, and against the man that is my fellow, saith the Lord of Hosts” (Zechariah 13:7)." TARGET="_blank">Zechariah 13:7). This was the sword of Eden that turned every way (Genesis 3" TARGET="_blank">Genesis 3: ), “the sore and great and strong sword” of Isaiah 27:1," TARGET="_blank">Isaiah 27:1, with which “Leviathan, the piercing serpent” will one day be punished—the sword of divine justice meted out against sin, and with which the Holy Victim was smitten, “when He bore our sins in His own body on the tree,” and was treated as the sinner deserved.
As to the second part of the question, the expression “dog” refers, I think, to the Gentile element among those who crucified the Lord. It was they who administered the physical sufferings of the cross. “For dogs have compassed me, they pierced my hands and my feet”—clearly refers to the Roman soldiers, the crucifiers; and then follows v. 18: “They part my garments among them.” The moral sufferings of our Lord at the hand of Israel are depicted in vv. 6-8. But the sword of Jehovah surpassed them all, and it was being brought through that judgment unto the resurrection ground, which constituted the “deliverance from the sword” prayed for in Psalm 22:20." TARGET="_blank">Psalm 22:20.

W.H.

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Did God replace Israel with the Church?

No. 

If we fail to distinguish between the Church and Israel, we will have difficulty in interpreting the Bible, especially in regards to prophecy.  

The Church is distinct from the nation of Israel.  Israel is God’s chosen people who have specific promises (land, king) that are eternal and irrevocable.  There is still much that God is going to do with Israel.
A common error is to teach that Israel was the Church of the Old Testament and the believers of the New Testament are just another manifestation of the chosen people of God.  It is taught that since the Jews rejected Christ, God has rejected them forever.  That leaves room to say that the Church is the new Israel in sprit.  All promises that were given to Israel would therefore apply to the Church of the New Testament.

It can be shown from a few verses that God still sees a future for Israel as well as sees a distinction between Israel and the Church.

The Bible makes a division of the world into three groups:

1 Corinthians 10:32" TARGET="_blank">1 Corinthians 10:32 "Give none offence, neither to the Jews, nor to the Gentiles, nor to the church of God."

• The Jews – Israel
• The Gentiles – the unconverted, unsaved of the world.
• The church of God – all believers in today’s period of grace.

 
    In Acts 15:14-17" TARGET="_blank">Acts 15:14-17 divides the world in the same way:

The Church

God at the first did visit the Gentiles, to take out of them a people for his name (v. 14).

Israel

After this I will return, and will build you the tabernacle of David, which is fallen down; and I will build again the ruins thereof, and I will set it up (v. 16).

The Gentiles

That the residue of men might seek after the Lord, and all the Gentiles, upon whom my name is called, saith the Lord, who doeth all these things (v. 17).

    
Again we see the same division in Ephesians and Colossians:
    the Jews-the circumcision made with hands (Eph. 2:11)." TARGET="_blank">Eph. 2:11).
    the Gentiles-the uncircumcision (Eph. 2:11)." TARGET="_blank">Eph. 2:11).
    the Church-the circumcision made without hands (Col. 2:11)" TARGET="_blank">Col. 2:11)

What difference does it make?

Israel will one day have a son of David sit on the throne in Jerusalem.  This kingdom will have no end.

And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end."  (Luke 1:31-33)" TARGET="_blank">Luke 1:31-33)

All Israel will be saved.  They will repent and receive Christ and be forgiven for their sins.

Lest you be wise in your own sight, I want you to understand this mystery, brothers: a partial hardening has come upon Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. And in this way all Israel will be saved, as it is written, "The Deliverer will come from Zion, he will banish ungodliness from Jacob"; "and this will be my covenant with them when I take away their sins." As regards the gospel, they are enemies of God for your sake. But as regards election, they are beloved for the sake of their forefathers.

(Romans 11:25-28)" TARGET="_blank">Romans 11:25-28)

Currently, most of the Jewish people are not saved.  Only a “remnant” is saved.

So too at the present time there is a remnant, chosen by grace. But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works; otherwise grace would no longer be grace. What then? Israel failed to obtain what it was seeking. The elect obtained it, but the rest were hardened, as it is written, "God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes that would not see and ears that would not hear, down to this very day."

(Romans 11:5-8)" TARGET="_blank">Romans 11:5-8)

When the Jews did not receive Christ as their Chosen One, they were temporarily set aside.  No longer does God work through them to accomplish his work on earth.  They will remain in this dormant state until Christ returns. The work of God with the Jews has been put on “pause” until God is done working with the Gentiles.

Three phrases tell us about this time of parenthesis:

1.  The riches of the Gentiles (Rom_11:12) is the great blessing that falls to the Gentile nations through salvation by faith in Christ.  The Gentiles are spiritual rich while the Jews remain in poverty.
2.  The fullness of the Gentiles (Rom_11:25) is the time allowed to the Gentiles to be saved.  When Christ completes the church with the last soul saved, He will come again to rapture the church home.  That will mark the end of the Gentile’s time of salvation.
3.  The times of the Gentiles (Luk_21:24) refers to the political domination of Gentile nations over the nation of Israel.  The Gentiles have been asserting control over Jerusalem ever since the last king of Juda was led captive to Babylon in 521 B.C.  The times of the Gentiles will end when Christ liberates Jerusalem (Revelation 18)." TARGET="_blank">Revelation 18).

The Mystery of the Church

The Church is “a mystery”.  A mystery is a doctrine that was kept hidden from Old Testament believers but has been revealed to us now.  The fact that the Church was a mystery means that it is something new in comparison to the Old Testament.

This mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel. Of this gospel I was made a minister according to the gift of God's grace, which was given me by the working of his power. To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things, so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places.

(Ephesians 3:6-10)" TARGET="_blank">Ephesians 3:6-10)

The Beginning of the Church

The Church had it’s start on the Day of Pentecost in Acts 2." TARGET="_blank">Acts 2.  The Church did not exist before this date.  In Matthew 16:18," TARGET="_blank">Matthew 16:18, Christ spoke of the Church as a future event yet to be fulfilled.  

Entrance Requirements

To become a member of the nation of Israel, one must be born to Jewish parents.  To become a member of the Church, one must be born again.  One must receive Christ to become a member of the Church.

Spiritual Benefits

If a person is born a Gentile they are naturally without hope and without God. Gentiles which here are called the "Uncircumcision" suffered two types of separation. For centuries, the Jews looked upon the Gentiles as lower-classed, rejected, dogs, alienated peoples who were in darkness. Seconldly, the Gentiles were separted spiritually:

1) they were "separated from Christ". They had no Messiah, no Savior, no Redeemer.  They had no hope of ever coming to God without a mediator to bring them.
2) They were "alienated from the commonwealth of Israel." The people of Israel being God's chosen people enjoyed the only physical place on earth where God dwelled and worked.  Without being part of the nation, people were alienated.
3) They were "strangers to the covenants of promise," aliens to God's blessings. While the church doesn't have the priviledge of participating in all the Covenants of the inheriting the Land - "To your offspring I give this land" (Genesis 15:18)" TARGET="_blank">Genesis 15:18) or of having the King rule over them - "And I will appoint a place for my people Israel and will plant them, so that they may dwell in their own place and be disturbed no more. " (2 Samuel 7:8-17)," TARGET="_blank">2 Samuel 7:8-17), the church does enjoy the blessings that come from the Covenant of Promise that God made with Abraham that "and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed" (Genesis 12:3)." TARGET="_blank">Genesis 12:3).
4) They were "having no hope". They were lost and had no possibility of changing their future.
5) They were "without God in the world." While they had many gods, they did not have the One True God.

 Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called "the uncircumcision" by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands-- remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.

(Ephesians 2:11-12)" TARGET="_blank">Ephesians 2:11-12)

However, once a person is in Christ, the barriers that kept Gentiles away from God's blessings are removed.  God created a third group, the Church, in which both Jews and Gentiles enjoy intimacy with God and blessings.

But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father.

(Ephesians 2:13-18)" TARGET="_blank">Ephesians 2:13-18)


Conclusion

God defines the nation of Israel as his people.  They may have been set aside, but they are not forgotten.  The promises regarding an eternal kingdom for Israel should not be allegorized into some undefined blessing for the Church.  God has preserved the Jews throughout the centuries as a distinct people.  God is preserving them for the Day of Christ when he comes again and begins to work with them to fulfill all that was written about them.

Shad Sluiter

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