God began His plan to establish the nation of Israel with the call of Abraham and the making of the Abrahamic Covenant. The Abrahamic covenant is the foundation for all subsequent covenants that God made with Israel. Thus the first covenant was with one man, which exponentially grew into a nation as the children of Israel moved from tribe to tribes and ultimately a great nation. But the covenant is only as strong as the participants. God's side of the covenant is eternally strong and faithful. The failure lies with the individuals within the covenant nation.
Just as Abraham bargained with God for 10 righteous, so it is with the individuals who stand up and can be counted on for righteousness sake. Even in the last days. it is said to be a remnant, a seed, that counts. Even in the counting, there are only 144,000 that are truly representative of the requirement met in the covenant.
One of God’s goal in making the covenants was for Israel to become a kingdom of priests and a holy nation (Exodus 19.5-6). Over and over again, prophets came forward to lead the nations back to God and the righteous walk. They were fulfilling the call, but it wasn't a nation. In the last days, it is said that this remnant meets the criteria God is looking forward to and the Gospel is "again" preached to all nations.
Here is a quandary... God revealed in the Abrahamic Covenant that Gentile blessing would henceforth be mediated through Israel (Isaiah 42.1, 60.1-3; Zechariah 8.22-23). This blessing assumed the obedience of national Israel. Blessings to Israel would ultimately come through the Messiah and blessing to Gentiles through Israel. But how could Gentiles be blessed in the face of Israel’s disobedience, i.e., rejection of their Messiah? The answer was that they couldn’t. God had no covenantal provision, no plan to bless Gentiles apart from Israel’s national obedience... or did He, through people who remained faithful to Him, who heard the call and responded with "Here I am, send me". Yet how is God going to prepare a people to step outside the traditional theology on this matter, welcome Gentiles, if it wasn't for the teaching of the Holy Spirit?
Being sovereign and omniscient, God knew Israel would reject the Messiah and so God planned and devised a way to bless Gentiles in spite of Israel’s failure. God call and converted Saul of Tarsus was the kingpin in His execution of this plan. Through Paul, the blessing to the nations (Matthew 23.39; Romans 11.15) still happened. But I do not think that it meets the ultimate goal of God in bringing in the Gentiles without the joining of Jew and Gentile in truth.
Just as Abraham bargained with God for 10 righteous, so it is with the individuals who stand up and can be counted on for righteousness sake. Even in the last days. it is said to be a remnant, a seed, that counts. Even in the counting, there are only 144,000 that are truly representative of the requirement met in the covenant.
One of God’s goal in making the covenants was for Israel to become a kingdom of priests and a holy nation (Exodus 19.5-6). Over and over again, prophets came forward to lead the nations back to God and the righteous walk. They were fulfilling the call, but it wasn't a nation. In the last days, it is said that this remnant meets the criteria God is looking forward to and the Gospel is "again" preached to all nations.
Here is a quandary... God revealed in the Abrahamic Covenant that Gentile blessing would henceforth be mediated through Israel (Isaiah 42.1, 60.1-3; Zechariah 8.22-23). This blessing assumed the obedience of national Israel. Blessings to Israel would ultimately come through the Messiah and blessing to Gentiles through Israel. But how could Gentiles be blessed in the face of Israel’s disobedience, i.e., rejection of their Messiah? The answer was that they couldn’t. God had no covenantal provision, no plan to bless Gentiles apart from Israel’s national obedience... or did He, through people who remained faithful to Him, who heard the call and responded with "Here I am, send me". Yet how is God going to prepare a people to step outside the traditional theology on this matter, welcome Gentiles, if it wasn't for the teaching of the Holy Spirit?
Being sovereign and omniscient, God knew Israel would reject the Messiah and so God planned and devised a way to bless Gentiles in spite of Israel’s failure. God call and converted Saul of Tarsus was the kingpin in His execution of this plan. Through Paul, the blessing to the nations (Matthew 23.39; Romans 11.15) still happened. But I do not think that it meets the ultimate goal of God in bringing in the Gentiles without the joining of Jew and Gentile in truth.